12 Power of Sound
All the men have various accessories such as belt bags and one is even wearing a black scarf, he stood out from the others. If they all only wear the black suits, it would be hard to differentiate them from one another.
"I was hoping you'd strike that thing and like... 'Bam!' you know?" one of the men said while giggling. It was not the one with a scarf.
The owner of the voice has hazel color-haired and through the mask, she could see his black eyes filled with amusement.
Anna regarded him calmly, but with a trace of rage in her eyes.
"Who are you and what do you want?" she inquired the hazel-haired man.
"You're right to the point, aren't you?" the man asked, a grin on his face.
Anna does not respond and simply stares at him.
"Well, you have the right to know because you're going to die anyway," the man mocked.
"You may refer to me as Third," the man says, raising his hand to his chest for her to see.
Thus, Anna became alarmed, believing the man was about to do something.
Third's hand was covered in small scars, and a black butterfly tattoo could be seen on the back of his palm.
In no time at all, Anna becomes aware of what is happening.
Outlaw, a ten-year-old organization that arose out of nowhere.
Outlaw, on the other hand, became famous in barely a year since they have never failed a mission. They are also said to be quite powerful, according to rumors.
Giving them a mission is difficult because they rarely accept money. They would be the ones to decide whether or not to cooperate.
They were also so covert that they wore masks over their faces. No one has seen the faces of any of their members.
Finally, every member of Outlaw has a black butterfly tattooed on their body in some random place. Someone who copied the Outlaw tattoo would be killed the same day they tattooed it. Nobody will try to get it if they were a part of the underworld.
Ever since Anna got Ella seven years ago, she has always felt it unusual that no elementalist has come to assassinate her family. She had been caught off guard.
It's been three years that she hasn't even made her students guard her, claiming Shadow's protection alone is enough. They must have been waiting for the right time without giving up.
"After this mission, I'm going to become the third apostle of Outlaw, Third, so be grateful that you're becoming our stepping stone" he grinned.
After hearing that, Anna began to plan her escape.
It's merely a confirmation of their plans for her. She summoned her wind element to sweep them far away, allowing her to flee while they came up to her again.
She realized she wouldn't be able to battle four of them on her own, particularly if they were from Outlaw who are most likely to be rank S.
She has to return home since she is also concerned about Ella.
Anna wrapped herself in the wind and flew as fast as she could.
When she turned around and saw no one following her, she promptly dialed the number assigned to Ella's room. She was correct in placing a phone there, as it is now quite useful. After around thirty seconds of dialing, it was picked up.
"Mum?" Ella's drowsy voice could be heard.
The trembling voice of Anna could be heard from the phone "Listen, Luna sweetie, be aware of your surroundings, it's perilous, Mum is returning home but if I don't make it, go to the basement with Shadow--"
Anna was hit by a not too big yet dense lightning bolt, emanating from behind her. It wasn't that she didn't notice because she was talking to Ella about something important but it was just like before. She couldn't even sense it before it finally reached her.
Bang
Her body dropped from the air along with the phone. It didn't hit her too hard since she lowers the momentum of the fall with her wind element.
"Bullseye!" Third ecstatically exclaimed. Slowly, he approaches where Anna is.
"Shadow? Mum???" Ella has grown completely awake as she hears the words that her mother said to her. She didn't get a response and shortly heard a disconnected sound.
Anna's entire body was aching. Blood,dripping from her mouth, and from the hole which can be seen right through her chest.
Cough
She vomits blood. She looked for the phone raising her head from the ground but only saw it split into bits not far away from her. She's never been in such a miserable state before.
'Was James also killed by them?' a thought flashed in her mind.
She gathered her courage and resorted to her last resort. The crest on her left thigh glows. She expends all of her remaining mana to create a wind barrier between herself and the men.
Crimson feathers grow from the body as she transforms into a phoenix.
Her phoenix body, like her human body, is bleeding and hurting. She flies as hard as she can to get away from them with her strong big wings.
One of the men cast a large sized earth barrier inside the wind barrier, trying to break through it by increasing the size of it. When it touched the wind barrier the earth shattered into pieces and the wind turned back into a normal one. All the pieces of earth element went back into the ground to where it was before.
"Do you believe we are unaware of your elemental or crest?" Third made a snide remark about her. Anna was already far enough that his voice couldn't reach her.
"Fifth, support!" Third body floats in the air as soon as he shouts, and he quickly follows Anna.
The other three men were also following him.
Third shot another bolt of lightning to the phoenix but Anna managed to avoid it by moving her wings to change the position she was flying in.
This time, strangely, she could feel where it's coming from. But she no longer cared about it and continued to fly.
Some time passed doughing the shots of lightning and Anna became really tired. Her whole body was aching and drops of blood were dropped in her long run.
The man chasing her, Third, ran out of patience.
"You know, I don't want to use this since I have poor control, but I despise playing cat and mouse!" Third's voice became incredibly loud as he screamed angrily.
Having to work with Third for some years, Six already knows what is going to happen. Plants soon began to envelop the four men in a ground ball, as though to protect them.
Third's words repeat themselves like echo in the air, it becomes louder and louder till Anna's phoenix self ears bleed.
She loses consciousness as a result of hearing a really loud voice that no human could withstand. It makes her body change back into a human self again during the fall.
In the process, the crest on Third's arm glowed. His crest power has something to do with sound, but he still has trouble controlling it. Even though his and the other three ears were a bit hurt, they were fine owing to Sixth's quick response. Sixth's plant barrier gradually retreated to the ground and vanished.
They saw a woman in the middle of a puddle of blood in front of them, most likely dead.
Third crouched down, poked the woman's chin, and said "It wasn't fun at all".
After ascertaining that she is no longer alive. They simply abandoned the body, unconcerned about disposing of it.
