Grey stood over Ray’s corpse, his eyes hard to read. It didn’t have the same vacancy or rage it had the last time he did this, but the blood dripping from his knuckles like waterfalls painted a completely different picture.
He had a focus to him that was hard even for him to describe.
How many times had it been now? Three? Four?
It had happened few enough times that he should know the exact number. Logically, anyway. But facing your own death again and again wasn’t logical in the first place.
Grey clenched his fists, and the blood began to flow faster. The change made it obvious that it wasn’t just Ray’s blood alone that was dripping.
’Come on. Focus.’
Bending down, Grey made a move to pull Ray’s sword from his palm so that he could strip him of his Nexis Suit once again. But when he picked up the sword, he felt an odd jolt through his body that woke him up.
Grey let go of the sword on instinct, scrambling back.
His head nearly hit the opposite wall, his breathing coming erratically and uncontrolled.
It took him several seconds before he paled, realizing that he had overreacted. For a moment, he thought he was facing that very same burning flame again.
The feeling of being burnt alive wasn’t something he wanted to experience ever again. It was like every inch of you was alive and screaming, every cell begging to be released and let go from the torment.
The jolt from just now was similar to what happened with the gel and Nexis Suit before, but it wasn’t the same.
Grey grabbed at his chest, his fist bunching up his floral suit and fur-lined collar as though he was trying to tear through them both.
It shouldn’t be like this. He shouldn’t be feeling this.
He wanted to be angry, but it felt like he had already been angry for so long. Where had it gotten him?
How many people begged for a second chance in life? And how would those people react when they only fell shorter and shorter with every attempt?
It was pathetic. He hadn’t even made it as far as his first shot at all of this yet.
Grey sat there for a while.
’You’re doing a great job throwing yourself a pity party. Get the fuck up.’
Grey pushed himself up, slamming a fist against a wall. More blood trickled down, and he took a deep breath.
’I swear I’ll find a way.’
He kicked Ray’s hand out of the way again, reached down, and picked up the sword.
Another jolt ran through him, but this time he reacted the opposite way, squeezing down on the sword hilt so hard he half deluded himself into thinking he’d crush it.
’Why does it feel so light?’
Grey had always felt the need to hold this sword with two hands before, and the hilt was certainly large enough to warrant it. But now it almost felt like he was holding a thin, light fencing sword.
He swung the blade, and he felt it sing through the air.
The sword came to an abrupt stop, and Grey pointed it outward.
’What was that?’
The sword wasn’t really singing—it couldn’t have been. But for some reason, Grey heard a melody in his ears as though the blade was reacting to him.
That didn’t make sense, though.
He swung it again, but this time more loosely.
The sound disappeared.
He swung it once more, this time letting the blade guide him.
The song returned to his ears.
’Really?’
Grey stood in silence for a long while before he grinned wildly.
’Let’s go test this out, then.’
**
Grey stood across from a familiar large goblin, his feet gliding around it. Somehow, his stance felt more even and balanced than ever before.
The large goblin lunged at him.
Part of Grey was expecting a decent battle of several exchanges, but he felt his eyes flash and his body reacted on instinct.
He thrust the blade forward, and it whistled through the air, piercing right between the brows of the large goblin.
The creature convulsed a single time before collapsing to the ground, its twin axes never managing to reach Grey.
"Holy shit..."
There was no mistaking it.
Between now and the moments after Grey killed Ray, it had only been three to four minutes or so. In that time, he had spent most of his efforts traveling.
Until now, not a single one of the goblins he faced had lasted more than a single exchange.
Grey turned his eyes toward the wiry gates. ’Let’s see if we can do something a little crazy, then.’
He had saved so much time that he had much more of a buffer between when Fitz and May would finish the Safe Zone introduction and get here.
First, he bent down and picked up one of the large goblin’s axes. But to his surprise, he felt a jolt run through him when he did that as well.
’Hm?’
Grey subconsciously swung the axe through the air. It was with his off hand, and yet he felt the same familiar singing in his ears.
’It’s not just with the sword?’
Grey’s grin grew wider. This was perfect.
BANG.
He kicked open the wiry gates, and the screeching of the female and child goblins reached his ears. But he didn’t pause his actions, taking a step forward and throwing the axe.
The axe arched through the air, a beautiful melody playing in Grey’s ears.
Of course, if others could hear it, they would think he was insane.
There was nothing beautiful about this melody at all. It was the thrumming of drums and the howls of blaring horns.
PUCHI.
The instant one of the female goblins peeked out from behind a crate, its head was split in two by the axe.
Grey picked up the large goblin’s second axe with a hook of his foot, kicking it up with a laughter that filled the hallways.
He caught it and then threw it with the same violent heave and fluid motion, the sound of flesh and bone splitting harmonizing with his melody.
If he killed all of these goblins before they could blow everything up, there was no way that item would be able to continue hiding from him.