'Hmm? Can she deal with them all in one attack? Damn, the long-range Nexus has its advantages, doesn't it?' Adam watched Bryda's actions with curiosity.
He had only seen one Phantom before who would use something like a magic book, even though it was just a form of her Nexus. That person had been Barna, and... not that he wanted to remember it too often.
The other Phantoms watched Bryda with no small amount of interest - in breaks, fighting off Snow Imots and Horned Lizards, the monsters weren't going to stop for their watching.
The Artic Colossuses continued to move forward, striding majestically and casting their cold stares at the Phantoms.
Everyone would think that they were the final threat, once defeated the Phantoms could breathe a sigh of relief. However, those who experienced enough knew that this was not the entire threat of the Eclipse. It wasn't the beginning, but for the final monsters, the Artic Colossuses were too weak and most importantly - not threatening enough.
Yes, the big and scary Artic Colossuses were just an intermediate stage for Bryda to deal with - alone.
Whooooooooooooosh.
Several dark blobs appeared next to Bryda and quickly grew into jaws with insidious grins. They looked like demons with endless hunger and bloodlust.
With caustic smiles, the ghosts circled around their mistress for a while before heading towards the Artic Colossuses. One way or another, their sole purpose was to fulfill Bryda's wishes.
That was one of her Orders, and the power of her Nexus was just beginning to manifest.
'Damn, even though she's also a K1-Phantom, it looks more powerful than my abilities.' Adam pondered, looking at the dark runes flying out from the pages of her book.
The runes flowed upward in a single stream, condensing into a massive black sphere that floated high above the ground like a dark star. It seemed that Bryda had decided to create her own sun, calm and barely visible.
At the same moment, the wraiths sank their jaws in with the Artic Colossuses. They wanted to devour even these giants, but their sharp teeth could not chew through the giants' armor, only gradually gnawing in, leaving scratches. However, Bryda summoned them for another purpose, since they were not a weapon but a sacrifice, in this case.
"Alright, don't forget to remind me to take the genes off them later." Bryda muttered while trickles of blood flowed from the corners of her mouth.
He closed the book abruptly.
At the same moment, the sphere hovering above the ground trembled, as if about to explode or release something.
Then, several rings of light traveled through the sphere, and when they disappeared, a dense black laser with a white glow flew out of the sphere.
Bryda frowned heavily as she waved her hand, from right to left, changing the direction of the laser.
"Argh!" Bryda coughed up blood, falling to one knee, but her task was already done, for nothing could stop the laser.
Artic Colossus swung his arm, trying to get rid of the toothy wraith, but soon, it had to raise its head, only to be met by the oncoming laser.
The blast of darkness shattered the giant's icy armor, causing all the toothy ghosts to explode like bombs whose fuse had just been lit. Then, the laser continued on, traveling through each Artic Colossus, creating a series of seemingly endless explosions.
The giants tried to defend themselves, sensing a clear threat, but all their attempts were unsuccessful, doomed to failure.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
The icy chunks of their bodies fell to the ground with a clatter, raising waves of snow mixed with dark blood.
Not a single Artic Colossus was left alive, Bryda had killed every single one of them, so her mission was complete.
"Kha! Kha! Kha!" Bryda coughed up blood due to the extreme overload of her body. Bags appeared under her eyes, speaking of her obvious exhaustion.
Tap.
A man's hand fell on her shoulder, patting it several times.
Bryda turned around, meeting Owen's gaze, a cigarette clenched in his teeth.
"You've done well. But, such powerful attacks must require a tremendous amount of energy. It's probably going to be hard for you to even walk right now, isn't it?" Owen asked calmly.
Bryda smiled shyly as she nodded slightly.
"Something like that. I just need a few minutes, and I'll be back to normal..." Bryda muttered.
Owen, nodded, then a wide grin appeared on his face.
Without hesitation, he picked Bryda up, throwing her over his shoulder, and headed off with a careless look.
Bryda's face flushed red as she quickly began pounding her fists on his back.
"What are you doing...?! Let me go! Now!"
Owen only smirked and gently slapped her arse a few times.
"Hahaha, I doubt there's anything you can do right now. Just relax and let me help you."
After that, Bryda's face was as red as a tomato, and she no longer had the moral strength to resist, however... nor the desire either.
"Couldn't you have picked me up in your arms... like a knight...?" Bryda barely audibly muttered with cutely puffed cheeks.
Adam had been watching Bryda intently the whole time, from the very beginning to this moment. Owen's trick interested him the least of what he saw.
'Something on your mind?' Silvana asked, 'You're looking at her so intently as if she were the main treasure of this world.'
"Well... I'm just thinking about it. Her firepower is clearly superior to mine and she easily handled the Artic Colossuses, it would have taken me more time and effort. However, if she had fought against a Steel Knight or Mirna... she wouldn't just lose, she'd be killed."
'Yes. You're probably right. Some are strong in one thing, some are good at another. You yourself probably realize that's more than normal.'
Adam nodded as his gaze went to Alexia.
'However, she'd have no problem doing both, would she?' Adam thought.
With the fall of the giants, the fifth wave was complete. This time, the monsters were gone for quite a while, it allowed the Phantoms to rest a bit, but there was a reason for the delay.
It was the calm before the storm - numerous and aggressive.
With the arrival of the sixth wave, over a thousand monsters were heading towards their squad. Among them were hundreds of Snow Imots, Horned Lizards, and dozens of Worm Crushers. There were no Artic Colossuses, it was unlikely they would show up yet as they were small in number, which was logical considering their size.
The Phantoms prepared for another serious challenge, but, the captains were not eager to fight, nor was their leader.
"Fine, they may not be very strong, but it won't take much effort for me to kill them." Fred casually said, slowly stepping forward.
The Phantoms looked at him with puzzled faces. They couldn't believe that he had the ability to kill over a thousand monsters by himself.
"Tsk. You just took an easier task with a more favorable gene ratio." Ester snorted displeased, swinging her axe onto her shoulder.
Fred frowned, throwing her a scornful look.
"Shut up. Just watch me take down a whole wave of monsters single-handedly. That would take you a shitload of time." Fred uttered as his eyes shone brightly and the white vapor, emanating from his bow began to condense into a long, snow-white arrow.