I could see five of them — good. Moving in a group.
To me, that was a gift. A perfect chance to make use of the two F-5 turtles behind me.
A grin crawled up my face. I was honestly too eager to see who'd win — the turtles or the Wraiths.
Yeah, I know it doesn't rhyme. What can I do?
The rabbit's me, after all.
I was thinking of how to lure them, but then I realized — I didn't need to.
My heartbeat was enough. They could feel it — my intent, my thrill.
And I was right.
They turned their heads all at once — or what looked like heads.
Calling it a head wasn't even fair; it was just smoke pretending to be a shape.
But fine. Let's call it a smoky head anyway.
Their smoky heads turned — nah, swooshed — toward me, and I smiled wider. My eyes lit up with that stupid excitement, wondering what'd happen next.
Two sides about to fight, and me? I just get back-row seats.
"Shall we start? It's enough waiting," I said, my voice shaking with eagerness and excitement.
I couldn't hold it anymore.
"You smoky heads! I'm here! Yoo-hoo!" I waved both hands in front of them like a maniac.
"Voo… voo…" I froze for a second, my eyes going wide on their own with shock.
What the— their Echo Step looks more like a short teleportation skill to me.
For real? That fast?
I couldn't even hear a damn thing — no step, no shift, not even air moving.
What a stupid naming sense. I swear, whoever mutated this world and decided these skill names had zero sense of logic… calling it Echo when there's literally nothing to hear?
Yeah, genius work right there.
I'd seen its skills on the System screen, but seeing it move like that in front of me… yeah, no screen could prepare me for that.
I didn't even blink, and they were already in front of me.
One second they were there—
the next, right in front of my face.
So close their smoky nose almost brushed my nose.
I could feel the air around me — cold, creepy, like a soul just passed through me and I didn't die.
Thank god I used to love horror movies in my childhood.
If I didn't, seeing a ghost's face pop out of nowhere like that would've made me jump and die from a five-thousand-volt heart attack.
"Foxfire Step!"
I felt the flames burst under my feet — clean reaction, the thrust kicking back against the ground harder than a jet engine. For a split second, I could almost hear my old physics teacher screaming in joy, "Equal and opposite reaction!"
Yeah, sure. Except this reaction came with my skill.
Turns out, yeah, I can jump backward too.
Who knew?
Guess that's physics, right?
Except… not anymore.
They threw that subject out the window the day the world mutated.
Gravity doesn't stick, friction's a joke, and energy conservation? Gone with Newton.
Now it's just fire, blood, and monsters rewriting every law we ever memorized.
Who needs Newton when the whole world mutated and everything's trying to kill you?
As I flew through the air, I waved down at them. "Bye-bye," I said with a grin. They were right below me now — yeah, finally caught up.
I hit the ground a little rough, stumbling and almost tripping over my own legs.
Guess I still needed practice landing backward.
But I managed somehow — no falling backward, no broken bones, no free comedy show for them. I'll take that as a win.
Now I could sit back and enjoy the show.
"Hey, look in front, you fools! Not at me!" I shouted, half warning, half amusement.
And yeah, I did warn them. I wanted to see their faces when they turned around and see the five Echo Wraiths.
Turned out, they weren't fans of horror movies back then.
The moment those smoke heads teleported in front of their faces, they froze — eyes wide, mouths open, like their souls just hit the pause button.
I had to bite my lip not to laugh.
But of course they were still F-5s. Superhuman or not, they bounce back fast.
For a second they looked frozen, like a couple of NPCs lagging mid-fight, then snap — back in motion, faces tight, trying to act tough again.
I leaned against a tree, watching with a grin.
Perfect. A front-row seat to my own private lesson.
Two F-5s against five F-5 otherworldly creatures — real, raw, and bloody.
Now this was the kind of class no academy could ever teach.
I folded my arms, eyes flicking between both sides.
"Left side or right side," I whispered to myself. "Let's see who dies first."
The moment it started, I almost missed it.
I couldn't see the Echo Wraith's movement, and without any sound it was hard to tell from where or which direction they were coming from.
It all happened in a blur.
One second, the ground was quiet.
The next — boom.
The whole place shook like an earthquake. Lin Qiao slammed both fists into the dirt and shouted, Ground Splitter.
The ground cracked open, throwing dirt and dust into the air.
Big chunks of rock shot up like someone had kicked the planet from below.
The whole thing was shaking so hard I had to grab a tree just to keep steady.
"Okay… that's kinda insane," I muttered. "He really made the ground move."
For a second, the five Wraiths flickered — their smoke bodies went solid, like shadows caught in light.
"Not bad," I murmured. "Guess monkey-boy's got some tricks."
Then Wen Zhihao moved.
I didn't even know the guy had a brain, but I guess he figured it out — the Echo Wraiths solidify when hit by noise and shockwaves.
The second Lin's Ground Splitter cracked the ground, he charged right in with Rampaging Rush.
His whole body turned silver, metal catching fire, and he tore through three of them at once — they flew like broken dolls, crashing into the trees hard enough to rip the roots clean out.
"Damn," I muttered, leaning forward a little. "He actually hit it."
Wait…
I blinked.
Where the hell were the other two?
I scanned the spot — nothing. No blur, no smoke, not even a sound.
Yeah, obviously. They're Wraiths. Why the hell am I even trying to hear them?
Oh wait—
there. I see them now.
One slipped right behind Lin Qiao, the other behind Wen Zhihao.
They just suddenly teleported behind them, their hands sank straight through their backs.
Wait… wait.
I raised my hand and snapped my fingers.
I know this one. I know what they're doing to them.
Resonance Drain.
Benefit of having the System, right?
Even from here, I could feel the pull — like they were sucking their life straight out through their spine.