"We have to leave."
The person that made this statement wasn't the Prince, rather, it was one of the other four Peak Elemental Venerables.
They didn't feel confident in being able to keep Grey at bay, so they believed the best thing to do was to leave the woods and return to the castle. If possible, they didn't mind leaving the secret realm entirely.
Grey's figure appeared close to them, and without hesitation, he attacked. His fire domain spread out, covering a large area, he didn't use the normal flames, rather, he used his icy flames to slow them down.
The icy flames had the ability to slow down the thought process of anyone caught in it, so it was very effective against such a group. Especially given their current mental state.
Grey took advantage of this and attacked immediately he used his icy domain.
The five Gnomes' reaction was a little slower than it previously was. Grey's attack was able to get to them without them being able to dodge it.
With no other choice, they were forced to block the attack. Grey's attack was very powerful, and even those at the Peak would have to think twice before taking such an attack head-on.
All five figures were sent flying, all going in different directions. When the attack struck, the expressions of all five Gnomes changed.
One of them took a glance at the Prince, he was the strongest among the people present so he was able to fairly shake off Grey's attack.
He took another glance at the others.
"The Prince can not die here." He muttered to himself, with determination in his eyes, he stood in front of the Prince.
"Leave the realm, take your brother and leave. You can not die here." The man's words struck deep into the mind of the Prince.
From what the man was insinuating, they couldn't stop Grey, and although they didn't want to accept it, they all knew it was the truth. Grey was just too powerful for them to deal with. Since that was the case, they needed to make sure the lives of both Princes were safe.
The Prince closed his eyes, took a deep look at Grey, and turned around without hesitation. There was no need to die here, since these guys have offered to stop Grey from going after him, then he would leave.
Grey didn't try to stop them, he only took a glance at his friends and realized they were in no shape to chase after the Prince.
'I'll let him go. It wouldn't be too bad if two Princes are terrified of me.' He thought to himself with a smile.
The Prince's figure soon disappeared from view.
"Alright, I've given you guys enough time." Grey said and took a step forward, his icy domain speeding towards the four Gnomes.
"Surround him." The man who was the strongest took charge. He knew the others were afraid of Grey, and he couldn't blame them for it, he too is afraid of Grey.
With someone leading, the other three got their emotions together and did as commanded. If they were in the same place, Grey could use it to his advantage and focus the domain there, but once they were in different directions, the effect of the domain would be reduced since covering such a large area would mean Grey was exchanging quality for quantity.
Grey's figure blurred and he went after one of the men, since they were going to stand in separate areas, then he would just kill them one by one.
He was about to attack when one of the Gnomes attacked from the side. He blocked the attack, but that was enough time for the man he wanted to attack to not only retreat, but to also unleash a powerful strike.
Grey blocked the attack and took a step back, his eyes turned serious. He knew even though he was stronger than they were individually, killing all of them wouldn't be as easy as he initially thought.
'I forgot they are all at the Peak.' He had to change his thought process.
Due to seeing the fear in them, he underestimated them to a certain extent. Now, he wasn't going to underestimate them again.
Two inscriptions lit up in the sky and Grey's eyes turned pale blue, he was going all-out.
….
On Alice's side.
Alice has been the subject of a serious beating, she couldn't keep up with the Seventh Prince and the puppet. However, she was still standing, ready to fight with the Prince.
Since the start of the battle, she has been overpowered, but she still didn't have the thought of giving up. She could still stand, attack, and defend.
Not just that, but the real reason she didn't want to give up was because she could sense that the longer the battle goes, the stronger she was getting.
She has been in multiple battles, but this was the first time she was fighting someone of the Seventh Prince's level, and with the Seventh Prince adamant on wanting to kill her, he wasn't holding back.
Alice has been fighting for her life since the start, and this was making her stronger. It was like she was tapping into an energy she never knew existed, and the feeling was captivating.
The Seventh Prince has also noticed that the more they fought, the stronger Alice was getting.
"What's wrong with all of them?" He felt there was something they didn't know about the current generation of humans.
They had seen and heard all about humans, and none of their stories mentioned people behaving in such a manner.
First it was Grey, and now he came in with three friends who were almost as freakish as he was. To a certain extent, a few of them were showing shocking levels of abilities.
Grey had multiple elements, so some of his abilities could be attributed to that, but the others only had a single element, yet they were doing things others couldn't.
Alice could sense the frustration in the body of the Seventh Prince. She didn't feel any sense of accomplishment from this, yes, it was good to see that the Prince was getting frustrated, but with her strength, she felt she should be able to at least put up a good fight against the Prince and not get run over.
The Prince calmed himself before attacking once again. He was not going to let her rest. Since she was still standing, he would kill her from exhaustion. He was certain that there was no way she would be able to escape from him, so he decided to take his time on her.
"I'll break you apart piece by piece."
Alice wasn't flustered, she took all the attacks that came her way. The ones she could dodge, she would, while the others she took head-on.
The impact of the attacks was starting to physically affect her, but with her strong mental fortitude, she wasn't going to let her physical exhaustion affect her.
The Prince didn't stop his attacks when he saw this, rather, he continued at a certain pace, not giving Alice any chance to catch her breath. The puppet made it easier for him since it blocked the As time went on, she started taking more hits. Her reaction speed had reduced significantly after being hit by the shockwave of the attacks and the exhaustion was starting to show.
"It can only get you this far. In the end, you're still a weak human." The Prince mocked when he saw Alice's state.
Alice wanted to speak, but she decided against it. Presently, she needed all the energy she could use and speaking in such a state took a great deal of strength, one she wasn't willing to waste.
The Prince saw her expression and laughed, he continued attacking, this time, his attack speed was faster. He didn't need to hold back any longer, there was no need for his systematic attacks, now, he could go all out against an already defeated opponent.
Alice kept blocking the attacks coming her way, but she was getting hit more and more. She knew if she took more hits at this rate, she truly might get killed here.
Recalling what Grey told her before leaving, she knew she could not die.
She was in a merged state with her Seelie, yet they were still oppressed by the Seventh Prince and his puppet.
The Seelie soon vanished, making Alice show a weaker front compared to a few minutes ago when she first arrived.
The Prince didn't smile when he saw Alice in such a state, to a certain extent, he felt embarrassed that it took him this long before he could take down such a weak human.
"Your kind should be nothing but slaves and puppets."
"But you, you don't deserve to exist. I originally wanted to turn you into a puppet, but I've decided against it… die…"