Alist never thought that this future villain will reveal one of his strongest abilities in today's game.
Auster's Whirl Dozer.
A Wind Specialism ability that allows one to manipulate winds into one tumultuous twister which acts as both the Specialist's vehicle and bulldozer or army tank.
Basically, Era's ride is a rampaging bull set loose to wreck havoc to his opponents while he levitates on top of his monstrous vehicle indifferently.
Auster's Whirl Dozer can even be bigger and taller than this current one which is 65 feet high.
Currently, four passengers were visibly seen floating on the swiveling top of the vehicular wind which headed towards the secluded part of the mangrove forest's shore.
After offending many nobles in the Abalone Floating Port (A/N: The bulk of the blame goes to…Era!), it was passively decided that they should move away from the area and find a place lay low.
Trapper, who was struggling to not be blown away by the cyclone, relied on Alist to keep his balance steady.
Twisted Trapper happened to be the cause of the unfortunate events so he took the responsibility of lending the drivers Alist and Era his own mana via the Dionaean Grappler's elongating tendrils that hid in Trapper's hair .
Alist, on the other hand, was irritated by one thing.
"Hey you!" She shouted at Era. "We could have just flown instead of hovering on a cyclone. You're wasting mana!"
Era didn't bother to listen and continued whirling the twister to a secluded area of the white mangrove forest.
'BAH!' Alist scoffed. 'Same old-fashioned arrogance of the bad boys. If I knew that this would be our treatment, I shouldn't have joined in with Shandley.'
Her friend Shandley, on the other hand, was unaffected by the winds and is levitating safely next to Era.
Era Duress was just like what Alist read in the web novel.
'When something or someone pisses him out for messing with a person he cares for, he immediately activates his most devastating skill as a means of venting out his frustrations similar to the storms he released due to the plotted heartbreak.' Alist noted.
'During the commotion, he lashed out at the arbiter and offensively suffocated the people on the circular port.'
'He even unleashed this twister that broke the port apart and caused Covetors with slow reflexes to fall into the lagoon.'
From the havoc caused, the four of them are in deep shit.
Obviously, Shandley will be bailed out since she has the protection of the Sovereign Duke's son and Alist can simply revert to her cerulean hairdo but she will still avoid going out in town with her sky-blue bleach.
That leaves Twisted Trapper who was falsely accused and had unfairly offended the daughter of a clan leader no less.
'HAH! If it weren't for that bitch, my day could have been better.' Alist lambasted the instigator of their suffering.
Although she did not want to be involved with the highborns, she couldn't ignore the fact that one of her mentors was affected by a petty exploit.
Shandley may be under Era's watch but Alist still doesn't trust him even though his intentions were honest.
Her friend also needs to quit her job as a singer at the resto bar and relocate to a new studio since going to the desolated alleyway will only put her at risk.
'I'll just have Twisted Trapper and Deleer work for GodMa. Both of them are reliable anyways and maybe Trapper can still stay in Darya a bit longer with his wife. I really need assurance that GodMa lives long enough to meet her husband again. But right now, my problem is Era Duress.'
Alist looked at Era whose head was hiding in his hood.
Seeing the future villain up close reminded her to store up her temperance meter and brace herself for an incoming wave of headaches this guy will bring.
She was lucky that she had Shandley to keep him at bay and the fact that they were becoming close as friends even though Alist knew that Era wanted more than that.
The serious but hot-headed loner easily found solace in her own friend so then being love rivals with the Male Lead may not happen at all.
Now that she has the chance to chat with Era, Alist needs to gain his attention and have him bargain with her.
She needs to challenge the future villain.
Since Alist aided in maneuvering the twister transport towards the shore, she only needs to break her cooperation with the co-driver and bring the other two away from them.
Alist focused on manipulating the water within the eye of Auster's Whirl Dozer and waited to for Era's moment of inattention.
Seeing Era lost in gazing at her friend's eyes, Alist did a Water Jet that shot out of the whirlwind's eye.
The sudden geyser captured Shandley and Twisted Trapper that shaped into a breathable water ball which then dropped back to the initial point of emergence taking the possible spectators further underwater.
Alist then surfed on top of the giant wave she made to part herself from Era and his vehicular whirlwind.
Era, who regained his senses from the astonishment that caused him, became infuriated and made his twister even larger.
"What's the meaning of this?!" He shouted at the girl who had the same age as him. "Aren't you Deleer's friend? Why did you drown her?!"
It was clear that Era's state of mind isn't calm and his behavior showed as if he was about to attack unsuspectedly if his question was left unanswered.
'Let's intimidate him then!' Alist exclaimed mentally.
Alist answered in return with a smug smile. "What's with that reaction? It's not just her that I've sent away. You've been stalking Deleer for two years. Why is that, Era?"
Era screwed up his face into a frown and stammered a bit. "Wha-what does that have to do with you? Even if you're her friend, that's not something you should know—"
Then he roared out a realization.
"YOU! How did you know my name?! Are you a spy sent by my cousin? How much did he paid you?!"
With that, he evolved his whirlwind into a massively hot steam devil which couldn't compared to the weak steam devils that occurring in the planet Earth.
Haze filled the atmosphere of the water area where both Specialist Fighters stood on and asphyxiating heat triumphed over.
This setting will worsen Alist's hold of her prepared fight as air is a pervasive resource needed by all creatures to live.
Wind and Water Specialisms are both pervasive power conventions that are advantageous in their current battle terrain but each fighter has one's own ability or tolerance of turning tables towards the intended outcome.
This is why Alist wasn't fazed by Era's awesome display.
She also has past-life knowledge of Era's capabilities.
'Whew! So intense! I may be aware that Era can do Steam Devil's Reign but I never expected that he would make it this even hotter. Let's go with step 2: BARGAIN!'
"Oh! You're curious? Well then, how about a having duel with me? Our fight will in Uptaker style. The loser does whatever the winner wants in addition to giving up mana."
Hearing Alist saying so, he agreed.
"Fine. Even so, I'll still win!" He then charged forward.
In Uptaking duels, no challenger waits for the signal to begin the battle as even referees are ignored.
This show of impulsiveness orchestrates the greed of the Fallen's Stars who were the ancestors of all species.
As long as mana is at stake, they attack immediately.