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Just hearing \'Precursor\' come out of Phantom\'s mouth shocked everyone there. It was hard to believe Phantom could have killed a member of the ancient species.

Not because he couldn\'t have, considering a Precursor would never kill a lower species, anyone could try and kill them if they had the means. However, the surprising thing was that he somehow managed to find one in the first place.

After all, the surviving Precursors had gone into hiding or left the galaxy. That said, if he had indeed killed a Precursor, it could explain his arsenal of weird abilities. The question was, what would Vulcan do now?

\'He took an oath only to kill those who had laid a hand on his masters.\' Ashton thought, \'Since Phantom admitted to killing one, it should be alright to kill him.\'

[But you can\'t let that happen. If Phantom dies, so will the last clue about your father. But I don\'t think capturing him would do you any good, either. It\'s not my place to say this, but interrogating him is impossible. Even you must have realised it by now.]

Ashton remained silent. Questioning Phantom would only make him stronger. Although Ashton had just the place in his mind to interrogate him, sadly, it wasn\'t possible.

Raphael\'s domain would have been the perfect place for questioning Phantom as it was a place Astaroth had complete control over.

Unfortunately, Beelzebub was still occupying the domain, and Ashton couldn\'t simply throw him out of there yet. This made it impossible for Ashton even to try and interrogate Phantom.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield...

Vulcan had not spoken a word since the big revelation. But anyone in the field could know how pissed he was. Without warning, Vulcan leapt into the air, and his hammer grew bigger and bigger till it blocked the sky from Phantom\'s sight.

The hellfire Phantom had used before still revolved around the hammer, giving it a menacing look. Phantom saw the attack coming. However, he wasn\'t quick enough to dodge the attack just yet.

The moment the hammer touched the ground, it felt like a dormant volcano had erupted. Debris was launched in every direction while the earth itself was on fire. Aegis had to use the [Absolute Sheild] to protect Ashton from getting into harm\'s way.

A second later, Ashton saw a gut-wrenching sight when the dust and debris settled down. There was a massive blazing crater in front of him. Phantom could be seen lying head-first in the hole, with Vulcan standing on top of him.

Ashton did not doubt that Phantom was dead. Although strong, he wasn\'t strong enough to survive a direct hit from Vulcan. However, Vulcan\'s mood was far from happy, and a moment later, Ashton realised why.

It was another decoy—a strong one, but a decoy nonetheless.

"This bastard!" Vulcan roared in rage.

Even the ground shook under as he yelled, and Ashton could understand his frustrations. He felt the same when he finally killed Mera on earth, only to realise it was just a clone of hers.

By this time, Aegis had finished healing Ashton, but he still wasn\'t strong enough to stand by himself for an extended period. Aegis saw this and immediately rushed to support his master.

Ashton stood supported by Aegis\' gryphon form as Phantom\'s decoy disappeared into thin air. There was no point in standing in the hole, so Vulcan walked out to check on Ashton but left without speaking to him.

The dwarf had his old wounds forcefully opened. The scars, which took thousands of years to heal, resurfaced within moments. It wasn\'t surprising that he wanted to be alone at the moment. Ashton did not bother him either. After all, he didn\'t have the time or the leisure to do so.

Phantom had turned out to be a lot more complicated than Ashton first assumed. At least he has more information about him, which he could use to his advantage the next time they meet.

[You seem pretty confident that you\'ll face him again.]

"Because I know we will. Considering that he\'s no longer infatuated with consuming my body, but killing me instead."

[That\'s one way of putting it.]

"By the way, do you think he could have done it?"

[Killing a Precursor?]

Ashton nodded.

[It\'s questionable. Even we had trouble killing the Precursors despite the fact they weren\'t fighting back. That said, it\'s always possible that a Precursor willingly gave their life away to a stranger, and the Xyrans had seen it happening quite a few times during the war.]

"I see."

***

After Phantom\'s death, well, after his clone\'s death, the Metal Sharks took a hasty retreat. Their only goal was to act as a distraction to siphon away some guards and mercenaries while Phantom did his job. Following his death, there was no point in continuing the battle.

But the guards and the mercenaries weren\'t left unscathed. Two more mercenaries took the journey to the afterlife in the battle while the number of guards had been halved.

Not to mention, the destruction in and around the mansion was unsurmountable. It took days for hundreds of people to clear all the debris, and it would take a whole year to reconstruct the place.

Thankfully, Eula and her mother were unharmed in the incident and were grateful to everyone who helped them evade certain death. Especially to Ashton and Vulcan, who took down the Phantom.

The news of Phantom\'s first defeat spread across the galaxy like wildfire. Overnight the Mercenary Association regained all of its lost influence. Still, more than that, Ashton and company had become renowned personalities.

Mazton promised that great rewards were waiting for them when they returned.

While Ashton was walking around helping with whatever he could, the people had not seen Vulcan since the battle\'s conclusion. Ashton had tried countless times to talk to him over the days, but his efforts were met with silence.

The dwarf had closed himself within the workshop, not allowing anyone else to step foot in his \'domain\' either. Ashton respected his master\'s wishes and decided to leave without meeting him.

The night sky was laden with stars. Their ship was ready to leave, and so were the guests of Planet Eva. But Ashton wasn\'t going just with the surviving mercenaries. He was taking his faction with him.

"Reaper, we got to leave now," Vimur called out to him.

"Coming!" Ashton replied before turning and looking at the workshop for the last time, "Looks like this is it then."

Although faint, Ashton hoped to see Vulcan again before he left. But it appeared his optimism was misplaced. After waiting a minute, Ashton gave up and returned to the ship.

However, to his and everyone\'s surprise, Vulcan came rushing toward the ship with a massive backpack.

"Oi, brat! What kind of disciple leaves without his master\'s blessing!?" He yelled.

"Really? He\'s going to turn this on me?" Ashton mumbled and got off the ship, "What do you want, old man?"

"Ahem! Considering you\'re pathetically weak, I have generously decided to accompany you till we defeat that Mimic or whatever he is."

"..."

"Hop on. It\'s rude to make everyone wait like this." Vulcan patted Ashton on the back and hurried went inside the ship, "Honestly, I never thought I\'d accept such a lazy bum as my disciple."

"This fucker..." Ashton sighed before smiling as he entered the ship.