The assailants said nothing, and Kate wasn't hoping for an answer either. Even if they weren't outsiders, she saw no reason to hold back against those aiming for her life.
"Wind, obey me!"
As soon as Kate made a move to gather the surrounding wind to her palm, the assailants distanced themselves from each other. Perhaps they had intel from the last time she used Storm Impact while on a mission, but they were wrong if they assumed it would be the same spell.
When Kate threw down the vortex she created in her palm, it landed in the center of the assailants and rapidly expanded to cover them within a spinning dome of air.
"Eye of Storm."
The assailants were pulled to the center of the air dome and cut into small pieces by innumerable blades of wind. In a split-second decision, the assailants used spells and mental control to organise themselves into three lines and supported those at the front to limit the number of them that died at a time. Thanks to this choice, they were all able to survive with most of their members intact, but Kate found it strange that they were able to take such a practical but cruel path so easily.
'Do they not value their own lives? Not that I'm in a position to ask that, but still.'
Kate prepared to cast her next spell, and at the same time, the assailants switched to offense. They attacked her all at once, but Kate repelled their efforts with a burst of wind. The wind carried dirt and debris from the ground that concealed her figure, and once it settled, she was no longer at her previous position. However, she didn't put much effort into concealing her presence, so the assailants quickly found her pouncing at them from above.
A few spells targeted her, but another burst of wind helped her accelerate out of the spells' ranges and into the midst of the assailants. These people had no hesitation in causing friendly fire and quickly shifted their positions so that one group could hold her down while the other group attacked from afar. Their decisiveness was impressive, but their actions had little effect on Kate's course of action as she planned to crush them with brute force regardless.
Kate wrapped her hands in sharp winds to form claws and swiped at the enemy in front of her. Like glass their barrier shattered, and the claws tore into their flesh, exposing bones and internal organs. It must be known that all of the assailants were at the early Earth Realm just like Kate, but her simple moves infused with her insights from the Heavenly Wind Spell were enough to disregard their defences.
After kicking away the maimed man, Kate saw an incoming barrage of spells, which she dispersed by expanding her wind claw and using it to slam the spells and the nearby assailants into the ground. Kate continued to rip her enemies to shreds while defeating their attacks head-on like a powerful beast. Despite their coordination and fearless movements, Kate reduced them to corpses and soon-to-be corpses before an hour had passed since the start of their battle.
"Hmph, you'll need a lot more than that if you want to take me down."
They were weaker than she expected, but Kate was proud of her victory. Unfortunately, before she had the chance to check the identities of her attackers, she discovered a new wave approaching.
"What?! One group is one thing, but how did they manage to sneak in so many outsiders?"
The strength of this incoming group wasn't much different from the group she had just defeated, but something about this arrangement stank, so Kate chose to leave instead of engaging them. To prevent another ambush, she expanded the range of her senses as she made her escape. Thanks to her vigilance, she was able to detect a different wave coming in the direction she was headed in and another one coming from her left.
'So that's their plan.'
It was obvious that their client wanted to bury her under a large number of pawns. Perhaps she could fight all of their forces and still come out victorious, but leaving unscathed would be very difficult, and she didn't want to be at a disadvantage when she faced Mater. Furthermore, after a bit of post-battle reflection, Kate realised that her opponents weren't used to their powers to an extent that would be impossible if they had cultivated normally. This meant that they had gained their current cultivation through illegitimate means. She wasn't sure about the method, but considering how little they cared for their own lives, it was to be very difficult or expensive.
'It's a shame, but it's time to ask for help.'
If this was Kate from a year ago, then she would have tried to solve this by herself. However, after reuniting with Shui and interacting more with her fellow core disciples, Kate had started to open up. The communication function of their coats was limited inside the Spirit Nest, so Kate used one of Shui's 'Alert' talismans. She could sense the energy inside the talisman rise into the sky and move off somewhere, but she couldn't trace it after that. Now she just had to wait for Shui to notice it and find his way here.
While 'Alarm' broadcasted a signal, 'Alert' only affected the pair talisman that was synchronised with it. The moment Kate used her 'Alert' talisman, the pair talisman in Shui's possession burst into flames and then formed an arrow of light pointing to the east. He always kept the pair talismans outside his storage space, so he noticed it immediately despite meditating on a tree branch.
"Kate!"
To understand her situation, Shui first used his Sage God Eyes to check on the line of fate connecting him to Kate. As soon as he confirmed that she wasn't in any immediate danger, he breathed a sigh of relief and jumped off the tree branch.
"What's wrong?"
He didn't know when she left his pocket, but Miss Spirit had taken a seat on his shoulder. Since he didn't have the leisure for banter, Shui summarised the situation in a few words.
"I have a friend who's in trouble, so I'm going to save them."
"Oh, in that case, allow me to lend a hand."
Before he had the chance to ask what she meant, Shui felt his body engulfed in a powerful heat that threatened to override his mental stability. However, this heat didn't bring much pain; instead, it was as if the heat transformed into energy that helped him move his legs faster without any growing fatigue. He wanted to question the red spirit about this strange state he found himself in, but he didn't find a chance because of what a struggle it took to stop himself from running off into a detour. Even without this enhancement, Shui could move faster than the mortal eye could see, so if nothing else, he wouldn't have to worry about any of the monitoring spirits noticing him.