"Hold on!" Min directed a concentrated water jet toward Jun, forcing him to retreat while using another stream to heal the cracks in Taro's defense.
Ren dodged Han's first web, noting how the mana had been channeled for the attack even before it was launched.
'The edges,' he thought while jumping aside. 'They're 4 meters from his hip.'
Jun vaulted over Taro with monkey-enhanced agility, attempting to strike at Min. Taro's arm extended just in time, his shell's reinforced surface intercepting the blow while Min counterattacked with a precise water jet to Jun's face. The coordination between defenders and healer had become almost instinctive.
Sora seized the momentary distraction to charge again, her antlers blazing with accumulated power. Taro pivoted to intercept, but the sheer force of impact drove him back several steps, leaving small furrows in the packed earth.
Han had woven an intricate network of hexagons, the nearly invisible threads limiting Ren's movement options. The pattern was beautiful in its complexity, a deadly spider's web catching the afternoon light…
But instead of retreating, Ren advanced.
'The weaving pattern has a rhythm,' his mushrooms pulsed as he analyzed each intersection. 'Three gaps large enough for me between each main connection.'
Ren slid between the web's gaps with serpentine grace. Lin's technique gave him the confidence to approach, but it was his analytical mind that revealed the exact paths through Han's deadly maze.
Han's eyes widened in surprise, he hadn't expected the mushroom boy to enter his trap zone so directly.
Spectators leaned forward, sensing something unprecedented was about to unfold again.
Meanwhile, Taro held Jun at bay, his carapace absorbing blow after enhanced blow while Min alternated between healing his fracturing defense and keeping Sora at distance with precisely aimed water jets. Their teamwork had evolved dramatically since their first training sessions, each movement supporting the others.
Ren surveyed the battlefield with calculating eyes. Han's hexagonal webs reached only hip height, unable to rise higher without anchor points, a limitation of the field he could exploit.
In a forest, Han would have been far more problematic for them.
Han launched another web, trying to snare Ren as he approached. The hexagons gleamed faintly, nearly invisible except for how they distorted light and their mana content. The pattern was mesmerizing but deadly.
Ren moved.
Not backward as Han expected, but sideways. A calculated leap carried him over the low webs, landing perfectly in another gap.
Then he sprang forward to finally close the distance, but...
"Got you!" Han's smile was triumphant as he launched a web directly into Ren's trajectory, mid air.
Time seemed to slow.
He was in trouble, but not trapped. Not yet.
Ren hung suspended in the air, the web approaching with inexorable certainty.
From the stands, several students held their breath. It seemed impossible to dodge in that position. Jin's smile widened knowingly...
"Ren!" Min's cry echoed across the field, but he couldn't help while maintaining Taro's defense.
Sora tried to exploit the opening to charge Min. Her antlers blazed as she rushed forward, but Taro remained vigilant.
In a move that demonstrated how much his initiative had improved since his defeat against Jin – thanks to the hope Ren had given him – Taro grabbed one of Sora's antlers. Using her own charging momentum against her, he spun and hurled her directly into Jun. The impact sent both sprawling.
Ren calculated angles and distances in the split second he had left. The web approached, its hexagons glowing with Han's anticipated victory.
'Now.'
Without Han's support, the combat dynamics shifted dramatically as Ren joined the fray. frёewebnoѵēl.com
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