198 Movement from all Parties

A bright light lit up far away in the distance, one that though incomparable to a mushroom cloud, was quite devastating. A slight vibration was even felt inside of the distant City of Hope before vanishing. Many wouldn't even notice it, but as all humans were Evolvers, they each showed dark looks on their faces as they turned and faced the direction the lights had shone.

In a few seconds, the lights vanished and everything returned to normal, but despite this, everyone had a dark feeling in their hearts.

Joe, who had finished his battles, looked at this in shock. However, far away from the scene at the Cramerton residence within a fleet of military class aircraft that flew towards the location of the hidden lair.

Layla, Breya, and Emilia, along with Milon, Wilma, and the slightly pale-faced Vernisa, looked at the scene with wide eyes. They knew of the plan beforehand, which was to destroy the base and flush out the stragglers.

However, that was only supposed to be done once they had arrived and were in position, right now, they were roughly two minutes off from the location.

"What happened? Why did he use it so soon?" Breya said in a strange tone; her eyes had a confused look.

"I don't know, but we have to hurry, there might be an unforeseen circum..." Layla was about to say something, but right at this time, her words came to a halt as she suddenly looked at the space before her in shock.

Breya and Emilia also did the same, causing Milon and the others to look at them with a hint of oddness as a screen popped up with unusual details.

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[R-R-Rift Quest Updated! New Threat Added!]

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As they were alarmed by this change, they couldn't even find the right words to express their shock. Milon and the others were puzzled, but as they didn't have the time to question them, they didn't pursue it.

Milon pointed forward and commanded, "Forwards at full speed! We must hurry an aid, Sir Evan!"

"Yes sir!" The others said as the fleet pressed onwards, soaring through the sky at high speeds.

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Unlike air fleet moving towards the secret lair, or even Leo's party that had finished their fierce struggle against an overwhelming foe. Rick was currently engaged in a similar struggle against Pira; they blurred about the air like flashes of lights as Rick used his [Holy Spear Light Skill] to break apart all projectiles launched at him.

As this happened, the two would then engage in close combat clashing against each other in a back and forth manner, but as both were evenly matched, their battle turned into a stalemate.

Bang! A loud explosion sounded in the distance, as both Rick and Pira fell back by a few meters after a shockwave spread across the air.

'This damn bitch, why is she so strong?' Rick cursed as it seemed that he had the bad luck, he got matched up with an opponent who was precisely as strong as himself.

Pira also didn't like it; she stared at Rick while in thought, 'This human is dangerous... his strength has already passed the levels of those city leaders, I... I must pass this news back to the Master; we've greatly under...'

Pira was about to think something, but as if not only her but Rick noticed something, they shifted their eyes towards the same direction behind them as a bright light flashed followed by a shockwave.

Swoosh! The power behind the wave-tossed a myriad of rocks and even trees towards the distance, one massive boulder also bolted towards Pira at alarming speeds.

'An explosion! What happened to the hideout?' Pira thought in alarm; she hurriedly moved her body by blurring as she swiftly avoided the danger that destroyed the previous tree.

However, Rick pushed away his shock at the scene behind them as his eyes flashed when he thought, 'Now's my chance!'

Instantly, Rick activated his Second Step talent, boosting his speed as he blurred and quickly appeared behind Pira, not wasting a second, he stabbed spear towards her fiercely.

Pira was a bit distracted by the explosion, she wanted to hurry back to the base to see the disturbance, but she felt a surge of death came over her right at this time.

'Oh-no! This darn human!' Pira said inwardly in alarm, she mustered all her available power and pointed at Rick as she invoked her ability, 'Psychic Illusion!'

The moment her words sounded in her mind, Rick's spear stabbed through her body, as he didn't even hesitate to invoke his Holy Spear Light skill despite her being strung atop of his spear,

His body blurred as he pushed her skewered form into the ground, as his spear glowed in bright lights. Soon after, an explosion of white lights formed before fading as a cloud of dust rose into the air.

Time passed, and the cloud of dust faded revealing the sights within it. Rick now stood with the tip of his spear pressed against the wide crater that formed around his body. However, other than this sight, Pira was nowhere to be seen. 

Rick frowned as he pulled out his spear from the earth, causing a few rocks to fly into the air as he rested the spear against his shoulder. His eyes now had a look of anger as he thought while looking in the night sky, 'Shit, to think that just now was an illusion... how troublesome...'

When Rick finished his thoughts, his eyes shifted towards the distance where the explosion had occurred. His face had a solemn look as he spoke, "Evan should have already launched an assault along with those from the city, but that explosion was far too soon... I need to hurry and see what's changed."

As Rick's thoughts ran to here, his body blurred as he vanished towards the direction of the explosion, moving through the rough terrain at high speeds as he faded from this area. Still, unaware to Rick himself, the area which he just left suddenly started to ripple as Pira had appeared from a sector of the crater.

She had one handheld onto the side of her stomach as blood leaked from it; even her mouth was filled with blood as if she had suffered a grievous wound.

"Bastard... he still managed to stab me even when I disrupted his perception, it's a good thing that he thought I had escaped..." Pira said as she coughed a few times.

Not long after, her eyes turn stern as she looked at the direction of the secret lair, her eyes had a look of worry as she was about to head over, but suddenly, a device on her wrist vibrated causing her face to change.

"Understood Master," Pira said as if talking to someone, she then stared at the lair's location again before a smile crept onto her face as she slowly began to fade away into another illusion.

The scene here finally ending, as now, all eyes were trained towards the hidden lair were a startling devastation had unfolded.