Rope's long spear came crashing down, but Halley remained calm, quickly retracting the ribbon in her hand and forming it into a shield in front of her.
Rope's spear struck the shield, pressing it downward significantly, but it did not achieve any better results. Rope furrowed his brow, realizing that this shield was not the typical hard shield that appeared under normal circumstances, but rather one with considerable elasticity.
Such a shield, if nothing unexpected happened…
Sure enough, the spot where Rope landed began to sink downward, tightly wrapping around Rope's gun. Two ribbons were hanging from the back of the shield, poking toward Rope.
Rope didn't think the ribbons extending toward him were as soft as the shield.
So he let go without hesitation and stepped back.
Unable to gauge the strength of the opponent's attack, and even if he could, he wouldn't know whether the opponent was using multiple forces, feigning an attack, or attacking with full force, so the best course of action was still to avoid being hit.
Rope retreated decisively. The long gun seemed to have been abandoned by Rope, gradually being consumed by the streamers.
However, before Halley could celebrate having disarmed the opponent, a ball of crimson flame began to burn within his ribbon.
Halley's smile vanished instantly, though he didn't seem overly surprised. He simply let the ribbon wrap around itself. Moments later, the flame was extinguished.
At that moment, Rope flicked his right hand downward, and a long sword appeared in his hand.
When it came to dealing with ribbons, Rope felt that a spear wasn't as effective as a long sword.
However, Rope didn't think his instincts were always accurate. After all, his practical combat experience was quite limited.
As for theory, Rope hadn't studied it seriously either. Combat ultimately depended on one's own abilities. Generally, people only had one type of weapon in their hands. Therefore, the theoretical notion of which weapons were better suited for certain types of combat didn't hold much meaning.
Rope swung his long sword through the air, sending two flames of steel toward Halley. Halley remained unfazed, using her ribbon to extinguish the two flames.
Halley looked at the flames in Rope's hands and shook his head silently. Rope's equipment was simply too poor.
No, to be precise, Rope didn't have any so-called equipment at all.
His long spear, long sword, and fire wings are all made of his own flames, rather than actual weapons. However, Halley's ribbon is a real weapon. Although it is not very high-level, it is definitely not the kind of weapon that would be embarrassing to take out.
Having the advantage in weapons, even if Rope's combat strength was slightly stronger than his own, he could not pose a threat to him.
Surely Rope wasn't still holding back in this situation?
Rope looked at Halley across from him, especially at the ribbon on her body that could lengthen or shorten, soften or harden, and couldn't help but furrow his brows.
He had never really taken weapons seriously before. After all, he had never needed weapons to fight Katsuhisa. Using weapons against Pokémon felt a bit like cheating.
He never expected a weapon to have such an effect.
However, Rope wasn't the type of person who couldn't fight without a weapon.
And besides, who said he didn't have a weapon?
Rope's lips curled into a faint smile as he pulled a burning fireball from his waist and summoned a flaming longbow into his hands. He opened his hand holding the fireball, and the flames swirled around it, instantly transforming into an arrow.
Halley saw the situation was dire and immediately drove the ribbon in his hands toward Rope.
Halley herself chose to retreat. A mist began to emanate from her body, quickly thickening to the point where the human form within was no longer visible. The mist's range was not small.
Rope remained completely unfazed, calmly firing the arrow in his hand into the black mist. The longbow then dissipated and transformed into a longsword, effortlessly deflecting the ribbon as it flickered like a serpent's tongue.
With the flapping of his fiery wings behind him, Rope once again charged toward the black mist.
Halley, who was still within the black mist, had no idea what was happening on Rope's side.
The rocket quickly dissipated into the black mist after entering it.
However, the rocket was of high quality, and although it was under control and wouldn't cause any additional damage, Halley knew that he wouldn't be able to deal with it anytime soon.
"Sure enough, the Sun Flame is much stronger than the Undersea Mist. But it's a good thing it's Undersea Mist. If it were Undersea Flower, it would be even harder to deal with."
After this thought flashed through his mind, Halley shook his head with a wry smile.
Was he still thinking about such good fortune?
Undersea Flower? He was already lucky to have gotten his hands on the Undersea Mist. His boss was generous.
Rope's luck wasn't something everyone could have. Halley was well aware that every gift from others came with a price tag.
But being used by others also required qualifications...
Just as Halley's attention was diverted for an instant, the rocket that was being melted away suddenly exploded, scattering a large patch of black mist.
Halley even saw Rope's face through the scattered black mist. And in the instant the black mist was scattered, Rope accelerated toward Halley.
Halley quickly re-condensed the black mist and began to move within it.
She knew she couldn't win against Rope this way. Because delaying tactics don't mean much to someone whose core system is based on power seeds.
As long as their inner resolve did not falter, their physical strength would remain formidable until the very last drop was drained.
Rope was unaware of her power system and related information. But she was fully aware of it.
So the current situation was to wait for an opportunity. As long as Rope grew impatient, she would have her chance.
Thinking this, Halley felt Rope's growing impatience and curved her lips into a brilliant smile.
Rope also sensed something was amiss. Since entering the black mist, she had felt various emotions erupting within her. They weren't intense, but they were persistent and subtle. However, if this continued, the harm caused would undoubtedly be significant.
As Rope burned himself with his Heart Flame, there was still no improvement, so he furrowed his brows.
"Alright, let's act now."
And so, deep within the black mist, another massive explosion echoed through the void.