The situation was fragile, teetering on the edge of collapse.
Both sides didn't like how things were.
Consuming the poison whole wasn't something Jack expected to happen.
He was now counting on the poison to overwhelm Nina's body.
But with the way things were moving, he was going to have to take actual action.
-----
[That poison will consume her soon. I can reduce the rate.]
[Do it.]
Turning semi-corporeal, a spirit state where she can be seen, Zena flew as a ball of light and quickly suppressed the poison within Nina.
Rhen had immediately bought another potion, throwing it at Oscar.
Einar's condition had stabilized, but he was out of commission for now.
"I'm going up."
Trusting Rhen to handle the fight below, Oscar ascended the stairs. Someone was up there, scheming against the kids.
Giving him a nod, Rhen moved his gaze around, inspecting each person present.
They all wore tightly fitted black outfits that covered every inch of their bodies, including their heads, paired with masks.
Only Jack had his green hair exposed, presumably because he had more poison tolerance.
Rhen could only differentiate these people vaguely by their body shapes and the weapons they held.
The one closest to Rhen was holding an arm guard that summoned a shield-like barrier.
This person was the weakest in the group, yet he stood at the forefront of Jack's group.
Rhen's cold eyes were fixed on his adversaries, unmoving as the minutes ticked by.
This made Jack gain confidence.
"You're boxed in, Rhen. No help's coming – no one even knows we're in here right now. The angel will truly fall."
Rhen stopped Jack's mockery with a blunt statement.
"So that was your trick; hiding us from the world."
He displayed a bitter laugh.
"…Good. That means we don't have to hold back."
At that moment, Jack and his team felt a strong presence approaching their building at an alarming speed.
Then that followed with a loud explosion that destroyed the side of the building.
"Someone bypassed the illusion!" one of Jack's teammates yelled.
Jack's team remained composed, trying to understand the situation.
And with that, the real battle began.
Hovering semi-corporeally over Nina, Zena shot a barrage of sun bullets at the barrier-wielding person.
Displaying skills and reacting swiftly, he dodged most of the attacks after noting that some of the attacks he blocked carried a lot more weight than he could handle.
Zena was obviously not able to use a continuous amount of her shots, especially when using some of her mana to help Nina.
The barrier-wielder guessed this, but to his dismay, Rhen had an ability they didn't know about.
Gravity Control.
The weight they felt earlier had returned, and this time, heavier, making them lose their balance.
The tank staggered especially. Rhen's dagger flashed, aiming straight for his face.
The barrier-wielder was thankful, he had an emergency barrier to cover his whole body in case of sudden attacks.
But immediately his barrier broke, another dagger broke in.
The barrier-wielder's left part of his face burst, brain matter splattering all over, blood pouring out like a pool.
[You have killed Nuel Cracker.]
[You have obtained a 2-star Loot.
Releasing Gravity Control with indifference, Rhen rose from beside Eina, where he had been squatting.
Before Jack could declare Rhen unharmed, the black-eyed boy held a jagged white dagger, gotten from… nowhere.
Outside the destroyed part of the building, a cloaked figure was walking closer, claws visible and tail squirming heavily.
Nina was here.
Despite being a bit fearful, Jack remained with a squeezed expression, his twinswords now pointed out.
The two other teammates also stood ready for a battle, one holding a red orb to amplify their long range talent, the other, a sword to hold the front.
After passing instructions to Nina and Zena, Rhen said aloud after downing a potion swiftly:
"Now, the balance is absolutely in my favour. Don't bother pleading, your cries will only make me hate you more."
In a blink of an eye, Rhen kicked Jack, sending him through the front door wall.
While Nina threw some mana bombs at the sword and orb wielder.
- - -
While chaos tore through the hall below, Oscar moved like a shadow upstairs.
There were four rooms upstairs.
Two big enough to contain half the kids, while the other two were for either Eina, Nina or Oscar.
There were two rooms on each side of the hallway and Oscar was standing in the middle.
On his way up, he had hurriedly donned his leather armour and picked up his daggers which he had downstairs.
At that moment, Oscar's eyes were colder than Rhen's, his murderous intent surpassing even Nina's.
His blue eyes seemed empty as he spoke.
"Kids, if you're awake, close your ears and cover your eyes."
He waited for a few seconds and muttered, "Good." then continued.
"Rhen killed one of you. That should terrify you more than anything.
"He's the last person who'd break his ideals… and you forced him to."
Oscar's eyes regained their normality as he held his daggers properly.
"I may not seem like it. I kill for my own reasons. And tonight, you gave me one."
He began walking.
"You crossed the one line that makes me kill. And unlike Rhen, I won't regret it later."
Hidden somewhere where she heard Oscar, the lady that Jack had sent up was worried… and scared.
After all, a bunch of eyes were looking at her, despite the fact that she was using a skill amplified by an item.
He stopped in front of the door to one of the kids' rooms.
He saw them all, the kids were either hiding under sheets, shutting their eyes tightly and closing their ears, while crying as they looked at him.
But Oscar paid no heed to them at that moment.
Crows, numbering ten, were also in the room, similarly to how they were in other rooms.
At this moment, all the blue eyes of the crow were focused on the corner of the room.
Right beside the entrance of the door.
Oscar's A-rank Talent, Crow's Eye, gave him the ability to share the enhanced senses of the crows born from splinters of his core.
It was the kind of thing they attributed to "seeing the truth of the world."
It also meant Oscar didn't have any direct fighting abilities.
For this genius, who knew he would one day be dragged into the dark sides of this world, that was his motivation to strengthen his body.
Oscar, with physicality further enhanced by bearing an A-rank prowess, had created patterns, for when in need, to make sure he killed his enemies within seconds.
Before the young lady, concealing herself with her talent while holding Selina as hostage, knew what happened.
Something pierced her skull, and she collapsed.
Was it his sheer strength? his Talent? an item? or even someone or something else entirely?
She would never know.
In this world.
Oscar was her worst match.
"You kids stay indoors and you'll be safe."
Without saying more, Oscar's form exploded with feathers as he disappeared from the region.
He needed to check on his mother.