Neither Adam nor Silvana knew what the mbers of the Red Bears or the other major organizations at the Lower Ring looked like, but once they saw the girl's NEP, it was obvious to them.
The Red Bears mbers were in front of them. To a knowledgeable person, her look and bloodlust made this clear, but the engraving on her NEP was a distinguishing feature showing which of the four major powers she belonged to.
The muscular one and bearded man froze in wild fear. When they realized that Adam wasn't going to kill them, that it was influenced by his softness as Phantom from the Upper Ring, they saw hope.
But... now they had only one chance to survive - to run away.
Saying nothing, the muscular one and bearded man struggled to get up from the ground. Limping, they ran away, stumbling over every piece of debris.
It seed that their brazen escape attempt had succeeded. The girl with crimson hair did not pay attention to them at all. Her eyes looked solely at Adam, glancing once at Silvana, imdiately losing interest in her person.
Tap.
She jumped to the ground, deftly picking up the axe. With one hand she held a weapon that was as big as herself.
"A strong Phantom from the Upper Ring," she pronounced with a predatory look. "I don't rember this happening in a long ti."
Quickly, a torrent of energy ran through her axe, but Adam's instincts remained calm. He sensed she wasn't going to attack him, not now.
Sweep.
With a sweep of her hand, a crimson blade erged from the axe, wiping out the two n who got in the way.
They had no chance to dodge or block her attack.
Silvana gulped. It seed to her that the three thugs were violent, but...
'She's a different matter altogether,' Silvana thought. 'Shit, she just ca in and killed those three. She didn't even twitch an eyebrow!'
Like Silvana, Adam too realized that this girl was on a whole other level. Not only as a Phantom according to the general level system, but also as a resident of the Lower Ring, as the Dark Phantom who instilled terror in others.
But, Adam didn't feel fear. He had expected sothing like this.
Step.
Adam stepped forward, maintaining his cold stare.
"You... Those three were your enemies? Why did you kill them? And, who the hell are you?"
"My na is Risha! Nice to et you!" she exclaid in excitent, almost jumping up.
Then, she tilted her head, puzzled. "Why did I kill them? What a strange question... They were in my way, and they're not one of the Four Beasts, so their deaths don't carry any consequences."
She glanced at the two bloody spots to the side.
"Just insects that decided to scatter when I arrived. I just squashed them, and that was it."
Was it cruel? Was it inhuman? Was it immoral?
Sure, but none of that bothered Adam. After all, the Lower Ring wasn't a chaotic ss, it was a dark place operating by certain rules like everything else in this world.
"Pffft! What kind of excuse is that?!" Adam snorted irritably.
"Agh?"
"Those three attacked , I defeated them, and you ca and killed them! You did nothing but take my prey from ! Do you think that's cool? Who gave you permission to kill them without my consent?!" Adam exclaid, tightly clenching his fist. It seed he was truly angry.
Suddenly, Risha flinched uncertainly. She was not surprised but felt ashad of her actions.
"Hey... Sorry, alright? I thought you were going to let them go after you questioned them... Hehehe... Let's just forget about it?" Risha scratched the back of her head awkwardly.
Then, deciding that this apology was enough, Risha got into a fighting stance, her aura becoming much stronger.
"Let's not waste ti on bullshit and fight! I ca here for this, the Light Phantom!"
Risha's legs twitched, but right before the jerk, she was left by Adam's gesture.
"Wait. As a genuine apology, I want you to answer one question, then we'll fight."
She was about to interrupt her, but Adam preceded as his low voice rang out.
"Do it and we'll fight to the death. That's what you want, isn't it?"
Risha's eyes sparkled with delight. Not that she was going to let Adam live in the event of his defeat, but knowing that he too would be serious, she could be sure of the real, bloody fight she desired.
"Fine! Quickly ask and let's get started!"
Adam jerked his head towards Silvana.
"My na is Adam, this is my Operator - Silvana. So, now that you know that - where is your Operator? And why don't you want to capture Silvana like those three idiots."
"Hey!" Risha pointed at Adam with puffed-up cheeks. "That's two questions! That wasn't our deal!"
Adam remained silent, his stern gaze piercing her.
"Tsk! Fine," Risha stomped irritably on the ground. "My new Operator is in a safe place now! Cute, smart, and capable guy! That's not what you should be thinking about!"
Adam and Silvana imdiately latched onto one word:
'New?' he inwardly muttered. 'At the Upper Ring, Phantoms and Operators sotis part ways, but ... sohow I don't think that's the case here.'
Adam already understood how the relationship between Phantoms and Operators at the Lower Ring worked, at least most of the ti.
'Looks like she either bought her Operator, or was captured, or got it in so other wild way... That's actually barbaric, but I'm interested in sothing else,' he narrowed his eyes, staring intently at Risha. 'If the Phantoms at the Lower Ring mostly get their Operators by force, how do they establish a bond? How do they build a relationship?'
Adam glanced at Silvana.
'I can't imagine Silvana and I getting to this point if I'd used only force and domination on her. That's not how the Phantom/Operator bond works.'
Then, Adam shook his head.
"So, are you going to answer my second question, or should I just run away and leave you without a fight like a loser?"
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