In the next second, the man who had been charging toward Ethan suddenly veered off and plunged into the woods.
He was running away?
Ethan and his companions paused for a mont, their thoughts in unison: What the hell… this guy's a coward?
Leo imdiately sprang to his feet and gave chase, while Ethan also moved, his body shifting into action. Williams turned and sprinted toward Victor's position.
Two seconds later, Ethan grabbed Leo by the arm, yanking him back mid-sprint. Leo stumbled, caught off guard by the sudden force.
"What the—" Leo exclaid, startled. It was the first ti soone had managed to stop him in the middle of a full-speed dash.
"Go help Victor!" Ethan barked, then continued running, his focus now on the man wreathed in flas. The man's fiery escape was impressive, but no matter how fast he was, he couldn't outrun Ethan's heightened senses.
The man's speed was clearly a burst-type ability. After about five hundred ters, the flas at his feet flickered and died out.
Ethan, now in his Panther Form, was slower but not by much. He kept pace, trailing the man like a shadow.
The man glanced back after his flas extinguished, his eyes widening in terror when he saw Ethan less than a hundred ters behind him. Panicking, he pushed himself to run even faster.
Bang!
A sniper shot echoed through the forest.
A burst of fire erupted in the distance, flaring up briefly before vanishing.
Bang! Another shot.
Crack! A tree ahead of the fla-wreathed man splintered as a bullet tore through it.
Ethan knew Victor had won his fight—otherwise, he wouldn't be firing shots in their direction. By now, they were far from the camp, and Ethan's senses were focused ahead, so he had no idea what was happening back at the base.
The fla-wreathed man changed direction, only for another tree to explode in front of him.
He veered again. The delay allowed Ethan to close the gap to less than ten ters.
Shred!
Ethan's fingers curled into claws as he slashed at the man's back.
"Ahhh!" The man scread in agony. Unlike the bat-faced man, he had no special defenses. Ethan's claws tore through his flesh, leaving four deep gashes that exposed his spine.
But the man didn't stop. Using the montum from the attack, he stumbled forward, still trying to escape.
Shred…
This ti, Ethan had an idea. What would happen if he combined his skill with the use of his Soul Energy?
As the thought crossed his mind, he channeled his energy and activated the Shred skill.
Whoosh! Four claw marks, each half a ter long, materialized in the air as if slicing through space itself. They shot forward, striking the man with brutal precision.
Sssshhhhk!
The sound of tearing fabric echoed as the man's body was cleanly severed into five pieces. He froze mid-step, his head turning slowly to look back at Ethan.
Ethan stared in shock as the man's body collapsed into a heap on the forest floor.
The thick stench of blood filled the air, making Ethan gag. He covered his nose and mouth, turning away from the grueso scene and sprinting back toward the camp.
But after only a few steps, he stopped, leaning against a tree as he dry-heaved.
Earlier, when he had crushed the bat-faced man with a single strike, it hadn't affected him like this.
Part of it was the adrenaline of combat, there hadn't been ti to process what was happening.
The other part was that the bat-faced man, after transforming, had looked more like a monster than a human. Killing him had felt no different than taking down a creature in a ga. It hadn't bothered Ethan at all.
But this was different. With a single swipe of his claws, he had dismbered a man who, despite his abilities, still looked entirely human.
This was the first ti Ethan had killed soone who appeared so… normal.
And it made him sick to his stomach.
Rustle, rustle, rustle…
Ethan knew it was Victor and the others approaching.
All three of them were carrying backpacks, and it was clear they'd cleaned up the camp before heading over.
With them was the female mutant, her hands bound, her clothes torn and disheveled. Half of her face was badly burned, and her hair was completely gone.
Just as Ethan was trying to steady his stomach, the sll of burnt hair and flesh hit him like a wave, and he doubled over, dry-heaving again.
Williams, grinning, handed him a water bottle. Ethan took a few gulps, and the nausea began to subside.
Victor chuckled. "First ti's always the worst. You'll get used to it after a while."
"What happened to her?" Ethan asked, recalling the massive burst of flas he'd seen from the forest earlier.
By then, he'd been over five hundred ters from the camp, his senses locked onto the fla-wreathed man. He hadn't paid attention to what was happening back at the base.
"Dust explosion," Williams explained. "She got roasted."
"Dust explosion?" Ethan frowned, confused. He rembered seeing Williams rummaging through their backpacks earlier, pulling out small, palm-sized waterproof bags from each of their dical kits.
Ethan knew those bags contained starch, used for stopping bleeding in case of serious injuries. Pressing a starch bag against a wound and bandaging it could quickly stop the bleeding, potentially saving a life if done in ti.
But Ethan still didn't understand how a few bags of starch had taken down the woman.
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Seeing his confusion, Williams elaborated. "Victor told to grab them. Turns out this woman's ability is similar to the team leader's—she can compress air."
Ethan had seen her ability in action, but he still couldn't figure out how starch had been the key to defeating her.
Williams continued, "When I got over there, I tid it just right. As she was compressing the air, I tossed the starch into the air. Her air shield filled up with the particles, and then Victor hit it with an incendiary round. Compressed air plus dust, plus a spark—boom! She was done for."
Ethan listened, impressed, and gave Victor a thumbs-up. "That's so quick thinking."
But then he asked, "What if we hadn't had the starch?"
Victor froze, and Williams' expression darkened.
"Well," Williams said quietly, "Victor had all four of our grenades strung together and hanging around his neck."
Ethan's heart sank. He knew they only had four grenades, and Victor had taken all of them when he left the camp. Ethan had assud they were for so tactical purpose, but now it was clear—Victor had been prepared to go out in a blaze of glory if things went south.
Victor scratched the back of his head, clearly embarrassed. "Old sniper habits. Anyway, what do we do with her?"
"Kill her," Ethan said without hesitation.
The others were taken aback. Leo spoke up, "Shouldn't we interrogate her first? See if we can get any intel?"
Ethan glanced at him. "Open her mouth and take a look."
No one understood what he ant, but Leo, curious, grabbed the woman's jaw and forced it open.
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