Kai and Alaric, who was actually Alex Deymir, his real name, dodged an aquatic serpent that was trying to devour them. The creature had split into two, which made the battle even more complicated.
"At least it's weaker."
"Sir Alex, you should stay behind me and be careful."
Ever since he discovered his true identity, Kai, even though he was only in the First Circle, never stopped protecting him. Whenever an attack came toward him, he would place himself in front to defend him.
The only problem was that there were now two serpents, and each of them could attack from different directions.
"I still don't understand how you can survive the attacks of this serpent."
"We can say that I'm using my Ocean Magic to constantly heal myself, just like I saw Kael do."
"You learned just by watching? Well, that's good. Your healing should be stronger than Kael's, so you could heal me."
Kai dodged another attack, but noticed one of the serpents trying to devour Alex from behind.
Without thinking twice, he placed himself in its path and caught the bite with his own hands. He felt his bones beginning to give way under the creature's strength, but immediately used Ocean Magic to regenerate the injuries.
"Sorry, Sir Alex. I don't know why, but my healing for other people is still difficult for me, so I'll need more training."
Creating several water spears, Kai made them begin rotating around the two of them, forming a barrier that also hid their position from the serpents. Then he placed the palm of his hand on the water beneath them and used his magic to move the two of them away from there.
When the spears were finally pierced by the serpents, the two had already appeared in another part of the dungeon.
'This is troublesome. I can only do this once.'
Hidden behind a wall, Alex watched Kai begin breathing with difficulty. He could not depend on someone from the First Circle, even if Kai was being extremely useful with that defense. If he continued like that, his body would eventually be unable to withstand the attacks.
"Kai, stay here. You're already tired. Leave the rest to me."
"Wait!"
Alex decided to leave him behind. With that level of exhaustion, his defense would not be as resistant as before, and it would be even worse if Kai ended up dying while trying to protect him from an attack.
Kai clenched his fist while watching Alex leave, clearly frustrated that he could not do more.
Holding his spear, Alex concentrated water magic into it and delivered a slash toward the platform where the serpents were, causing part of the structure to collapse.
The two creatures immediately jumped toward him, but he created two spears and launched them at their heads, making the serpents dodge before they could reach him.
'If this continues, I'll only be able to eliminate one of them with the Sea Prince's Spear. And I can only use this technique one more time.'
A cutting jet of water passed dangerously close to his body. Alex managed to create a spear in time and use it to get out of the way, but when he reached another platform, he realized too late that the second serpent was already behind him.
The creature opened its mouth and bit his body, striking from his shoulder to his waist.
"Aaahh!"
Desperate, Alex drove his spear into the serpent's mouth with all the strength he possessed, forcing it to release him. He took some distance and brought his hand to his own body, realizing that his strength was beginning to disappear.
"Poison?"
Before he could do anything, the tail of one of the serpents struck him and sent him crashing into a wall. The two creatures began repeatedly striking him with their tails, destroying the platform beneath his feet. Alex was thrown into the air again and saw a cutting jet of water coming toward him.
'Is this how I'm going to die? Without even talking to my father? Without even getting revenge on that man?'
A hand appeared and pulled him out of the attack's path. When he looked at the person who had just saved him, Alex immediately recognized Kael's blue necklace.
"Seriously, do I have to interfere to save you two from getting beaten up?"
The two were in the air when two more jets of water advanced toward them. Kael created two spears in the air, stepped on them to gain momentum, and jumped over the attacks. Then he grabbed Alex's hand and threw him toward another platform while remaining on the previous one.
"Looks like she's coming."
A golden sword pierced one of the serpents directly through the head, causing an enormous wound. The creature's core was exposed near the hole opened by the blade. Elowyn was still far away, but continued attacking with arrows, spears, and golden swords, trying to hit the serpent from a distance. As soon as she finished her battle, she came toward where Kael had possibly gone.
She saw a third serpent emerge from the body of the one that had been pierced in the head.
"Be careful, it looks like a third opponent has appeared."
Alex widened his eyes when he realized that this was the true creature that had been hidden inside the clone. The three serpents began concentrating their magic at a single point and, together, fired an enormous cutting jet of water loaded with an absurd amount of mana.
"I won't let you!"
Kai appeared in front and raised his sword to defend against the attack. The weapon managed to withstand the pressure thanks to its ability, but his hands could not withstand the force. His fingers began to give way and, shortly afterward, he released the sword, receiving the attack directly.
The cutting water pierced through his defense and struck his stomach. For a brief moment, Kai thought he saw Enrico's fire clone, which appeared in front of him and seemed to pull him backward, moving him away from the attack's trajectory for just one more second until he had time to prepare a magic to defend himself.
'Did he send this clone to protect us? Even while being far away?'
The attack continued advancing, hitting Kai, and an explosion happened shortly afterward. At the same time, inside Kai's magical heart, a second circle had already been formed. The energy expanded violently and exploded into a blue aura.
Kael, watching from a distance, breathed a sigh of relief.
'Looks like he did it.'
The explosion caused by the serpent's attack came shortly afterward, destroying two platforms. When the smoke began to disappear, Kai appeared partially covered by a kind of ocean shell that had managed to withstand the cutting attack.
"Ocean Magic: Shell Scales."
His chest, stomach, and left arm were completely covered by the protection. It was a magic that Kai would use quite often in the original story and that should only awaken four months later. However, because the story had been advanced so much, he ended up awakening the technique much earlier than expected.
Enrico's plan of becoming a wall so that the others could become stronger was working better than he expected.
"Even after evolving, I'm still stronger."
Kael jumped toward the serpents. Shortly afterward, Elowyn passed by him with an irritated expression. From her gaze, it seemed that she had not liked seeing Kai evolve. The three prepared to continue the battle.
'I have this armor and I'm still a Second Circle for longer than the two of them. So why do I still seem weaker than them?'
Forcing his body to stand, Alex remembered the man who had left his mother in a coma. That bastard had always taken care of him as if he were his own grandson and should have been his family's most loyal guard, but ended up being precisely the person who destroyed his family the most. His father, consumed by the desire for revenge, tried to find him at all costs and ended up leaving his own son behind, sending him to live with his grandparents.
'Why is my father like this? Does he think he's the only one who wants revenge?'
Alex also wanted to do something for his mother. He wanted to spend more time with his father, even if it meant pursuing revenge alongside him.
'I won't give up.'
He ran toward the serpents, passing by the three of them and being the first to arrive. With the Sea Prince's Spear in his hands, Alex immediately struck one of the serpents and destroyed its body. Even after spending practically all his mana on that attack, he showed no intention of giving up.
"Hahaha, looks like the employer's son has a lot of courage."
Kael grabbed the tail of a serpent that was advancing toward Alex. His hands were covered in water magic as he squeezed the creature tightly. The serpent's other clone opened its mouth to try to swallow him, but an enormous golden sword pierced its head before it could reach him.
Kael squeezed the tail of the creature he was holding even harder, making it cry out in pain. Meanwhile, on the platform behind them, Kai transferred his water magic to his father's sword. The hero's magic made his Ocean Magic even more powerful.
"Tidal Trident!"
By transferring Ocean Magic and the hero's energy to a single point in the air, a clear water magic began to form above his head, taking the shape of a trident made of solid water. Kai launched it with absurd precision, and the weapon pierced directly through the serpent's core, making its body disappear immediately.
Alex watched that and fell to the ground, completely out of mana.
"Did we do it?"
Kael looked around as if Alex had just said a cursed word.
Since nothing happened, he simply nodded while remaining attentive to the surroundings. The three were still standing, unlike Alex, who could not even walk. Without the strength to continue, he decided to close his eyes and rest.
'All of them are stronger. Even so, if I want to achieve what I want, I'll try to surpass all of them.'
"Good job, Sir Kael."
Elowyn noticed that Kai had not thanked her for helping as well, but she did not care much. After all, the person she really wanted to crush was not even him.
"You too."
"It wasn't anything special. Without a doubt, Enrico would do better."
Kai scratched his nose with a certain amount of pride while Kael tilted his head.
"Is this Enrico still stronger than you after reaching the Second Circle?"
"Yes, he's quite strong. And he definitely must have sent a fire clone to help us. I saw it."
"So that clone was his... He really is strong."
Elowyn's eyes turned completely white in the face of the stupidity of that conversation. After all, she already knew the truth behind Kael's disguise.