"I think this guy has a few screws loose..." Grey mumbled.
He just got his shit rocked and here he was chuckling it up. Grey’s senses were too good for him to be fooled by a simple laugh. The man was definitely hurt, and that blood was fake.
But he guessed that not just anyone could become a disciple of the Relentless.
BANG.
An aura shot out from Raze’s body. It shattered the earth into a crater and sent him flying up with enough force that he was on his feet a moment later, his eyes blazing with battle intent.
Blood leaked down the corner of his mouth, a holding blasted through his robes to reveal a dented armor beneath.
Grey mumbled. "That’s probably why he’s still standing... hey, don’t you Relentless disciples think you’re a little too shameless? It’s not much of a Relentless Path if you all rely on armor, don’t you think?"
Raze laughed uproariously. "You do not understand what it means to be relentless, boy—!"
"Alright, are we really going to have a villain monologue. We’re losing daylight here—."
"—To be Relentless is to press forward no matter the cost, no matter the price, no matter the burden! It is no matter for pride to be trampled beneath your feet! For the sun to dim on your life as you sip at the piss of your enemy to survive! All that matters is that you see the rise of the next dawn!"
"..." Grey pinched his brows. "... Hate to break it to you, but I think that’s what people call a sick fetish. But do you, man."
Raze didn’t seem to care about Grey’s insults in the slightest, he slammed his fists together and a pair of bracelets unfurled into a much more substantive pair of hammers.
Each one had a spiked head and a body as black and dark as night. Their handles were easily a meter and a half long each, and as their heads rang together, the booming echo of sonorous metal filled the air, chains rattling in unison.
Grey wasn’t exactly wasting time. He wanted to attack, but Raze was backed by a small troop of warriors that he couldn’t easily dismiss.
He had fought Apollo before. Defeating him one on one was easy.
In fact, since all of these guys were Paladins, just breaking out the gloves should be enough. But Grey planned on coming back to the city soon.
The reason he had let Petri live was because the latter needed to use him. Those sly tricks and underhanded methods he was using was clearly geared toward a greater purpose.
Petri wouldn’t reveal news of how easily Grey controlled him so easily.
But if Grey used that ability here, he wouldn’t be as easily received the next time.
Right now, it was only the Valdi and a single disciple of The Relentless acting on his own. The guards at the door were only acting because of The Boundless, but for the same reasons as his disciple, The Boundless wouldn’t fall out with Grey over this so long as he returned.
At most, he would make things a bit difficult.
However, the ability to make Paladins inept and worthless wasn’t something the other powers in the city would be able to easily overlook.
Grey had to save that no matter what for when he fought with the Goddess. He couldn’t waste such a trump card on these people.
Yet, he had to win quickly, otherwise the commotion would draw over too many others.
Grey took a deep breath as Raze charged him.
There was only one way.
Using it on himself.
He hadn’t had much success with this at all and it had kept him up all night. Clearly, his Last Paladin Frame was highly resistant to being controlled like this.
But the small bit he could would have to be enough.
With his durability, it would take Grey probably two or three minutes to kill Raze, and that would just bring over The Relentless. He had experienced that personally already once before.
This was definitely Apollo’s goal, to stall him for just long enough that he would die at the hands of a Guardian.
That was an unacceptable outcome.
Two minutes was too long.
10 seconds. That was all he could give this battle.
Grey’s eyes began to pulse with the line of circuits, their corners emitting strands of white-gold energy.
His Last Paladin Frame activated and a ring of white-gold fire appeared beneath his feet. The flames morphed and changed, a halo of white-gold fire and wings of white-gold dancing flames appearing to his back.
Raze’s hammer descended from above even as tendrils of light energy poured into Grey’s veins.
He dodged so fast he appeared a full 50 meters to the side. It almost looked as though he couldn’t even control his own power.
And that was very much true. He couldn’t.
But there was no need to control it so long as it was in a single, straight line.
Chi.
Grey vanished.
All the world saw was lines of white gold cutting across the land. From the skies above, it would have almost looked as though a great swordsman had sliced everything, erupted with an endless series of cuts.
Grey jumped across dozens of meters at a time. Every time, lining himself up so that Raze would be in the middle of his strikes.
Every fist landed with the momentum of a meteor colliding with earth.
Raze’s armor shattered on the first punch.
His bones were fractured near to dust on the second.
His eyes were white and foaming by the third, his consciousness having practically been reset and wiped clean under the barrage.
Grey came to a scorching halt, the earth beneath his feet smoking with flames and radiant heat.
He looked down at his feet to find that his Steel-Toe Spike had actually begun to melt.
He cringed. This mech had taken him quite some effort to make. Even his Pimp Gloves showed signs of hairline fractures.
"This is all your fault. Fuck you."
White-eyed, Raze collapsed to his knees.