Chapter 395: No Time to Play Around!
".....?!"
BANG!
The impact rang out like a cannon blast, instantly slicing through the chatter and commotion of the rescue operation.
Every Aspirant, healer, and even Sergeant Lincoln instinctively turned toward the source of the sound.
Only the Militants, who remained focused on their duties, continued ushering the rescued survivors toward the helicarrier without sparing the fight a second glance.
A thick cloud of dust and shattered asphalt billowed into the air, obscuring everyone’s vision.
For a brief moment, nobody could tell what had happened.
Then—
WHOOOOOSH!
A violent burst of crimson flames erupted from within the dust cloud, whipping the smoke away in every direction.
The swirling haze dispersed almost instantly.
Berg came into view, vaulting backward several metres before skidding across the cracked asphalt.
Blood trickled down the side of his forehead, dripping from his chin onto the ground below.
His eyes burned with unrestrained fury, looking as though actual flames were dancing within them.
"Ho-How dare yo—"
WHOOOSH!
Before the words could fully leave his mouth, Ray disappeared.
His speed was so overwhelming that Berg’s pupils struggled to follow his movement.
One moment, Ray stood several metres away...
...the next, he was already standing directly before him.
His outstretched hand was inches away from Berg’s stunned face.
"And I’ll dare to do it again."
Ray’s voice was frighteningly calm.
Cold.
Utterly devoid of emotion.
Before Berg’s mind could even register what had happened—
SLAM!!
Ray’s palm clamped around the Legacy’s face.
With terrifying force, he drove Berg headfirst into the asphalt once again.
BOOOOM!!
The ground caved inward beneath the impact.
Jagged cracks spread across the street like a spider’s web while chunks of asphalt shot into the air.
Blood burst from Berg’s nose before splattering onto the fractured road.
Kai was enjoying every second of the beating.
Unable to contain himself, he folded both hands behind his head, a wide grin stretching from ear to ear.
His pearly white teeth were on full display.
Standing over Berg’s battered body, Ray slowly pointed a finger toward the Legacy.
His grey eyes carried a murderous chill capable of freezing the air itself.
"You do realize I still haven’t repaid you for everything you’ve done."
His voice remained unnervingly composed.
"The atrocity of attacking Van... the atrocity of setting all of us up to die on that underground planet..."
Ray’s gaze sharpened.
"I still haven’t—"
"DIE!"
Berg roared like a maddened beast.
His entire body erupted with flames as he exploded upward.
Fire wrapped around both hands before he thrust them directly into Ray’s abdomen.
BOOOOOOM!!
A deafening explosion erupted between them.
A blazing shockwave swept across the street, forcing nearby spectators to stagger backward.
Ray’s body was launched like a cannonball.
He tore through the air before crashing violently into the side of a nearby bus.
CRAAASH!!
The windows exploded inward, showering the empty seats with glittering shards of glass.
The metal body of the vehicle crumpled around him, leaving behind a massive human-shaped dent.
Smoke and dust drifted lazily into the air.
For several seconds...
...silence.
Then Ray slowly shifted.
He brushed fragments of broken glass from his shoulder before calmly pushing himself into a seated position, his back resting against the ruined bus.
His gaze never left Berg.
Berg rose unsteadily, wiping the blood from his lips with the back of his hand.
His breathing had grown noticeably heavier.
Veins bulged across his temples as he glared at Ray with naked hatred.
"Again and again... I’ve hated you with everything I have."
His voice trembled with rage.
"You got sucked into that gate, and I celebrated! Do you even know who the fuck I am?! Do you know what I can do with my ability?!"
Ray merely sighed.
The sound alone was enough to make Berg’s face twitch.
"...Why?" Berg snarled.
"Why the fuck did you have to come back? You should’ve died in there, pauper!"
"....."
Ray rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as though seriously considering the question.
"Why did I come back?"
He repeated it softly before a faint smirk curled across his lips.
Planting one foot firmly on the ground, he slowly rose to his feet.
His movements were relaxed...
Almost lazy.
Yet somehow, that made him appear even more intimidating.
A devilish grin slowly spread across his face.
"I came back..."
"...to make every sinner and every weakling pay."
He tilted his head slightly.
"What was it you said back then?"
He tapped his chin, pretending to think.
Then his smile widened.
"Ah... that’s right."
"Weaklings have no right to live."
"They’re useless."
"Nothing more than cannon fodder in this war against the Aberrants."
Ray’s grey eyes locked onto Berg’s burning gaze.
"...Well."
He took one slow step forward.
"Here I am..."
"...to make you understand."
His voice dropped to a chilling whisper.
"...that you have no right to live..."
"...weakling."
For a split second...
...the entire street became deathly silent.
Kai couldn’t hold himself back anymore.
He shoved two fingers into his mouth and released an ear-piercing whistle.
"WOOOOOO!"
"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"
Berg completely snapped.
Flames exploded around both his hands and feet with enough intensity to distort the surrounding air.
Without the slightest hesitation, he kicked off the ground.
BOOOOM!!
The asphalt beneath his feet exploded apart.
He shot forward like a blazing comet, leaving behind a trail of fire and shattered concrete.
The sheer force of his acceleration sent a violent gust of wind roaring through the street.
Within a heartbeat...
...he was already standing before Ray.
Both hands slashed through the air with savage ferocity.
Dozens of crescent-shaped blades of compressed flames screamed toward the Tribrid, carving glowing lines through the air as they raced to tear him apart.
The slashes blazed through the air, each one burning with terrifying heat. They carved glowing trails across the atmosphere, distorting the air around them as waves of scorching temperature rolled outward.
Ray calmly lowered his stance.
His calves bulged tremendously beneath the strain, every muscle tightening like a coiled spring pushed to its absolute limit.
Then—
BOOM!
The asphalt beneath his feet exploded apart.
Within a single heartbeat, Ray launched into the sky with such explosive force that his figure nearly disappeared from sight, becoming nothing more than a fleeting blur against the open heavens.
The blazing slashes tore through the empty space he had occupied barely a fraction of a second earlier.
BOOOOM!
The attacks slammed into the street, ripping apart the asphalt in a violent explosion as molten cracks spread across the ground.
High above, gravity reclaimed its hold.
Ray descended like a falling meteor.
BANG!
He landed atop the abandoned bus with concussive force.
The entire vehicle buckled beneath the impact.
Its roof caved inward as twisted metal shrieked in protest, while a violent shockwave erupted in every direction with enough force to rattle bones and send loose debris skipping across the street.
The pressure alone forced Berg to slide several inches backward, his boots scraping long grooves into the cracked asphalt.
Erin glanced nervously at Sergeant Lincoln.
"Won’t you—"
"No."
Lincoln’s answer came almost immediately.
"I want to see something."
His sharp eyes never once left the battlefield.
Even before Ray had been swallowed by the Red Gate, both he and Captain Jake had already begun taking an interest in the young Aspirant.
Back then, Ray had already possessed the strength to hunt Advanced Rank beasts with frightening consistency.
But this...
This was something else entirely.
A Grade Seven Point Eight Meta Human.
Someone standing just one step away from the absolute peak of ordinary Meta evolution.
Yet Ray...
Ray wasn’t merely matching him.
He looked as though he was barely putting in any effort.
Lincoln’s gaze slowly narrowed.
’Exactly what happened to you inside that Red Gate...?’
The tremendous weight of Ray’s landing finally proved too much for the already weakened vehicle.
CRAAASH!
The bus completely collapsed beneath him.
Windows exploded outward into countless glittering shards while twisted sheets of metal folded inward with deafening screeches.
The fuel tank ignited.
BOOOOM!
Orange flames burst from the wreckage, swallowing the remains of the vehicle in an instant.
Berg’s face twisted with fury.
With a thunderous roar, he thrust both hands high into the sky.
An enormous sphere of fire rapidly condensed above his palms.
Layer after layer of blazing flames spiralled together, compressing until a miniature sun floated overhead.
The surrounding air became unbearably hot.
Even spectators dozens of metres away instinctively shielded their faces from the scorching temperature.
Without the slightest hesitation—
Berg hurled it.
The gigantic fireball ripped through the air, leaving behind a blazing trail as it raced toward Ray with overwhelming destructive intent.
"Tsk."
Ray clicked his tongue in disappointment.
"Pathetic."
His voice remained calm.
Completely emotionless.
Then...
Just as his foot hovered above the ruined bus to take a single step—
He vanished.
Not with explosive speed.
Not with a sonic boom.
Not with an afterimage.
He simply...
...ceased to exist.
It was as though reality itself had quietly erased him from that exact location.
The massive fireball crashed into the destroyed bus a heartbeat later.
BOOOOOOM!
An inferno erupted into the heavens.
The explosion swallowed everything in brilliant orange flames, hurling molten fragments of metal across the battlefield.
Yet before Berg could even process what had happened—
Ray’s cold grey eyes appeared directly before him.
Their gazes locked.
For the first time since the battle began...
A flicker of genuine alarm surfaced inside Berg’s pupils.
Still, years of combat instincts took over.
He instantly kicked off the ground, vaulting backward in an attempt to create distance.
It was pointless.
Ray was already moving.
The gap between them vanished almost the instant it was created.
Flames surged wildly around Berg’s fists as he desperately lashed out.
"Look, kiddo..."
Ray’s calm voice reached him before the punch did.
"I just came back from a long trip."
He casually tilted his head, avoiding the incoming strike by the narrowest of margins.
"And honestly..."
Another punch sliced through empty air.
"...I’m tired."
A third attack.
Missed.
"I really don’t have the patience..."
Before Berg’s burning fists could complete another swing—
Ray moved.
Not a flashy technique.
Not an elaborate combo.
Just one perfectly timed punch.
BAM!
His fist buried itself deep into Berg’s abdomen with bone-rattling force.
The impact folded the Legacy’s body around the strike.
"Kuh...!"
Blood and saliva exploded from Berg’s mouth.
His eyes nearly rolled to the back of his head as every ounce of air was violently forced from his lungs.
For a brief moment...
Everything became silent.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!
A delayed shockwave erupted from the impact point, blasting the surrounding air apart.
Berg’s body became a blazing projectile.
He shot backward with terrifying speed, tearing across the battlefield like a cannonball.
Sergeant Lincoln’s expression finally changed.
He acted immediately.
The ground beneath him trembled.
Massive walls of earth surged upward from the asphalt, rapidly compressing into a thick defensive barrier.
CRAAAAASH!
Berg’s body slammed into the reinforced wall with a deafening impact.
The collision sent spiderweb cracks racing across the hardened earth.
Another mouthful of blood spilled from his lips before his battered body slowly slid down the wall, leaving behind a crimson trail.
Silence swallowed the battlefield.
___
[A/N: Er.... Sorry to interrupt this peak, I just wanna slot in my discord server link. If you haven’t joined and want to be informed on time of new developments which I forgot to mention in my Author’s note, here we go;