Dusk spread like ink across the winding interstate highway. A ghostly blue phantom tore through the night, the Bugatti Veyron's engine producing a low, steady hum like the breathing of a beast lying in wait in the dark.
Amon reclined in the leather seat, one hand resting on the steering wheel as flowing lights on either side of the road streaked past the windows. His expression was calm, his eyes like pools deep in the mountains.
The dashboard's faint blue glow outlined his sharply defined profile. The speedometer needle held steady at 240 kilometers per hour, yet the car was extraordinarily stable, as though gliding soundlessly over the asphalt. Every so often, he glanced at the rearview mirror, where there was nothing but endless darkness stretching behind him.
His move against Constantine's Dragon Bone Cross at Kassel had not been an impulsive whim, but the result of careful deliberation.
He had already forged a deep friendship with Lu Mingfei, which meant Lu Mingze was destined to be unable to deal with him at full strength. Thus, though the act had seemed risky, it had not actually been all that dangerous.
Amon could not take on both Angers and Mai Sakatoku, strengthened by Lu Mingze, at once. But against those two, protecting himself was not a problem.
It was only that after Angers, that old man, used Spirit Word: Time Zero, his burst of speed had surpassed even Amon's. That had caused his attempt to steal the Dragon Bone Cross to fail.
Amon had not been surprised by this outcome. After all, the killing trap laid for the King of Bronze and Fire had been meticulously planned by both Angers and Lu Mingze. How could they let someone else so easily pluck the fruits of victory?
So even though he had