"No, don't!"
Bryan was a tad too slow to stop Karen from going all out. Seconds after Danny flew past him as he ordered his men to attack, he sensed Karen's aura undergo a fundamental, bestial change.
Unfortunately for him…
"... Tempest Lynx."
A rippling explosion of strong winds erupted from Karen's body as a massive spirit body of a lynx-like creature manifested around her body, her body disappearing inside the spirit manifestation.
"NO…!"
BOOM…!
The bar exploded from the overwhelming wind pressure of the spirit manifestation. Bryan's men, helpless against the tempest, were blown away. Without hesitation, the spirit manifestation flashed at incredible speed, its paw striking a still-stunned Bryan.
"Shit…!"
Bryan managed to hold his ground against the tempest and crossed his arms over his face when the strike landed. The powerful swipe tore through his flesh like tofu. He grimaced as the strike sent him flying.
Without looking back, the spirit manifestation disappeared in an incredible burst of overwhelming speed. Fortunately for her, very few of the uninvolved pedestrians got injured from the bar's explosion.
The people screamed and ran for their lives, knowing a mad integrator was on the loose. Very few were able to shake off their fears and call the authorities to report what they had witnessed.
"Damn it. I'm going to kill that bitch!"
From the rubble, a heavily injured and seething Bryan crawled out. One of his men, though injured, rushed to his side to help him.
"Back off!"
He refused the help and crawled to his feet, ignoring his mangled arms. Blood freely flowed from his injured arm as he looked in the direction Karen had disappeared.
"Boss, what do we do?"
Danny was one of the lucky few to survive the tempest explosion, sustaining only a few injuries. His face had turned an incredible shade of pale, and he was shaken to the core. Never had he imagined the woman he tried to take was this crazy.
"Tch! This is all your fault!" Bryan seethed as he glared at Danny, making him flinch. "Just what in the world were you thinking?! Of all the women to prey on, you had to attract someone like her!"
"B-But Bryan, how was I supposed to know?!" Danny felt wronged, ashamed. "She came to me asking to know what happened to the Sorens!"
"Sorens?"
Bryan paused, surprised. He momentarily forgot his grieving heart at the loss of one of his establishments. "She was asking about the Sorens? Why didn't you mention that before?! Ugh!"
Danny lowered his head, unable to offer an explanation. Karen's connection with the Sorens was a guess at best. Even he was not entirely sure. After all, news of the Soren clan's destruction was everywhere.
It was only natural to be curious.
Far in the distance, the sirens of law enforcement echoed. Bryan looked into the distance and frowned. He wanted nothing to do with the law. Turning to Danny, he instructed him to take care of the trouble.
Without waiting for his injured men, he vanished in a burst of speed, leaving behind his convoy. As for what Danny mentioned about that supposedly Anita woman, he had every intention to investigate.
'That bitch is going to pay dearly…'
Meanwhile, Karen dissolved her spirit manifestation the moment she left the city. Her form had scared many people along the way. Some integrators even attempted to intercept her, but she was too fast.
Focused solely on escaping, there was nothing they could do.
What she had done was break the laws governing spirit manifestation around the general populace. Spirit manifestation was a power those in the Manifestation realm possessed — it explosively multiplied their power by at least a factor of four.
But manifesting the spirit was explosive in and of itself. It was why it was outlawed in populated areas, resulting in a situation where most integrators relied solely on their physical enhancements and other abilities to resolve conflicts as and when warranted.
Going against said restriction carried heavy penalties for anyone caught using it. But Karen was desperate. There was no way she could have escaped her situation had she held back.
And most importantly, she did not care. With the Soren clan all but destroyed, there was little need to visit cities.
The distant siren of the law enforcement echoed from behind. They were following her, tracking her route. She looked back, noticing flying objects through the foliage, their searchlights cutting through the darkness.
[Halt. By the authority of the IPD, surrender and turn yourself in. I repeat…] The broadcast continued.
They were serious about capturing her.
But Karen wasn't worried. She focused her attention on the path ahead of her, manoeuvring through the forest with a level of ease that should have been difficult given the time of day.
Her steps were nimble and agile, leaving barely any marks. And when she landed on stony terrain, all traces of her movements vanished. With speeds her pursuers could not match, she scaled the rocky terrain, backtracking to her path towards the pipe she came from.
The rest was only a matter of time…
Catching her was never in the cards for them. This was a difficulty the Integrator Police Department faced when dealing with integrators. It was easy enough to catch a rampager.
But when said lawbreakers focused on escaping, there wasn't much they could do without information on them.
"Sergeant Kane, we lost track of her."
"I know…" The sergeant sighed as he looked around the rocky terrain. "Follow standard protocol and lock down portal travels."
"Yes, sir."
As the officer rushed to carry out the order, the sergeant signalled for another officer and instructed, "What did you get from those shady guys?"
"Nothing significant, Sergeant. The target is confirmed to be a woman, but she wore a hood the whole time. No physical description besides her height and body shape."
"And her name?"
"Anita."
The officer reported and then paused for a moment. "Though they aren't sure if that was her real name."
"Mm, that's normal." The sergeant nodded, thinking. "And how did the conflict start in the first place?"
"Apparently, the woman barged into their bar demanding intel on the Sorens when she heard them discussing it."
"The Sorens again?" Sergeant Kane groaned, already feeling a headache coming on. "Hah, this is above our pay grade. We need to contact the Intergalactic Council."
"Yes, sir."
With no hints of their target's whereabouts, the IPD brought their search to a close. Moreover, there wasn't much damage to begin with. And with the Soren name added to the mix, it was officially out of their hands.
'Hiding a Dimensional Shifter, huh?' Sergeant Kane thought amusingly. 'Things will be getting rowdy real soon.'