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"Don't—" Just as Will was about to say something.
Russell suddenly sank into the shadow beneath his feet. The Shadowkhan carried him several kilometers away in an instant.
Will turned his head to look at Russell—now just a small white dot in the distance—with a ferocious smile on his face. "If you won't drink a toast, you'll drink a forfeit."
The next moment, he gave chase.
Russell looked at the coastline—now almost unrecognizable—and summoned Frieren without hesitation.
Compared to the Shadowkhan moving through the Shadow Kingdom, spatial magic was obviously more convenient and faster.
Though Russell was fairly certain no one would discover his hidden identity even if he summoned Kumoko, he chose Frieren for safety's sake.
Besides, Frieren had already learned spatial magic during the previous experiment. Even if discovered, he could claim she was a newly made card.
An invisible wave flashed by. Russell vanished on the spot.
"Trying to escape?!" Will curled his lip in disdain after noticing Russell's aura disappear. "Let's see what tricks you little ant wants to play."
After speaking, he vanished as well.
Meanwhile, Grath watched the sudden developments. He hesitated a moment, then instructed Townes beside him. "Gather the remaining soldiers here. Wait for Will and me to return."
After saying this, he pulled out an instrument and began tracking the location displayed on it.
Somewhere on the sea, far from East-Haven.
The salty sea breeze blew across Russell's face.
"Still chasing?" The young man couldn't help but frown as he sensed the powerful aura behind him—approaching then falling back, approaching then falling back.
Though this was part of his plan, the oppressive feeling from an Emerald-rank demon was simply too strong.
As for why he hadn't used the [Black Cloak]...
[Six: Fifth Brother, there's an Emerald-rank demon chasing me. Are you ready to move?]
[Five: Location.]
[Six: I'll let you know when I reach the waters near Harborview.]
[Five: Good.]
The moment the Emerald-rank demon named Will appeared, Russell had already thought of a countermeasure.
If you can't beat them, can't you call for backup?
But if he used the [Black Cloak], what if Will lost his trail and ran back to East-Haven to vent his anger?
This was better—keeping the enemy neither too far nor too close.
Of course, the prerequisite for calling someone was surviving until they arrived.
As for why he'd contacted Grant from the Spirit Begging Society...
That was naturally because, among the few people Russell could call upon, only the Society was close enough if he fled out to sea.
If he'd waited for Master Tao to arrive, the opportunity would've been lost.
It wasn't that Russell couldn't flee toward the city and use civilians and low-rank cardmakers as shields.
But in the end, he'd abandoned that option. He couldn't do such a thing.
Besides, East-Haven wasn't too far from Harborview.
After all, spatial abilities really were broken.
Without targeted countermeasures, one would end up like Will chasing Russell now—possessing great strength but unable to use it.
"Should be almost there," Russell silently estimated the distance.
However, at that moment, a cruel voice suddenly sounded in his ear. "You ran pretty fast, little ant."
At the same time, two voices—one male, one female—rang out simultaneously.
"Bakudō #81: Dankū."
"Defensive magic."
Unfortunately...
Bang bang bang bang!
Like fragile tofu, the layered defenses crumbled at the slightest touch.
BOOM!
A sudden, overwhelming force struck. Russell was sent flying, creating a massive splash in the sea.
Surging waves radiated outward. The once-calm sea surface was instantly turned upside down.
The attack had landed—but Will's face showed surprise.
"Hm?"
"Not dead?"
Looking at the two figures—an elf and a spider—facing him like formidable enemies on the sea not far away, Will raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."
"I'll give you one more chance. If you agree to be my first mate now, I won't kill you."
At that moment, Russell was standing on the seabed, sending his coordinates to Grant via the communication card.
As a card-based device, it was naturally waterproof.
That's right—though Will's previous attack had successfully hit him, it hadn't caused much damage under the combined defense of Aizen and Frieren.
He'd also successfully created some distance from the enemy.
But even so, Russell didn't dare let down his guard. He knew this wasn't the opponent's full strength.
Honestly, Will catching up so suddenly had been somewhat unexpected.
But fortunately...
This place shouldn't be too far from Harborview.
Thinking this, Russell donned the [Black Cloak] created by Aizen's trait.
His aura instantly vanished from Will's perception.
"It seems you've rejected my invitation." Will closed his eyes slightly and sighed, as if feeling sorry. "Then die."
However, Russell had already reached the maximum distance for maintaining his cards. He still needed Aizen and the others to hold Will off until Grant arrived.
Otherwise, everything he'd done would be for nothing.
But just in case, Russell still unsummoned Frieren—ready to flee at any moment if things went wrong.
After all, he felt he'd done his best to reach this point. Luring Will away had already been risking his life.
Otherwise, he could've donned the [Black Cloak] and escaped from the start.
And with him stalling this long, East-Haven should be able to reduce its losses considerably.
Just then, a figure came rushing from the distance.
But it wasn't Grant.
It was Grath, who'd been following Will's trail all the way.
Grath approached Will and looked at the Kumoko beside Aizen and Mikoto Misaka. He froze. "Isn't this..."
"The card from that day?"
"Strange. Why is it here?"
Will glanced at the sword-wielding young man and asked casually. "What's going on?"
Hearing Will's question, Grath immediately recounted how Kai and Kumoko had attacked them a few days ago.
After listening to Grath's story, Will showed a strange smile. "I didn't expect you to have a dual identity."
"You're not exactly clean yourself—so why refuse to be my first mate?"
By now, Grath had also realized what was happening. Obviously, the white spider was also the young man's card.
What happened days ago was nothing more than a double act performed by the enemy.
"I was played." Grath drew the sword at his waist, expression furious. At the same time, he couldn't help but feel a chill.
If the ones who'd besieged him before had been these two people and the spider combined, he might not have survived until Will arrived.
As dazzling sword-light flashed across the sky, the muscular man with his bare upper body finally decided to end this boring farce.
"First—" In a flash, he was already beside Aizen. "—I'll kill you!"
The roaring fist-wind instantly tore the brown-haired man's body to pieces, leaving a long white trail across the sea.
But despite appearing to have successfully killed Aizen, Will still looked confused. "When...?"
He hadn't felt like he'd hit anything solid just now.
There was no doubt—like Grath before him, he'd also been trapped in Kyōka Suigetsu's illusion.
"Whatever. In that case..."
Will floated into the sky, eyes slightly lowered, casually shattering the abyss magic and lightning that attacked him.
Seeing this, Grath started—as if realizing what Will intended to do—and instantly hid behind him.
The next moment...
"Kuanshan!"
The terrifying fist-wind blasted from the sky toward the sea. As if Will had been struck by a kinetic bombardment from orbit, a massive hole instantly formed in the water beneath him.
No...
It wasn't just seawater.
Even the seabed buried deep below was pulverized to dust by this blow.
Looking at the enormous crater created by the displaced water, Russell's heart sank.
Fortunately, he'd been cautious enough—staying far enough from Will. Otherwise, this blow would've killed him.
But even so, the scattered fist-wind still stung his cheeks. An ordinary person wouldn't have survived even this aftermath.
So this is Emerald-rank.
Russell sensed that Aizen and Mikoto Misaka had already gone on cooldown. He couldn't help but grip his black cloak tighter.
Tsk. If only the item card generated had been the [Hōgyoku].
Then Aizen could evolve directly. Even just the first fusion state of the awakened Hōgyoku would be enough to kill Will.
At the current battle site, Will couldn't help but frown slightly. "...Hm?"
In his perception, something was still alive.
"Wahhh, I almost died! I really had no power to fight back!" A miserable scream rang out.
Will looked closely and found the white spider wasn't dead.
However, she was now in tatters—several pairs of limbs missing.
"Little Spider has become a disabled spider!!"
With a cry of grief, Kumoko rolled around on the seabed.
[Ruler · Endurance]: Greatly increases the holder's defense. When facing an instant-death attack, the holder will not die as long as Kumoko's magic power is not zero.
Thanks to this skill, Kumoko hadn't died on the spot.
Though she had little combat power at the moment.
"Boring struggle." Will curled his lip and prepared to deliver the final blow to the white spider that was screaming something.
Seeing this, Russell couldn't help but want to unsummon Kumoko and have Frieren take him away.
Damn Grant. He's taken this long—the Society really is unreliable.
Is he trying to get me killed with someone else's hands?
However, just as Will raised his hand, he couldn't help but pause.
He felt a foreign object in his right hand.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling.
A shrill telephone ring suddenly sounded.
Even though Russell was so far from Will, he could hear it clearly.
What's going on?
The unexpected incident interrupted Russell's actions.
Will spread open his right hand.
In his palm, a smartphone was vibrating and ringing. The screen displayed:
Caller: [????]
"...Boring trick."
The muscular man instantly clenched his five fingers, trying to crush the object of unknown origin.
But no matter how hard he tried, the smartphone wasn't affected at all. It continued ringing on its own—as if it would keep ringing until he answered.
"Tch."
Seeing he couldn't crush the phone, Will prepared to throw it away.
But the moment he made the throwing motion, an inexplicable sense of danger pricked his nerves.
If I throw it away...
I'll die.
Will's instincts told him so.
And Grath beside him was even worse off. He'd frozen in place the moment the phone appeared.
The sword-wielding young man only felt that an indescribable terror was silently watching the two of them.
Just as Russell was watching the developments with a frown, a sudden presence made him twitch.
It was Grant.
Russell didn't have him directly confront the two demons in the distance. Instead, Grant appeared and joined him.
"Fifth Brother."
Grant was startled when he saw Russell—wearing a black cloak and unharmed. "Little Six, what's going on?"
As he spoke, he raised his chin toward Will and Grath in the distance.
Hearing this, Russell shook his head. "I don't know."
But in truth, he already had some guesses.
By now, Will had already answered the phone, his face dark.
"..."
"..."
After a long silence, a faint voice came from the other end.
"Could you please be merciful and let my kid go this time?"
Will ignored the request and asked in a deep voice. "Who are you?"
"Well, it's inconvenient to tell you my identity. Anyway, I'm begging you—please let him go, okay?"
Will glanced calmly at Russell, who'd reappeared in the distance, and Grant beside him. "This coward who hides his head also wants to order me around?"
He sensed an extremely strong threat from the newly appeared Grant. So this was his trick?
Will suspected that what was happening was being done by the man in the black suit.
Thinking this, he was about to hang up.
But at that moment, the last voice came from the other end of the phone.
"That's a shame."
"After all, I put a lot of effort into it."
As the words fell, the phone in Will's hand suddenly vanished. "Tch—"
He turned around, preparing to have Grath retreat first.
But what caught his eye was only Grath's upper body.
"Save me!" Grath looked at Will in horror. He couldn't understand what was happening.
Right after the phone disappeared, his lower body had begun dissipating into the air—bit by bit, like graffiti being erased.
Now, the same was happening to his upper body.
"...Save... me..."
"...W-I-L-L...!"
In the end, only Grath's head remained. He stared at Will with wide eyes—as if he'd seen something unbelievable.
Will just stared in amazement at Grath's disappearance. He didn't even know who had done it.
Turning his head quickly, he looked at Grant in the distance with fear. "It was you?!"
But Russell and Grant were both looking at him strangely.
Seeing their expressions, Will lowered his head in confusion.
His lower body was missing.
Just like Grath.
"Impossible!"
He raised his head in fear, immediately wanting to attack Russell and Grant.
But...
"Where's my hand?"
Will stared blankly at the empty air before him. His right hand had vanished at some point.
"NO!!"
The scream cut off abruptly.
Will followed in Grath's footsteps.
Russell, far away, felt complicated emotions. He probably knew what had caused this.
One of Kumoko's traits.
[Gaze of the Superior]: To prevent colleagues from discovering his slacking off, a certain evil god [D] who skipped work injected his memories of "playing house" into a small spider monster. From then on, [D] would always pay attention to this spider monster's growth. As compensation, Kumoko will receive help from [D] under certain special circumstances.
Though he'd guessed the reason for all this, Russell still had many doubts in his mind.
However, Grant beside him interrupted his thoughts. "Did you do this?"
The man in the black suit now wore a complicated expression—having lost the blank face he always maintained.