The subjugation party moved out in high spirits. Over four hundred people were present by the time the ten minutes were up, but Gaius didn’t blend into the crowd as they left. Instead, he chose to follow them from high above, his body invisible the entire time. From what he knew of the Phantom Blade, it was unlikely that she would ever remain in a single spot given her ability to vanish. Most likely, her appearance here was probably to lure out someone, something or both.

Staying in the crowd would do little to help him find the girl in that regard. There were others who had the above thought, people who had taken to the skies and maintaining a safe distance from the crowd milling around below. The plan was rather simple — once they reached a certain point, the giant mob would break off into small groups and split up to cover more ground.

There were a lot of things that were problematic with this plan, but it was clear to Gaius and probably to those in the know that the Phantom Blade probably had something in mind. The pursuers were intending to turn the trap back onto her, and with Paragon Sasori in the lead, the boy was quite certain that spatial abilities wouldn’t be useable when the trap was finally sprung.

The search had gone on for an hour when an explosion rocked a small grove some five hundred metres away from Gaius, sending a steady column of smoke skywards. It was a sight that caught everyone’s eyes, and people began to head over at top speed.

From afar, Gaius could already hear the sounds of combat, although the word ‘combat’ was probably too generous for the adventurers of Mi-Zu. All he could hear were screams and explosions, and by the time he got there, a group of forty adventurers had surrounded the Phantom Blade.

They were staring at their motionless quarry, cautious. Over twenty corpses were laid out all around her helmeted face — she had fixed her armour before laying down this trap. A blade of energy was in her right hand, and in her left was an artefact that looked incredibly similar to Gaius’ own Moonshot.

Seconds passed in silence, before a shockwave sent the encirclement stumbling. The Phantom Blade had kicked off from the ground hard enough to create a localised quake, and blood sprayed out with a hiss as her first strikes cleaved through three adventurers in a single second. Their upper halves fell onto the ground, dyeing the ground red, but by then she had moved on to the others.

A man charged at her, while two others circled behind to slash downwards. Gaius could immediately tell that the group intended to make use of her immobility when she had to block the warrior charging at her. A silver glint arced into the air, a bloody spray following an instant later as the Phantom Blade sliced through both sword and body with a graceful flick. Bright blue lights whirled, sending out a ring of azure light, and the two behind her crumbled over, their torso now separated from their waist.

The other members of the encirclement took a step back in fear. They had been taking pot shots with whatever ranged artefacts and weapons they had, which was usually a Straight Shot, but the storm of projectiles barely made a dent when it came into contact with a transparent barrier.

Gaius frowned as the Phantom Blade pointed the artefact in her hand at the encirclement. It looked similar to the Moonshot, but the shape reminded the boy of a small submachine gun, and his heart clenched slightly as he realised that the Phantom Blade didn’t have that artefact when the two had clashed earlier.

The air warped as the encirclement activated their Dynamos’ barrier — the Shell. It was a far inferior version of a standard Engine’s Barrier, and as the artefact in the Phantom Blade’s hands roared, the defences shattered with uncanny ease. She swept the artefact from left to right, and after a few seconds, her armoured figure was the only one left standing.

Walking over to the fallen bodies, she tipped each of them over with her left foot, the artefact in her arm at the ready. She was done with her task after a minute or two, but evidently, she hadn’t found whatever she was looking for. The others high up in the skies like Gaius were also nodding to themselves, or smirking in silence. Paragon Sasori, however, was motionless. The boy didn’t know what he was thinking, but by the looks of it, a plot was well underway.

Screams split the air again. Another group had encountered the Phantom Blade. Gaius could see the beauty of her plan — she was somehow restraining her power, to the point that no one could tell what her cultivation was. If she had unleashed strength befitting her feats — wide-area, ultra-pure attacks of energy that were the hallmarks of a Paragon — no one was going to approach her carelessly. As it were, however, a good number of the adventurers here were treating the Phantom Blade as a Knight on the verge of becoming a Lord.

These were the misinformed ones. The ones that would rush to their deaths. Dazzling blue light spilled out, and the poor, unknowing fools fell over, the inwards of their bodies spilling all over the grassland. This time, she loosened some of her restraints, having taken out a group of fifty people at once. The lucky ones — the adventurers who were watching the battle from afar — began to flee at the sight.

Paragon Sasori flew over to the other Lords and Knights in the air, and then muttered something. The others nodded, contributing their own opinions for a few minutes, and then began to descend. Gaius, who saw everything, followed suit, staying invisible the entire time.

The Phantom Blade halted at their sudden arrival. No one moved as a singular quarry eyed down the group of pursuers, even the people attempting to flee from the sudden revelation of the Phantom Blade’s true might.

“You do have a way of finding out things,” said Paragon Sasori. “And I’m quite sure that you’re looking for this.”

He smiled, and took out a glove. It was definitely an artefact, from the sheer number of sparks it was giving off, and a sudden stillness fell as their quarry fixed her eyes on the Paragon. Somehow, the roles had been switched, and the boy had the feeling that if her helmet was off right now, a smirk would be pinned onto her face.

“One Exemplar, three Sages and eight Scholars. No threat.” The intelligent artefact supporting the Phantom Blade spoke. Its voice carried across the silent land, but before anyone of them could comprehend what the robotic voice just said, the girl had vanished from existence, reappearing a few metres in front of Paragon Sasori a heartbeat later.

“No threat?” The Paragon cricked his neck. “Let’s find out.”

“Partner, an anomaly has occurred.”

“What is it?” She replied.

“Close-range entity database shows a match between the Exemplar in front of us and Constellation Scorpio,” replied the intelligent artefact. “Re-evaluating threat level. Threat level: minimal. But be careful, just in case.”

The blade of blue light blazed with great intensity. “Noted.”