Leaving behind waves of air pressure similar to white water waves, Ryner rammed into the side of Gerard’s torso. An explosion was heard, not from the collision, but from his breaking of the sound barrier. Despite the difference in size, the giant was knocked down by the human projectile that traveled at a speed multiple times faster than sound. The ten-meter tall body fell heavily, gouging the ground and shaking the earth.

“(Guaaah! Where’d you come fr-?! Perfect timing! I was just about to crush you anyway!)” [Gerard]

Gerard raised his upper body with his hands and looked at Ryner, who was right in front of him, through the fiery blue holes that were his eyes. The scene of him kicking away Lovel replayed in his head.

“(Don’t you dare hurt my woman!!)” [Gerard]

The giant angrily roared as his right fist came down on the human like a hammer to squash him like a bug. Ryner calmly and quietly looked at the large mass of molten steel about to crash on top of him with murky eyes. Then, at the last second, he took a step forward, firmly planted his feet and punched the giant hand. Once more, the sound of an explosion reverberated. A shockwave spread out and a small crater was formed where he stood.

“(Wha-!?)” [Gerard]

Gerard’s right hand was blown away. Blue lava and fire leaked out of the stump like blood. The pieces of the crushed hand flew through the air and landed heavily on the ground before the eyes of everyone present, leaving them speechless. However, the owner of the severed hand did not freeze up. Though surprised, he reacted rapidly as his massive body fell forward. The giant quickly fixed his balance with his remaining left hand and, taking aim at Ryner, spewed fire.

“(DIE!)” [Gerard]

A torrent of bright blue flames fell endlessly on the dead-eyed human like a waterfall. Intense heat pushed out the air around it, raising a whirlwind. The beam of concentrated fire should have reduced him to ash, or at least, burned him to some degree.

“(Even if you’re an S rank, some regular powerhouse can’t brush off my flames!)” [Gerard]

Gerard thought, especially since he knew better than anyone how hot and painful his blue flames were.

“(If you’ve got some out of the norm ability, then the First Order would have found you.)” [Gerard]

He estimated his opponent’s possible strength according to the information that he possessed from his organization.

“(If you didn’t join, then they would have killed you, or warned me of your existence.)” [Gerard]

Meanwhile, the black-haired man was still being bathed in the beam of light that could melt, evaporate and destroy whatever it touched. A hole was basically being gouged into the ground where he stood.

“(And since it’s neither, that means you should be getting extra crispy by now!)” [Gerard]

Gerard believed that his foe’s inaction was a sign that his attack was effective. However, his expectations were betrayed as a warning bell rang in his head, telling him of danger. Then, something explosively broke through the descending beam of blue flames. It shook the ground, leveled the earth and scattered fire as it instantly ascended.

“(Oh shi-!)” [Gerard]

Even faster than before, Ryner launched himself at Gerard, who failed to move out of the way, and hit him in the center of the chest. Unlike the first time, the giant body was not blown away. Instead, it was blown through. Ryner pierced a hole in the chest like a cannonball which caused the surrounding molten steel to crack, break and fall apart. Lava and flames gushed out from the gaping, widening hole as if the giant exploded. Moreover, emerging from its back was Gerard, who was also being punched in the chest.

“Gah!?” [Gerard]

Though his clothes were intact, his hair was gone and he had several severe burn marks all over his face that was twisted by pain and bewilderment. The man was punched out of his giant form, followed by Ryner who was doing the punching. Unlike his opponent, he only suffered light burns on his body, which was completely visible because his clothes had been incinerated. Behind the two airborne figures that flew off, the giant of molten steel no longer glowed blue. Its body began to break down and crumble to dust.

“… Impossible…” [Lovel]

Having watched it all happen, Lovel couldn’t help but mutter, denying the reality that had happened before her eyes.

“That can’t be. Gary, Peter, S ranks couldn’t break through Gerard’s defense in one hit. That can’t…!” [Lovel]

However, realizing that she was wasting time, she did her best to stow away her panic and fear, and quickly thought of what to do next. Looking around her, every survivor was stunned in place. Some fell to their knees, shaking and pale faced. Similarly, her enemies were also astonished and immobile. The Gatekeeper, the elves, and the amazons all stared at the giant’s disintegrating remains in mute amazement. Even the High Elder surrounded by electric sparks forgot to chant and then hurriedly restarted.

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“I, I have to organize what forces I have left. I have to get them ready to face the enemy. I, I have to…!” [Lovel]

Lovel muttered under her breath, clearly in disarray, and tried to formulate a plan.

“Wait, should I, get everyone out…? B-but, in here, I can’t feel the jumping point. No, I… But…” [Lovel]

However, in her confusion and panic, she realized that she had forgotten something very important.

“A-a-as the leader… But Gerard is the leader… Gerard…!” [Lovel]

Which was to confirm the condition of their leader after he got sent flying along with Ryner.

“Gerard!” [Lovel]

As if on cue, a cloud of dust rose up in the distance and rapidly got closer to her position. Then, she saw Gerard tumbling about on the ground like a ball that got kicked before finally stopping. Groaning, his left arm bent at a weird angle, the man coughed blood, but appeared to still be alive. Just as Lovel was about to run up to him, a naked Ryner appeared with a whirlwind and blew away the dust. He stared down at his foe who was lying at his feet, moaning in pain and heavily burned.

Furthermore, Gerard was suffering from broken bones, damaged organs and internal bleeding. It was the result of blunt trauma which could be seen from his deformed armor that caved in from failing to stop Ryner’s blows. The perpetrator no longer attacked, but simply watched his target, motionless. His dead-looking eyes were fixed in place, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking as there was no expression on his face. But, the immense bloodlust he was letting out clearly told everyone his intention.

Gerard would soon be killed.

Lovel watched instead of getting any closer, her shoulders trembling. Despite her attempts to remain calm, she was scared, just like the rest of her team. Even when she tried to take a step, her body refused to move. On the other hand, Ryner, addressing his nakedness, took out another set of clothes from his pocket dimension. It wasn’t clear if his nonchalant attitude meant that he had calmed down somewhat, but his killing intent showed otherwise. No one dared to strike while he was dressing himself.

In such a stalemate where everyone seemed to await Ryner’s next move, Itham chose to act. For the moment, he ignored his sobbing daughter, Meirith, and the strangely quiet yet excited amazons for the sake of his next attack. After all, his long chant was finished and blue lightning danced around him, freely manifesting, but completely under his control.

“I’m ending this.” [Itham]

He muttered coldly, not sure if it was to let his allies know, or to declare the death of his hated enemies that dared attack his daughter. The High Elder raised his hands and in response, lightning flew up. It pierced the dark clouds and for a moment, disappeared. However, the next second, thunder could be heard booming and flashes of light lit up the sky. Lightning arced in the clouds, heralding the coming of a deadly storm. As such, everyone looked up, forgetting for a moment Ryner’s chilling bloodlust for the signs of nature’s wrath.

“(This is the perfect chance. I’ll kill them all before they can escape.)” [Itham]

Itham thought, focusing on his stilled targets as he willed the lightning in the sky to build up more and more. Then, just as he was about to order it to rain down on every enemy present, he froze in place, for he noticed a certain individual in front of the gate.

“… W, what…?” [Itham]

Standing at the only entrance and exit of Hossylei Nac was Melda with her hood lowered, showing the face of a fellow elf. Itham didn’t know when she had appeared, but she was standing in the middle of the group of invaders and was staring at him with a tense and fearful expression. Her hand was on the gate, keeping it opened thanks to the green seed implanted in her palm. None of the enemies were pointing their weapons at her. There was no sign that she was being forced to move against her will.

“WE NEED TO LEAVE NOW!!” [Melda]

Melda screamed which startled those who finally noticed her. Several who saw that the gate had been opened had hope light up their faces. Witnessing such a sight, Itham was forced to realize that she was on their side.

“An elf… Betrayed us…?” [Itham]

He was so shocked that he forgot to carry out his attack. Seeing his state, Rosaminta stepped up to take his place. Her blunder of not telling him about Melda came back to bite them, but now wasn’t the time for regret.

“NONE OF YOU WILL ESCAPE FROM HERE!” [Rosaminta]

Shouting in a raspy voice, the Gatekeeper moved to prevent the invaders from escaping. But, before she could, another voice was heard across the battlefield.

“MAAAASSSSTEEERRRR!!!” [Hames]

Hames burst into the scene, wielding his magic sword. Having fully recovered thanks to using healing potions, he rammed into Ryner and knocked him away.

“Master!” [Hames]

Hames called out to Gerard who was half-conscious.

“Ugh… Ha, Hames…?” [Gerard]

Gerard muttered painfully. The young man gritted his teeth and tossed his master towards Lovel.

“GET HIM OUT OF HERE!! I’LL COVER YOU!!” [Hames]

He shouted so as he gripped his magic sword with both hands. Memories of the past resurfaced. When he was crying by himself while kneeling before his parents’ charred corpses, when he was filled with despair as the last survivor of his burned down village, a group of people had appeared. Gerard, who led them, had reached out a hand to the scared, crying boy, recognized his potential, and took him in.

“(Here and now, I’ll return my debt to you!)” [Hames]

Hames swallowed the fear that welled up within him from facing a foe that let out such a sinister aura and bravely stood his ground.

“(Like master, burn bright! Don’t cower! Don’t hide! Don’t fear!)” [Hames]

Fire surged out of his Artifact as if answering his fighting spirit and covered the blade.

“(Don’t cry! Don’t run away! Don’t beg for help!)” [Hames]

Hames raised his sword, not looking back at his allies that were finally taking action, and kept his eyes fixed on Ryner.

“(This time… FIGHT!!)” [Hames]

He glared at his nemesis that dared hurt his master, that dared show up out of nowhere and ruin their plan. They were about to put species dangerous to the world, like the elves, in check before they could threaten everything. But, it had all gone wrong because of him.

“(No matter what, I’m taking you down with me!)” [Hames]

Enraged, Hames vowed to make him pay. Even if he died, he would not allow him to kill any more of his comrades or escape alive.

“YOU SHALL NOT PA-BUERG!!!” [Hames]

But, his strong resolve could not catch the moment when Ryner instantly shortened the distance between them and delivered a punch to the side of his face. The blow broke through the sound barrier and his body slammed down into the ground, forming a crater. Disoriented, in pain and bleeding in the mouth from losing several teeth, Hames couldn’t quite understand what just happened. On the other hand, Ryner didn’t attack him anymore and simply walked passed him. It would appear that he was fixed on killing Gerard who was being carried away.

“Oh… Oh no you don’t…!” [Hames]

Hames clumsily got on his knees with his sword supporting him and spit out a tooth. Then, he glared at Ryner, took a deep breath, and shouted.

“I KILLED YOUR DOG!!!” [Hames]

“…” [Ryner]

Ryner stopped in his tracks, and a beat later, slowly turned around.