Anomalies were, in so ways true miracles, the nature of which knew everyone, whether an experienced Phantom or just a young boy from the slums.
However, most people forgot that the anomalies were not treasure chests, but dangerous zones where to get the reward you had to pass through trials.
This was where the hidden threat of all anomalies lay, or rather... quite large and powerful ones because monsters and natural disasters were not the only threats, coming from anomalies.
The artifact that Dargo held in his hands looked like a dark, cold sphere, made of very dense ice or tal.
However, as soon as he touched it, even though he was wearing special gloves, a bright flash ca out of the artifact that blinded everyone.
At the sa mont, the dark sphere cracked, shattering the outer shell that crumbled down, revealing the true form of the artifact... or was it not really an artifact?
An azure eye filled with blue flas opened wide, looking first at Dargo, then at the others.
Zera, Hazel, and Dargo froze in shock and horror, for they were the only ones in the squad to realize what was happening there.
"Everyone! Defend yourselves!" Zera exclaid as fast and loud as she could. Her voice ca from the very depths of her soul, bringing the threat.
At the sa mont, a blue fla sphere with an eye flew upward, escaping Dargo's grip.
In no ti, hardly anyone had ti to prepare and realize what was happening here, the azure eye shone brightly again, covering the entire area of the main anomaly with a wave of light.
Every Harvester and Phantom was hit by this light since there was no way to hide from it. Even if soone managed to close his eyes or cover himself with his hands - it was useless, the light from the azure eye passed through any obstacles.
Adam was no exception, as soon as he blinked he realized that there was no one around - only fog and intense cold that surrounded him from all sides.
'What's going on...? Is this so kind of hypnosis? Could it be an illusion? Is such a thing even possible?' Adam pondered, a multitude of questions filled his mind, but he had no ti to ponder because the danger was already right in front of him!
Whooooooooooooosh.
The ghostly blade headed straight for him at great speed.
Adam's pupils narrowed as he managed to react at the last mont and called out his needle. He deflected the lunge and counterattacked back, wounding the invisible opponent.
Then, another attack followed, this ti it was much faster and more accurate, but Adam was ready. He fought for his life, for by the cascade of sparks, he realized that a single misstep could lead to his death.
Soon, Adam forgot he was on a mission with the Scarlet River Squad, he also forgot about the anomaly cluster and lost all sense of ti.
He didn't know how many seconds, minutes, or hours he had been in this strange place, because every mont he had to fight, sotis getting wounded.
'Fuck! How many more tis do I have to injure you to kill you?!' Adam inwardly exclaid before making a risky lunge forward.
He held his arm out in front of him, allowing the ghostly blade to pierce his arm. A bright pain spread through his body, but now Adam had a chance to grab his opponent!
"Gotcha." Adam smirked, looking at the needle that was slowly entering his enemy's ghostly body, filling with blood.
Then, the frosty mist began to swirl rapidly, growing thicker and thicker. Adam swung the needle, splitting it, but it was useless.
He blinked, and to his surprise, he was back in the real world, and his many wounds, including the cut on his arm, were gone. However, that wasn't the correct definition, because just like in the virtual zone, those wounds simply never existed.
Adam looked around, and his eyes went wide, his body covered in goosebumps, an intense anxiety built up deep within him.
All the Phantoms and Harvesters around him were encased in ice crystals. None of them were injured, at least on the outside, but they couldn't move, and they all had the sa look in their eyes - like a fighter a second before losing his mortal combat.
Also, Adam couldn't hear Silvana, for his earbud was broken, it was when the azure eyes shone brightly for the second ti.
It seed he was the only one left who hadn't fallen under this curse of icing, and all that remained was a blue flaming orb hovering above the ground.
Near the center of the main anomaly, there were now three tall crystals with azure flas burning inside them sohow. From each crystal ca a ghostly trace that, from ti to ti, was disrupted, but it was possible to track the target.
Crackle. Crackle. Crackle.
A crunch from the ice was heard from the side.
Adam summoned an igloo, preparing to fight, but there was no need, for it wasn't a monster but Zera - she, too, passed the trial.
"Zera... What the hell is going on here...?" Adam muttered with a dazed expression. He had never heard of such a thing, it was like a nightmare co true.
Zera's gaze grew darker as he glanced at the azure eye.
"We call it a Mirage - a rare but dangerous phenonon that sotis becos part of an anomaly or cluster. You can think of it as a trap, it's easier that way, but it's a fair trap, to so degree." Zera sighed heavily.
She tried to remain calm as panicking was no use, and it would only make an already shitty situation worse.
"Trap... fair one...? What the hell does that an?!" Adam frowned, clenching his fists tightly.
"Look." Zera pointed to an icy disk hovering above the azure eye. There were 180 small cells on the disk, and three of them were already burning with blue flas, the fourth was ready to flash in a few seconds.
"Is that a tir...?" Adam muttered as his eyes went wide.
Zera nodded.
"Yeah... I've been in a Mirage once before, so I can assure you that they all have their rules. In this case, it's simple, we need to destroy these three crystals with fire inside, obviously, they are powering this disk. Given the number of cells, we have three hours to do that, it's already a little less than that..."
Adam nodded.
He felt that these crystals were unusual, a lot depended on them.
"Wait... What happens if we don't make it in ti or decide to leave here and disobey the rules?" Adam shuddered, expecting an unwelco answer.
"We can't know for sure, but most likely the crystals will shrink or explode, tearing our squad mbers apart. No one will survive after that, not Harvester, not a Phantom Private, nor Hazel and Dargo..." Zera muttered, biting down on her lip until it was bloody.
Adam looked away, his gaze traveling along the nearest fla trail that to his surprise ended almost right next to them.
"Zera... Looks like we don't have ti to complain about our situation. Our opponent is already waiting for us." Adam said seriously as he stared at the Ice Chaser approaching them.
However, unlike the ones they had already killed, this one had two horns and was slightly taller.
The monster's aura overwheld them, but they couldn't escape because they had to destroy the blue fla that burned in the monster's chest.
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