"Don't let them escape!" Justin shouted loudly. His voice reverberated across the field as ice needles fell from the sky. Behind him, twenty members of the Rays of Hope followed him with weapons in their hands.
One caster called forth lightning, sending it towards the masked clowns. The ground rumbled as blue flashes struck the earth. At the same time, a man shot forward, surpassing his companions.
"Don't be reckless, Akio!" Justin yelled.
Ignoring the guild master's instructions, Akio plunged into the midst of the enemy crowd. No one accompanied him except for the iron baseball bat in his hand. Naturally, the masked clowns swiftly attacked him.
Eight enemies leaped toward Akio simultaneously. Instead of faltering, he grinned. Spinning his body, the baseball bat rotated at high speed, striking every clown that approached.
Bang! Bang! Bang! They were sent flying in various directions with cracked or broken bones.
As Akio enjoyed himself beating these clowns, a big man fell from the sky. The ground trembled as he landed, causing people around him to lose their balance.
The man roared before attacking his enemies nearby.
"Akio! Can you just once wait for your comrades to arrive?" he barked.
"Sorry, Mike. I can't wait for slowpokes," Akio replied, pummeling the masked clowns.
Apart from them, an exotic-skinned woman descended into the battle. One of her hands held a piece of wood, but she used her other hand instead. With a simple finger gesture, she controlled objects around her, hurling them at the troublemakers of this campaign.
"Olivia! Don't throw things randomly! There are injured ones here!" A girl with hair tied up raised her hand in frustration.
The exotic-skinned woman rubbed the back of her head. "Hehe, sorry, Joanna."
Joanna snorted in annoyance. She then focused on healing the security personnel. Some other members helped civilians who had fainted or were caught in the situation.
Seeing his subordinates lacking cohesion, Klaus could only sigh in disappointment. He had hoped that when the Rays of Hope arrived in battle, they would come through with heroic actions.
"They've been members for a year now. But they've never been in sync once. Maybe I should just put them on the transfer market, huh? Annoying."
As Klaus thought none of his subordinates could be proud of, his eyes were drawn to a woman in all-white attire. She ran through the air, her perfectly white hair fluttering like a war banner. She didn't seem to be holding any weapons, just her bare hands.
Just like Akio, she threw herself into the midst of the enemies. Of course, the white-haired woman was quickly surrounded by dozens of masked clowns. And something interesting happened here. The white-haired woman evaded the blows that came at her. Front, back, sideways—she avoided every attack without touching the enemies even slightly. Not even her skin—
The masked clowns appeared utterly desperate. Meanwhile, the white-haired woman effortlessly dodged them. The harder they tried, the more at ease she seemed.
Until finally, the woman launched her own attack.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
"Arrrgghu!"
These masked clowns screamed in pain as their bones made cracking sounds. After that, they were thrown in all directions. At a glance, the white-haired woman seemed to be exerting her full strength. In fact, she put in no effort at all as she struck down her enemies.
Bam! Bam! Three fell to the ground.
Bam! Bam! Five were sent airborne.
Bam! Bam! Ten knocked out.
The white-haired woman charged through the enemy ranks, battering anyone who obstructed her path. Some masked clowns tried to stop her. One of them used the skill [Power Up] to confront her with sheer strength. A caster clown attempted to restrain her movement by summoning wooden roots, trying to capture her legs. In addition, two masked clowns pushed her down with strong gusts of wind.
"What the fuck! How come none of them are hitting!"
"Damn it, this bitch! How's this even possible?"
"Arrrrgh!"
However, none of them could halt her. She effortlessly dodged the attacks coming her way while launching relentless assaults herself. This woman truly had her enemies panicking. Even her friends were astonished by her.
"Wow, do you see that, Akio? She's truly insane," Michael murmured.
Akio nodded. His eyes were glued to the white-haired woman. "Yeah. Sylvia has become a real monster now. It seems her hair color gives her a buff."
On the other hand, Klaus observed the battle from a distance. He knew that Sylvia would be at her highest level. A dragon's heart was the best concoction for enhancing an Awakener's power. However, there was one thing that puzzled him.
"She's avoiding every blow with perfect timing. Did she see the future?"
The speculation didn't come out of thin air. Besides possessing [Lesser Dragon's Heart], inside her body resided the spirit of a sorceress who had lived for thousands of years—Laplace. And one of her best abilities was Divine Sight. A skill that enabled its user to see anything. The future, the past, space, emotions, and much more.
Klaus suspected that Laplace shared her power with Sylvia.
"If that's true, it's really intriguing," Klaus murmured, grinning.
Sylvia was like a magnet. Besides attracting the enemies' attention, she also drew the attention of those who witnessed her fight. One of them was Richard. The man had dropped his jaw since he saw Sylvia appear in the midst of the battle.
"You never fail to surprise me, Klaus. You've managed to turn a celebrity into a guild master and disciplined my former subordinates. Akio, Michael, and Olivia; they were at the bottom of my guild's list. Especially Olivia. Not only did you manage to tame her, but you also trained her into a strong Awakener. I don't understand what's disappointing about them, Klaus," Richard looked at Klaus with a serious gaze.
This man was truly sincere in what he said. Any guild master would have released or overlooked Olivia. No sane person would hire a blacklisted Awakener. Yet Klaus did it, and now he had an incredibly strong all-rounder.
However, Klaus had different standards. To him, small progress was the same as no progress. And significant progress was merely small progress.
"Well, that's what makes us different," Klaus answered.
Naturally, Richard furrowed his brows in puzzlement.
Meanwhile, the battle was approaching its end. It was becoming apparent which side would win. The two powerful masked clowns who cornered Klaus seemed not to fight together with their comrades. They stood on the sidelines. It seemed they knew they wouldn't be able to win this battle.
The clown with the gauntlet raised a flare gun into the air. As the red flare light shot up in the blue sky, the masked clowns ceased fighting. Then, they threw a round object to the ground, and in an instant, thick smoke spread into the air.
"Cough! Cough! What actual fuck is this?"
"Damn it! My eyes! Where are they?"
"They're getting away!"
The security personnel and Awakeners from the Rays of Hope tried to discern the masked clowns' whereabouts, but the black smoke hindered their sight and breathing, making it difficult to move. Only high-ranking Awakeners remained unaffected.
"Everyone! They're running east!"
Sylvia shouted at the top of her lungs. Only a few responded to her call out. Olivia quickly dispelled the smoke blocking her vision. Simultaneously, Akio utilized the cleared path, darting at high speed to chase after the clowns.
Before his eyes, he saw the clown with the gauntlet and the green-haired clown fleeing along with others. Naturally, Akio attacked both of them.
Clank!
The gauntlet-wearing clown parried Akio's strike. Sparks flew as they exchanged blows. The green-haired clown didn't remain idle; he tossed away Akio's baseball bat. But Akio didn't give up. He kept pursuing them.
Swoosh!
Utilizing his speed, Akio outpaced the gauntlet-wearing clown and launched a rapid series of punches.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
ραndαsΝοvεl ƈοm The gauntlet-wearing clown held his ground, enduring dozens of punches landing on her body. Her friend didn't stay passive. Swinging his copper staff, the green-haired clown hurled a park bench toward him.
Bam!
"Damn it!"
Akio was too focused ahead of him that he didn't anticipate the sudden attack. He tumbled to the ground. Of course, he didn't give up. He got up and continued chasing after them.
"Don't think you can get away!" Akio shouted.
The two masked clowns seemed panicked. Akio shot forward like a bullet. Incredibly fast and too quick for any eye to catch. However, as he was about to reach the green-haired clown, a small gray object crossed in front of his face.
Thud!
A powerful impact occurred just inches in front of him. The ground shattered, while Akio was thrown back by the shockwave. Groaning in pain, he tried to get up, searching for where the clowns had gone. However, brown dust filled the air, obstructing his vision.
"Akio!" a voice shouted from a distance.
Sylvia and Olivia ran towards him with concern on their faces.
"Are you okay?" Sylvia asked.
"Fuck!" Akio punched the ground. "They got away."
They failed to stop the clowns from running away.
