"Bah! You are no fun at all, Jer. Look what being an Adept has done to you. You lost your playful side. Even though you left me behind and steered ahead of me, I'm not envious.
I don't want to become a hardass like you when I break into the D-Rank.
*cough cough cough* Ptui!"
Gerish huffed and coughed and spat on the ground. Rankers would usually not get colds or flu-- like that of unranked mortals. The fact that Gerish had a cough conveyed his condition as a ranker. If he wanted to survive, he had to break into D-Rank. Otherwise, he would die of old age.
Jerry or Jer as Gerish liked to call him was leading the group of two E-Rankers and one F-Ranker. One of the E-Rankers was in the initial stage while the other was in the middle stage.
'Two more E-Rankers. Fuck.'
Ronny cursed and gestured to Renar and the rest to come closer to him. They needed to open a united front if they wanted to have even the slightest chance of getting out of this trap alive. Gerish and Jerry saw that their preys were forming a formation. But both didn't mind.
"Haah! Unlike you, I try not to delve into the past, Gerish. Besides, we have been summoned to take care of this task fast and get on with Sir Arthur's task. We don't have much time."
Ronny's ears perked up when he heard the name Arthur. But now was not the time to think about anything complicated. What they needed to do now was get their sorry asses away from this mess. IF they could get away alive, that is.
'Time to sacrifice a pawn or two.'
Ronny thought about this as he looked at his teammates one more time. He had brought Renar and the rest because he knew he couldn't count on the personnel the Illuminati would arrange for him as his team.
He also brought them so that he could use them as sacrifices. He focused on a particular figure among his group as he made his plans:
"You two, battle with that E-Ranker and finish him off quickly. The novices should take care of the novices. Gerish and I will block the group's retreat. We will step in if you fail to do your job. But remember, you'll have to pay the price if that happens."
Jerry ordered his two E-Ranker subordinates and stopped walking. Gerish's team looked at their leader, who nodded his head at Jerry's commands. Gerish also stopped walking ahead and folded his hands, looking at Ronny with a hint of amusement in his eyes.
With the Adept's commands, Ronny's immediate opponents were now known to him. He was set up against the two E-Rankers while Renar, Viper, and handicapped Belar had to fight against four F-Rankers.
The two E-Rankers encircled Ronny's group and stood in front. The F-Rankers were gathered in the opposite direction.
"Renar, listen to me. We can still do this, thanks to the rewards we have received in the dungeon.
Fall back to this place when you see me doing the same. We'll provide cover fire for each other and who knows, we might be able to take care of all of them, hehe!"
Ronny said this with false bravado and a mirthless smile on his face. But there was something in the way he said it that irked the Adept present there. But he decided to follow through with the plan he had laid out.
'Haah! Kid, you want to put pressure on me and Gerish by deterring us from the trump cards you received from the dungeon. If you think that would be enough to scare us into leaving you alone, then you are still too green.
And if you truly believe that those trump cards can save you from an Adept ranker, then I shall be the reason for your rude awakening.'
Jerry thought to himself as he saw his subordinates about to engage with someone who seemed to be the leader of the opponent team. He looked at Gerish next and gestured to him to hold his ground.
"Just drop dead peacefully, man. No hard feelings."
One of the E-Rankers was a male in his early 30s. He said this while he ran towards Ronny.
The other E-Ranker looked like a male dressed in a woman's clothes because the person had a girlish face. But his body was ripped like a dude on roid potions. He followed his teammate's lead and bolted towards Ronny as well.
'Sedated Perception
Stunning Speed
Blitz Steps
Blitz Bolt
Blitz Shield
Fire snakes
Breath of Fire.'
Ronny sent his mana circuits into hyperdrive and pulled off a sic-spell combo right off the bat. His body grew hot, turning red in the process. It was obvious that he was exerting himself with the kind of spell combo he had executed.
But he had no other choice. Battling with real human rankers was different than battling with the apparitions in the dungeon after all. The apparitions in the dungeon become predictable if you keep fighting with them. That is if you drive long enough to do so.
But the real rankers were the real deal. That's because one could never accurately guess how battling with them would turn out without knowing anything about them.
'Erni, you are hurting yourself. Let me out. I'll take care of them.'
Reen pleaded to her master after she observed his condition. The latter denied her proposal and said in his mind:
'I'll take care of these guys, Ren. Don't worry. I'll ask for your help when I need it. Maybe you can use your inherent healing spell to cure me post-battle.
Plus, I want to see how many E-Rankers I can kill today by being all in. Hehe!'
The butcher said this while looking at his two opponents who were now just a few meters away from him. Three distinct mana pulses had made their presence known, indicative of three E-Rankers executing the spells in their arsenals.
What his opponents didn't know was the fact that Ronny was aiming to slay not only them but Gerish as well, who was standing behind them. He had to paint the path of his escape with the guy's blood if he wanted to survive out of this ordeal.
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AN- VEH punches in 300 chapters with this release.. I take this milestone to thank all of the readers for being with me and Eren through our thick and thin. Cheers! ;)