Bai Qi felt his body pause as a layer of psychic power enveloped him. He tilted his head and saw Megan not far away, her eyes glowing green.
"Impressive mental strength, a pity, too inexperienced."
The next moment, an even more powerful psychic force like a hurricane struck Megan, knocking her flying with immense force.
That wasn't all. After Megan fell, Bai Qi casually cast a fire-elemental spell. A cage of fire descended from the sky, trapping her within.
Under the scorching flames, Megan instantly wilted. Beads of sweat rained down, and in less than a minute, she fell into a coma.
"Megan!"
Seeing Megan fall unconscious, Kaldr, who had been looking for an opportunity, could wait no longer. He drew the hilts of two swords from his back, activated the magical runes on his body, and two water blades converged on the hilts. He quickly ran towards Megan, crossing his swords to form a two-meter-long water whip, which he lashed at the cage of fire.
"Basha's magic is as annoying as ever."
Looking at the magic Kaldr unleashed, Bai Qi's face showed undisguised disgust.
Kaldr's magic was clearly not mastered. At best, he had only recently begun to learn it. His application of magic was merely to condense water into various weapons, extremely crude.
As a result, Bai Qi merely interfered slightly, disrupting the magical energy conduction of the runes on Kaldr's body, causing the water whip in his hand to dissipate instantly.
Just as Kaldr reached the cage of fire, Bai Qi teleported behind him and kicked him in the backside, sending him directly into the fire cage to join Megan.
Incidentally, Atlanteans, due to their long-term habitation in saltwater, had a body's tolerance for heat, while not as fragile as Martians, was still far below the normal standard of land-dwelling humans. Prolonged exposure to high temperatures could also further weaken their strength.
As the Young Titans were defeated one by one by Bai Qi, Wally, who had been knocked out first, staggered to his feet, rubbing his head. Seeing the situation before him, Wally made a decisive move, grabbing the closest Robin and quickly retreating from the battlefield.
He only put Robin down after they had run a considerable distance.
"What are you doing?! We can't abandon our comrades!"
"We can't beat him, he's too strong. Continuing to fight will only lead to our annihilation!"
Robin, who was usually the most rational, was now furious. Yet, Wally, the most emotional of the team, had a remarkably clear head at this moment, pinpointing their current predicament.
Robin's mind was filled with the urge to go back and save their friends, and he didn't hear a single word Wally said.
"We can only wait for an opportunity to rescue the others. If we're captured too, there will be no hope at all."
"Wait? Do we have time to wait? Didn't you see how they treated those innocent villagers? Do you want Kaldr and the others to end up like that too?"
"No, that can't be."
Robin's words made Wally uneasy.
"Why not? Perhaps Superboy wouldn't, but what about Kaldr and Megan? They don't have invulnerable steel bodies."
With that, Robin dropped Wally and ran alone towards the direction of the village.
However, Robin did not rashly attempt a rescue. Forcing himself to calm down, Robin stopped and stood in place. He recalled the fear he had just experienced and sighed helplessly. He raised his hand to stop Wally, who was catching up.
"I was rash," Robin said. "We can't charge in recklessly, or not only will we fail to save them, but we'll also be in grave danger."
Wally, standing beside him, said, "If you ask me, we can notify the Alliance. There's no one on this Earth that Superman can't handle."
Robin shook his head and said, "No, the barrier has cut off all means of communication with the outside world. And, have you forgotten how we got in?"
Robin and his team's entry through the barrier was largely a matter of luck.
Originally, the barrier blocked all outsiders. When Robin and the others arrived, Old Man happened to have just finished clearing and mixing the chaotic energy, opening a small gap in the barrier. Robin and his group happened to arrive at that exact moment.
And to avoid being discovered by S.H.I.E.L.D. and others, Wally specifically used his speed advantage, cooperating with Robin to create a small disturbance at the entrance. Then, the group mixed in amidst the chaos.
"We can leave first. My speed will get me to the entrance in no time. Once we're out, I can contact the Alliance."
Seeing Robin's silence, Wally quickly added, "Listen, Robin, the two of us are no match for that mysterious man, let alone that woman with the axe. We have no chance of winning."
"No, we do."
Robin looked up abruptly as if a thought had struck him. "Besides, we don't need to go head-to-head with those two at all."
"You mean..."
"Did you notice, the limbs on those villagers are all new? They're not used to them yet, which is why they walk so unsteadily. But those two fighting us are moving with agility, which means..."
Before Robin could finish, Wally interjected, "It means theirs are original, and it's those villagers who truly need to steal others' limbs. We don't need to confront those two directly."
"Exactly. When they make their move, it will be when they are most relaxed. We only need to take down those villagers, rescue the people, and escape immediately."
The two spoke in tandem, quickly formulating their rescue plan.
As they stealthily returned to the village, intending to scout the situation first and await an opportunity to act.
It was shocking. The moment they looked, both were stunned.
The cage containing Megan and Kaldr was placed conspicuously in the center of the village, with two soldiers holding long swords standing guard. As for Superboy, Conner, he was sitting by the cage, as if his mind had been controlled by magic, his eyes vacant, staring blankly ahead.
Robin and Wally's first reaction was that it was a trap, that the opponent had deliberately placed the three in plain sight, waiting to ambush them when they went to rescue them.
But then they thought it was strange. With the strength of the two opponents, they could completely overwhelm Robin and Wally. There was no need for such a cunning ploy.
However, to be safe, they didn't rush to rescue them. They cautiously observed the surroundings. The result made them dumbfounded: there seemed to be no ambush at all.
Wally pouted in dissatisfaction. "They don't take us seriously at all."
As soon as Wally finished speaking, Robin slapped the back of his head.
"Are you stupid? Do you think we're making a movie? A king's return? Get to work quickly, follow the plan."
With that, Robin retreated and quickly disappeared into the darkness. As for Wally, he put on his goggles, ready to sprint.