𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!

An earth-trembling explosion rattled Yakeru awake but winced in pain. Examining his condition, he found his armor had been seared and was still sizzling. Bits of the fabric underneath had holes burned into them, leaving his skin singed.

Surveying the area, he found Kenji slouched behind debris. His condition didn't seem to be improving as he kept groaning silently.

He then looked off into the distance to see an injured Fuyumi perched up on a ledge while the Ripper taunted her, blood seeping from her wounds. It was conclusive at this point.

'We can't possibly beat this guy.' Yakeru thought.

By now, it was clear they were outmatched in terms of both speed and strength. But it wasn't like they could retreat either. Trying to drag the injured conjurer away would only slow them down. It wasn't like Yakeru could bring himself to leave him behind anyway, regardless of their dire situation.

However, there was one good thing that came out of this. After the Ripper's retaliation, he seemed to have lost track of Kenji, too fixated on catching their more agile teammate.

'Good. We can probably use that to our advantage.'

Kenji continued groaning, the unrelenting pain so agonizing he didn't respond to the pebbles hitting him. Eventually, he opened his clenched eyes, now realizing Yakeru was trying to get his attention.

He glanced over at the swordsman bringing his finger up to his mouth, gesturing for him to be quiet. He pointed at himself and Fuyumi before mouthing, "We'll be back."

Having no other option, Kenji nodded with a glint of hope in his eyes. Fuyumi continued to observe the ripper's every move.

"Fuyumi!" Yakeru roared.

She didn't avert her eyes, refusing to let the Ripper get the drop on her again.

"Let's go!"

"What?" She asked, confused.

"Just trust me!"

After a long pause, she took a deep breath and reluctantly wrenched her gaze away to see Yakeru making a break for it. A red glow flashed in her peripheral.

Just as she predicted, the Ripper made his move the moment she broke eye contact as two disk-shaped projectiles were launched in her direction.

𝘚𝘓𝘐𝘊𝘌! 𝘚𝘓𝘈𝘚𝘏!

She leaped away just as the projectiles sliced through the rocky ledge she was once perched on.

Pursuing Yakeru, she could tell his movements were more sluggish so it wasn't much trouble catching up despite a gash in her leg.

"What about Kenji?!"

"We'll go back for him. Right now we can't fight that guy head-on."

They were headed in the same direction they'd come so if she didn't know better, she'd think he was fleeing.

The forest thickened with trees and shrubs the further they ran as Yakeru frantically scanned the environment.

'I know we saw them somewhere around here!'

When they passed through this part of the forest the first time, they spotted something familiar lodged in several trees. Earlier, Fuyumi recognized them as territorial markings so he took a mental note for later.

It'd be impossible for them to take on a physically superior opponent, but Yakeru did note one weakness the Ripper had during their brief exchange. He was oblivious to his surroundings and seemed to have tunnel vision, likely due to his overreliance on power.

"So what's your plan?" She asked, leaping over a fallen log.

It was then that they saw it. A quill was lodged in a tree.

"He's too tunnel-visioned to notice his surroundings. We'll exploit that."

Suddenly, radiant disks soared through the night sky, striking a tree behind them.

𝘉𝘖𝘖𝘔!

The shockwave from the explosion flung them off course, the Ripper now hot on their tail. Crackling wood filled their ears as the tree tumbled with a resounding thud. It didn't take long for Fuyumi to recover, unlike Yakeru who struggled to stand to his feet.

Before she could rush over to him it was already too late. The Ripper had leaped over the fallen tree, his eyes locked on the young swordsman but she was too far to intercept. With his scythe cocked back, he was preparing to behead the boy when they heard an ear-splitting roar.

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The Ripper whipped his head in the direction of the roar to see a steel-quilled bear burst from the brush, spiraling towards him. For the first time, his eyes filled with terror as he couldn't dodge in mid-air.

Before he could land, the beast slammed into him, a mixture of screeching metal and tearing flesh filling the forest. Barreling further through the dense greenery, he was flung into a boulder with a booming crash.

After nearly losing his head, it took a minute for Yakeru to calm himself and get his bearings. Though he wasn't betting on a random bear defeating a serial killer capable of overpowering high-ranking rangers, he was certain that it could buy them time. How much time, he didn't know.

"Come on!" Yakeru barked. "It won't hold him off for long!"

They both rushed back to retrieve their fallen ally.

Kenji sat in isolation against the tree, anxiously awaiting their return. The searing pain in his side hadn't stopped, and neither did the burning sensation in his body.

He'd obviously broken something in his side but he couldn't explain why it felt like liquid fire was coursing through his veins.

'Does the Ripper have something to do with it?' he pondered.

No, he distinctly remembered the same sensation after defeating the gravity dysons. Only it wasn't as intense and didn't last nearly as long.

As much as he wanted to stand and fight, it was simply impossible in his condition.

'I'm...in the same predicament...' he groaned, waiting for his team to return. 'I have to rely on them...again.'

"Kenji!" A familiar voice called out.

Yakeru emerged from the bushes, sliding in front of Kenji with Fuyumi right behind him.

"Come on, let's go!" Yakeru hurried to help him up to his feet.

Fuyumi kept watch just in case their assailant returned earlier than expected.

"Hurry up," she urged.

Kenji yelped as the pain surging through his body intensified in protest. Yakeru swung his arm over his shoulder, apologizing for putting him through more suffering as they began to stagger away.

𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘩...

The smoke cleared revealing a bruised and bloodied Ripper. A couple of quills were lodged into his leg and stomach. He felt a searing pain in his side when trying to move.

Since dodging the bear wasn't an option, he'd blocked the surprise attack instead. He gritted his teeth and with a shaky hand, he reached down and yanked the quill out of his leg.

The bear trudged toward him, snarling with anger and disappointment in its eyes after seeing he was still conscious.

The only reason few rangers would survive an encounter with him before was because he allowed them to. He needed them to spread the word of his existence. Everyone needed to know of the lurking demon. If he could prove his might against experienced rangers, what would people think if he was bested by a couple of kids, of all things?

"I won't let anyone look down on me again..." he gritted.

He yanked the second quill out of his stomach before eyeing the beast indifferently.

With another challenging roar, the bear leaped into a spiral toward him, barreling through the trees. He retrieved his scythe, instantly infusing it upon contact and raised it high.

In one fell swoop, he swung it down, slicing through its steel armor as both halves tumbled off to his sides.

Although he still possessed power, his wounded body made it difficult to wield as effectively as before. Regardless, he had no intention of allowing the brats to escape.

In the meantime, Kenji continued his painful trudge, using his staff and Yakeru as support. The whole reason he was out here was to prove he could hold his own. Though in the end, he'd only proved his overreliance on others.

'Even now...I'm just slowing them down...'

Kenji clenched his fist as he filled with misplaced determination.

"...I have to...hunt him."

Yakeru looked at him in disbelief.

"You mean to tell me you actually tried hunting him?"

Kenji gritted his teeth as he hesitated.

"...of course..."

Yakeru wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. He wanted to assume that it was just bad luck that Kenji had an unfortunate run-in. Even so, they still found him in the mid-rim, somewhere he shouldn't be in the first place.

Yakeru stared at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"I...I need to prove..."

"Prove what?!" Yakeru snapped. "You could've gotten yourself killed! Whatever you wanted to prove, it's not worth your life!"

Never in a hundred years would he have thought that Kenji, of all people, would do something so reckless. Furious, Yakeru shook his head in disappointment and looked forward.

"We'll talk about this later."

Kenji stared down at the uneven terrain, his mind spinning as he contemplated. Just then, Fuyumi spotted movement through the trees. Her eyes widened as a scythe, already infused, collided with her daggers. The sheer force was enough to fling her back. Yakeru shoved Kenji out of her path as she slammed into him, tumbling back.

The sudden movement made Kenji yelp involuntarily before hitting the ground. His satchel snapped from his hip, sending broken vials flying out.

Yakeru and Fuyumi squirmed before slowly getting their bearings. Yakeru frantically searched for Kenji but when he found him he froze in horror.

The Ripper had already reached him. All he could do was watch as the man bent down in front of the helpless conjurer.

Kenji's heart pounded in his chest as his eyes met the Ripper's, the man's crazed gaze reflecting his chaotic mind.

After a moment of silently staring at one another, the Ripper glanced over to the broken vials, studying the yellow substance they once held. For the first time, Kenji saw his expression soften. He didn't think such a thing was possible for lunatics.

"I see now." The man muttered, the pieces coming together. Earlier, this boy had displayed power that shouldn't have been possible for an E-rank. It hadn't occurred to him that he used enhancement elixirs.

"You used outside help to compensate for your lack of strength," he looked back at the boy. "So you've seen it too. How the world is governed by power. How those who have it are praised and respected while those who lack it are ridiculed and discarded. Power is something else, isn't it? You chase the high and can't seem to get enough of dominating your enemies."

Yakeru gritted his teeth, furious as this psychopath filled his friend's head with garbage.

"Kenji, don't listen to this serial killer's ramblings! He's just making an excuse to justify his obsession with power." He accused.

The Ripper scoffed and turned to the ignorant swordsman.

"Do you not train your body to get stronger? Do influencers not wish to sway public opinion? Do politicians not seek to be elected to office?" He burst into maniacal laughter at the absurdity of the youth's assumption. "Young fool. We're all obsessed with power. You're just too naive to see it!"

He wobbled to his feet, readying his scythe in both hands as he glared at Yakeru and Fuyumi. The look in his eyes was different from before, his gaze fuming with anger.

He obviously didn't wish to harm Kenji at this point—perhaps sympathizing with him—so they didn't have to worry about him for now.

The two rangers readied their weapons as well before the Ripper exploded into battle.

Soon, metallic clashes reverberated throughout the forest while Kenji was forced to watch helplessly.

He gripped his side as the pain continued to eat away at him. But that was nothing compared to what he would endure from watching his comrades fight in vain.