Zephyr had always known that getting hit by the Anakim's spear was probably the worst fate anyone could experience in this tournament.
He had seen that weapon tear through a stage four beast in the sky like it was paper. The memory was still fresh in his mind. The throw had looked careless at first, almost lazy even, yet the spear still found its target perfectly.
That was the terrifying part.
The accuracy.
It didn't matter how far away the target was or how fast they moved. Once the Anakim threw that spear, it was like the weapon already knew where it wanted to go.
And now…
That same spear had struck Rhyssa directly.
A member of the Synapse Circle.
Even thinking about it made Zephyr feel uneasy.
With the raw force behind the throw, mixed with the strange gravity power of the Anakim, Zephyr honestly couldn't imagine anyone below stage five or six surviving a direct hit from that thing.
Even he, who had only been caught in the aftermath, was already in terrible shape. His entire body hurt. His legs were trapped. His energy was gone.
Yet Rhyssa…
She survived.
Not unharmed.
But alive.
As she stepped out from the crater, parts of her damaged armor sparked weakly. Cracks spread across the suit, and several sections no longer had any light running through them.
Still, she moved calmly.
Her hand lifted slightly.
Small particles of yellow light gathered around her fingers like glowing dust. Then she moved her hand through the air, making several smooth gestures.
The lights reacted immediately.
A soft yellow sphere formed around her body. It wrapped around her slowly, tightening bit by bit until it rested directly against her skin and damaged armor.
It looked less like a shield and more like she had grown another transparent layer of skin over herself.
Zephyr watched silently.
He had no idea what she had just activated.
But one thing was obvious.
She was still combat ready.
"You guys better run while you can," Rhyssa said calmly. "Because once I'm done with this Anakim, I'm still coming for you."
Zephyr frowned slightly.
He didn't understand what she meant.
Done with the Anakim?
Was she serious?
Before he could even think further though, the broken trees trapping his legs suddenly lifted.
Effortlessly.
Like they weighed nothing at all.
"Isla?" Zephyr said in surprise.
Before he could say anything else though, a hand grabbed him firmly.
The next second, his body was pulled free and thrown over someone's shoulder.
"Lennox?" Zephyr called out, still trying to process what was happening.
"We don't have time for this. We need to get out of here now," Lennox said quickly, urgency clear in his voice.
There was no teasing this time.
No jokes.
Just seriousness.
Isla moved ahead while Lennox carried Zephyr over his shoulder, and the three of them immediately rushed into the forest. Broken branches snapped beneath their feet as they forced their way through the trees as fast as they could.
None of them looked back.
Not even once.
Meanwhile, after the Wyndhams disappeared into the woods, Rhyssa slowly turned her attention toward the Anakim.
"You damaged my suit," she said coldly. "You're going to regret that."
The moment those words left her mouth, her aura changed completely.
The pressure around her rose sharply.
This wasn't the same level of strength she had used against Zephyr, Lennox, and Isla before. Back then, it almost felt like she had been playing with them.
Now?
Now she was serious.
The Anakim noticed it too.
He lifted his massive spear and adjusted his stance, preparing himself for battle.
Then Rhyssa moved.
Boom!
The ground beneath her cracked slightly as she shot forward at terrifying speed. Her body moved smoothly through the heavy gravity field like it didn't exist at all.
'You manipulate gravity… well, I came prepared for that too,' Rhyssa thought calmly.
An anti-gravitational field spread around her body, canceling the crushing pressure around her and allowing her to move freely.
At the same time, her damaged suit suddenly began moving again.
At first, it looked dead.
Broken.
Finished.
But then the armor shifted.
Tiny pieces separated from her body one after another, moving like countless microscopic machines. They crawled across her skin rapidly, flowing together in streams toward her right arm.
The process was fast.
Almost unsettling to watch.
Within seconds, every armored piece left the rest of her body completely, revealing the simple casual clothes she had been wearing underneath the suit the entire time.
But all of that armor had not disappeared.
It had gathered.
Her right arm began growing larger and larger as the nano-particles layered themselves over it repeatedly. Metal expanded outward, thickening, compressing, reshaping.
Soon, her right arm had become gigantic.
Massive.
It was almost bigger than her entire body itself.
However, despite the gigantic size of the arm, Rhyssa moved with it effortlessly, like it weighed absolutely nothing.
The Anakim reacted immediately.
Gripping his spear tightly, he thrust it downward toward Rhyssa with terrifying force. The air screamed around the weapon as it descended, the pressure behind the strike enough to crush the ground beneath it before it even landed.
But Rhyssa didn't dodge.
She stepped forward instead.
Then raised her gigantic arm.
Boom!
Her massive hand caught the spear right at its sharpened tip.
The impact blasted wind outward in every direction, kicking up dirt and broken wood across the battlefield. Yet even with all that force behind it, the spear stopped.
Completely.
Her enlarged hand wrapped tightly around the weapon, holding it in place just inches away from her face.
For a brief moment, the two remained locked like that.
The massive spear trembling.
The Anakim pushing downward.
Rhyssa standing still beneath it.
The Anakim leaned his body weight forward, muscles tightening as he forced more power into the spear, trying to crush her where she stood.
But it didn't work.
Rhyssa didn't move.
Not even a step.
Then suddenly—
She twisted her arm violently and threw the spear aside.
The force dragged the Anakim forward unexpectedly, throwing his balance off for the first time.
And Rhyssa took that opening instantly.
Boom!
The ground beneath her shattered as she launched herself upward. Her gigantic arm swung through the air with terrifying speed, slicing toward the Anakim's face like a massive blade.
Crack!!
The sound echoed loudly.
Something inside the Anakim's face had clearly shattered from the impact.
His head snapped to the side violently.
The momentum from his earlier forward push mixed with the power of Rhyssa's strike, and suddenly his enormous body lost control completely.
He was thrown backwards.
Bang!
The gigantic body crashed heavily into the ground, the impact shaking the area around them. Broken trees jumped from the force while dirt burst upward into the air.
But Rhyssa didn't stop there.
Still airborne, she adjusted her body position midair. Her gigantic arm pulled back, fist clenched tightly now instead of flattened like before.
Then she shot downward.
Straight toward the Anakim while he was still on the ground.
Her body spun several times in midair.
At the same time, multiple small thrusters burst open around the gigantic arm. Sharp blasts of air exploded out from them, pushing the massive fist forward with even more force.
The acceleration was insane.
Everything happened in a split second.
Then—
Boom!!
Rhyssa's gigantic fist slammed directly into the Anakim's chest.
The impact was horrifying.
Her fist sank deep into its body, crushing through flesh and bone alike. A heavy cracking sound echoed out the moment the attack landed.
The Anakim's mouth opened wide.
Blood burst out violently like a fountain.
Hot blood splattered everywhere, raining across the destroyed battlefield and even onto Rhyssa herself. The blood was thick, red, and strangely steaming, almost like boiling water. Thin smoke rose from parts of it as it touched the air.
The Anakim choked.
A deep, painful sound escaped its throat as more blood spilled from its mouth.
Its giant hand slowly stretched outward, trembling as though trying to grab onto something.
Or someone.
But Rhyssa had already moved.
The moment the strike landed, she kicked herself backward and leaped away from the Anakim's body.
She landed smoothly at a distance.
Yet something strange happened.
The gigantic armored fist did not return to her arm.
Instead, it detached completely.
Still clenched tightly, the massive fist suddenly shot upward into the sky like a launched missile.
Rhyssa remained standing below, calmly watching it rise.
The fist tore through the air rapidly, climbing higher and higher until it vanished deep into the clouds above.
For a brief moment, everything became quiet.
Then—
The fist reappeared.
It made a sharp U-turn in the sky and began descending.
Fast.
Very fast.
The thrusters behind it ignited again, blasting flames outward as they pushed the massive weapon downward with terrifying speed.
Boom!!
A loud sonic explosion echoed across the battlefield.
The fist had broken the sound barrier.
As it descended further, the entire thing began glowing red from heat. Fire ignited around it, wrapping around the gigantic metal fist like a blazing meteor falling from the heavens.
Looking at it from below, it no longer resembled a weapon.
It looked like a small asteroid crashing down toward the earth.
Yet through all of this, Rhyssa didn't move.
She simply stood there quietly, staring upward as the burning fist descended from the sky.