"You guys sure work fast."
Ross ignored the frowns of his opponents and went straight to business. Whether they were wondering about how he spatially shifted to appear before them did not concern him.
His current abilities were beyond their understanding. The chasm that separated a Venerable from an Immortal was not something they could comprehend.
"Ross…" Serenya called out the redhead's name in a low tone, almost as if she were seeing him for the first time. "You're a lot shorter than a One-Horned should be."
The woman's eyes roamed the faces of the other One-Horned humans around, specifically Ferlok and Eein. While they were, at the very least, three meters, Ross was a little over two meters tall.
"Trust me, woman, my height is the least of your worries," Ross replied with a mischievous grin.
Although Ross had spoken with the woman before, seeing her in person hit him differently than he expected. 'She's actually not bad… Not bad at all.'
Oblivious to the thoughts going through Ross's head, Serenya and her officials raised their brows in surprise. They couldn't believe Ross, who was still a child, had the balls to address Serenya with such a tone.
'He sure is confident,' Serenya thought to herself, a little amused. 'But the boy is right, his height should not be the concern right now.'
"I'll be benevolent enough to give you and your father's forces one last chance to abandon this galaxy," Serenya declared, glancing at the Venerables behind Ross. "You're outnumbered three-to-one; you can't win."
Behind Ross, Ferlok, Eein, and the others furrowed their brows in displeasure. Yes, they knew they were outnumbered, but they refused to back down. Ross had mentioned he would handle this, but it did not mean they were useless.
'We're ready to fight alongside you, son,' Ferlok thought with a determined gaze, his fists clenching subtly.
"Hah…" Ross let out an exhale as he shook his head. "Why don't we skip the little chitchat. You're here to force us out, and I'm here to stop that from happening."
Saying this, the redhead unclasped his hands from behind as the aura around him changed. Gone was the playful atmosphere; Ross was ready to send them packing.
The redhead was not in any armour, nor did he need it. His typical scarlet robes would be more than enough to handle the arrogant hunters.
"..."
Serenya and her officials swiftly shifted their stance as well, readying themselves to act. They were already in formation, even going so far as to mark their opponents.
A few of them would be holding Ferlok and the other S-Tiers while the rest handled Ross. With everyone ready to make their move, a long silence ensued.
The moment Serenya sensed a change in Ross's body movement, she made her move swiftly. This was not her first rodeo; the woman was well-versed in utilising her abilities.
Serenya's eyes glowed with cosmic hues as a subtle but light-speed aura erupted from her body. The pulse, resembling gravitational waves, almost instantly reached Ross and the others.
Before Ferlok and his hunters could react, they disappeared. Serenya, a space ability user, displaced everyone to different points in space, separating Ross from the others, and the others from each other.
The leader of the Arkheons did not hold back. With her ability capable of spreading for tens of light years, she made sure no one was going to team up on the Starbane side of the fight.
Her officials, instead, were grouped accordingly, with at least two Arkheons targeting one Starbane leader. The goal was to subdue them as swiftly as possible without shedding any blood.
"Impress—"
Ross was in the act of commenting on the woman's impressive ability when he was cut off mid-sentence. Serenya might have displaced everyone, effectively cutting any form of reliance, but Ross had everyone in his expanded senses.
His Immortal senses were not for show. The moment Serenya made her move, Ross had already deduced what was happening. Moreover, he knew the Arkheons had no intention of killing any of the Starbane forces.
They were still cautious, after all.
BOOM…!!!
With his right and left hands crossed over, Ross slightly crouched and caught the high kick that came from his left, aiming for his head. His left hand grabbed the midsection kick that came from his right, effectively nullifying the attacks. Serenya's men did not wait for Ross to regain his focus as they attacked as soon as they reappeared.
'Haha, they aren't holding back at all.'
Ross couldn't help but grin softly, taking in the shocked expression of his attackers. The power behind those two strikes was more than enough to make stars go supernova and blow planets to smithereens.
The shockwaves alone shook the surrounding space for billions of kilometres. The ripples spread out at the speed of light, blasting the surrounding debris into dust that was further blown away from the area. In one move, Ross's attackers had cleared all obstacles from the surrounding space.
Yet…
'He caught the strikes like they were nothing.' Serenya noticed with a deep frown. Unfortunately for the Arkheon boss and officials, they didn't have time to become absorbed in thought.
Facing more than ten Venerable-level hunters, Ross showed no signs of panic. Instead, the redhead had an excited smile on his face. This was what he had always wanted to be capable of doing. No matter the situation, location, or reason, he would have the strength to overcome the challenge.
In the span of a nanosecond after the first failed attacks, Serenya and the rest of her men closed in on Ross, attempting to overwhelm him with their numbers. The first attacks had revealed what they feared earlier — Ross could hold them off if they played around.
With an excited grin, Ross marked the positions of his incoming opponents and spun around. The redhead still had the legs of his first attackers in his grip when he let go.
"Ugh…!"
Two concurrent groans echoed in the vicinity as Ross hurled his prisoners at two of the incoming hunters, sending them shuttling through space at light speed. In one move, the redhead took out four of his opponents. While they would be back, that throw showed them the kind of power the redhead wielded.
In the moment that followed, Ross skillfully manoeuvred out of his encirclement, dodging the strikes directed at him from every direction. Although Serenya and her men were fast, Ross was faster in all aspects of the spectrum.
'Tsk!'
Serenya gritted her teeth in frustration as Ross continued to evade their attacks with apparent ease, moving through space like he owned the entire area. The redhead executed sophisticated manoeuvres that allowed him to block, evade or neutralise their blows with ease.
What made the experience even more humiliating was the cocky smirk at the corner of his lips. 'The bastard is playing with us!'
"Use your abilities!"
Serneya ordered a change of tactics. Physical attacks weren't going to cut it. The redhead was just that good, which was a surprise, considering he was very young. The kind of experience and technique he was executing should only be possible for someone who had been in hundreds of battles.
Acknowledging the command, Serenya and her men swiftly created some distance. Space trembled once more as tyrannical waves of mana in various hues unfurled from the hunters.
With his senses honed in on the entire region, nothing escaped Ross's awareness. The four he had sent flying were closing in after breaking free from the momentum, and would be on him with a second.
'Father and the others have been subdued already.' A sliver of his attention went to the others. 'And the rest of her forces are already engaging with the Starbanes.'
Despite the chaos that was ensuing, Ross noticed how the Arkheons were doing their best not to shed any blood. They used their numbers to subdue the Starbanes as swiftly and as cleanly as possible. But then a frown appeared on Ross's face for a split nanosecond before disappearing.
'Let's see how far they take this…'
Abruptly, several long, metallic projectiles with pointy ends closed in on Ross from all directions, instantly reaching a few meters away from his position. At the same time, the surrounding space a few thousand kilometres around him grew sluggish, slowing down his movements.
Serenya and one of her officials made the first move. Making the surrounding space heavy should create a small window for the metallic spikes to hit home. They knew it wouldn't be enough to stop Ross, but it should be enough to slow him down for a beatdown.
Unfortunately for the Arkheons, they were not aware of what they were dealing with. An Immortal was not just a being with more mana than the others. Ross was more than just human now.
Serenya had mentioned before that Ross's height was not typical of most One-Horned humans, and she was right. The redhead had reduced his height, a feat made possible by his evolution.
Ross could freely change his height and stature if he so wished. Among the benefits this level granted was the ability to influence the elements of his law in his vicinity. This meant his fire ability was more than just flames now.
"Your little tricks won't help you in this fight…"
Ross stood majestically in place, his gaze locked onto Serenya. He paid no mind to the projectiles and frozen space, appearing as though he had all the time in the universe. Suddenly, his eyes lit up in a fiery blaze.
"Ahh…!!!"