A brownish glow surrounded the man. At the same time this appeared, the ice dome shattered, and the sword came crashing down on the man.

The man clasped his outstretched hands and a large earth hand sprouted out from the ground, and clasped the sword, keeping it in one place. The sword didn't move another inch.

The sword was stopped a few inches away from the man's head. If he didn't act quickly, he would've been killed by this attack. This wasn't something his body could take and survive.

The man looked at Alice and smiled, the next thing that happened was the appearance of a figure that looked like a summon. An earth golem climbed out of the ground, while still keeping a hold of the sword.

Alice's expression showed shock, she murmured to herself, "A summoner."

Even though the man was not on the same level as Reynolds when it came to the power of his summon, it still doesn't change the fact that he was a summoner. Given his strength, the golem would have the same strength or even higher power than the man.

Alice was already finding it difficult to fight on equal footing with the man, if this golem was added to the mix, her situation would rapidly deteriorate.

'Am I going to retreat again?'

She genuinely started to have thoughts of retreating. Yes, she wanted to fight this man, and win, but not at the cost of her life. She came here with the conviction of defeating the man no matter what happens, but now, she wasn't too sure that would be possible. A summoner of the man's level was just a freakish entity.

The man saw the change in Alice's eyes and laughed, "You thought I was going all out then?"

Alice didn't respond to his words, she gritted her teeth and came to a decision, she would attempt to fight the man, and only when she knows there's no hope of defeating him will she resort to escaping. Given all she had on her, she was confident in leaving this place with her life.

Of course, this was only if she finds out there's no way for her to defeat the man. If there's even the slightest sign of her being able to achieve this, she will try to make it happen.

She made the first move, using her speed to her advantage. The golem might be strong, but due to being made from rocks and its size, it was very slow. Since that's the case, Alice wanted to use her superior agility to take it down.

The sword that was still in the hands of the golem dissipated and reappeared behind Alice. It changed shapes and turned into a spear.

The spear struck towards the man, and the golem naturally stepped forward to block the attack, but something unexpected happened. The spear, like a rope, twisted and evaded the golem's stretched hand and headed for the man.

The man didn't expect something like this to happen, so when the attack came his way, he was taken aback. But reacted quickly, using his ice ability to block the spear. The ice wall was only able to block the spear for a second, but that was all the man needed.

The golem turned around and grabbed the back of the spear, but it once again dissipated, appearing close to Alice who was standing close to the man. She attacked with her lightning element.

The lightning bolt was blocked by the man.

Alice's eyes showed excitement, from the looks of things, summoning the golem actually put the man at a disadvantage. The man would have to minimize his essence consumption due to having to transfer a large amount into the body of the golem to keep it active. This meant that he wouldn't be heavily involved in the battle.

Reynolds was a special case in battles like these since he could fight with the Elemental Warrior fully active. It seems in his case, his Elemental Warrior doesn't expend too much of his essence energy.

Alice didn't have any time to think about Reynolds and his Elemental Warrior, and opportunity just presented itself before her, and she wanted to make full use of it. Since the man brought out the golem, the tide of the battle had switched.

The man noticed this, but he didn't take back his summon, rather, he squinted his eyes and joined in on the attacks as well. Since this was the case, there was no point in not attacking.

Alice was forced to retreat some distance away due to the man's involvement in the attacks now. She couldn't get too close, hence if she were delayed by the man, a single strike from the golem is all it would take for her to lose her ability to fight back.

"You're proving to be stronger than you look." The man's expression was serious now.

Alice was panting from the continuous dodgings, but she was still in peak condition for a prolonged battle. She soon caught her breath and stood still to look at the man and his golem.

The golem stood in close proximity to the man, making it impossible for any of Alice's attacks to touch the man. The golem could not only attack, but its defensive capabilities were far more superior to the man's own. This was one of the reasons the man brought it out in the first place.

The man looked at Alice and took the initiative this time, he struck out. The golem held a large hammer that it used to attack as well.

Alice dodged all attacks coming her way, especially the ones from the golem. But she soon realized something, her movements were slowing down. She wasn't as fast as she usually was.

'What's happening?' She panicked internally.

She soon recalled an ability Grey possessed, and it had to do with his earth element.

'Don't tell me he can do it too.' She felt her heart sink.