Blood Nemesis-Chapter 179: Trap 1

Oliver was used to the pain. Still, his body shook as the shock travelled through the nervous system.

Trembling like a leaf, he stood up, gazing into the darkness to find his enemies once again.

’I deflected most of the force from the attack, and yet, I ended up like this.’

’For sure, they are A-rankers.’

Any doubt he had about their strength and lethality disappeared after being injured.

’10k mana is not enough to defend against their strike. I should evade their attack.’ Oliver pondered.

Evasion was the only option he could choose. A-rank superhumans were different from monster or mana beasts. They have strategies and techniques to counter him.

Besides that, he didn’t have any of his hidden weapons at hand.

It was not going to be an easy battle.

’Where the heck is Thunder Gramps when you need him?’

Oliver channelled more mana into his body, increasing the limit to 15k. His body could sustain it without incurring any injuries.

Then, the mana was slowly channelled to cover the outer skin of the forearm, supporting the snapped arm and bringing it back into place.

Oliver gritted his teeth in pain as the bones settled into their proper place.

By the time he was done with it, he sensed the shadow behind him twist.

Again, an attack pierced through the darkness, targeting his head.

This time, Oliver knew what to expect.

Instead of exploding into action, he side-stepped to avoid the shadow arm with minimal movement.

It was a perfect dodge that relied solely on his senses.

Then he lifted his arm and splashed the blood from his arm onto the shadow.

The shadow was in corporeal form. The mana filled with blood touched it and stuck to its body.

When the shadow returned to its incorporeal form, Oliver could still sense it vaguely.

A small grin formed on his face.

But before he could relax, the next attack came from the other side.

The other enemy attacked him from the side. This person was an agility-type superhuman. His movements were quick and precise.

Due to him being an A-ranker, his fast-moving fist also held tremendous power.

Oliver was sure more bones would be crushed if he took it directly.

So, he spent a tremendous amount of mana to dodge again. His legs glowed golden, sending a sharp bout of pain through his knees as he jumped away.

"Swish"

The fist barely missed Oliver and struck the wall behind him.

"Thump."

The wall cracked, and concrete chunks were flung away.

’Ah! That was close.’ Oliver thought, rolling on the ground.

His body tumbled and rolled until he struck a pillar.

Without wasting a second, he stood up.

’The first one controls the shadow and uses darkness. The second one is an agility variant superhuman.’

’The stealth ability originates from the shadow user.’

’The shadow user was somehow hiding his alley in the darkness.’

Oliver quickly compiled the information he had gleaned to make sense of the situation.

The shadow control ability was weird, but not something he couldn’t understand.

Compared to spatial manipulation and teleportation, it was a much easier defeat.

’Their stealth relies on the absence of light.’

’I presume the shadow user is the only one who can clearly see my movement in the darkness. The other one is following his lead.’

’I need to target the shadow user.’

Oliver instantly decided and jumped back.

This time, his blood containing mana marked the position of his enemies. So, he knew where they stood exactly, even though they blended into the darkness.

Knowing their position means having more time to react. It was a critical advantage in a battle against high-ranked superhumans.

’Come at bastards.’ He said in his mind and slowly channelled blood to heal his injuries.

Instantly healing the wound would arouse suspicion. But leaving the wounded arm untreated was also not optimal. So, he chose to strengthen the inside with hardened blood and heal it, allowing him to regain control over it.

"I thought you were an A ranker. Can’t even catch someone like me. What a useless bunch." Oliver shouted, hiding his pain.

"Any second now, my backup would come. Try harder, fuckers."

Oliver’s intention was clear. He didn’t want the duo to feel at ease during their combat.

He was trying to take advantage of any mistake that they might make in the battle.

As soon as Oliver ended his sentence, he sensed the duo move.

They were quick.

The shadowy figure merges with the shadow on the ground as it sped towards him.

The agility type superhuman dashed, accelerating instantly.

Oliver could see that both were holding back. Perhaps to not leave any evidence in case they failed. They were being cautious.

"Hm..." Oliver snorted.

All superhumans have their ability registered with their country’s Superhero Monitoring Bureau. And SMB updates the data of public officials and famous superhumans periodically.

Hence, their data being in the SMB database was within reason.

If they used some special ability or left DNA evidence, it could get them in trouble.

’There are superhumans with heightened senses of smell within SMB. They were better than dogs when they had to sniff out a superhuman.’

’Similarly, there were people with mysterious powers to peer into the past. They are considered strategic resources like Oracles and are rarely used.’

’Then there are aura sensors that can precisely identify the aura signature a person leaves behind in the environment.’

’For an uninitiated person, it would be impossible to hide from the SMB investigators.’

’However, they are A-rankers from the military. They must have used something to hide their presence and shield them from the gaze or Oracles before attacking me.’

’I need to break them out of their camouflage and make it easy for SMB to investigate.’

Oliver prepared to dodge the incoming attack.

In the incorporeal form, the shadow user was faster than the agility-based superhuman.

He reached Oliver quicker.

This time, Oliver saw him flash and appear behind like a ghost. The shadow was like a liquid, squirming and churning to form the silhouette.

Oliver felt a chill as he turned to look at it.

Instantly, predicted the move of the enemy and began to dodge before the shadowy figure thrusted its hand at him.

’Left.’

’Right.’

’Side step.’

’Crouch.’

’Step back.’

Oliver could accurately predict its move because of his blood sticking to its body, informing him about the exact moment it shifted from illusory to real.

He dodged the shadow’s advancements precisely, wasting not a unit of mana.

The shadow was perplexed. It looked at Oliver in shock.

Not only could Oliver sense it, but he could also dodge every one of its attacks.

How could there be someone like that?

The shadow wondered and hastened.

At the same time, the agility type superhumans reached Oliver, blocking his movements.

’This...’

He cursed in his mind.