Chapter 308: Midnight Crystal (Part 33)

"Fuck, I don’t know!" Katrin exclaimed irritably with a wave of her hand.

Oddly enough, Scarlet Pyromancer still hadn’t shown up. Adam was a little worried that the flaming bug might have crawled out of the ground or flown to the volcano and started burning Harvesters, but... his concerns were not destined to come true.

Katrin was already very nervous because if Scarlet Pyromancer wasn’t here then it was a real failure and today wasn’t going to be what she had been waiting for for so long.

"Alan, Silvana, give me some information!" Katrin said menacingly.

Even though Silvana wasn’t her Operator, Silvana decided not to argue and just obey. If Adam was okay with it, then Silvana had no right to refuse Katrin.

After all, Silvana was the Operator and Katrin was the Phantom. Right now, Adam didn’t need Silvana’s help, so... as a member of his squad, Katrin could control Silvana however she wanted as long as Adam allowed it.

Alan... Well, Alan was Katrin’s Operator whom she cared about more than any other person in the world. But, when things didn’t work out, Alan was the first person who had to face Katrin’s wrath.

’Katrin... The missions department says they’ve checked everything multiple times. A few hours ago, before the Igno Ants led you to their anthill, the Scarlet Pyromancer was at this volcano.’ Alan replied with sadness in his voice. He realized how bad news this was for Katrin.

Silvana nodded.

’Confirmed. No incidents have been reported to the missions department. The only thing I see listed is the appearance of a Prime Thunder Demon, but that entry already appeared after you dealt with the monster.’ Silvana calmly said.

During the battles, Silvana didn’t just guide Adam and tell him what was going on around him so that he would be prepared for any unexpected things.

If something important was happening, Silvana, like any other Operator, had to report it to the Citadel as fast as possible.

Thus, half a minute after the Prime Thunder Demon had appeared and Silvana had made sure of it, she had already sent the information to the Citadel.

At the Citadel, the missions department had thousands of people working in it, because it was the largest and most active department of all. They were ready to change the status of the mission at any moment.

While initially, Adam and Katrin went on a hunt for Scarlet Pyromancer, many other things had already happened along the way.

Igno Ants Nest, Golden Light Squad, temporary alliance, every monster killed, volcano blew up, Prime Thunder Demon, the arrival of BH-01, and a lot of Harvesters. All of this was already part of Adam and Katrin’s mission and had been documented in the record.

Katrin looked nervously at Adam, then at the volcano in the distance, and began actively biting her finger with a great grimace.

Then, clenching her fists, Katrin walked over to Adam and grabbed him by the collar, rather stiffly and roughly, pulling him to her.

"We’re staying here until Scarlet Pyromancer gets back here or we get his new location and I don’t care how long it takes. Do you understand me?!" Katrin shouted through gritted teeth.

Adam wanted to answer something, but at the last moment, he stopped because he heard someone’s voice in his ear. Strangely enough, besides Silvana, it was Alan who was speaking.

"I see..." Adam smirked before reaching up to Katrin’s face and squeezing her nose hard with two fingers.

Katrin’s eyes went wide with indignation and sharp pain.

"What the hell! What the fuck are you doing!" Katrin shouted angrily.

But, Adam only squeezed her nose harder, applying pressure and forcing Katrin to take a few steps backward.

Katrin tried to unclench Adam’s grip, but it was as if his hand was steel, completely immobile and unaffected by outside force.

Then, when Katrin couldn’t take it anymore she fell to her knees and wrapped both hands around Adam’s fingers to somehow reduce the vivid pain in the area of her nose.

"I’ve got it all figured out! Let go of my damn nose already! I’m just too nervous!" Katrin begged for mercy.

Strangely enough, it didn’t take a second for Adam to loosen his grip. Katrin was immediately relieved, with a disgruntled face rubbing her nose that was now as red as a tomato.

"I can tell you don’t know how to treat a girl. Who does that anyway?" Katrin snorted narrowing her eyes.

"A girl?" Adam lifted his chin with an ironic smile, "To me, you’re a Phantom first, everything else isn’t that important."

Katrin’s eyes grew wider for a moment. It seemed Adam’s words had a deeper meaning for her than originally planned. Could it have had something to do with Katrin’s temper or maybe her past? Who knows...

"Don’t worry about Scarlet Pyromancer. I said I’d help you kill him, so I will. Whether he shows up here or elsewhere, whether he shows up now or in a couple of hours, I can’t leave until I’ve accomplished my task backed by my word." Adam said confidently stepping aside.

They had no choice but to wait for something to change, so he simply walked over to the black tree and leaned against the thick bark again, crossing his arms over his chest he looked away.

Katrin nodded, turning away so Adam couldn’t see her face. She tried to hide not her embarrassment or awkwardness, but the simple smile that appeared on her face.

...

Thus passed one hour, then a second, a third, and so on.

They had gone to Black Cinder Forest in the morning, Adam had killed the Prime Thunder Demon at noon, and in a few hours, all the Harvesters had already returned to the Citadel.

Considering how much time had already passed, the dangerous milestone of sunset and the beginning of evening had arrived. Once the sun disappeared then night would fall and this was causing the others real anxiety.

"Hey, I know you have an important mission, but..." Oskar said uncertainly scratching the back of his head, he didn’t want to suggest it to them but he had to.

"We have to get back to the Citadel before nightfall. We have no other choice." Oskar said seriously.

Adam answered nothing, he only cast a glance at Katrin. She had to decide what to do in this situation.

...

At the same time, high above the sky something began to tremble, it seemed there was a silhouette of a massive transparent sphere, the tremors of which became more and more active.

Adam had experienced something like this before, but now he had no idea what was happening.