A block of metal shaped like a cube plunged down toward the ruined building. From afar, it looked like a bolt of lightning.
Phelion watched the massive object rushing toward him the way a fisherman watches a school of fish.
Crack. CRACK.
He clenched a metal rod that looked like a crowbar and slammed it hard into the cube. It instantly changed direction and shot straight toward Promet.
Promet relaxed his body, then accelerated forward, surging straight at the gigantic cube streaking through the air like lightning.
Snap.
The sound of a finger snapping echoed through the deafening space.
Steam burst out from Promet's body, blanketing the surroundings in thick mist.
Snap.
Another finger snap rang out, and bolts of lightning shot out from within the fog, aiming straight at Phelion.
Phelion used his mana to form a tiny black dot in the center of his palm. The lightning bolts were rapidly drawn in and compressed into that same black point.
He raised his palm high, bracing against the cube falling from the sky, the very one he had just thrown at Promet.
The area around them exploded, forming a powerful electromagnetic field. From within the mist, Promet hurled a stone toward Phelion.
Thud.
The stone struck the ground, but immediately began emitting an intense, freezing chill, rapidly turning the surroundings into ice pellets.
This was the eye of the storm. The moisture content in the air was extremely high, and it could be frozen at any moment.
Bucky, standing high above, raised his massive arms and pulled downward.
One by one, the enormous cube supporting the three of them collapsed inward, shrinking down to a single point.
Phelion was continuously confined as metal cubes rained down around him, while the other two began to move.
Crack, crack.
The cube's structural fragments began to break apart. It fractured, shattered, and all the broken metal blocks crashed down onto Phelion.
That was because the terrifying cold had now been converted into an equally terrifying heat, enough to kill an ordinary person in a single second.
There was no stillness within the storm. No stillness among matter in constant flux. A hostile environment. No other humans were here.
'They know they can't defeat me, so they're deliberately stalling?'
To capture me, they even let a Leviathan swallow all three of us and fought inside its mouth.
When Phelion went looking for Wellay, he had already been swallowed by a colossal Leviathan.
Phelion caught a glimpse of faint light in the distance. Up until now, they had been fighting inside the mouth of a Leviathan, one that Promet had defeated and bound by contract.
And now, they had succeeded in temporarily restraining him.
…
The One-Eyed Imposter was a special item.
No, perhaps it was not that special.
Because it only possessed a single function.
To transform into a bird and share its vision.
Yet it was the most impressive of all, because information itself was the ultimate form of power.
"Is everything ready?"
I asked the others, who were arranging the "gifts" I had painstakingly prepared.
What I had set up was not just an ordinary location. It was a monster's nest, in the most literal sense.
And this eagle-shaped companion would be what I used to observe and formulate our plans.
I thought so as I reached out and gently stroked the wooden bird's head.
"I think it's ready."
Janeus spoke with visible discomfort. She clearly disliked the air here, having wrapped at least four layers of cloth around her nose.
"Do not worry, my lady. We guarantee the mission will be completed immediately. Three. Two. One."
Boom!!
Numerous hands surged upward from deep beneath the underground temple, smashing stone pillars and clutching onto the tattered cloth bindings.
They were grotesque, adorned with flowers made of human teeth. Their fingertips were soft, segmented, writhing like worms.
Stitches crisscrossed their length. Long scars and burn marks stretched from the palms to the edges of their arms.
Veins along the arms revealed massive rat teeth, stained yellow-brown, the color of human filth.
Those arms inspired horror and revulsion, yet also evoked an indescribable sorrow, a suffocating sadness, something disturbingly mundane and tragic at the same time.
"Disgusting!"
Janeus hurriedly covered her eyes and nose. I pulled out an umbrella to shield myself from the scene of human waste splattering everywhere.
"Good thing those people aren't here."
I was referring to the others assigned to different tasks, though I was also hoping Janeus would be fine. If something happened to her, I would be truly dead.
"Do not worry, Princess. They won't harm us—"
Fuu~
Before I could finish, the sound of a flute echoed out, and a hazy figure wandered through the silent darkness.
"Himel."
I spoke his name, only to receive another flute note in reply.
I turned and reminded Janeus, who was hiding behind me.
"That is Himel, the ghost of this city. He is also the one who has always helped us."
I stood watching as the figure approached, and then the being opened its mouth.
Dry lips. A filthy, grotesque face. A sharp, icy eye. A twisted, deformed body that inspired terror and unquestioning submission.
Yet its voice was gentle, like the wind.
"Do not fear these girls, one of royal blood. Is this not what you have been secretly seeking?"