Every one of them stopped in their tracks the moment her body slowly fell to the ground. They could not even tell whether she was still or not let alone how or when Hao Xuan had attacked.
Arthur's gaze had not left Hao Xuan from the beginning but he caught what happened. The movement was so quick that it was blur even to his eyes.
He squinted hard but all he or anyone else for that matter could see was a faint outline of Hao Xuan's figure against the light in the background. It was not enough to see his exact appearance, only the posture.
In the back Olav and Gamil who were the closest to the stairs slowly made their move and tried to get back. Malina and Leona were both on the other side of the hall so they didn't even bother.
Their eyes were locked onto Hao Xuan's figure that was almost half a meter taller than before. Faint cracking and popping sounds came from his direction which Arthur accurately guessed was caused by his bones and joints expanding.