Splat!
Adam spat saliva mixed with blood. He pressed his chest and felt another bout of pain affecting his shoulder and nearby region. It was clear that he had some nasty internal injuries.
The elf stared motionless at the spatial channel that had almost closed. A bunch of residual ripples in space indicated that a teleportation array had been used recently. Adam stared at the receding spatial ripples until they disappeared.
Adam's body was soaked in water.
There was water everywhere around him as well. Moisture-induced gales also occurred nearby. It was all due to his opponents' attacks. After feeling sure Linda and Lin were no longer there, Adam sighed and looked down at his body. They were visible marks of depression on his body due to high-intensity punches.
Adam activated his healing spell and tried to heal from the blunt force trauma. He also channeled his fire-element mana to evaporate the water. However doing activities like these put some pressure on his damaged mana circuits, causing him some more pain and coughing bouts.
"Sir Adam..."
One of Adam's followers tried to help him get up. However, Adam looked at him and shook his head before commenting.
"That bastard Lin really did a number on me. Never mind. I… cough… I am fine."
Adam got up from his position, which took some effort. He had to admit he underestimated Lin Karr. The guy wasn't the most impressive fighter in the world but he knew how to run away from his problems.
Or it was just that Lin Karr's parents– Garvin and Cybil Karr were too protective of their son despite their seeming neglect. They gave him precious life-saving array disks to use in a pinch.
Just when Adam thought he had Lin, the latter shocked him with an offensive array disk. The device released the recorded punches from a Fist Saint.
An elemental mana derived from the fusion of water and wind elements was infused into the spectral punches. No matter how talented Adam was in mid-range combat, he couldn't fight an elemental fusion with his mere fire-element spells.
The spectral punches hit Adam immediately as they were unleashed from the array disks. It was as if Lin and Linda were surrounded by a perfect storm of spectral punches that swung in from every direction.
The storm of punches prevented Adam from approaching Lin and Linda who were busy using another space-element array disk. They managed to get away from Adam before he stopped them from leaving the broadcast tower.
When Adam was sure he couldn't stop Lin and Linda from leaving, he decided to halt their appearance outside the tower instead. He quickly removed a space-element mirror from his storage and activated it.
The artifact's effects wouldn't be apparent. However, it was supposed to create a spatial lock around the region. The spatial lock would ensure that no more spatial channels are created in nearby space. This would prevent Lin and Linda from exiting the temporary subspace they used to escape him.
Of course, the space-element artifact has its limits. And its effects fade after some days. However, Adam was sure that the artifact had bought him enough time. He couldn't kill the two LA rankers. However, they also couldn't mess with Layos' plans.
Adam breathed relief when he confirmed that Lin and Linda were trapped inside subspace. He pressed his forehead with his hands and tried to relieve the headache he felt before ordering his men.
"Alright. We don't know for how long Arthur buys the bullshit I'll be selling to him. But for now, take control of broadcasting."
As Adam stood up straight, he looked confident and domineering. He massaged the back of his neck while rotating his neck from left to right and vice versa. The healing spell finally provided him with the level of pain relief he wanted.
Adam pursed his lips before continuing.
"Find us an ideal place to ambush Rufus. Look for something you can't see. Like some forbidden zones inside Sansara World that can't be seen or mapped but can be accessed anyway."
"Affirmative."
Adam's men spoke in unison to respond to his command.
It was clear that Adam and his men were part of Layos' army-trained forces, but they weren't part of Layos' official army anymore. However, they all followed the same dogma– destroy the rebel kingdom of Edinburgh and take Layos back to where it belongs.
Adam's healing spell helped him regain his confidence. He stretched his limbs and jumped a few times in his place before dishing out another order to his men.
"Also, find me… um… Nicholas. I want to contact him using the Sansara interface. Sir Lako told me he would bring Rufus to the ambush site. So I want to confirm a few things with him."
Nicholas was another deep asset from Layos who infiltrated LA before Adam. Technically, Nicholas was Adam's senior. However, Adam's status and rank in the army were greater than Nicholas's.
As a result, Adam could use Nicholas as a resource. He could also use Nicholas for information-gathering purposes.
The wheels of time kept turning.
Adam communicated with Nicholas and Lako fine. They also ambushed Rufus. However, Adam found out that things hadn't turned out according to their plan.
The entrance to Beelzebub's Altar inside Sansara World couldn't be confirmed by Adam and his men despite controlling the entire broadcast tower. That's because the ambush happened in the forbidden zone.
What's more? Adam had also lost contact with Nicholas, Lako, and even His Highness Payir. He could only draw one conclusion from the metaphorical static he heard from the other side.
'How… How can this happen? They are dead– all of them? Did Rufus kill them all on his own?'
Adam thought to himself with visible shock on his face as he looked at the spectral screen in front of him. He suspected that Rufus must have used some kind of unknown Perk in the capacity of the chief moderator to overcome the ambush.
Adam didn't know that it was Eren who had slaughtered key infiltrators from Layos– using their ambush as a ladder to enter the demonic altar.
