A fireball exploded above me, and the blast hurled me violently against a wall. Fortunately, the water barrier I had summoned absorbed most of the flames. Without it, I would have been badly burned.
"Nephele."
The water enveloping me evaporated instantly, turning into a thick fog that spread throughout the room. Visibility dropped immediately, allowing me to blend into the mist. Even better, I could perceive everything that came into contact with it.
I sensed movement in the air, something very small.
"Ouch! Who dares to burn my whiskers?"
A rat. An enormous rat, apparently upset by the heat.
I crawled toward it and whispered:
"There shouldn't be anyone in this city. Where did this attack come from?"
"Let me check. I'll detach from the rat for a moment. Keep it alive."
No sooner had it spoken than the animal began to panic at the sight of the flames, fleeing like any creature would when faced with fire.
"Tsk… Since when am I a babysitter for a fat rodent?"
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to complain.
A new intruder entered the fog. Another attack.
"Shit."
I leapt onto the rat, grabbed it firmly, and executed a backflip. A split second later, a colossal fist tore through the mist where I had just been.
The attacker revealed himself: a massive old man, at least three meters tall, in his sixties, with muscles that left no doubt about his resonance. He spotted me immediately and let out a battle cry before charging at me headfirst.
"Pathetic. No refinement, no experience in his movements. A kid could've done better in his first fight."
I slightly tilted my body to dodge his clumsy assault.
He had put too much force into his punch to stop his momentum. At this rate, he would crash into the wall.
But that would be too kind.
"Stéréos."
The fog thickened, condensing into a long chain at the end of which formed a massive wrecking ball studded with spikes. It was heavy, at least 100 kilograms. I had to muster all my strength to spin it, increasing its momentum before bringing it down violently onto his abdomen.
The impact sent the man flying through the wall, leaving a massive hole in it.
"It's nap time, old man."
I didn't have time to savor this masterful blow.
A gunshot rang out.
A projectile shot straight for my head.
Everything seemed to slow down.
I tilted my head just in time to dodge it… but the moment I thought it was over, my eyes widened.
The bullet made a sharp turn, heading back toward me as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
"Seriously?"
I jumped backward, putting some distance between us, and threw my mace at the bullet. The impact caused an explosion that reverberated through the room.
"This is getting annoying."
The next moment, a loud noise to my right caught my attention. The door exploded into pieces.
A young woman appeared, holding two pistols. As soon as she saw me, anger marked her face as she began firing at me.
"Am I that ugly to look at?"
I didn't even want to imagine her beauty standards.
I turned toward her, bending one leg before releasing all the momentum I could muster to propel myself toward her, using the mace as a shield to absorb her bullets.
Unfortunately, before I could reach her, a sudden wave of heat warned me of another danger.
"Again?"
A second fireball.
Caught in a sandwich, huh?
When did he position himself behind me?
I didn't have time to react; it was time for action.
"Nephele Burst."
A detonation rang out as the mace in my hands evaporated, leaving only the chain and mist.
The blast's force was enough to disrupt the fireball, and the fog was thick enough to blind the shooter, allowing me to reach the gap the old man had left in the wall.
Oops… I had forgotten that I was on the top floor.
A detail the shooter didn't miss as she rushed toward the gap, trying to get a vantage point through the mist to take me out mid-air.
Without a point of support and in free fall, I was an easy target, unable to dodge, with no shield to protect me.
The situation should've panicked any ordinary person.
She could probably already see me as a pincushion.
Still, a smile adorned my lips.
"Come on, baby."
With a flick of my wrist, a chain shot out toward her, wrapping around her ankle.
With a sharp pull, I yanked her forward.
Her eyes widened as she tumbled through the air toward me.
"Well… the fall is going to hurt."