Chapter 97: The Storm Part 2
Nathan did not think and followed her order. His right hand was already changing before the word finished leaving her mouth.
His beast arm tore through his sleeve as muscle and bone reformed. The bracer did not fall —it merged, its scale plating folding into the new shape.
He raised his arm.
BOOOOM!
The attack came from above and hit like a building had been dropped on him. The ground beneath his feet gave out entirely, cratering inward.
Dust and pulverized concrete exploded, swallowing him whole.
Leah steadied herself against a half-collapsed barrier, her whip already drawn in case of a surprise attack.
Aris did not wait for the dust to thin.
She took a step and rushed forward.
Her scythe came off her back in one motion, the blade catching the moon light above the smoke as she swung it in a wide, rising arc.
White lightning tore free from it — a single focused bolt shooting toward the dark shape that attacked Nathan.
For a fraction of a second, it looked like it would connect cleanly.
But another figure descended and planted what looked like a rectangular shield, large enough to cover the entire body.
CRACK!
White lightning arcs broke apart and spread across the shield’s face, dissipating against the material without leaving a mark.
"Tsk."
Aris did not slow down.
The shield told her two things immediately. Its surface was designed to disperse concentrated energy. And whoever held it was confident in their defensive capability.
That was a mistake.
She closed the remaining distance in under a second, her speed crossing into a range that made the air around her hiss.
The shield user had no time to reset.
She was already inside its reach.
Her scythe came down from above, then angled into a powerful, controlled downward arc, compressing everything into the swing.
The blade met the shield’s upper edge.
For one second, it held.
Then it split.
The cut passed through the shield and continued through the arm holding it, then the shoulder, and ended in a diagonal line above the stomach.
The shield user hung in the air for a single second before his two halves split apart.
Aris stayed alert. She vanished from her spot just as a blade came at her.
CLANG!
CLANG!
CLANG!
Scythe met rapier in a rapid exchange of strikes, the clash echoing through the air.
The woman’s attack came nonstop. Even Aris had to focus fully just to block them.
The female agent moved like water finding its level — never forcing, never committing to a single line for more than a fraction of a second.
Every thrust redirected the moment Aris moved to intercept it, slipping around the block and arriving from a different angle before the previous exchange had even finished.
Aris stepped back once.
That was unusual enough that Harlan noticed it from a distance away and stopped moving entirely.
The woman standing across from Aris was not large. Medium height, lean, her dark hair pinned back tightly enough that not a single strand moved despite the speed she was operating at.
Her power suit was plain — dark, fitted, no rank insignia. The rapier in her hand looked almost too thin for what it was doing.
She lowered it slightly and tilted her head.
"So this is the legendary Lightning Empress."
Aris said nothing.
"I have to admit," the woman continued, her eyes moving briefly to the two halves of her former ally.
"Your reputation is not exaggerated. You cut through our best tanker like he was made of paper. That shield can even withstand an attack from a Category 7 beast, you know."
She raised her rapier again, the tip hovering at eye level. "My name is Lyrica, Elite Rank—the fastest person in the city right now."
Harlan and Leah both swallowed hard after hearing her name, because they never expected such a big shot to be in this city.
She ignored everyone else and focused only on Aris.
"But a scythe is a wide weapon." Her foot shifted back, weight moving onto her front leg. "So you’re a bad match for me."
She moved.
The rapier vanished.
CLANG!
Aris deflected it high.
Lyrica’s wrist rolled mid-extension and the rapier dropped below the scythe’s handle, thrusting upward toward the elbow joint.
Aris twisted and the tip grazed her sleeve.
CLANG! CLANG!
Two more in the same breath, one aimed at the throat and the second at the hip, arriving in a sequence so compressed that blocking the first made space for the second by design.
The third came immediately after.
No gap. No reset. The rapier simply continued from where the second left off, threading through the opening the previous block had created.
There was no clean way out.
Aris slammed the blunt end of her scythe into the ground.
CRACK!
The impact split the pavement beneath her feet. Lightning erupted from the point of contact.
The radius swallowed everything within fifteen meters in an instant.
For a full second, the entire area turned white.
Harlan shielded his eyes. Leah turned away.
When the light died, the ground around Aris was blackened and cracked.
Lyrica was already gone.
She landed twenty meters back, perfectly balanced, her dark hair still pinned with not a single strand out of place. She dodged that powerful attack by moving away just before the scythe hit the ground. It was clear she understood her opponent’s fighting style.
Aris took a deep breath. She was saving her energy for later, but Lyrica was too difficult to deal with.
’I have no choice.’
She lowered her stance. Her weapon started to vibrate in sync with her breathing. Translucent scales formed along her arms, spreading slowly.
"NO!" a voice cut in. "DON’T WASTE YOUR ENERGY ON HER!"
Aris turned her attention to the source. It was Nathan, his arms now fully transformed, though his entire body was covered in wounds and bruises.
Looking closer, his eyes had turned dark red, a sign that he had already stopped holding back his beast side.
As for the one who attacked him earlier, the agent stood a few meters away, gripping a obsidian heavy hammer.
He stood around seven feet tall, dark-skinned, wearing a tight dark power suit that barely concealed his muscles. Though his weapon was large, he held it comfortably with one hand.
"We three are more than enough to handle these two," Nathan declared. He clenched his fist, and the small holes in his arm began releasing hot air.
The temperature around him instantly rose, distorting the air.
Harlan and Leah both nodded in agreement. Nathan might be easygoing most of the time, but he always pulled through when it mattered.
"I won’t let you take all the credit," Leah flashed a smile.
Her whip snapped—and it pierced straight through her back, turning into a tail. Her eyes changed as well, turning dark red.
Unlike before, her tail was longer and glossier. When she moved it, it was so fast that a normal human would not even notice any change in the air—only the ground suddenly being pulverized out of nowhere.
Nathan and she locked eyes. No words were needed. They already knew what to do.
