It was just as Han Qingyu had guessed: Alphonse had an immense personal dread of time, and the "fake Alphonse suicide" outside earlier was very likely to spur Azure into making a swifter decision in an effort to salvage whatever they could.
This second person striking from close range wore a mask; it was Alphonse himself.
Han Qingyu and the others were not yet certain of this. In their surmising, they had even felt that given Alphonse's usual temperament, he would most likely not be in such a rush to take action personally. But it truly was him.
For Alphonse, now that the situation had reached a stage where it had to be resolved by force, he had to deliver an impact, scatter the formation before him, and isolate the three super combat powers from one another.
Han Qingyu in particular—only when there was no super combat power or support from that sniper rifle by his side would Alphonse be confident of killing him.
In that instant, the ambushing figure hugged close to the ground. His left hand touched the earth soundlessly once; the bluestone cracked, and the ground sank...
Alphonse's body abruptly curled into a tight ball, snapped open, and surged upward.
Holding his blade in his right hand, he slashed upward toward Theodore, sweeping from lower abdomen to neck.
If he could kill or severely wound a super combat power while shattering the formation, it would undoubtedly be the most advantageous outcome... Theodore, the weakest among the three, was Alphonse's best choice.
However, in the middle of his upward ascent, Alphonse suddenly felt the air thicken and compress, slightly impeding his momentum.
*A gravity field?*
A detail flashed violently through Alphonse's mind. A second earlier, when Wu Xu swept with his spear and sent an assailant flying, that black spear had not continued in inertial motion; instead, it had forcefully reversed course, driving backward tip-first into the ground.
The entire pocket of air had sunk and condensed along with the spearhead's movement.
*The gravity field was caused by him. It wasn't a reaction—it was a prearranged trap...*
In truth, the impediment was not immense. With Alphonse's strength, the gravity field had only a minuscule effect on the speed of his body and movements. But on a battlefield where pinnacle combat powers clashed, it was enough. Enough to change many things.
*A trap!*
This was the instant Alphonse realized it.
In that same instant, the tip of the Binggu Spear in Wu Xu's hands slammed into the ground.
Han Qingyu had not yet finished turning, but the two blue starlight column swords, large and small, had already burst from their wooden cases, shooting diagonally toward that figure...
Theodore did not retreat. Standing his ground, he drew his blade with his right hand and chopped straight down, the black edge slicing through the air before him without the slightest hint of defense.
The iron armor's right shoulder dipped, preparing to charge!
Wen Jifei swung his sniper rifle around, but rather than tracking the person, the muzzle aimed in advance toward the alley entrance behind, ready to cut off the figure's retreat.
In truth, they had discussed this while still outside: they would offer this opening, and then pin the enemy down like this.
All their impromptu discussions and formation adjustments earlier had been an act.
However—*crack!*
If one imagined the miniature gravity field created by Wu Xu as a transparent cube in the air, then this sound was like something effortlessly biting an opening right through the wall of that cube.
Alphonse's extended form abruptly curled inward again, snapped open, and bounced outward in reverse.
Immediately following, a sharp *clash!*
The short blade in his hand briefly made contact with Theodore's black blade, glancing off. Alphonse had the opportunity to severely wound Theodore, but doing so would leave him pinned down, so he decisively abandoned the attack.
Alphonse broke out of the gravity field, tapped his hand against the Binggu Spear, and veered away again.
*Boom, boom!* The two blue starlight column swords missed, cratering into the ground.
Rusty Sister felt a light touch against the back of her iron shoulder, and in the next moment, her ramming target vanished from her sight.
*Bang! Bang, bang, bang, bang!* Wen Jifei fired five consecutive shots toward the alley entrance.
Yet that masked figure still vanished into the alleyway.
Wen Jifei froze behind his scope for about two seconds before pulling his face away, looking at the others in mild numbness. "Damn, that was fast!"
For the first time in the past two or three years, Wen Jifei had seen a target appear in his scope and fired several shots in rapid succession without hitting anything. Perhaps a bullet had grazed the body, but there was no direct hit.
That figure was fast... and fast in an unusual way.
Throughout his entire escape, he had made contact with objects or the ground at least ten times, triggering over a dozen shifts in direction and evasive leaps.
Therefore, this was not like Han Qingyu moving by riding the column swords, traversing a long distance in a straight line in the blink of an eye.
This was speed within minute nuances and tight spaces—an absolute quickness of burst and maneuver.
Just as people say a horse is fast,
and they also say a rat is fast.
In truth, the two were entirely different concepts of speed.
...
"At this level, it might be Alphonse who came," Han Qingyu said, standing sideways at the front left of the formation as he slowly drew his blade. "A bit troublesome. Stay vigilant."
The formation quickly re-formed behind him.
"Little Ears, how are you? Next time, retreat when you should. If he comes again, you'll still be his primary target," Han Qingyu asked in a low voice.
"Little Ears" was Theodore—a nickname that the Huaxia warriors of Stream Vanguard had gradually started using recently. Applied to a stubbly white man in his forties, it was oddly amusing.
Theodore had resisted at first, but after realizing it was useless, he accepted it.
"I'm fine... let me check." Theodore first removed the right gauntlet of his armor and inspected his hand, looking slightly puzzled, then took off the guard on his left hand as well.
He rolled up the sleeves of his combat uniform and held both hands side by side.
From palm to forearm, his left hand was completely normal. But his right arm was pale and greenish, with several purplish patches resembling spots.
Of course, as Theodore continually absorbed source energy blocks, the symptoms were rapidly receding.
"...Fuck!" Wen Jifei cursed, the atmosphere growing heavy.
It was definitely Alphonse.
A devour trait more terrifying than imagined.
Although Theodore's right arm was recovering quickly, just earlier, that hand had only been gripping a blade that grazed Alphonse's short blade for a fraction of a second.
In other words, this was devouring damage transmitted solely through trait conduction when Alphonse had virtually broken off his attack.
Just imagine: if Alphonse hadn't been forced to pull back out of fear of being trapped and besieged, Theodore would most likely be severely injured by now.
And he was a super combat power.
"I'm fine," Rusty Sister said, snapping out of her careful self-assessment. "He touched me just now as well, but I'm completely fine."
"Mm. What about Wu Xu?" Han Qingyu asked in a low voice.
"I... didn't feel much," Wu Xu said.
In truth, there had been a slight sensation earlier, but with a slight conversion of life source energy, Wu Xu had dispelled it.
Just as he had said of himself, it was very hard for him to die now. A person who had once hovered near death from grave wounds time and again now found it difficult to even be genuinely injured.
At this time, scattered and light footsteps echoed ceaselessly from the alleys and buildings lining both sides of the street.
"Can I shoot?" Wen Jifei asked.
"Fire at will," Han Qingyu replied.
*Bang!* A bullet punched through a wall.
Amid the gunfire, Han Qingyu took two steps back.
*Shhk!* He pulled the large column sword from the ground and strapped it to his back, then drew out the smaller blue starlight column sword and handed it back to Rusty Sister.
Rusty Sister blinked. "Aren't you going to use it?"
In truth, although this small blue starlight column sword belonged to her, Han Qingyu was usually the one using it. She had never suggested returning it directly to him simply because she wanted to keep it in name and carry it for him.
"Keep it on you so it's convenient for me to return to it," Han Qingyu said, glancing back and whispering. "If I suddenly give chase later, remember to maintain the formation. None of you are to follow."
Chapter 571