As the door opened, three people exited. Joyce was shielding her eyes from the blinding light with a smile. Manuel had spotted the elders from his Sect and gave them a thumbs-up, and Nero looked with vigilance at the surroundings.
Nero saw about 17 people looking at them. Eleven of these people were elders from the Elemental Sects, while the other six had no element. Those were probably parents or teachers from the loose cultivators.
The reason why there were eleven elders from the Elemental Sects present was because every Sect, except the Darkness Sect, sent two elders, while the Lightning Sect was completely missing. Even the Earth Sect had sent two elders, even though they knew that their group had died even before entering the Heaven's Trial. They were probably looking for a chance to rob the winners.
Eight of the elders and everyone without elements looked crestfallen at the exiting group. The fact that those three exited meant that everyone else had died. The two elders from the Wind Sect smiled but also sighed. Their group had died, but at least Manuel was still alive.
Meanwhile, the elder from the Darkness Sect had a glimmer in his eyes. If he played it right, he could become rich. If he and the darkness disciple in the group backstabbed the others, they could get all the rewards.
As for the potential repercussions from the other Sects? Fuck them! So what if the Darkness Sect was attacked by people in the Tree Stage? If his plan worked, he wouldn't go back to the Darkness Sect. What did his Sect's demise have to do with him? He was only there for himself.
Some other elders started watching the group with greed in their eyes. The Darkness Sect was selfish, and the elder wouldn't risk his life for one of his disciples. The only people they had to fight were the Wind Sect elders. The Water Sect, Earth Sect, and Light Sect were very interested in the treasures. The Fire Sect wouldn't care since they wouldn't attack people weaker than them. They would probably just watch in interest.
Slowly, the six elders started talking to each other. They had to iron out their plan's details and how to fight the two elders from the Wind Sect with the least amount of casualties.
"Is the monster dead?" the darkness elder transmitted to Nero.
Nero showed a slight smirk. "Yes," he answered.
The darkness elder's eyes shone with greed. "How about we claim their two portions for the Darkness Sect?" he transmitted to Nero, obviously meaning Joyce and Manuel.
"Sure," Nero answered coldly. "You take out the Life Lightning cultivator while I take out Manuel. He would expect an attack from you, but not from me. That's why it's better that I take him out."
The elder narrowed his eyes. "Deal," he transmitted to Nero. Then, he slowly started vanishing from everyone's perception. Most of the people present concentrated on planning their attack, while the loose cultivators started walking away. Thanks to his supreme stealth, the elder managed to avoid everyone's perception.
"Protect your dantian and head," Nero transmitted to Joyce with urgency.
"What?" Joyce asked, but then suddenly felt a mortal danger. Out of reflex, she bent down to protect her head.
PUCHI! WHOOSH! PUCHI!
Two daggers came out of nowhere. One hit her in the back, while the other barely missed her head. Yet, the elder quickly angled his dagger downward. Without another second passing, his second dagger also buried itself into Joyce's back.
Both daggers had been loaded with the darkness element, and there was no way that she would survive such an attack.
BZZZ!
Yet, all the Life Energy inside her returned as she transformed part of her Energy into Life Lightning. The new Life Energy was also absorbed since the elder was two Stages above her. Joyce had to fully heal herself six times to outlast the darkness element inside her. Yet, she managed to stay alive. All of this happened in less than a second.
The elder's eyes widened.
SHING!
Joyce's sword stabbed through the elder's throat and entered his brain. The elder hadn't expected for Joyce to survive, so he hadn't been prepared for her counterattack. On top of that, his body was way more powerful than her. What could she even do?
Yet, the elder had bad luck. Joyce's Life Lightning was the ultimate counter to the darkness element. On top of that, she had seen Gravis fight against someone with a way more powerful body. He had used this same move to kill his enemy, back in the fourth trial. Of course, she remembered that move and practiced it.
Thanks to these two factors, she had managed to kill someone two whole Stages above her. Under normal circumstances, she would probably die.
Joyce immediately retrieved her sword and kicked the body of the elder away. Meanwhile, everyone was watching this with widened eyes. Someone at the initial Stage had just killed an elder? How was this possible!?
Manuel was also shocked for a second, but he quickly saw how Nero only smiled. Manuel quickly connected the dots in his head and realized what Nero had done. "Thanks," he transmitted to Nero.
"No problem," he sent back.
Joyce nearly hyperventilated as she saw the corpse of the darkness elder. She had just killed her first human, which shook her.
All the enemies in the Heaven's Trial had been soulless puppets. That's why this was her first time killing an actual human. Her mind went wild as her emotions rampaged inside her. Her body had moved before her mind could even process what was happening. She had killed the elder entirely out of habit.
"You never killed a human," Nero transmitted to Joyce, eliciting a shocked gaze from her. "You need to jump over that barrier at some point. I thought, since he was planning on killing us anyway, this would be a good opportunity for you to jump over your shadow. The earlier, the better."
Joyce's insides were still raging, but with a deep breath, she calmed down. "I understand," she transmitted back. "Thanks."
"No worries," Nero transmitted back.
Meanwhile, the two elders from the Wind Sect ran to the group and turned to the remaining six elders. One had already attacked, so there was a high chance that the others would also attack. They had to protect the group!
The three people from the group also readied their weapons. They would need to fight the elders. The enemies outnumbered them, but the group wasn't even a bit nervous.
Meanwhile, the group of elders communicated with each other. "Did you see that? The darkness elder shot forward without hesitation. This means that he was sure that Gravis is dead. The darkness disciple in the group probably informed him. We quickly have to attack. Otherwise, the people from the Wind Sect might arrive," one of the elders said to the others.
The group narrowed their eyes and got into formation. The earth elders charged forward while the light elders stood behind them. The water elders flanked the earth elders on each side, ready to attack.
The elders from the Fire Sect retreated a little with interested expressions. A fight was about to take place! Nothing was more exciting to watch for them.
The wind elders gnashed their teeth. They would die today, but they would win as much time for the group as possible. They didn't do this because they were selfless, but because Manuel was in the group. He was part of their Wind Sect!
WHOOOOM!
Yet, after a second, no one was able to move anymore. Joyce, Manuel, and Nero smirked, while the Wind Sect elders were shocked. What was this supremely powerful Will-Aura? They felt like the user of this Will-Aura could kill them with just a mere thought.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Gravis said as he stepped out of the Heaven's Trial.
All the present elders looked with shock at Gravis. His will was easily restraining them, but they couldn't feel his Spirit. This could only mean one thing!
'Self Stage!' they realized.
This wasn't good!