Chapter 48: Jumping Ray

Leon stared at him after he said that. He rolled his eyes and turned to face Riker. They needed to get out of here, and whatever was wrong with Ray, he was not bothered with it.

Ray saw how Leon had casually ignored him, and immediately, his rage blew out of proportion. He pulled his sword without hesitation at all and immediately charged forward. He moved fast and covered the distance in an instant, his sword swinging at Leon, who had his back to him.

Leon leaned to the right and evaded the attack, then he spun on one foot, driving his free hand into Ray’s face, sending him staggering back with blood spilling from his broken nose.

"What is your problem?" Leon asked. "We are all trying to get out of here. No one gives a fuck if the leader is a pencil on the floor. They simply want to get out of here, and you are hindering that."

Leon thought that maybe if he could get through Ray’s thick skull, they would be able to resolve this without a single issue, but Ray had different plans.

His sword glowed, and in the next moment, he crossed the distance and slashed. A glowing sword arc travelled through the air and forced Leon to leap out of the way to avoid the attack.

He rolled until he came to a stop.

He looked up and saw Ray coming down with a slash.

"Die already and stop scurrying around!"

He swung down with all his strength and expected to take Leon down, but Leon was pulled out of harm’s way by Shadow, and then a massive blade formed from the shadow and shot at Ray. It slammed into his chest, but at the last moment, Shadow had dulled the tip, and so it did not get through his chest.

It sent Ray flying and coughing blood. He slammed into the ground and rolled to a stop.

His party mates tried to help him up in a panic, but he shook off their hands and got to his feet. He stared right at Leon with a gaze filled with hate.

"Have I really done anything that would push him this far?" Leon asked. It felt off, the way that Ray was coming at him. It did not feel natural.

"I’ll show you just how deep the difference is between us!" Ray declared and gripped his sword with both hands.

BOOM!

The mana surrounding his body surged like an explosion. It caused the ground to crack and created a massive vortex around him. Everyone who was close took a step back to stay out of its range.

He raised his blade and then pointed it at Leon. In the next second, he vanished from where he stood. Leon had not fully recognized that he was gone, and he had already appeared behind him, swinging down at full speed.

"Shit," Leon cursed as he began to turn around. Shadow moved fast and created a shield. The attack slammed into it and took the brunt of it, but Leon was still pushed back a few feet.

Leon looked up after taking the attack, and Ray had unleashed a barrage of sword arcs.

"Alright, enough of this."

Leon dashed forward. He leaped and flipped over the first, landed and leaned to the side to evade the next, and then spun into a knee slide to evade the third. Shadow propped him into the air to evade the next, and while he was in the air, he had a clear sight of Ray.

He stretched his hand, and a shadow tendril shot out, moving through the gaps between the sword arcs before wrapping around Ray’s hand. Leon pulled it to the side with all his might and hurled Ray right into a wall.

Shadow then created a dome that took every sword arc. After the barrage ended, the dome came down, and Leon walked toward Ray, who was getting to his feet again.

He tried to attack, but Shadow came out right behind him and grabbed him by the neck, choking him while Leon walked forward and punched him right in the gut, sending him to the ground in pain. He groaned for a few seconds but then got to his feet and lunged at Leon.

Leon stepped to the side and evaded the attack. He kneed Ray in the stomach. Ray staggered back, only to fall into the hands of Shadow, who delivered a clean spinning kick to the side of his head.

Ray flew like a sack of potatoes and hit the ground. He struggled to get up again and called for his sword. It trembled and then shot up from the ground towards him, only for Shadow to catch it and for Leon to come down with a clean punch that sent him to the ground again, blood splattering on the floor.

"Give up already," Leon said.

"Screw you!" Ray reacted and leaped like an old animal. His eyes had turned red, and for a moment, everything about him turned savage. Leon saw Ray coming at him with his teeth, and he immediately shoved his arm into his mouth. The teeth came down and did nothing because of the armor.

Leon then pushed him back with all his strength, and as he was staggering back, Shadow caught him from behind. Then Leah came in with a flying two-legged jet kick right into his chest. Ray coughed blood and collapsed completely.

"That should knock him out fully," Leon said.

Clap clap clap clap!

A loud clap suddenly echoed through the hallway, and then footsteps began approaching from the dark.

"I was sure that when you all entered this place, that one was the strongest." A calm, deep voice spoke.

"I had high hopes that I could simply use him and have you all killed. Tch, sadly, I was mistaken, which would be the first time I have made a mistake in a very long while."