Bam.


    gue Reaper''s fist plunged into Adam''s face throwing him back several meters.


    Before Adam could realize it, spinning quickly in the air due to the momentum of the powerful blow, gue Reaper took a deep breath.


    ck smoke came out of his coat, making him disappear and appear a momentter in front of Adam, who had only managed to partially regain his bnce.


    ''Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!'' Adam inwardly eximed, digging his ws into the ground to stop himself.


    ''No, Adam, you won''t make it in time. Find another option. You need to defend yourself against his attack somehow!'' Silvana said quickly, realizing that time was short.


    Then, Adam turned around, seeing that not far away was one of the surviving monsters. That one had managed to escape the ck air and Katrin''s ming st.


    ''I see... This could work.'' Adam nodded to himself before he touched the ground with his foot and abruptly jumped aside - moving towards the monster.


    gue Reaper narrowed his eyes, not understanding what Adam''s n was, but it didn''t bother him. They had been fighting for some time now, understanding each other''s fighting style better with each passing second.


    Katrin and Osana watched from a distance. Katrin had no more energy, and all Osana had left was her petals, which at best she could distract gue Reaper and her trump card, which was not yet time to reveal.


    It wasn''t that Osana didn''t want to win, no, if she had a chance to prevent her mates from dying and making things worse, she would have done it long ago. In fact, Osana had to wait for the right moment, and gradually that moment was approaching and the fear within her was actively growing.


    Whoooooosh.


    Adam abruptly jumped forward, turning into a lightning sh to quickly reach the monster who didn''t yet realize that it had be part of Adam''s n.


    Dust flew overhead, staying behind Adam who quickly slid under the monster''s broad body.


    If it had been Adam''s goal he could have plunged a needle or w into the monster''s belly, causing it to fall off its four strong paws into a pool of its own blood mixed with organs, but Adam just wanted to avoid gue Reaper''s attack.


    "Wha..."


    gue Reaper let out a wheezing sound before appearing in front of the monster, ring at the fleeing Adam, who appeared behind therge monster a secondter.


    "ROOOAAAARRRR!!!"


    The monster roared furiously, about to either start fighting against gue Reaper or try to drive him away.


    Adam and gue Reaper had already been fighting for some time. The surviving monsters did not dare to join their fight, instead choosing to watch from the sidelines as events unfolded.


    The monsters realized that it was useless to fight against gue Reaper alone, they had to unite to have a chance, but no one wanted to do so. The monsters realized that even if they won, gue Reaper would kill most of them.


    No one wanted to be among the dead, as only a small portion of the survivors after defeating gue Reaper would be able to absorb Midnight Crystal. The monsters were too selfish and smart enough to realize that teaming up was not an option for them.


    But... They had an unusual trump card - Adam, a Phantom that was capable of fighting against gue Reaper.


    In any other situation, the monsters would have helped their kin to kill Phantom, but they didn''t consider gue Reaper their ally. To them, he was an upstart from a lower threat level that they couldn''t do anything about.


    Well, that didn''t mean they were going to help Adam. They would wait until one of them lost, then finish off the other, no matter who was left, they would kill him. Then, they would start fighting each other until there were a few monsters left that would divide Midnight Crystal between them.


    Thump.


    The monster mmed its massive hind paws into the ground before raising its front paws, aiming its long ws at gue Reaper.


    gue Reaper wasn''t going to block this attack or dodge, he didn''t even have a goal to fight this monster as all his attention was focused on Adam.


    Whoooooooooooooosh.


    Before the monster could do anything, gue Reaper raised his scythe high up before taking a wide swing.


    Crackle.


    A straight line traveled down the monster''s spine, blood sttered outwards while the monster''s body slowly split into two equal parts.


    Without wasting time, gue Reaper lunged forward, tearing through the monster, the halves of its body slowly splitting apart to fall to the ground and sink into a thickyer of dust.


    Adam''s eyes went wide. He couldn''t believe what gue Reaper had just done.


    ''Shit! He just cut him open, not to kill him, but to waste no time and catch up with me faster by taking the direct path!'' Adam inwardly eximed, confidently getting to his feet.


    At thest moment, he managed to put the needle in front of him, then, the ck de mmed into the white needle, cutting many dense threads in its path.


    Sparks flew before Adam''s worried eyes, while gue Reaper''s gaze was calm and peaceful.


    To him, there was no great battle here, no fight for the right to move on. After the fall of Midnight Crystal, he viewed this situation very differently.


    He needed to get rid of the only real threat in his way - Adam, once he did that he would be able to take over Midnight Crystal immediately.


    And... From the looks of it, there wasn''t much time left before his n came to fruition.


    Bam.


    gue Reaper swung the scythe, plunging the heavy end of the handle into Adam''s stomach. A bright pain traveled through Adam''s body, he felt as if a steel hammer had struck him.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    At the same time, Katrin and Osana nced over, their looks nervous as they underestimated how much stronger gue Reaper had be by pulling out his weapon.


    "So... Any suggestions?" Katrin asked, watching as gue Reaper gradually overwhelmed Adam.


    gue Reaper couldn''t defeat Adam quickly, but gradually, blow by blow, sh by sh, Adam''s defeat was approaching its inevitable fate.


    Osana shook her head.


    "We have nothing left. We can''t reinforce him anymore, his body is at its limit."


    Katrin frowned.


    "Hey... You have a trump card, don''t you? You haven''t used your Second Order yet and... something tells me your artifact could be useful."


    Though their acquaintance had spent most of their time fighting, Katrin had learned a little bit about what was really on Osana''s mind.


    Osana frowned, she didn''t like that Katrin was trying to get into her thoughts.


    "It doesn''t matter right now. gue Reaper is stronger than ever. He''s a little tired, yes, butpared to Adam he''s rested and full of energy. If you want me to show what I can do, then we must somehow make gue Reaper''s condition much worse. We must make it so that Adam can kill him quickly." Osana said confidently.


    It wasn''t a hope, it was a fact.


    Katrin wanted to say something, but a bright blue glow high in the sky distracted her.


    "Hmm? What the hell is that?" Katrin muttered looking at the strange fighter surrounded by a protective barrier.


    Then... from the fighter someone dropped down, aiming its gaze at gue Reaper like a predator seeing its prey.