31 It's Not Over Yet!

A glowing yellow light radiated from Ray as he began the absorption process. The surrounding area brightened, and those near him looked away from the blinding light. The rocket launcher slowly disappeared into yellow particles and descended into Ray's skin. A small hole opened up on Ray's shoulders, and a metal rod rose up. Yellow particles appeared again, and a metallic tube formed that attached itself to the metal rod; a grenade made from flesh and skin appeared on the front end of the metallic tube. Everyone cringed at the sight of it. A peculiar-looking rocket now implanted itself on Ray's shoulders as his third weapon.

"Wow..." Charlotte was slackjawed when she saw this supernatural phenomenon.

"I gotta say, Ray, that's quite impressive." Daniel stared at his rocket launcher. "But how are you going to repay me for that?"

"But seriously." Lily tried not to gag. "That fleshy thing looks absolutely disgusting, so please don't use it in front me."

Ray ignored Daniel and stared at his rocket launcher in awe. He raised his hand and gently rubbed the metallic tube that glistened in the sunlight. He had an urge to wreak havoc with it.

"Uh, hello?" Conner waved his hand in front of Ray's face. "We have someone to save, remember?"

Ray snapped out of his daydream and slapped his forehead.

"Let's get moving, then!"

Ray hopped over the barrier and ran towards the forest. Conner and Lily were caught off guard from his sudden action before they suddenly ran - trying to catch up with Ray. Mrs.Willard stayed behind and continued healing those who were injured. Her healing improved leaps and bounds after she leveled it up, and she doesn't feel exhausted after using her ability a few times. The fatigue from Ray, Conner, and Lily recovered thanks to her.

"Don't even attempt to get close to Nolfridth," Ray warned. "He could probably kill you with a single punch."

Lily and Conner nodded their heads, and the three of them disappeared into the forest towards Ian's direction. A loud roar of a giant echoed through the forest. The critters that dwelled there all ran in fear and hid in the most obscure hiding places. The birds escaped from the treetops and flew into the sky for safety.

"Where are you, coward!" Nolfridth screamed.

However, only the silence greeted him which angered him even more. In a rage, Nolfridth uprooted a large tree and threw it towards the surrounding area. A few trees collapsed from the sheer force of the collision. Nolfridth continued throwing trees around in a repeated manner.

"This guy is really stupid," Ian said.

Ian continued to observe him quietly like a predator waiting to catch its prey. Bounye sat there quietly and waited for Ian's command. During the time that Ian ran away from Nolfridth, he managed to find Bounye, who was happily walking through the forest. Upon seeing Ian, Bounye barked in excitement and ran towards him. However, Nolfridth nearly caught up with them, and they both ran for cover - remaining hidden from his sight.

Ian quietly walked between the trees and bushes and gathered many rocks from the ground. The leaves crunched under his feet as he moved, but the sounds were canceled out by Nolfridth's fits of rage. Ian grabbed a rock that was larger than his hands and scanned the area in front of him. He threw the rock, and it landed dozens of feet away. A loud thud caught the attention of Nolfridth, and he immediately charged towards the direction where Ian threw the rock.

"You're dead, human!" Nolfridth excitedly yelled.

He leaped into the air before smashing his fists into the ground which caused dirt to fly in all directions. Nolfridth continued punching the ground for any signs of Ian but to no avail.

"Go for his neck, boy!" Ian quietly yelled at Bounye.

Bounye immediately charged at Nolfridth and leaped towards his neck. He pierced his claws into Nolfridth's neck before biting down on him. Blood gushed out at Nolfridth screamed in pain. Nolfridth clenched his fists and punched Bounye multiple times who still clung onto his neck. He gritted his teeth and yanked Bounye away from him - ripping his flesh away in the process. The wound on his neck quickly healed as he threw Bounye into the ground. Nolfridth grabbed his ax and prepared to swing it down on him. However, a rock pierced Nolfridth's helmet and lodged itself in his left eye which stopped him in his tracks.

"You despicable bastard!" Nolfridth screamed. "Come and fight me like a real warrior!"

He clutched his eye as it bled profusely. However, another rock pierced his second eye and also lodged itself inside; Nolfridth was now blind. Ian came out from hiding and aimed his sword directly for Nolfridth's neck. Nolfridth heard Ian's footsteps and raised both of his hands in an attempt to block his attack. The sword pierced through Nolfridth's hands and stabbed inches in his throat. Ian vaulted towards his head and threw a knee directly at his jaw. Nolfridth stumbled backward before violently throwing punches in random directions.

Ian dodged them with ease and continuously slashed Nolfridth with his sword. Bounye followed behind Ian and clawed the giant all over his body. Out of luck, Nolfridth managed to block Ian's sword with his arm and kicked him away. Ian crashed into multiple trees, and they all collapsed backward from the collision.

"Damn, that hurts." Ian groaned in pain.

"Why can't I still see!" Nolfridth panicked. "What did you do to me?!"

Ian was stunned and thought, "His eyes aren't healing?"

"Thanks for telling me that," Ian smiled.

Ian realized the lodged rocks in Nolfridth's eyes prevented them from regenerating correctly. It was possible that his damaged eye regenerated over the rock and covered it. Ian uprooted a tree from the ground and slammed it against Nolfridth. He appeared above Nolfridth and held him down with his foot so he wouldn't move. Ian closed his eyes and enhanced his hearing ability to listen to Nolfridth's heartbeat.

"It's on the right side?" Ian asked.

"I won't die here..." Nolfridth groaned.

However, Ian quickly pierced his heart, and Nolfridth stopped moving. Ian breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

"That was easier than I expected!" Ian said in glee.

However, Ian felt something was wrong and had a bad feeling about this situation.

"Wait, I'm not getting a system message!" Ian yelled in shock.

Suddenly, the tattoos on Nolfridth's body began to glow in a bright blue color that stunned Ian. He immediately grabbed Bounye and ran far away before hiding in the dense foliage of a tree. Nolfridth's eyes also glowed as his body slowly lifted off from the ground. An unknown wave of energy erupted from his body. It lifted the surrounding objects such as trees and rocks before slamming them on the ground. The waves of energy continued to burst forth from Nolfridth until his body halted in mid-air.

"I still..." Nolfridth paused before raising his head. "Have a place to go back to!"

Nolfridth's body grew in size, and his muscles expanded with incredible definition. His body floated down to the floor and turned his head towards Ian. He looked towards Ian's direction and charged at him.

"He can see me from that far?!" Ian yelled in astonishment.

Just before Ian had a chance to escape, Nolfridth appeared before him in a blink of an eye and threw a punch at him. Ian immediately dodged it, and Nolfridth's fist only missed him by a hair's length. A shockwave exploded out, and the air pressure from Nolfridth's punch blew Ian's hair back.

"Holy shi-"

Before Ian had any time to react, Nolfridth landed a kick in his ribs, and the sounds of a loud crack were heard. Ian flew backward like a ragdoll as he smashed into a multitude of trees. He smashed into the ground and slid through it - creating a large dirt trail. Ian puked up blood and had major coughing fits. He winced in pain as he held onto his rib cage which was broken.

A strong suction force engulfed Ian. Ian tried resisting it; however, the supernatural force was stronger than he expected, and he was pulled towards Nolfridth. Ian arrived before Nolfridth in seconds, and he was grabbed by the neck. Nolfridth took the sword from Ian and tossed it aside like trash.

"Agh!" Ian gasped for air.

He struggled to break free from Nolfridth's grasp, but his strength was too immense.

"Let's get this over with," Nolfridth said.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Hmph," Nolfridth scoffed. "I don't need to tell it to someone like you."

Bounye bit down on Nolfridth's hands with full strength and ripped a piece of flesh off.

"How can this mutt's bite be so strong!" Nolfridth grew in rage.

Nolfridth released a wave of energy at Bounye in an attempt to blow him away, but he resisted easily and pounced on Nolfridth's face.

"What!" Nolfridth screamed in shock. "How!"

Bounye clung onto his face and blocked his view. Nolfridth instinctively dropped Ian down and tried to pull Bounye off of him. He stumbled backward and slammed against a tree. Bounye sensed something was coming and leaped off of Nolfridth. Out of nowhere, a rocket shot out from the depth of the forest and exploded on Nolfridth's back. The explosion engulfed Nolfridth while Ian barely managed to escape from the blast.

"Urgh!" Nolfridth screamed in pain.

His body was scorched black and flesh was missing from his body. However, he still managed to survive from the blast. Seconds later, a large pillar of fire rained down from the sky and set his body ablaze. Nolfridth escaped from the fire pillar before it did any significant damage to him. With a wave of his hand, the flames that remained on his body disappeared.

"The coward's friends!" Nolfridth cried out. "They seem to have magic too. This might be bad for me."

"I'll have to retreat for now," Nolfridth spoke in a low voice. "I'll have to find a way back one day."

Nolfridth clutched the wound on his body and winced in pain. He took one last look at Ian, and they both made eye contact.

"It's not over yet!" Nolfridth said before running deeper into the forest.