"It's him, right?" The young lady with long crimson hair asked, staring intently at the Phantom, who was fighting against the Six-Winged Iron Stingray.
Her eyes were cold, she possessed sharp facial features exuding seriousness and elegance.
"Yeah... It's definitely him." A man with mussed black hair and pale skin smirked. Unlike the girl who stood atop the ruins, looking out over Salt Village, he was relaxed, leaning against the wall nearby, only occasionally casting a glance at Adam.
He had a dark sleep mask that he decided to lift, looking up at his leader.
"Hey, Tirana, you know we don't have to kill him, right? I understand that you want to avenge your sister, but..."
Whoooooosh.
Before he could finish, Tirana's right foot, like a blade, headed towards him, but... the man didn't even bother to dodge.
He just looked up, at Tirana's foot thrust into the wall directly above his head.
"As always, unable to contain your emotions. I guess that'll never get better." The man shrugged nonchalantly, he had clearly gotten used to such antics.
"Tsk. Olax, this isn't about my emotions. That bastard killed my sister!" Tirana spoke out through gritted teeth and clenched her fists tightly.
Olax glared at her.
"You and I both saw that battle filmed with her NEP, Mirna is responsible for her loss herself."
Tirana frowned but didn't bother to reply to anything. Yeah, Tirana was Mirna's blood sister, it wasn't surprising considering they looked pretty much alike, and oddly enough, they had both become Phantoms.
Was it luck, or was there a special reason present...?
Tirana turned around, looking at the several K1-Phantoms on the first floor of the ruins. They were all part of the squad and had only come here for one purpose - to capture Adam.
"Anyway, I'll complete our mission and won't kill him, but don't you dare stop me when I break his bones. No one said anything about that, did they?" Tirana asked calmly, as if she were talking about something casual.
Olax waved his hand, returning the sleep mask to its place.
"Do as you see fit. After all, you're the one in charge here."
Because of the distance between them, Iron Stingray only needed to move slightly for the ray to travel dozens of meters on the ground.
Even racing at the limit of his abilities, Adam was running out of time. Every fraction of a second, the lightning ray shortened the distance, inevitably closing in on him.
Ahead, Adam could see several salt rocks, large enough to hide behind, but... that was clearly impossible in his situation.
'Tsk. Even if it was Phantom's ability, there's no way to defend against that ray. I just need to wait for that bastard to run out of energy. I need to break the distance somehow!'
The lightning ray was already so close that the salt crystals flying from the ground hit him in the back. It didn't damage him, but it was an indication that the death ray was close.
Then, Adam realized that he could use the rocks in front of him, not to hide behind them, but to get closer to them!
Whoooooooosh.
Without hesitation, Adam threw the needle forward, which easily pierced the rock and stuck into the ground.
"Fine, I hope you're sturdy enough!" Adam gritted his teeth, pulling at the connecting thread with all his might.
His plan worked - he was able to pull himself to the rock as if using a hook, quickly moving away from the ray that a moment later burned through the spot where he had just been.
Bam.
Adam sliced into the rock, jumped on it, and bounced away as far as he could, realizing that Iron Stingray's energy was running out.
The lightning ray reached the rock, burning through it like a laser, but failing to reach Adam, it stopped. The ray quickly became thin and weak, and the energy flow was unstable until it shut down completely.
Iron Stingray tried to launch the ray again, but only electrical sparks appeared at its jaw, unable to become anything more.
The monster needed some time to regenerate its energy, even Essence Type had a limit to it.
Adam looked around, staring intently at the dark trail left by the lightning ray - it was completely black, the ray had burned everything in its path, and the same thing would happen to Adam.
"Damn, Elemental Root is a good way to increase defense, but against something like this, it wouldn't help me. Anyway, it's my turn now. You're not capable of anything right now, are you?"
Adam was spinning his needle, about to cut off Iron Stingray some more wings. He realized that once Iron Stingray - a creature without legs and arms, would be on the ground, the outcome of their fight would be predetermined.