The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 80

Chapter 80: Team 7 Vs Team 5 (final): Clash Of The Leaders

Reid and the tomboy leader stood across from the other. None had made a move yet, waiting for the opponent to move first.

Now Reid and Nyx could simply end the fight before it even started, with a basic domain but that would just be a waste of energy as evident from what happened to Rusty.

“I’ll give you one last chance” the tomboy’s voice came “give up the supply box and walk away, that way, no one gets hurt.”

“And my answer remains the same” Reid answered “No.”

“Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you” the tomboy rushed towards him with her forged-beast by her side.

She clenched her hand into a fist as she swung at Reid. At the same time, her forged beast also swiped its claws at Nyx.

Nyx simply used [void] and teleported away with Reid.

Their attacks hit nothing but empty air as Reid and Nyx appeared a few feet away.

“Teleportation” The Tomboy asked, a bit surprised.

“Something like that” Reid replied.

She then lunged forward again and delivered a kick aiming for Reid’s ribs but Reid blocked the attack with ease.

But that was just a distraction tactic because as soon as she jumped back, her wolf came out of the ground and swiped its claws at him forcing him to teleport away again.

Reid reassessed the leader and her wolf again. Unlike before, the wolf’s white fur let out an almost ghostly glow.

Standing a bit far from Reid and Nyx, the wolf swiped its claws at seemingly empty air, causing Reid to look at it in confusion.

But suddenly, alarm bells rang in his head as his instinct warned him to dodge. He and Nyx quickly teleported to the side,only for a huge claw mark to rip through the building that stood behind them.

“Tch” the tomboy leader clicked her tongue in annoyance. She was sure that attack would have landed since Reid had no way of seeing it.

The tomboy leader commanded her forged beast to continue its invisible assault. Reid evaded each strike, but some came dangerously close—too close. Thin cuts began to appear on his cheek and shoulders.

“You know you can’t dodge forever right?” she sounded annoyed at the fact that none of her attacks landed a solid hit.

“And you know I haven’t attack yet right?” Reid answered with a question.

Before the tomboy could ask what he meant, a swirling vortex opened beneath her wolf, threatening to pull it in.

The more the wolf struggled, the faster it was being pulled through the vortex.

On the tomboy’s command, the wolf’s fur glowed white again, which allowed it to escape the vortex by making itself intangible.

Before they could recover, Reid gave another command to Nyx.

“[Spatial collapse]”

A sudden pressure descended on the tomboy and her wolf, crushing them from all sides.

She gritted her teeth because of the pressure but luckily, the palm of her hand rested on her forged-beast, therefore when it used its skill again, they were both able to escape the collapse just in time.

“So you were just toying with me all this while” the tomboy asked through gritted teeth. She and her forged-beast looked completely exhausted.

“No, I was observing,” Reid replied coolly, dusting off his sleeve.

The tomboy clenched her fists. She was running out of energy, and her forged beast’s ability had its limits. If they kept using it to escape, they’d eventually be backed into a corner.

Her wolf let out a deep growl, lowering itself into a stance, but even it was panting from the strain.

Reid, on the other hand, looked barely winded, save for the few cuts on his cheek.

She clicked her tongue. Damn it. She needed to turn this around—fast.

“Enough playing,” she muttered before pointing at Reid. “[Phantom Hunt]!”

Her wolf howled, and suddenly, dozens of ghostly copies of it flickered into existence, surrounding Reid and Nyx from every angle.

Each one moved with eerie precision, phasing in and out of reality as they circled their prey.

Reid arched a brow. “Interesting.”

Her wolf was pretty versatile and the set of abilities it has been using so far had made it harder to predict.

But as it turned out, its abilities were ghost or phantom based.

The tomboy smirked. “Let’s see you dodge this.”

As if on command, the phantom wolves pounced all at once, their claws tearing through the air.

Reid didn’t move.

“Nyx.”

The moment he spoke, [Nullification] rippled outward. The ghostly forms flickered, distorting violently before vanishing into nothingness.

The tomboy’s smirk vanished. “Wha—”

She barely had time to react before Reid countered.

[Rift].

A small tear in space cracked open beneath her feet. The tomboy leaped back, avoiding it just in time—but it was a feint.

Reid was already moving.

With a simple command, Nyx activated [Void], teleporting him behind her.

She turned, eyes widening—

Too late.

Reid’s palm stopped just short of her chest. A subtle pulse of energy radiated from his fingertips, stopping just before making contact.

He stared at her, unimpressed. “Checkmate.”

The tomboy stiffened, glancing at his hand. She didn’t need to ask—she knew if he had actually hit her, she’d be unconscious.

A few feet away, her wolf collapsed from exhaustion, its energy spent.

She let out a breath, scowling as she raised her hands in surrender. “…Tch. Fine. You win.”

Reid lowered his hand and stepped back. “Glad we agree.”

Nyx fluttered down and shrunk down, taking its place on Reid’s head.

“You can keep the stupid box” the tomboy grumbled under her breath.

“Anyway, I’ll tell my team to—” before she could complete what she was saying Reid interrupted.

“No need for that” he said and pointed behind him.

The two teams were now sitting down, observing the fight between their leaders.

Clara sat by the female of the twins who’s wounded shoulders were being covered in a green glow, healing it.

The two giants, Marcus and Jaxon sat together observing the fight and Ethan behind the girl with the hawk.

Lisa on the other hand had an annoyed look on her face. Even with his face filled with scorch marks and his hair taking an afro style, Alec still persisted on flirting with her.

“Told you he’d win” Clara was the first to speak as he tapped the shoulder of the girl next to her, only to have her wince because she touched her wound.

“Oh, sorry about that.” She apologized.

The tomboy let out an irritated sigh. “So, we really got our asses handed to us, huh?”

From the condition of her teammates and the look on their faces, she understood that they lost.

“I won though” Jaxon spoke up, although his and Marcus’ fight was pretty close, he managed to grab a close win when both of them were completely exhausted.

The tomboy sighed and said “Let’s just leave, we’ll just look for other supply boxes and maybe we’ll be lucky enough to find one.”

She then turned to Reid and extended her hand “I’m Riley, Riley Carter”.

Reid took her hand and shook it “Reid”.

“Well then, see you around Reid” she said as she started walking away, he team trailing behind her.

“You too Riley” Reid replied and walked up to his team.

“Don’t worry my lady, we’ll be reunited soon” Alec let out when they were far enough.

He pulled out a handkerchief—no one quite knew where he’d gotten it from—and dabbed at his fake tears as he walked away dramatically.

Lisa could only face palm in annoyance, the guy didn’t know when to quit, even though she already told him that she was interested in someone else.

“Wait, Lisa” Clara suddenly spoke up as she moved closer to her and whispered so only she could hear “I thought you were interested in Reid?.”

Her words made Lisa blush and even though Clara whispered, Lisa nervously clamped her hand over Clara’s mouth.

The boys raised their brows in confusion but chose not to ask.

Reid didn’t miss the odd exchange between Clara and Lisa, but he decided to let it slide for now. They had more important things to focus on.

He turned to his team, taking stock of their condition. Aside from minor injuries, they were in good shape. The battle had drained some energy, but they were still capable of moving forward.

“Let’s go,” Reid said. “It’s almost time for our seniors to start hunting us, so we have to find a safe spot.”

They had less than ten minutes before the hunt started and they need to find a temporary base fast.

As they started moving, Marcus stretched his arms with a groan. “Man, that guy Jaxon hits like a damn truck. I think my ribs are still rattling.”

Truth be told, both were heavy hitters as evident by their sizes but Jaxon used his relatively smaller size to land a couple of blows he knew Marcus couldn’t block.

Clara chuckled. “Sounds like you had fun.”

“Not the word I’d use, but yeah, fighting him was pretty fun.” Marcus replied with a chuckle of his own.

The team continued forward with their forged-beast behind them, ready for the next phase of the challenge which was the hunt.