Though to some extent Tirana was right, and it was really hard to understand anything in the chaos, everything was happening naturally.


    Tirana was fighting against Ester and Romeo, Adam standing off on the side, and Fred was facing an unexpected problem.


    Yeah, this was a bit different from their original n, as Fred was ready to kill Tirana, but x understood that too. He couldn''t let Fred get rid of Tirana, it would be aplete failure on his part.


    Crackle.


    x''s hand gripped Fred''s neck tightly, intending to strangle him, while x gradually appeared out of the dark smoke like a death ghost.


    "What the fuck...!!!?" Fred whispered, grabbing x''s wrist with his hand.


    x smirked, stepping forward.


    "What, is something wrong? Did you really think you could aim at my leader with impunity and I wouldn''t do anything to you?" x looked at Fred from top to bottom, making him feel humiliated and weak.


    Fred''s gaze traveled to his bow - the massive arrow disintegrated into smoke, Fred had to finish umting energy if he wanted to make this attack.


    Then, Fred jerked his right arm forward, striking x with his bow. Sure, the bow was not suitable for closebat, but it was his Nexus, which meant that the material was robust and hard.


    So it could bepared to a strike with an iron stick or even a bat, not too effective, but better than nothing.


    However... x didn''t even move. He realized that Fred was trying to scare him so that he would loosen his grip and give Fred a chance to free himself.


    "Hahaha, looks like you weren''t as smart as I thought. I haven''t heard of you, but from the looks of it you might be the most dangerous of them all, however... I''ll solve that problem soon!" x said menacingly, tightening his grip.


    Fred''s face began to pale fromck of blood, the bow fell out of his hand, and his veins began to inte as if ready to explode.


    x smirked, looking at Fred''s rolled eyes and already almost blue skin. A few more seconds and Fred would pass out fromck of air, the next thing that awaited him would be death at x''s hands.


    "Agh...?" x''s eyes went wide with a strange feeling somewhat akin to pain, but it was as if he didn''t feel it. x felt as if his skin was numb, like from a hard freeze or anesthesia.


    Then, x''s eyes lowered only to see a snow-white de of cold mist thrust deeply into his stomach.


    Before x had time to realize what had happened, Fred''s hand moved upward, cleaving x''s belly.


    "Bastard!" x eximed before bouncing back to a safe distance.


    He had a few seconds to remedy the situation before things reached a critical point.


    All the dark smoke that x had was heading towards his wound, filling it and preventing further bleeding.


    It was worth realizing that this was not a cure, x had simply frozen the progression of the wound so he could fight on, but now he would no longer be able to use his ck smoke in this form, and that was his First Order.


    "Well, well, looks like someone thinks too much of himself." Fred smirked, picking up his bow and slinging it to his back. There were special sps on his coat to keep the bow from falling off and holding it tight.


    x spits up a clot of blood with a great grimace on his face.


    "Son of a bitch... What is this?" x muttered, staring intently at Fred''s de.


    It wasn''t a dagger with a hilt, the de was an extension of Fred''s palm, like a massive sharp petal of cold mist, constantly vibrating.


    "Oh, are you so dumb you don''t realize that?" Fred said arrogantly, "My bow is my Nexus, that''s obvious to even the greatest fool, in which case I still have two Orders, don''t I?"


    x''s eyes went wide, it was obvious that he hadn''t expected this at all, but it wasn''t that he was stupid or inattentive, on the contrary, x was sure that Fred had already used almost all of his abilities.


    ''Wait... If a hail of arrows and a powerful arrow are his Nexus Traits, then is a multi-arrow volley in a second, just pure sleight of hand? I thought that was his First Order! Fuck! In that case... He still has Second Order, and he''s already injured me...'' x pondered, he was furious, but soon he calmed down.


    That alerted Fred. He didn''t expect x to appear out of nowhere, but then he quickly realized that he could have used it and pretended to be weak and helpless. Obviously, this yed into his favor, and now x was badly hurt.


    However... Fred realized that he was the one who was at a disadvantage.


    Sure, x wasn''t as strong in closebat as Tirana or Adam, but it was definitely his preferred range.


    Fred, on the other hand, was an archer, melee was not his preferred area ofbat, but... given his First Order... something was clearly wrong, wasn''t it?


    x sighed heavily.


    ''His First Order, the first ability he received, and yet his Nexus is a bow, not some kind of sword... Damn, there''s something off about this guy.'' x narrowed his eyes, then his gaze fell on his ck, wide bracelets covering his wrists.


    ''I might surprise you, too.''


    Then, x''s bracelets began to tremble, and his eyes shone brightly. A thick mist began to emerge from the bracelets, an intensely dirty mist that looked more like dust capable of engulfing everything around it.


    Fred took a step back, preparing for battle. Even if he could fight in close range, his bow was practically useless, but x''s Nexus was on full alert.


    ...


    It was unclear how much time had passed since their sh, but in the distance, a few kilometers away from Iron Beacon, a man with short ck hair stood among the ruined rusty buildings.


    It seemed that a storm had passed through here, bringing with it devastating torrents of water and sharp rocks that were left embedded in the ground as a memory of the great battle between the two K2-Phantoms.


    Prago''s body was covered in blood, dark drops dripping down his arms only to fall and soak into the ground covered in a denseyer of dust.


    His eyes were tired, exhausted, and seemed almost lifeless. But... A sufficiently experienced warrior would have easily realized that this was the aftermath of a battle ending in a thundering victory.


    "That... That wasn''t easy..." Prago muttered, raising his hand and looking at the head of the girl he was fighting.


    He held her by her long pigtails, drenched in blood as the girl''s head was severed and her body was somewhere amongst the debris, torn apart by his water currents.


    "It''s been a long time since I''ve felt this way... Dead Lands is a unique ce after all..." Prago muttered while the corners of his lips slowly lifted to form a delighted grin.


    ''Are you alright?'' A female voice sounded in Prago''s earbud.


    "Yeah. I''m perfectly fine. Now I realize that I was just wasting my time in the Citadel! Why be afraid of being killed when you can kill on your own?!" Prago grinned madly and tossed the girl''s head aside like useless trash.


    Then, he sighed heavily.


    "However... Lack ofbat experience is taking its toll... I''ve gotten too many wounds... Tsk." Prago frowned, staring at his bloody body.