Zack waved his hand to dismiss the screen, his jaw clenched. He knew it was his fault, but he would never admit it.
"It's not that big of a deal. Plus, he won't be up there for long. The essence is managing his fatigue, but his body can't cope with a lack of sleep or rest for too long."
He calmed down with his reasoning. One couldn't even describe his joy when he saw Skyler's dagger shatter into pieces as he tried to pierce the lizard skin with it. Not just him, but many in the crowd stood up, cracking their knuckles with eerie smiles.
Murmurs filled the air.
"Aha, guys, he has no choice but to come down now! No way he can take on a 3-star lizard that can manipulate three elements without a weapon, especially since we all saw he has no skills or spells!"
"Come on, little brother, just come down! We promise we won't hurt you!"
"Yeah, we're good senior brothers and sisters. Just come down!"
Mila and Oreon stood and assessed the situation. Many individuals from different races surrounded Skyler's stage, and it was clear their intentions weren't pure. They looked at Zack, and Mila whispered.
"Should we help him?"
Zack stopped them, pressing his lips together to suppress a smirk. He was itching to see Skyler take a few hits.
"He brought this on himself. If we interfere, the crowd will get even more volatile with so many backing him. We can't take on that many people. Let him take a small beating, then we can pull him away and give him some healing water. That's all we can do."
Mila and Oreon glanced at each other. They felt guilty for not helping Skyler, even if they only knew him briefly, but Zack was right.
Over twenty individuals surrounded Skyler's stage, and they couldn't take on that many.
Austin stood up and maneuvered through the crowd to get closer to the stage.
This time, Elena followed him.
The crowd watched as Skyler was hurled away by the lizard's tail; however, he wasn't thrown off the stage. Instead, he crashed into the transparent shield surrounding it, as according to the rules, he could only leave the stage if he admitted defeat.
Skyler spat out blood from the impact. His vision spun slightly, but he used his Evol to heal whatever injuries he could and sprang to his feet to evade another attack. Austin's familiar voice came from the side.
"Don't be stubborn. Come down. You can't fight any longer. I'll give you something that can heal your injuries and ensure that no one in the crowd touches you."
His declaration angered many, but their eyes remained fixed on the stage, as their top priority was to climb it! The rest could deal with the human! If they couldn't climb, they wouldn't get another chance easily.
Skyler finally regarded Austin with a smile, but his blue eyes were cold as he dodged another thunderbolt aimed at him.
"If you are so generous... why not toss your javelin onto the stage for me to use so I can fight and survive a little longer?"
Austin scoffed and rolled his eyes. Why would he do that? He wanted to climb the stage Sky occupied like everyone else. Not just him—Elena wanted to fight for it too! What was wrong with Sky? Couldn't he see his condition? Why was he so stubborn?
"I'm not going to. Just come down. Give everyone else a chance to use the stage as well. We can take turns, and you can climb a stage again when you're healed."
Skyler chuckled at his words.
"What a nice joke. Like I would believe you. If I hadn't climbed this stage earlier with my strength, I know I could have never!"
They were all the same. If one of them would just hand him his weapon, he could keep fighting for a while longer.
But none did. He hadn't even been on this stage for a whole day, and they were eager to hack him into pieces. They made it seem like he was robbing their opportunity when this opportunity was clearly meant to be first-come, first-served for everyone!
Still... would he have acted like them if he were in their shoes? No, he knew he would have done even worse!
"Haha..."
Seeing him laugh, everyone around him frowned. Had he gone crazy? But if those who played online games with Skyler in the past heard this laugh, they would have run away without a second thought.
It was an eerily familiar laugh that always echoed before his teammates 'accidentally died' in the games he played.
Suddenly, Skyler enveloped his fist with the remaining Evol in his elemental crystal and rushed toward the lizard before him.
He took a direct hit from a ball made of darkness element to his shoulder, but that gave him the opening to punch the lizard.
The monster cried out loudly, but another punch landed on its scaly body.
Skyler was flung back again, but he wiped the blood off his face, a smile in his eyes, and charged once more. His determination successfully silenced the crowd around him as they watched him solemnly.
"Does he have a screw loose?"
Zack muttered, rubbing his head.