169 Escape (II)


    Ondo knew that Iris’s goal was the elevators since they were the only path to the surface, so he had sent orders for the guards on the upper Saharo City toe down and make a defensive formation around them.


    There were dozens of guards in a battle formation in front of the elevators.


    Iris could feel their strength, and while they were all weaker than her, their number was high enough to make things very difficult. She knew it would not be easy, but she was ready to fight with all she had to reach those elevators.


    Just as Iris was about to enter battle with those guards, a blinding light appeared in one of the elevators before another explosion urred, unleashing a sea of fire.


    “?BOOM!”


    That explosion originated from the elevator that Simon and Cain took to reach the underground city. It was the first ce he put his bombs, and they were thest to be activated.


    The sea of fire struck the back of those dozens of guards, taking them by surprise, killing many, and injuring the rest.


    “King!” Iris knew that the only one that could be responsible for that explosion had to be the man that saved her life.


    Her eyes showed an immense resolution as she seemed to summon the power of the Law of Wind, transforming herself into a humanoid tornado and advancing with unstoppable might.


    .....


    Ondo’s eyes widened as he saw the explosion that broke his men’s battle formation just before Iris crushed everybody in her path to pieces and rose to the surface through the elevator shaft.


    In the old man’s mind, the one responsible for all this had to be Iris, but he could believe the woman managed to trick all of them and n all these traps without no one noticing it.


    ‘How can someone so young n schemes at this level!?’


    Along with that thought, a monstrous killing intent emerged in Ondo’s eyes. He could not allow someone so dangerous and full of potential to keep breathing since they could be a great threat in the future.


    Not paying attention to the cries for help from his wounded men, Ondo took one of the elevators unaffected by the explosion and rose to the surface. The elevator was extremely fast, and the old man hoped it would be enough to diminish the distance between him and the young woman.


    The moment Ondo entered the elevator, a figure moved between the shadows and the mes. No one noticed him, and in a matter of seconds, he vanished through the same elevator shaft that Iris used to rise to the surface.


    Ondo had just reached the surface when he heard a st and saw Iris breaking the building’s doors and shing away. No one could stop her, and Saharo City did not have walls that could prevent someone like her from leaving.


    The muscr Wave Puppet immediately chased after Iris, making expressions of utter shock in all the residents of Saharo City as they were not use to such a sight.


    Iris and Ondo moved so fast that they had already crossed the walls of Saharo City and began to move through the desert in a matter of minutes.


    Ondo was a Wave Champion with a muchrger energy pool. Still, Iris did not have to overexert herself since she was much faster, which is why they moved at a simr speed, with the distance between them not shrinking enough so it could start a battle.


    The old man could not reach the young woman, and he saw how a forest began to appear in the distance. He knew that if they were to enter it, it would not be hard for Iris to lose him, which was something he could not allow.


    Ondo’s Essence Wave busted with power, and the hand with which he controlled the Wave Puppet set aze.


    The muscr Wave Puppet began to tremble for a second before growingrger and its skin turning green. Ondo’s technique pushed the humanoid into overdrive, generating internal damage but also greatly enhancing its physical might.


    Iris’ eyes narrowed as she noticed the change in the muscr Wave Puppet and saw the distance between them shrinking. She did not lose calm and carried forward, reaching the forest.


    Just as the muscr Wave Puppet was one hundred meters away from Iris, she turned around and stroked forward with her rapier, generating dark wind spears.


    Ondo immediately jumped out of the Wave Puppet’s shoulder and positioned behind this one as he saw that attacking his way. A solemn expression appeared on his face as he saw those dark wind spears prating the humanoid’s flesh.


    The Law of Wind did not enhance those attacks, but the dark force that originated from Iris’ new Lineage granted her enough power to surpass the muscr Wave Puppet’s defenses.


    The old man was a seasoned warrior, so he did not lose focus and pushed the Wave Puppet forward, epting that barrage of dark wind spears in exchange for reaching the young woman.


    Iris saw how the muscr Wave Puppet resisted her dark wind spears attack before appearing in front of her and sending a ferocious punch toward her head.


    The young woman took a deep breath, and while the air was still filling her lungs, she sent a palm strike forward.


    The muscr Wave Puppet’s massive fist and Iris’ small palm were about to sh, and everybody could figure out the winner of such an exchange, but the oue was not what one would have expected.


    Just as Iris’ palm and the Wave Puppet’s fist were about to collide, a bubble of superpressed air appeared between them.


    “?Boom!”


    The bubble exploded, unleashing a powerful burst of wind, repelling the muscr Wave Puppet’s punch. It also allowed Iris to use that force to push her body back, generating some distance between her and the Wave Puppet.


    Iris had justnded on the ground when she focused her Essence Wave on her rapier before piercing it into the ground.


    Ondo saw that and immediately jumped more than a dozen meters into the air before summoning the fat Wave Puppet beneath him. He did that just before a giant rapier made of ck wind emerged from the ground.


    The giant dark wind rapiernded on the fat Wave Puppet, greatly damaging this one’s belly but failing to harm the old man.


    Right after that, Ondo and the fat Wave Puppetnded on the ground, and he took control of the muscr Wave Puppet, sending this one to fight against Iris.


    He could have both of his Wave Puppets out, but controlling both of them with enough expertise that they could be useful in a battle was beyond his capabilities.


    Iris had noticed that Ondo could only properly control one Wave Puppet at a time, but that did not make things much easier for her.


    She saw the muscr Wave Puppeting toward her and waved her rapier into the ground, forging a wall of wind that stopped this one for a moment, allowing her to generate dozens of dark wind needles in the sky.


    Ondo focused his control over the fat Wave Puppet making this one embrace him, generating ayer of protection against the attack.


    Once thest dark wind needle fell from the sky, Ondo focused on the muscr Wave Puppet, but he could not give a singlemand before Iris carried on with her attack.


    Iris’ power skyrocketed as she summoned the force of the Law of Wind for the second time, generating four dark wind tornadoes that shed with the muscr Wave Puppet’s shoulders and knees.


    There was nothing Ondo could do but see how those dark wind tornados maimed the muscr Wave Puppet, destroying its extremities.


    Iris turned toward Ondo with cold eyes full of killing intent. Now that the muscr Wave Puppet could not act, it was the perfect time to carry on with her onught, but instead of doing that, she turned around and vanished into the forest.


    From the beginning, she did not seek to defeat the old man but cripple the muscr Wave Puppet, so this one could not chase after her.


    There was an immense rage in Ondo’s heart as he saw Iris leaving, but there was nothing he could do. She was too fast, and even if he could keep up with her, without the muscr Wave Puppet, there was no way he could defeat the young woman.


    “Ahhh.” Ondo sighed, wondering how he would exin all this to the higher-ups when a sense of utter doom assaulted him. He nced behind him and saw a red shing his way, aiming a ruthless attack directly at his heart.


    Using every ounce of strength left in his body, Ondo pushed his body to the side. That saved his life, but the red fash still took his right arm off.


    Ondo clenched his teeth as he jumped back and put the fat Wave Puppet between him and the attacker. His eyes narrowed as he saw that the one that almost killed him wore a metallic suit and a red mask.


    The man in the red hood nced at the right arm that held a space ring in one of its fingers before turning toward the old man, devouring every ounce of blood in the extremity.