Nick jumped back once more while Futuma and Selina rapidly ran towards him.
Futuma and Selina were Peak Newbies, which meant that, on a baseline, they were just as physically strong as Nick.
Luckily, based on what Nick could see, they weren't focusing on training their bodies.
While they were definitely athletic, they didn't look like they dedicated their life to sports.
Futuma reached a full sprint as he held his long sword at his side, ready to explode forward with a strike.
Meanwhile, Selina wasn't as fast as Futuma. Her physique and her heavy weapon made her slower by quite a bit.
Ardum kept a certain distance from his two agents and kept conjuring poisoned tools.
Suddenly, Nick pulled out one of the three spears he carried with him and dropped it to the side.
The spear stuck into the ground, and Nick's three opponents could see how heavy it was.
The fact that Nick was running around with three of these was extremely shocking.
How would he even be able to throw them?!
With 30 kilos less on his person, Nick's speed increased, and he quickly took a bigger jump backward.
CLINK! CLINK!
Nick used his blades and blocked two tools that Ardum had thrown at him while jumping back.
When Ardum saw that, he gritted his teeth.
This had already turned out way worse than he had expected.
Nick was way stronger than anticipated!
Ardum was already quite frustrated and nervous.
After all, they were currently in the layer of buildings between the Dregs and the Outer City.
If Nick simply jumped across a couple of buildings, he would be entering populated space again, which would make things troublesome.
One had to remember that they were officially not allowed to fight.
If anyone witnessed them fighting and the guards investigated, Cycle would have to pay a hefty fine, and they would also receive a brutal warning.
Ardum had to kill Nick before he could flee into the city!
Otherwise, Nick would just land in a crowded street and casually walk forward, acting like he wasn't in a battle.
And Ardum wouldn't be able to do anything about it.
Nick landed on top of a low building and looked forward.
BANG!
Futuma also jumped towards the building's roof, keeping his sword ready.
Nick moved strangely, almost like he was pulling on something.
Immediately after, Nick fell backward, past the small building's roof.
"BEHIND YOU!"
At that moment, Ardum's urgent voice thundered throughout the surroundings, and Futuma immediately turned to look behind him.
The spear Nick had dropped earlier was currently almost above Futuma.
'How?!' Futuma thought in shock.
Luckily, the spear would pass over Futuma, based on its trajectory.
Meanwhile, Nick landed behind the building.
At this moment, nobody could see him, and his ability reactivated.
A Ghost Wire extended from Nick's right arm and stretched over the building, creating smoke at the edge of the building's roof.
Nick's eyes were narrowed.
And then, he pulled forward with all of his power.
CRRRRRR!
Immediately, an invisible cut appeared in the metallic building, created by the Ghost Wire.
Futuma's eyes widened in shock as the spear suddenly angled towards Futuma and shot at him.
Its speed was insane!
He couldn't react!
BOOOOOM!
A copper-colored Barrier appeared around Futuma.
Naturally, Futuma had his own Barrier, and he had already activated it when Ardum launched his first attack.
The spear hit the Barrier with insane power, and the Barrier shook violently.
However, Futuma's trajectory didn't change.
The Barrier that Futuma used also expended Zephyx to nullify the kinetic force of whatever was hitting it.
This naturally cost more Zephyx than the other kinds of Barriers, but it meant that Futuma wouldn't get stunned or thrown away by an attack.
The next moment, Futuma felt like the world around him was swimming and distorting.
This was a symptom of being critically low on Zephyx.
He wasn't out, but his concentration had already suffered quite a bit.
'How?!' Futuma thought in terror.
Nick had depleted nearly all of Futuma's Zephyx in an instant!
With one attack!
A Newbie shouldn't be able to do that!
To put this into perspective, Nick's Barrier managed to withstand over five poisoned tools that Ardum had thrown at him, and Ardum was an Early John!
But now, Nick, a Peak Newbie, had done even more damage with one attack than Ardum had done with five!
This shouldn't be possible!
DING!
Futuma immediately slashed the spear away from his Barrier with his sword.
On the other side of the building, Nick felt all the power he had put into the pull vanish.
'I got his Barrier,' Nick thought.
The next moment, Nick clicked on something on his right hand, and the Ghost Wire lost its connection to him.
Retrieving that spear was too troublesome right now.
Without hesitation, Nick jumped to the side and exploded forward.
With his ability active, his speed had increased substantially.
Futuma landed on the building, and the spear Nick had abandoned hit one of the other buildings.
Selina had slowed down in shock, but she quickly sped up again.
Ardum gritted his teeth violently.
BANG!
Ardum jumped forward, and he quickly passed by Selina, landing on the building.
"Don't engage him without me!" Ardum ordered. "He's too dangerous!"
Futuma nodded as he jumped past the building.
Selina also jumped onto the building.
Ardum sped past Futuma, and the two of them simultaneously fell towards the alley behind the building.
Then, their eyes widened.
Where was he?!
Nick had vanished!
In an instant, they found the only path Nick could have taken and ran down the alley.
Ardum passed Futuma and reached the turn that Nick had to have taken.
Cling!
At that moment, a part of Ardum's neck sparkled with a silver color.
Ardum looked down and saw an almost invisible wire on his neck.
SSSSSSSSSSS!
At that moment, the wire suddenly shot toward Ardum's right with incredible speed.
Ardum immediately understood what was happening, but it was too late to react.