The purple and red streaks of light in the shape of a cylindrical blast tore through the snow and the dilapidated buildings alike with ease.
The leader of the four misfit group was not shaken by the approaching attack — he simply raised the hand that had adorned the artifact, and the purple gem on the artifact illuminated.
Space was distorted, and a wormhole began chewing away at the blast until nothing was left.
Edith saw the attack fade, and her scowl deepened. "Second form! Blades."
The large gun she held morphed, the metallic composition of the said gun molding into a sharp blade, and Edith held it in one of her hands. Her eyes illuminated, and blue patterns formed along her body.
Her cultivation technique was now active.
And her cores were generating so much Neuro-Qi from her upgrades that the snow melted beneath her feet, and a red aura danced around her wildly.
With a muscle twitch, Edith vanished, leaving a swirl of snow where she was.
the leader warned his team.
But most weren't fortunate enough to get away in time.
Edith appeared behind Falcon, and she kicked the latter on the back, using him as a gliding board to the ground, pinning Falcon on the snow.
She raised her sword and swung down, ready to decapitate the pinned and struggling foe beneath her foot, when a punch struck her on the side, sending Edith flying.
She corrected her form mid-flight and skidded to a stop on one of the buildings.
Her eyes rapidly scanned the group, and a homing target appeared in her left eye, locking on the bulking giant of the group.
Edith pushed off her foot and launched herself forward, leaving the building behind her to crumble.
She closed the gap between her and the group and threw her sword, forcing them to dodge in four directions.
Exactly what she wanted.
The minute the sword pierced the snow, reality glitched as a visual representation of what was happening — and the sword was where Edith was, and Edith? She took the position of the sword.
She sprung on her foot and launched herself at Elephant, closing the distance between her and the giant, and she swung her right hand, striking Elephant on the face, sending the giant flying while simultaneously cracking his helmet in a single punch.
Edith then landed on the ground, and her knees slightly buckled from the overexertion of keeping two different abilities active at the same time. But despite that, she toughed it out and followed Elephant, ignoring the other three.
Elephant smashed into the laboratory on the side and got up, shaking his head from the impact.
"Little fly!" he growled as the helmet he wore crumbled from the attack.
The suit he was wearing signaled to him that the damage had exceeded 20%.
Edith stepped over the rubble, sword in hand, and looked at Elephant. "Who you calling little fly?"
Elephant's dark eyes glared at Edith. "Hahaha haha! You think fighting me is going to get you the artifact back? You ignored the person who has the artifact for me? How naive of you."
Edith's mouth did a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree change, from a scowl to a smirk. "I know, but there's benefit when it comes to it. I can use you as a bargaining chip for the artifact, but I cannot claim you will be in one piece when I'm done."
"Arrogant much?"
Edith shrugged.
Her demeanor infuriated Elephant, and he charged at Edith, curling his body into a ball and shooting himself with immense speed.
Edith swiftly sidestepped the attack and watched as the hulking body crashed into the walls, then returned — and she dodged again.
And again.
And again.
The consistent dodging infuriated Elephant, who came to a stop and uncurled from the wrecking ball he had made himself. Although the suit was powerful, it limited him heavily.
He clicked on the core of the suit, and it fell apart. "Time to be seriou—"
His speech was interrupted by his screams.
What happened?
Something he did not think would happen — not to him, exactly.
The moment the suit started releasing from his body — Edith had been paying attention, and when the protection around his arm was off, she moved — and faster than he could comprehend, took his hand cleanly, then returned to where she was.
Elephant screamed, clutching his hand as blood spilled on the floor. "My ARM!!"
Edith scoffed. "Want it back? Here you go then." She juggled the heavy hand and threw it at the man, watching it skid along the cold, hard floor, leaving a blood stain where it moved.
The blood-curdling scream made the force that came with Edith wince from the way it sounded, but they too, like their commander, had jobs to do.
But in the current time, they were getting overwhelmed.
Blue streaks were wrecking their front lines with precision and speed — the blur was faster than their enhanced eyes could perceive, and it whipped by them with ease.
The blur, after killing a good chunk of people in the front, returned to the leader and Falcon.
Falcon said as he stared at the smaller individual cleaning the blood from their hands.
Rabbit shrugged and looked at their leader.
The leader of the group, without removing his gaze from the skyscrapers beyond the laboratories, replied.
Rabbit clenched their hands into fists.
Falcon placed a hand on Rabbit's shoulder.
Rabbit shot a glare at Falcon, forcing him to step back a bit.
The leader of the group asserted his dominance by simply glaring at Rabbit.
Although the leader did not phrase it in a threatening way, Rabbit still knew what he meant with his words: they go, their deaths are sealed. With one last outburst, Rabbit conceded, and all their demands died down.
The leader placed a device on the ground, and the device created a large black platform.
Falcon and Rabbit boarded the platform, and the center rotated around, creating a small flash of light. Once it died, the three members of the ThunderGod tribe were nowhere to be found.
Inside the factory, a fierce battle was underway as Elephant and Edith traded blows for blows; standing on equal footing for the time being.
Two monstrous abilities of body refinement clashed, resulting in massive shockwaves that rattled the building they were in.
Both fighters were covered in bruises and scars from their fierce fight.
Elephant threw another punch, which missed Edith, who had slid under it and approached the weak spot of Elephant — being his missing hand — and she swung her blade.
Elephant's quick reflexes allowed him to dodge the attack, but with difficulty, as the sharp metal grazed his torso, tearing his shirt.
Edith glared at Elephant's bare torso, and her eyes widened.
The mark she thought she'd never see again was there.
The lightning bolt.
Edith let out a scream, and the aura she was emitting tenfolded, creating a column that destroyed everything around her, clearing the rooftops of the laboratory and creating massive heatwaves.
A trigger of the past had appeared.