Aboard the Trihexa, Black Spider was reading information about the Triple Tide pirates as the spaceship sped forward.
Kelox, a psychic, was the leader of a civilization, but everything changed when it was discovered that he had used brainwashing to achieve his position. After that, he committed countless crimes across the galaxy using his powers.
Lana, an Ice Esper, was originally a noblewoman from a planetary civilization, but she froze her entire planet, becoming its sole survivor. After the civilization responsible for the area sent investigators to find out what happened, she killed some of them, forced the others to take her off the planet, and then disappeared into the galaxy.
She is extremely willful and maniacal, reacting forcefully to the slightest confrontation, she has killed countless civilians and frozen 7 planets since becoming a pirate.
The last one is O'manir, formerly the royal advisor of a planetary civilization where the strongest was only a Grade B. He caused a rebellion before being captured. Due to his contributions, the king and queen sent him off-planet into exile, but years later O'manir returned, this time as a Grade A.
He killed the rulers and the princess, besides destroying the planet, before leaving and becoming a pirate.
The three formed a group years later, known as Triple Tide, now possessing tens of thousands of subordinates and using extremely fast stealth ships, making them very difficult to catch.
What followed was a long list of crimes they had committed.
Black Spider walked past them, his eyes growing cold, these guys, one was worse than the other.
Then came the analysis of his powers, containing video files, and Black Spider began to study them.
Kelox's general attack style was based on mental attacks, his telekinesis wasn't very strong, but it was still difficult to deal with, and he was very good in combat.
Lana was more direct, fighting with speed, freezing everything around her, making the field perfect for her.
O'manir, on the other hand, was interesting, he was a Pugilist, but his flames were black.
Changing the color of pugilistic flames is not uncommon, there are countless pugilistic abilities, let alone changing color, but also shape and properties..
Have you ever seen a pugilistic flame that looks like running water or hard earth? Yes, it exists. There are as many Pugilistic techniques as there are spells in the explored universe.
The flames of O'manir have a strange property, they not only burn the soul, but they cling like glue to anything that possesses spiritual energy, making them extremely difficult to deal with.
-They're called purifying flames.- Elisis commented from the side.
Black Spider looked at her, the woman's face was incredibly cold, but she continued to speak.
-These flames were created to deal with the invading demons of my home planet, corrupted black creatures with great spiritual power. Ordinary flames had little effect on them, in the end, they were created based on those same creatures.- Elesis concluded.
The group looked at her, seemingly understanding something, but in the end, no one said anything. It was clear that O'manir hadn't acquired that ability through kindness, but that was Elesis's problem, interfering now could backfire.
-So... we're going to fight three Grade A Supers?- Rick asked, swallowing hard, his forehead sweating. -Not that I'm scared, of course not! I'm just curious about the plan, right, the plan, we can't win without a good plan and...
-Rick. - Black Spider finally got tired of the man's chatter.
Rick stopped, smiled, and remained silent, but although the crew hadn't said anything, they also looked at Black Spider, curious as to what he would do.
Black Spider, on the other hand, was pensive.
These guys were difficult to handle when they fought together, Lana was the most complicated due to her power serving as a buffer. The psychics weren't really very useful against Ringo because of his high spiritual power, but the power of the black flames could also be problematic, he needed to test it to find out.
Besides, those black flames reminded him of his own demonic flames, so it was likely that they were real demons that invaded Elesis's home planet.
Lost in thought, he began to see the future.
Smiling, Black Spider spoke. -Let's change course, in a week, our chance will come.
//-//
At Bradd's store, the group reunited.
Ringo, Eva, Hila, Ames, and Aesop, each having enjoyed those days.
Hila looked at Eva's radiant figure and gave Ringo a hard look, which he pretended not to see, but apart from that, everything was normal.
Bradd opened the door again, with Ames nearby, he hadn't been sleeping well, especially since he'd been very busy these past few days.
The man coughed slightly and pulled a number of items onto the counter, but before he could begin to introduce them, Ringo raised his hand, tossing an item to Bradd.
Bradd picked it up easily, looking at the Lich Phylactery in surprise, he quickly noticed that it was indeed a Ancestor Lich Phylactery.
Bradd blinked, looking at a confused Ringo, who kept smiling, as well as at Ames, who seemed completely indifferent to it, and Aesop, who gave an even more playful smile than Ringo's, as if he were watching a good show.
Bradd turned his gaze to the Lich's Phylactery, sensing its power, he sighed, putting it away in his bag.
Soon after, he stepped out from behind the counter, nodded to Ringo, before looking at Ames and bowing. -If you accept me, I'm willing to be your subordinate.
Ames looked at him with her usual indifferent expression, she remained thoughtful for a moment, Bradd didn't dare move, maintaining his position, but in the end, all he received from Ames was a simple - Hn.
It was a casual agreement for a subordinate of Bradd's caliber, but Ames didn't mind, and Bradd actually liked that kind of simple personality.
After getting back on his feet, Bradd smiled slightly, he felt much lighter after making his choice.
-Well, let's leave that aside for now, we can have a party later. Now show us what we came for.- Ringo turned his gaze back to the items Bradd had brought.
A white wooden bow with blue flower petals that appeared to be carved into its body and a silver string, in addition to two spheres, one black and the other red.