"Boom!"
The sound of the earth cracking suddenly rang out as the terrifying hoof of the demonic-looking Phantasma trampled straight through Serenity's cold light.
It did not even look at Riku standing in its way, much less feel any desire to attack him. It merely waved a claw casually, its arm striking as viciously as a venomous snake. Wrapped in mutated elves, its jet-black claws seemed coated in crimson as they slashed toward Riku's body, trailing layers of afterimages.
Watching that blur, which still seemed lightning-fast even to his enhanced vision, Riku's expression was grave. Only when the chill emanating from those black claws was almost upon him did he suddenly spring with both legs, twisting his spine to dodge the Phantasma's attack by a hair with light, nimble movements.
In the process, he even calmly ignored the killing blow that could end his life at any moment, precisely thrusting into the joint of its attacking arm and cutting down along the grain of its muscles, sending purplish-black blood gushing out.
For a moment, even the unpleasant smell of spirit remains was diluted by the sickly-sweet stench of blood.
"Roar!"
The intense pain in its arm made the Phantasma let out a piercing roar, filled with disbelief.
Its eyes abruptly widened, still unable to come to terms with what it had seen.
How was this possible?
It was not surprised that Riku had dodged its attack. After all, it had put no effort into that casual blow, merely striking in passing.
Its murderous intent toward this little fellow was, after all, roughly on the level of stepping on an ant it happened to see by the roadside.
As a highly intelligent High-Rank Phantasma, it naturally had not been drawn to these humans because it wanted to steal the wolves they