Jian's pupils contracted when he sensed ripples on his left side. He raised his arm and blocked the fist that came out of thin air directly toward his face. But the impact sent him flying backward in mid-air.
He rubbed his arm, which got bruised due to the impact, and gazed at the man who just appeared from the ripples. He clicked his tongue.
"So, you gonna strike secretly even though you're stronger? Tsk, what a scaredy-cat."
Yon chuckled and joined him.
"Doesn't matter, kid. He knows he's as good as dead now that he dared to appear in front of us."
The man's brown eyes widened slightly with surprise, and he tilted his head unfazed by their words. Yon jumped forward, a hammer appeared in his hand as he slammed it toward the man. But before his hammer could touch the man, he disappeared once again.
"This bastard..."
A curse slipped out from Yon's mouth as he paused and looked around to find where the man would appear next.
Istalian and the other two guardians also became alert, doing their best to sense the air around them. But instead of attacking any one of them, the man appeared behind Jian and kicked his back, probably because Jian was the one who punched him. However, before his kick could land, crimson flames appeared all around Jian, forcing him to retract his attack.
Jian chuckled and turned to face the person behind him.
"Now it's my turn!"
He gathered all the crimson flames, and they traveled toward the man with lighting fast speed. The man's brown eyes flashed with surprise because Jian's flames were very strong.
He wondered how the human got such a strong skill or did the human consumed a treasure related to fire? Regardless, before the flames could touch him, he vanished into the ripples again.
Jian let out a frustrated groan.
"Damn, why does this annoying skill seem so familiar? I really hate these disappearance skills..."
Soon, the people in the air got busy chasing after the man. But the man seemed to enjoy toying with them because he would always control the air around him and vanish before anyone could touch him. His eyes sparkled with amusement as he watched them struggle.
'It's fun... haha, I should have come earlier. This planet is so much fun.'
Meanwhile, below on the land, Han and a few others quickly made their way toward the man with slit red pupils lying inside the caved-in surface. He was the same horned man who was thrown mercilessly on the ground by the enemy who just appeared out of nowhere.
Han quickly poured a few potions on the man's chest where a metal spike was sticking out. He shouted to the others to take him to a safer place, but then a female guardian appeared above the injured horned man and silently carried him away.
The other guardians quickly dispersed the crowd, and in the end, only stronger individuals were left on the land.
Han cursed under his breath as he gazed at the sky, where a heated... no, a one-sided battle was taking place. The man seemed to be just playing around without actually attacking anyone else.
Just then, his communication crystal buzzed. He rummaged through his storage ring and grabbed the crystal before a familiar face appeared in front of him. It was Kyle, asking for his location because he needed to discuss something important with Yon.
In the air, Jian groaned as another one of his attacks missed its mark. He snapped his head toward the man who had just appeared above the round structure, the barrier the guardians were creating.
The man rubbed his chin and wore an incredible expression.
"What is this thing? Hmm, should I destroy it?"
He jumped back when a spear shot out towards him from the air, impaling itself in the ground with a loud bang.
"Oh, the tip is quite sharp. You all have no manners! I'm just a guest passing by. How can you treat me like that?"
A vein bulged on Yon's forehead.
"You slippery bastard! Just stay in one place. Why are you buzzing around like a damn bee?"
The man showed a stunned expression, as if he didn't like the title.
"No, no, don't call me a bee. I'm just a young divine-rank individual who turned two hundred years old a few months ago. Just call me Ateo. That's the name Hay gave me on my hundredth birthday."
He massaged his neck and looked around.
"I'm getting bored now. Diora has ordered everyone to stop searching for natural treasures and assemble, so we can wipe out the remaining struggling souls on this planet. But now I think we don't even need to assemble because a few of us are enough to wipe you all out, hahaha."
His wild laughter echoed through the air, and Yon hurled his hammer at the man to wipe the annoying smile off his face, but the man vanished again. Just then, Jian summoned countless earth spikes and launched them in different directions.
Ateo, who just appeared in a different place, let out a shriek when one of the spikes grazed his arm, and blood oozed out from the injury. He raised his arm and stared at the little injury with wide eyes.
"You! How can you send your attack just anywhere? Don't you know it can harm innocent citizens?"
As his voice traveled through the air, in that exact moment, a portal appeared beside Han, who was looking up at the battle with a hard expression.
-"Oh, innocent citizens?"
Bia flew out from the portal and landed on Han's shoulder, causing the old man to jolt at the sudden voice echoing by his ear.
"You scared me. I thought that jerk appeared right next to me."
He shook his head with a sigh and watched as Kyle also stepped out from the portal.
"What innocent citizens?"
Kyle asked the phoenix, who was sitting on Han's shoulder. Bia pointed one of her wings in the air where the man had disappeared once again, only to attack Istalian in the next second.
-"Just go and take care of the innocent citizen. He's using a teleportation skill just like you."
Kyle narrowed his eyes and observed the man. Instant teleportation was one of his trump cards, so he found it a little weird when someone else used it in front of him. However, only after a few seconds, he noticed with a raised brow, that the skill the man was using was completely different from instant teleportation.
"No, it's not teleportation. He's using the air around himself as a vacuum to move around at a speed invisible to the naked eye."
An evil smirk appeared on the corner of his lips.
"Well, I don't like the fact that he has this skill. So, I'm going to let him experience the true horror of the real instant teleportation."
