Diana's fist cut through the air , aimed straight for the man's stomach.
But he wasn't here.
Her knuckles met nothing but empty space.
"Teleportation," Rosa's calm voice cut through her mounting tension, steadying her thoughts."Focus, calm your mind. Don't chase him; anticipate his moves."
Diana's chest heaved, her anger flickered, fighting against reason. She grit her teeth, letting Rosa's words weave through the chaos in her mind.
Energy hummed along her arms, matching the rhythm within her racing heartbeat. Her fingers twitched as she visualized a web of strings extending from her barrier, subtle and shimmering, stretching outward to find the faintest distortions in the air within.
A ripple, almost imperceptible, betrayed the man's presence at the far end of the alley. Diana's vision sharpened as her mind quieted.
She clenched her fist, Spiritual energy spiraling in her knuckles. The built up heat glowed against her skin.
The alley was silent as the man's physical form appeared.
Diana's body reacted, her fist shooting forward. The energy within erupted in a sudden,concentrated flare. Her flaming strike tore through the air as a searing orb of crimson light bursting from her knuckles.
The man, however, didn't flinch.
His eyes narrowed, reading the spiritual energy within the fireball. With a sharp flick of his wrist, a thin strip of yellow paper materialized before him, hurling towards the fireball's path. The paper was inked with dark red symbols.
The slip ignited midair with a flash of pale gold, swallowing the fireball's heat in an instant. The attack vanished into nothing but drifting sparks.
Crouching on the ground, the man sighed as he released the burnt talisman in disappointment.
'I didn't think I'd need to use that so soon. I'll need to change tactics. Using Ethereal Guard空灵守卫 would be my best option, but I won't be able to teleport with it active.
Placing his palm on the groun,d his energy spiked. Immediatel,y his shadow seemed to wiggle to life. The shadows ripped across his body, clinging to his skin like armor.
Rosa's brows furrowed as she watched him.
Her voice cut through the tension, " A talisman and a shadow skill?…."She muttered, her gaze hardening.
'Talismans aren't cheap. The church makes them in limited numbers and the runes are near impossible to inscribe without blessed ink or the blood of one touched by the divine. It should be impossible to create a counterfeit.'
Her eyes flickered from the charred scraps of paper back to the man , a faint note of unease creeping into her calm usually calm tone."If he's carrying those , he must know something. He managed to weaken the barrier with the talisman but" walking closer to Diana she continued"I've finished my analysis".
"He has a roughly four second interval for his teleportation right? "
"Hmm, he's a newly advanced rank I." As Rosa spoke ,the temperature of the area began to drop dramatically.
The chill had returned.
The man hadn't forgotten the sensation of the freezing metal pistols touching the skin of his hands, The cold was able to render them useless rather easily despite the pistols being made from Aeon. As an experienced Specter, he had fought a handful of Specters. He knew such a feat would only be possible if she had also formed a strong will intent.
Continuing this fight was insanely risky.
If he was caught he would likely be killed after his crimes were discovered but he couldn't shake the desire to dominate the enemy before him.
'Isn't that what Specters live for? I Heng Sizhui,am a man of greed, that is my will and how I've always lived.'
Without hesitation, Heng made his move. The pavement beneath his feet cracked as he shot towards Rosa.
The cold radiated from her. Rapidly her Spiritual energy surged forth enshrouding Diana. "we'll go with formation B before he escapes using the shadows"
"Okay!" Slamming her fists together, Diana increased the reinforcement on her fists, creating a blinding light as they were covered in ice. The Ice created from Rosa's energy crystallized into gauntlets
Raising her hands, light bloomed within the crystal. What followed was a blinding radiance that swallowed the alley.
The shadows clinging to him writhed and peeled away under the light.
''What?? She nullified my technique! " His body lay bare once more. Stripped of his protection, his charge faltered as he staggered mid-strike. He had little time to react before he was hit with a force of what felt like a car going twenty five miles per hour.
Bang!
Diana slammed his head into the pavement with her fist, his body shook for a moment before his limbs went completely limp.
Surprisingly, there was little blood, and he was still alive; he had simply lost consciousness.
Staring down at him Diana spoke triophantly "Damn that felt good "
Rosa took a deep breath and sighed. Her spiritual energy slowly retracted as she stored her weapons. Adjusting her frames, she spoke.
"Restrain his limbs and search his body, I'm sure someone's noticed the spiritual energy fluctuations. We'll need to interrogate him somewhere else."
Diana Knelt down , reaching for the man's clothes quickly rummaging through his pockets.
Looking through, she found a couple dollars, a bank card ,and a key. The key seemed old with a rune in the shape of a snake's head etched into the sides.
"Does the rune look familiar?"
Hearing Rosa's question, Diana analyzed the symbol with her mystic eye.
"The Serpent's Maw ?"She spoke with confusion as her brow furrowed.
She held the key up as she continued "The Serpent's Maw was a secret order that served the tyrant king Lucian Evenus . Before Lucian usurped the throne, my father had crafted weapons for them."
"But they were all wiped out in the civil war , Why would a fresh Rank I have a key from their order?"her voice was shaky as she struggled to contain her anger.
Rosa looked with worry at Diana. She had known her for six years, but it was the first time she had seen her friend this riled up. Well ,it was understandable, after all it was in these lands she had lost everything she held dear.
"Store the key for now , grab him, we need to go , the sooner we get a lead the better." Rosa said with a usually gentle tone her voice.
But before Diana's fingers closed in, the man's body suddenly began to convulse. A violent shudder rippled through him, his limbs jerked in an unnatural spasm as his eyes sprang open.
"NO PLEASE! I CAN STILL BE USEFUL, PLEASE!"
RIIIIP!
"AAAAAAHHHH!"
A tearing sound and hoarse screams filled the Air.
From beneath his skin,pale vines burst forth , curling around his arms and neck. Dark red blossoms unfurled long the twisted stems , the petals dripped with blood as his strength and vitality was slowly being siphoned away . His face hallowed, the vines crawled upward as his cheek caved in. His entire body was covered in bed of thorny vines and roses Yet that wasn't the end of his suffering .
The next moment , several more vines rose from soil below the cracked pavement. Slowly, they wound themselves around the body, and just a bit later he began to submerge with muffled scream.
The duo looked on with terror at the hole in the ground. They didn't dare look into it but they could still hear the vines slithering two meters deeper beneath the earth.Soon, the sound vanished leaving only the memory of what they had just witnessed.