The whole scene was shocking. The brief look of shock that registered on Vrie''s face was a clear testament to the fact that even she had been taken unawares by the masked man''s new growth.


    But as a seasoned mage who had been tested by battle, Vrie quickly recovered. Like a cobra whose tail had been stepped on, Vrie prepared to strike back with an equally destructive attack.


    But once again, her opponent surprised her. The masked man''s theme seemed to be unpredictability, Vrie realized this with his next attack.


    With the air charged with the unmistakable energy of battle and chaos, Vrie''s vision was tinged with red. So, as she looked on, it was almost as if she was watching in slow motion.


    The most logical thing at that instant was for the masked man to rush at her with his new ability, but instead, Vrie watched with a mixture of horror, disappointment and fear as he rushed towards her students. She clenched her fists as she immediately moved to counter him.


    Praying that she would make it just in time to fend off his attack, Vrie cursed him inwardly;


    "This sicko! What type of demented sycophant attacks defenseless teenagers!!??"


    She was just about to find out.


    Dah''s face twisted in a sick smile when she saw that the enemy had chosen to willfully ignore the super mage that was Vrie and had instead turned on the group. Judging by the look on her face, it was almost as of the ice queen was d that the attacker wasing towards them.


    As Alissa cringed and Zavier remained undecided, the proactive Dah took the initiative as usual. She stretched out her arms as though she was gliding like a bird, then she lifted up her arms towards the sky like she was a shaman about to call down rain.


    Her eyes turned a milky white and immediately, the temperature dropped by at least fifty degrees in less than a second. What followed was simply remarkable.


    Even Zavier was impressed. He finally understood why she had been in such a hurry to attack her enemy surging towards them at lightning speed. Clearly after herst defeat at the hands of Shiranui, Dah had refined her move.


    Even the climate responded to Dah''s cold summons. Thick heavy storm clouds appeared overhead, blotting out the sunpletely.


    Then suddenly, what seemed like heavy hailstones shaped like arrows descended upon the masked man. Almost as if the climate had a mind of its own, angry looking ice prisms honed in on just the masked man from all sides like divine judgment.


    Somewhere in the back, Alissa screamed in awe. Dah merely kept the sick smile stered on the lower part of her face.


    "The masked man is finished…"


    She whispered to herself in a congratting tone.


    The smile on Dah''s face quickly faded as she saw the impossible happen before her eyes. She didn''t even have the time to reprimand herself for presumptuously announcing her victory. The masked man moved like lightning through a storm.


    To Dah, it genuinely seemed like time had slowed down just for him. Somehow, he dodged every single wave of Dah''s lethal ice prisms with a tarrying series of maneuvers.


    In fact, not only had he managed to do that, he had gained a considerable distance on them within the blink of an eye.


    Dah wasn''t quick enough to respond. In less than a nanosecond, the masked man who had been atst ten to fifteen feet away from the group suddenly appeared right outside the barrier.


    Unable to keep up with his movements, Dah and Alissa only knew that the masked man had struck the surface of the golden barrier when a shattering BOOM quaked their little protective space.


    BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!


    The deafening crash came again and again with the unrelenting energy of a predator at the door of its prey. For those inside of the protective barrier, it was no joke at all. To Alissa, it seemed like her whole world was falling apart.


    The very earth on which they all stood re-echoed the urgency of the situation.


    Alissa''s eyes flipped around wildly, hoping to find a little sce in the midst of the ensuing chaos all around her. She nced at Dah, the ice queen clearly still hadn''t gotten over the fact that her ultimate attack hadn''t as much as grazed the madman actively trying to break into their protective barrier. Alissa was too terrified to even cry.


    At that point, the only struggle Alissa was involved in was having to fight back the horrible imaginations running through her mind.


    She fought not to dwell on the unspeakable things the masked man would do if he indeed managed to break through.


    Zavier on the other hand had his eyes fixated on the masked man. With his time-space eye, Zavier was able to detect a new mutation in the masked man''s physiology.


    Right on his left fist, on the very hand he was using to constantly badger the barrier, a hard, cone-shaped bone had formed in top of his fist.


    The impact of this Cone-shaped bone on the barrier gave off a thundering BOOM. Each collision with the boundary sent maddening shock waves through the Barrier, weakening it and causing it the golden glow to dim.


    The earth quaked beneath them.


    Zavier knew that if just one of these attacks were tond on any of them, it would be instant death for them.


    Vrie finally caught up with the masked man. From behind, she shed at him with her golden palm, he didn''t even as much as nce at her, the vicious assant simply sidestepped an avoided her attack without lifting his head in her direction.


    Vrie pressed on her advantage. She kept advancing, trying her possible best to keep as much distance between him and the barrier.


    Vrie was convinced at the time that the reason the masked man had been so fixated on the barrier was that he was using it against her as her weakness.


    But there was just something about the way he had so insanely unrelenting in his attacks on the three students.


    Vrie noted that during that brief period of his attack, his animal-like resilience had been like a fox, fighting to enter a chicken''s roost.


    Clearly he was strong enough to go toe to toe with her but even now, after she had forced him back, he wasn''t attacking her with the ferocity she had been expecting.


    Vrie couldn''t figure out why he was so fixated on going around her. So, she fought to keep him away from the barrier.


    The masked man soon caught on to what Vrie was doing. That was when he snapped. Pale, rock-hard bones began to sprout not just from his fist this time, but from his torso. As they emerged out from his body, they tore through his clothes and rendered his apparel useless.


    His new form was frightening.


    The assant now resembled a human porcupine with pale bones (the color of elephant tusks) sticking out of him like an acupuncture doll model. Vrie knew that he had taken this form because she was in his way of getting to the students.


    This troubled her deeply. But she didn''t have the luxury of being worried, at that moment, just when she thought things couldn''t get worse, the sickening bones sticking out began to shoot out of the assant''s body like a real porcupine.


    Everyone watched the atrocious sight as bones flew out of his body like arrows. The scene was cringe worthy.