Chapter 163: Mysterious Assailant.
[We have been discovered by Flame Guard.]
Before he could understand the meaning behind them, the words vanished once more, this time appearing in a blue text bubble on the chatbox. Only then did Brody realize what was happening.
"Brody?" Elias had watched his partner go pale before his eyes, but just as he was about to ask what happened, a faint clang caught his attention and he whipped his head in its direction, his hand held up as he prepared to swipe.
Someone was there, standing on the other side of the roof. If not for the faint sound he made upon his arrival, the two were sure neither of them would have noticed his presence.
He just stood there, menacingly. The costume he wore would have looked ridiculous any other time, but in a world where superheroes exist, it didn’t appear too strange. Most of it was skin-tight fabric, entirely black with a few lines of gray streaking its contour. Dark gray plating covered the chest, arms, and legs, each of its segmented parts granting the suit of armor a sharpness that seemed to constantly cut the surroundings. Then there was the helmet.
The helmet had the same dark gray color as the metallic plating and was triangular in shape, with a sharp back that pointed up. A V-shaped visor decorated the front, and from its depth, an ominous red glowed, visible even in the bright noon.
Seeing the stranger and the armor he wore, Brody instantly realized what was happening. He placed his phone back into his pocket as Elias got up from his seat, and just as they readied themselves, the armored stranger leaned forward, his posture suggesting that he was about to lunge. Then, he burst forward.
The distance between them vanished in an instant, but Brody was able to react, mana already channeled into his hand as he swiped at the space before him. Air shimmered and solidified, forming a translucent barrier in the path of the armor fist flying toward his face. Brody instinctively understood that the barrier would only be able to slow it, which is why he tilted his head to the left just as the cracks began to spread.
Though it was hastily constructed, the air barrier should have been able to stop bullets. Despite that, it shattered the instant it made contact with the armored fist, scattering shards of glass-like material that disintegrated into nothingness.
If that fist had collided with his head, Brody was sure that would have been the end for him. He dropped to the floor, rolling to his knees before swiping with both of his hands and creating a double-layered barrier, but the follow-up he was expecting never came.
The armored stranger had changed his target, pivoting on his left foot as he jumped, spinning his body in the air and sending a roundhouse kick straight to Elias who raised his arms just in time to block what would have been a fatal blow.