NOVPUBBefore Adamuld use his artifact’s ability for the snd time in a row, Silvana’s voice echoed in his head.
’Adam, wait! This ability is very strong, but the ril is also great. Even if your arm can withstand it and you don’t lose a limb, the wounds will be too serious. Fuck, Adam, you won’t be able to use your arm!’
Without waiting for his reply, Silvana quickly exclaimed:
’One lightning bolt should be enough. It has bme much stronger after your evolution. Now your black lightning would be capable of destroying the entire temple, not just cutting twommanders!
Strangely enough, her words did not affect Adam. He didn’t ignore her, he heard every word, he realized it himself.
"Yeah, I know, but... Unfortunately, I have no other choice. I’ll have to use your gift, as I’m not ready to die yet."
Without hesitations, Adam executed a vertical slash, the two lightning blades overlapping, forming a cross, the same as the chainsvering his left arm.
Before Adamuld receive the ril for his actions, the black cross ripped forwardlliding with the crimson ray as theuntless layers of barriers came to a limit.
Black energy clashed with red energy, trying to destroy each other, one to kill dozens of lives and the other to save them.
The Phantoms, who did everything in their power, watched as the two forces tried to overwhelm one another. Each attack had a stable shape so that the ray and cross didn’t explode on impact.
Like two weapons trying to win a long clash, they barely touched their opponent’s energy.
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.
Crackling erupted along the fortress, piercing and unpleasant to the mind of any living creature, the scream of a monster from the abyss.
Gradually, the ray and cross’s frames shuddered, the outer shell damaged as the two projectiles began to mix.
Four sharp blades spun, plunging into the crimson ray, tearing it from the inside. Darkness and crimson thunder destroyed each other, but it soon became obvious to everyone that the darkness was disappearing faster.
In a few snds, the lighting cross wasmpletely gone, there was no trace of Adam’s two artifact abilities, yet the crimson ray had lost most of its power.
The ray thatuld absorb one of the four towers was now no wider than the hilt of a huge spear.
Whoooooosh.
Winning the finalnfrontation, the crimson ray descended, shattering every barrier to the ground.
Millions of multlored shards flooded the innerurtyard of the fortress, soon the crimsonlor filled each and every one of them. Frightened, looks full of disbelief reflected in the shards, showing only the calm fear of death.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
Electrical discharges crashed into the fortress, shattering the massive slabs into pieces, hitting random Phantoms. There was simply no time to dodge or put up defenses, no oneuld hide from the wrath of thunder.
One electric shock after another blasted the Phantoms like meat puppets, chunks of flesh flying off to the sides with a foul smell of burning filling the air.
Jets of smoke rose upward, each reminder of the lightning strike, of the fact that it was only a tiny part of one great creature’s attack.
Only snds later, the first Phantoms began tome to their senses.
The girl helping to reinforce the barrier earlier, along with her mate, directed her gaze downward.
"What...? What happened?"
Her hands werevered in blood, her fingertips trembling.
"I’m alive? How...?"
Then, with desperate hope, she turned to her right, only to see a bloody stain in place of her longtime friend, all that was left was a splintered sword and a broken iron bracelet.
Thump.
The girlllapsed to the ground, her knees dipped in the blood of the other Phantoms. Her pupils shook, and her heart beat faster and faster.
"NOOOOOOOO!!!!"
Her piercing scream full of pain like a deadly disease spread through the fortress, panic spreading like wildfire, filling the souls who saw the new reality.
"This can’t be...!" 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓾𝒷.𝒸ℴ𝓂
"Why did it hit her?! No..."
Warm tears mixed with dirt streamed down the young man’s face.
"Why?" his voice shook, heuld hardly find the strength to speak, "Why did I survive? She... she should be alive, not me! I should die!"
True, they were lucky to have survived, many Phantoms died even though the Crimson Monarch’s attack was far from its original power.
However, guilt and a reluctance to be alone kept them from pulling themselves together and taking action.
Surviving was not enough, it was necessary to want to live. Even seeing the deaths of theirmrades, drowning in dark blood.
Katrin, Viron, and Gnash survived like many Phantoms, but they were among the few who keptntrol of themselves.
The moment the barrier shattered and the abilities of dozens of Phantomsuldn’t stop the crimson ray even for a snd, they realized they had to prepare for the worst.
In an attempt to rver the situation, Katrin jerked her head to the right.
’Fuck! I hope he survived! Adam, you shouldn’t get struck by lightning or we’re all dead!’
Katrin realized that luck was determining everything right now, she stared intently into the cloud of smoke hiding Adam.
A random stream of wind, revealed his silhouette, allowing Katrin to breathe a sigh of relief.
There were no black spots on the ground, the trickles of smoke were missing as well, none of the lightning bolts hit Adam.
Instinctively, a smile began to form on her face. She needed good news in a moment of tragedy to at least keep her morale up.
"Adam! Fuck! You lucky bastard!"
But, before her smileuld fully form, her face froze with a pale expression.
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.
With a loud crunch, Adam’s left arm twisted at a strange angle in many places, as if an invisible beast grabbed his limb with its paws, twisting it to the extreme point.
His bone broke several times, the part below his elbow came out through the skin, his flesh tore in many places while dark blood poured down his mangled arm, even all of his fingers snapped.
Such was his price for double use of his Operator enhanced ability.
