Their way to Fils quickly was blocked as the roof above them crumbled further, their backs essentially to the wall. Both Midas and Foulard were now facing off against Qayid, who lent himself the time to stretch his arms over his head - the groan that escaped him suggested he had awaited for this moment to come.
"I should've known... you're one of the lackeys that works for that noble brat..."
"You're misunderstanding this...! Midas... he doesn't work for him..."
The attempt of Foulard trying to calm Qayid didn't have any effect, backfiring as his words only made him look more aggressive. Already having given up on the idea of talking himself out of the mess he found himself in, Midas glanced over to Qannas - his body slumped against the wall, motionless. Seeing that Qayid picked up the flow of mana in his hand out of the corner of his eye, Midas spared no time, pressing his palm onto the ground, making the tiled floor bend beneath them and crumble - already beginning to run before the slab of stone could hit the floor under it.
Hearing the manic laughing of their enemy ring through the halls, Foulard used his bending to create a film of water in the crater Midas created - stalling Qayid from reaching them. The sound of him promptly crashing through it made Midas form new projectiles out of the rubble that lay around the halls, firing them at the enemy they ran from. Qayid simply continued to run after them, dust kicking up behind him at his speed - his hammer already in hand, the bullets didn't even leave a scratch as they simply crumbled apart against his skin.
Knowing he most likely reinforced his body with some kind of null ability, Midas palm connected with the hallway wall, sprouting a handful of stone pillars that wildly spring up from the room's sides - stalling Qayid was seemingly the only thing they could do at the moment.
"I... I shouldn't have come to that hideout..."
"Spare yourself your breath and think about how we get rid of him instead...!"
Trying to encourage Foulard, Midas turned his head back with a frown - Qayid had blasted through the stone pillars with his hammer without much struggle, and if he kept up his pace, he'd reach them in a mere few moments. Seeing the dust cloud that sprouted from the blow expand through the hall, Midas sharply stopped and turned right towards him.
Upon his time running away, he had reflected briefly on how Qayid was even able to come this close to them without Qannas or himself noticing. His answer eventually came to him as he remembered the sudden rise of mana that came from Fils' direction - an intense spark of energy that came from the completely opposite direction from the window he had blasted through, which most likely meant that the sudden spike in mana was some kind of distraction.
Knowing he was momentarily blinded, Midas had already entered the dust cloud before Foulard could scream after him. Briefly sheathening his sickle, Midas pressed his palms together - knowing his mana was already being picked up by Qayid at the laugh he let out. The mana between his palms began to compress into an invisible mass - imitating Jikiths' technique once more. Midas eventually let go of it and took a step in the completely separate direction.
Judging by not only his resilience but also the strength his attacks had, Qayid was currently charging mana through his weapon - able to hear him run straight towards the compressed point of mana to strike it. With a loud snap, the head of the hammer struck onto the shape of mana, making it burst and momentarily stun Qayid by the blow - the cloud of smoke quickly blown away at the impact. As the enemy turned his head to him, Midas was already standing behind him, intentionally using close combat as he forced Qayid to use his not yet recharged hammer to block his sickle strike.
Leaving him open to a counter, Midas promptly sent three stone projectiles at Qayid, who was still busy redirecting mana from his limbs into his weapon - able to scratch him on his thighs and forearms right before he had the chance to reinforce them again. Clutching his teeth, Midas charged up his forearm, hoping to crush his defense further with another strike of his sickle - cut short as Qayid was able to get a more firm grip onto his weapon again, the head of it connecting onto his arm.
Blown forward by the impact onto his side, Midas nearly dropped his weapon - trying to catch his breath while clutching onto the side of his arm, Foulard tried his best at keeping their enemy at bay with water projectiles.
"I'm not surprised you're using cheap tricks - they fit you."
The remark had no effect on Midas as he tried to find a solution, his vision blurring slightly once he got onto his feet again. Foulards' distressed frown mirrored his own as he looked at Qayid simply walking through the bullets sent at him with an amused grin.
"Midas...! I got an idea..."
Not wasting much time to run off after whatever revelation he had, Midas followed after Foulard. After a right turn, the two of them quickly approached wooden fences that signaled the space beyond them was still in construction; the two of them hurdled over it and through a door that revealed the same tower he originally fought Foulard inside of.
"...I need you to block off the door once he gets inside."
Panting slightly from running, Foulard jumped up and clung onto the wooden ledge leading to the door on the floor above - the sound of someone breaking through the fencing arriving at Midas, making him turn just in time to let his hand make contact with the ground - entrapping Qayid as soon as he broke through the wooden door as a stone slab promptly rose up behind him to seal off the entrance he came out from. The section of the tower Gilt had blown out had already been sealed with new brick and mortar - looking odd against the older stone.
Not even noticing the stone slab, Qayid spent no time swinging his hammer at Midas, who only narrowly ducked under the swinging head of the weapon - making it crush a wooden crate right behind him instead. Knowing he had him cornered, Qayid laid his weapon aside and balled his hands to fists - one of his punches blocked by a charged-up strike of Midas' sickle, the jab that followed successfully connecting on the cheek of his face. Thrown into the rubble of the crate at the blow, he exhaled dryly - his body not moving after the impact against the back of his head.
"Do you even know how many people have tried their most to finally have someone to represent them? Your people have been treated like trash by this kingdom, like they aren't even humans..."
Glancing up at him, Qayid now stood right beside his body - looking down at him as he lay on his back, visibly struggling to get up. Groaning through clenched teeth, Midas had grasped a splitter of wood and rammed it into his calf - making Qayid curse and use the same foot to press deep into his stomach, stealing the air out of Midas' lungs.
"So why does someone like you help them...? Whatever this noble promised you, I promise you, if you help me achieve a world where everyone is equal in the water kingdom... I will give you whatever you want. You are smarter than all of the others that I was able to gather for this cause, so join me... and I won't kill you."
"I don't care... about... your cause..."
"Stop lying to yourself; don't you have this hope too...? The feeling that we can finally change something and combat this oppression? I will carry this hope for you... I'm the one that will carry the hope of every single student that has helped me today, the hope of my old classmates that are now in shackles... everyone..."
He deeply frowned, not only at the physical pain of Qayid shifting his weight onto the foot that pressed down onto him but also at the fact that his words held a kind of truth Midas couldn't ignore. Had the Water-Kingdom not invaded the northern desert, Alma could've possibly not been forced to find ways to retaliate, Skye could have lived a life free from fear of being obducted at any given moment, and Haya and Inaya could have lived lives without any additional worries.
Clutching the base of Qayid's foot with both hands as he grimaced in pain, Midas let out a strangled sound of pain - the cool feeling of water hitting the back of his head, hearing it trail down along the walls. Their plan was a success. The question of whether Midas even had the right to worry about any of them eventually crossed his mind; his sudden appearance in the desert, the lack of family he had, as well as the memory of every possible having had one, combined with the dreamlike memories he had of these foreign places, made it clear to him that he possibly wasn't even from this world to begin with.
Wondering why he even hesitated, Midas Palm eventually grasped the piece of wood that still stuck in Qayid's calf, twisting it as he pressed it deeper into him with a groan of defiance. He has nothing to do with any of this, neither the oppression nor the nobles they were fighting against - still, he suffered under both, and the sheer irony of it became more than frustrating to him.
"Shut your mouth already... didn't you already notice that I'm not interested in being dragged into this?"
Grunting, as he felt Qayid waver in his stance at the sheer pain of the foreign object inside his leg, Midas eventually made use of his sunshard and broke off one of the bricks that made up the circular wall around them - making it fly directly into his face. The film of water cascading down around them already began to pool up on the floor - reaching Midas' ears as he still lay on his back, quickly changing that as he sat up while Qayid flinched at the rock.
His stomach open for a hit, Midas compressed mana into his left forearm to charge up a jab, the force only narrowly enough to make Qayid's foot shift backwards as his attack was met with the back of Qayid's hand. Able to defend the counter by pulling up his arms and ducking his head slightly into a defense position - he was knocked back against the wall.
Unable to get his footing in time, Qayid's hand had already grasped his face, the tips of his fingers digging into his scalp - pushing the back of his head repeatedly into the wall. Midas groans were muffled against his palms as he clutched onto his forearm, his strength slowly giving out as his vision became more blurred with each time the back of his head collided with the wall. His eyes widened at the sudden feeling of his face being let go off, the punch that followed into his guts making clear that his ideas were no match against the raw strength of the enemy in front of him.
Wheezing dryly, Midas collapsed onto the ground - the dull sound of water splashing down into the pool that had formed on the floor being the only thing he picked up before Qayid grasped his hair and made him look up to him.
"So you're simply diverting your gaze from all the people that are struggling under them for your own benefit...? Are you really such a coward...? Pathetic...!"
"I have... nothing to do with... this."
"Your words are a cheap lie to distance yourself from the fact that, no matter where in this kingdom, people - our people - will always be viewed as lesser human than those of northern descent... Would you be able to say that while looking at the faces of the people that were forcibly transported out of the only place where they could potentially live a better life...? The people barely scraping by trying to make a better living...? I see them... every day... and I will make sure that selfish people like you won't exist in the world that I'm going to form..."
"Idiot... you think they will listen to some student...? They have countless men at their disposal, not to mention allies beyond their border... You'd be hung with all the other people who tried to help you at your attempt of achieving this... You're not creating anything; the only thing you're doing is riding all of your supporters into a group suicide...!"
Flashing his teeth with an agitated groan, Midas tried his best to reach out with his index finger, narrowly missing out on Qayid's eye as he got to his senses just in time to tilt his head away. Promptly following up with a knee into his stomach, causing him to fall onto the floor for good - the water now high enough to make his body begin to drift upward as his ability to move his limbs gave out for a moment.
Qayid was silent, simply watching the floating body of Midas drifting there, his fingers twitching slightly as his words simply didn't leave his head - they had enough students to occupy the academy building, but they were painfully lacking in equipment. He could take on a few knights, but would he be able to go up against a commander? Groaning at the fact Midas' words left him paralyzed for such a long moment, he clutched his head, frantically looking around to find a way out.
The water already began to drag at his feet as Qayid made his way to the wooden ledge - tall enough to grasp it once he got up on his toes to reach for it, having enough energy to pull himself up onto it. The wood simply gave off a muted hum as he drove his fist into it, the water having absorbed his blow nearly completely, while the water rose further up - Midas now lying on its surface, still knocked out.
"Damn it... what is this...? Don't you have anything else to show but bad tricks...?"
Groaning again, clearly frustrated, Qayid charged up his next punch, the skin on his knuckles already beginning to flake off at the impact as the sound of the struggling metal hinges rung through the film of water. The ringing in Midas' ears was still there as his eyes fluttered open, his vision hazy, and his limbs unable to feel the floor beneath them. He picked up the consistent sound of Qayid trying to break out - the sound of splintering wood - making it clear their plan was more flawed than he'd like to admit.
Needing to move now, Midas took in a deep breath, trying his best to not focus on the pain, as he needed a way to get out of there before Qayid could warn Foulard of his escape. The only real option was the door beneath the wooden ledge he stood on; however, this would force him to go up onto the first floor once he was out, while Qayid would most likely insist on his route and reach him first.
Diving into the water that was now just below the level of the ledge, Midas eventually reached the wooden slab that sat in front of the second door, pressing his palm against it; the stone crumbled away as the door instantly gave in under the pressure of the water against it. Flooding the hallway as the door burst open, Midas didn't waste time - ignoring the aching of his body to move his drenched body forward towards the flies of stairs leading up.
Hearing the distant sound of a giant mass of water flooding out of the room, Foulards' face went pale as he still stood behind a corner that lay right at the end of the hallway on which end was the door Qayid punched against, the sound of the wood breaking apart sharply hulling through it. Feeling his heart sink into his stomach, Foulard ran off, huffing as he caught a glimpse of a potential shortcut he could use to gain more distance.
Catching a glimpse of a wooden construction scaffolding that would act as a bridge from the windows of the hallway to a nearby classroom, Foulard didn't waste any time and jumped through one of the shattered windows. The wood creaked under his foot, and the pathway was wobbly, but it was more than enough to allow him to reach the next window. Nearly falling off, as the hold of the construct began to waver, Foulard turned his head back to a widely grinning Qayid - his muscle making it almost collapse.
A mere two steps away from clutching Foulard by the back of his blazer, one of the windows suddenly shattered - Midas arrived in time, his palm promptly connecting with the outer wall of the building, making the stone around the nail, which made scaffolding and wall stay connected, fall to dust.
"Midas...!"
Seeing the wide eyes of Qayid snap onto him, Midas watched as the scaffholding began to tilt away from the wall to announce its collapse. Running as fast as his legs allowed, Foulard managed to arrive at the second window in time - shattering the glass as he jumped through it. With one last screetch of wood, the wooden construct made impact with the ground, collapsing and making Qayid fall down an entire floor onto the grass of the campus.
Before he had any chance, Midas sent a stone projectile into his abdomen, looking down at him as Qayid simply stared back at him while blood began to paint the fabric of his clothing. Wincing in pain, he formed a fist as he grasped onto it, the sudden usage of so much mana and the blows he withstood over the duration of their fight slowly getting to him as he felt his back fall onto the ground.
By using the tower, Midas and Foulard eventually stood there beside his motionless body, both of them emptily staring down at the older student, as the only sound that surrounded them was their labored breathing - the sounds of conflict from the students around them fading into the background.
"Midas... Midas...! Come on already, this is our chance to get to Fils...! Let's move and then get out of here as soon as we can!"
"...right, yes, of course..."