NOVPUBElectric discharges ran among the clouds, filling the sky, bming more active as the Crimson Monarch’s energy accumulated.
The orb for the lightning shots was no bigger than a hand, easily fitting in the palm of his hand, but the bright sphere clutched between his hands gradually grew like a dwarf star ready for a glowing explosion.
The Crimson Monarch’s gaze was devoid of its usual arrogance and pride. He wasmpletely focused on his task—failure was unacceptable, for he risked much.
"Adam Vinter..." The Crimson Monarch wheezed in a low voice, "The dozen shells that flew into you didn’t do any serious damage. That’s good, very good..."
His gaze traveled downward, to the flamesvering Adam and something else much deeper, just inside his inner space.
’With one attack I’ll take out most of the Phantoms, Adam will probably survive, he’s more durable than I expected. Still, this External Artifact and his Operator, his two stars... They’ll sacrifice themselves but keep him alive. It’s a bad option, but it’s still within the acceptable range.’
If Adam or Silvanauld hear the Crimson Monarch’s thoughts they would have a lot of questions, but their minds were occupied with other things, they were thinking about how to survive, just like the rest of the Phantoms.
There was little time tome up with a plan, but in this case, deep thought was not necessary, they had to defend the fortress, by any means.
Running away was not an option, even if one was fast enough to get out of range of the Crimson Monarch’s attack, the fortress would be destroyed in the aftermath. In that case, the Phantoms would lose any chance of survival, the defense of the walls would be lost, and dozens of Phantoms would die.
Gnash was one of the first to act. She wanted to talk to Adam as well, but Katrin beat her to it, they had no more time for that.
Step.
She turned sharply, raising her staff high up. Energy flowed along her body in numerous streams, reaching the staff.
At the same moment, in the sky above the fortress, rising over the towers, appeared a semi-transparent purple barrier, several black spheres releasing gravitational vibrations as well as eight massive crystals emitting an unusual aura.
"Come on! That bastard definitely won’t miss. We must defend ourselves at allsts, or his prediction willme true, and this night will be our last."
Gnash did not stop. Her energy split into streams spinning around her in a multitude of projectiles.
Thump.
She tapped her staff on the ground, causing several stone rings in the sky, transferring her energy to the barrier. At her will, the projectiles flew toward the barrier, forming a protective grid.
Watching her actions, Adam blinked several times, not realizing what was happening. Gnash used one ability after another.
Adam, even with the artifact, nexus, and power gene, had only six abilities, which he already thought was quite a lot. Yet, Gnash already used over ten abilities and seemed to have saved a few trump cards as a last resort.
Silvana sensed his loss, she hastened to explain:
’It’s all about her choosing a different path.’
"Agh? What are you talking about?" Adam muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.
’It refers to the transition to K2-Level. I didn’t have the information I needed then, but now I know all about the Immersion Door and the Imagination Door. Your choice has affected how your abilities will develop, their quality and quantity, as well as your path.’
Time was short, Silvana immediatelyntinued:
’To simplify things to the extreme, Phantoms choosing the Immersion Door get fewer abilities but more powerful ones, they chose quality over quantity. With the Imagination Door, the situation is the opposite, quantity over quality, more abilities and variants, but on average the abilities are not as deep and powerful as yours.’
Adam nodded deeply. He was sure that there were many subtleties in this matter since it affected Phantom’s path.
"Well, in that case, I’m glad I opted for the Immersion Door. I’m ashamed to admit that I’m not fluent with even my modest arsenal. Hah, what’s this girl’s name? She looksnfident, using so many abilities at once without mistakes. That’s impressive."
His words were sincere, so Adam didn’t realize that Gnash had heard him. However, even if she was far away, her Operator would make sure to relay Adam’s words.
For a split snd, Gnash gasped, her eyes wide open and her cheeks flushed.
’No! Pull yourself together, this is no time to be distracted! I might fucking die if I don’t do this perfectly!’
Though these were Gnash’s thoughts, the rest of the Phantoms understood the risks as well.
Step.
Katrin stepped forward, she swung her hand wide in order, she wasn’t going to give up her place as a leader to anyone even if it was Adam.
"Why are you standing there like you’re frozen? Gnash is right, those with defensive abilities use everything, every trump card you have but defend the fortress! The lives of your friends andmrades depend on it, your lives!"
Then, without even taking a breath, Katrin directed her gaze to another part of the crowd.
"Those with powerful long-range abilities, prepare them! It’s unlikely that we’ll be able to destroy this mons..." she glanced at Adam, ’The Crimson Monarch’s attack, but we’ll greatly weaken it!’
Dozens of Phantoms nodded, immediately springing into action.
A multitude of bright flashes filled the fortress, the variouslors vibrating with each other likenstellations in the starry sky.
The Phantoms used everything they had, no one tried to hold their trump cards, everyone realized that if they didn’t stop the Crimson Monarch’s strike, they would die.
Only a small portion of the Phantoms were left idle, but they quickly oriented heading to defend the fortress from the monsters. Phantoms without defense and ranged abilities replaced others with the capability to help with survival.
One such Phantom was Katrin, yet she didn’t leave for the gate, instead, she headed towards Adam as the supportsntinued to restore his energy.
Meeting her gaze Adam nodded slightly, he glanced at her sword and uniqueat.
"Looks like you finally got what you wanted, right? You’re no longer a support, you’re strong and dangerous."
With ald expression, Katrin greatly frowned as her left palm came into motion,ming down directly on Adam’s face.
Without effort, Adam abruptly grabbed her wrist, stopping her hand a centimeter from his cheek.
"Oh, looks like someone’s mad at me. What’s got you so upset?"
Katrin’s grimace grew darker, sheuldn’t believe his insolence.
"What, you don’t know, or are you just fucking kidding me? You were here first! Youuld help us defend the fortress, but instead, you ignored all requests from the military and went deep into the fortress for your stupid mission!"
Anger filled her eyes, sheuld no longer hold back. The fact that the Unknown Phantom turned out to be Adam made the situation even worse. She wanted answers.
"What’s more, you didn’t just leave us wielding the ultimate power, you brought us a new threat - the Overlord Type monster! Fuck, Adam! Most of the Phantoms here are K2W0-Level, it’s an invincible opponent for them."
She clenched her fists tighter, struggling to fight the urge to attack him right now.
"Weuld all die because of you! Because you didn’t want to help your own people, us Phantoms! I want to know why!"
Soon, she heard a serene, almost indifferent voice.
"Hmm? K2W0-Level? What level do you think I was at a few hours ago?"
"Argh?"
Katrin raised her head sharply in disbelief.
"Sure, I’m no longer K2W0-Phantom now, but I was when I entered the gate. I killed threemmanders for you, though one of them turned out to be a special case..."
Then, Adam turned his gaze upward, toward the Crimson Monarch.
"What about him? Well, most likely he would awaken without my intervention. Maybe a little later, but the blood and energy of the monsters would have infused the depths of the fortress, during the Eclipse the progress of the ritual accelerated greatly."
Were those excuses? It wasn’t like that. Adam was telling the way things were.
"Fuck no!" Katrin shouted irritably, "You’re just fucking selfish! I don’t know if you got stronger in the fortress, but you were supposed to help us! You should have protected the fortress from the waves of monsters, from the threats of the Eclipse, and then fulfilled your mission!"
Instead of an apology or response, she received only a deep, weary sigh at her demands:
"Agh... I didn’t call you here. I went to clear the Red Zone, the fact that you can’t handle defending the walls is your fault, not mine."
At the same moment, Katrin’s eyes filled with blood as she stepped forward, about to smash her fist right into his face.
Yet, even though her body was in action, her arm didn’t move.
Adam’s grip only grew tighter, it seemed heuld break her wrist if he applied a little more force.
Suddenly, he unclenched his hand and took a step back.
"You want to fight? Right now?"
His blue eyes grewlder, two deep blue abyssesnsuming Katrin.
"Fine, I’m ready. But... before I do, let me tell you something."
Katrin furrowed her eyebrows, she held the hilt of her sword tightly, actually ready to fight.
Then, Adam spread his arms out to the sides, opening himself up to attack.
"You’re angry with me not because I didn’t help you and ignored requests for aid. It’s because you weren’t strong enough to deal with the threats alone."
After a moment, hentinued, his voice deep:
"Katrin, you stayed the same, you’re weak."
For her that was the last straw, her legs twitched ready to rush, but no sooner did she take a step than the sharp tip of the needle was at her neck.
Goosebumps ran down Katrin’s body as her gaze traveled to the red fire, the heat of the flames felt on herld skin, threatening imminent burns. Her face turned pale as Adam’s arms were still open.
"The truth is, now, I don’t even have to move a finger to defeat you. Katrin... Do you realize that Iuld kill you right now?"
