While the group was getting nervous about the fog, Liam's mind quickly strategized a plan. When the defensive talismans and items were not included, this fog could actually be used as a good cover for the whole group.
He waited for a couple of seconds to observe if the effects of the small damages were worsening with time. Proving his theory, the damage was actually quite consistent. This fog was clearly set up by someone who was skilled in wind elemental magic. There were wind blades hidden in the fog that cut through once in a while. But there was also something else. A little bit of poison in the air. A weakening or perhaps paralyzing poison. Depending on what it was it might be dangerous to let this go on unchecked for too long.
Liam had no plans of doing that. While he did not drive away the fog immediately, he sent out his minions into the battleground along with the fog. He chose the soul blood beasts for this task because they were much stronger than the others.
More importantly, these beasts could also blend in with the fog and look almost inseparable just like his other soul minions. In this kind of haphazard environment, Liam decided to add his own chaos into the mix and watch the show.
The soul blood minions silently dispersed. Unlike his soul minions, these minions were not at the level where they could act as his eyes and ears but they were still able to relay some information.
The first thing they confirmed was how pervasive the fog was. Surprisingly, the next thing that they confirmed was how everyone in that area was avoiding their group. Apparently, there was a wide berth around them and the other trial takers in the area chose someone else to target rather than their group.
This was probably because it would be more difficult to take out an entire group. However, it was only a matter of time before someone sniffed out the real strength of their group.
The group waited, tense and alert. The moments stretched on, the oppressive silence only broken by the occasional whisper of the wind blades in the fog. Then, just as Liam sensed a shift in the air signaling an approaching enemy, a shadowy figure emerged from the fog, lunging towards the group, more specifically Madan.
Liam was already ready for this as a soul blood minion intercepted the attack and pounced on the attacker. However, the other party was also not done yet. Just as the first attack was blocked, multiple figures appeared, every single one of them proficient in wielding weapons.
The person did not seem to be thrown at all by the presence of the soul blood minion. One additional figure appeared to deal with the extra soul blood minion.
But the next second, more soul blood minions started popping out left and right. Each one of them acted as a tank to the group and took on the damage.
The more figures emerged from the fog, the more soul blood minions appeared to meet them. At a certain point, two soul blood minions started popping for each figure, as they tried to drown out the attacker.
The other party did not give up and was viciously attacking the beasts.
And Liam did not wait around to see who was going to win this crazy war of numbers. He finally made his move. He unsheathed the black dragon sword and slashed down the nearest figure which he assumed was some sort of clone.
The fog worked well to hide most details but it did not look person controlled the fog. He was probably an assassin type fighter simply aiming to take advantage of the fog.
The sword clashed with the dagger which surprisingly was very much corporeal. Moreover, the dagger moved at an extremely fast unpredictable pace, the person clearly talented in fighting with the dagger.
For a moment, Liam found it extremely hard to match with the speed of the attacker. But he quickly used his mana core to flood his pathways and enhanced his agility and dexterity further. Only now he was able to match the attacker.
Liam couldn't help but be amazed by the technique exhibited by the person. He had entered the Spire at the very edge of breaking through to the next rank and his attributes were completely maxed out. Yet this person was able to push him to use his mana enhancement. This showed that he could not underestimate anyone here.
Before things got out of hand, Liam stopped messing around and started to empower each of his attacks with ice elemental dao seed. Each attack from his sword was met by a dagger swing but finally, the attacks could no longer hold out. The shadowy figure was getting pushed back.
With each and every slash, Liam was slowly starting to dominate the exchange. At the same time, more soul blood beasts started popping out and these beasts hurled blood spheres left and right, which rippled with massive damage power.
The fight quickly turned one-sided and the attacker definitely noticed. This was because the next moment, every single shadowy figure in the vicinity all of a sudden disappeared into the dense fog without leaving behind anything.
The fighters disappeared just as fast as they had appeared, leaving everyone completely stunned.
"Intelligent bastard! He knows when to bow out!" Eldrin chuckled nervously, the elf fully dripping in sweat.
Liam also agreed with him. As soon as the person realized that he was out of his comfort zone, he ran away. This was not a bad tactic. He must have targeted them, sensing their collective levels were low and seeing that the truth was far from it, quickly retreated to target someone else.
And if one person made this mistake, then the chances are that many were bound to do the same.
Liam grinned. "This could actually be good for us. Time to start the slaughter."