Defeated

Rama had deliberately lured them to this location because he knew that the three of them would follow him to take his money and also give him a beating. He considered it an opportunity to test his newfound strength.

In this secluded place, there would be no one passing by to stop them, even if they killed him. This also meant that no one would witness him unleashing his mysterious power to beat them, or even kill them.

Rama hoped that his decision to confront them alone was the right one. He had a certain degree of confidence after leveling up and increasing his Mana.

But what drove him to take this risk was curiosity. Was he strong enough to take on three D Rank Hunters at once? Or would he end up as a pathetic corpse in this abandoned fire-ravaged complex?

"He's bluffing!" Ron, the muscular guy, said. "He couldn't have intentionally led us here."

Ron had never been the brightest among them. However, Jet chose to believe his words now, driven by anger at the memory of Rama withstanding his attack.

"Don't interfere. I'll kill that kid myself," Jet said. The lightning surrounding his body grew denser. Suddenly, he darted towards Rama and immediately swung his sword.

Rama jumped back, successfully avoiding the sword swing. However, Jet's attack wasn't finished there. He enveloped his sword with his lightning and sent a lightning slash at Rama after completing the swing.

'Now you're dead!' Jet thought with a grin, feeling victorious. But of course, Rama could sense it with his sharpened senses. He knew that Jet wouldn't repeat the same attack so easily and would add something else to it.

*CLANG!*

Rama used his dagger to parry the lightning hurtling towards him, but the weapon was just a normal one and wouldn't be strong enough to withstand a magical attack.

"Arghh!"

The lightning struck Rama's arm, causing severe damage to his dagger. He felt a painful shock in his right arm, making him grimace.

'Shit! Magical attacks are quite a nuisance. Can I learn to use them in addition to Soul Fusion?' Instead of feeling afraid, Rama became even more curious.

"HAHAHA! What do you think?! Did it hurt?" Jet looked pleased to see the pain on Rama's face.

"Not bad," Rama replied with a grin, further fueling Jet's rage.

Rama glanced at his damaged dagger. 'I can't use this anymore.'

"I'll fucking kill you! You little shit!"

Jet lunged at Rama again, this time with ferocity and even denser lightning. Rama hurled his broken dagger with all his might towards Jet's face. Jet, who didn't expect Rama to do that, couldn't entirely evade the dagger. As a result, the broken blade grazed the side of his eye. If Jet had been a split second slower in dodging, the dagger might have pierced his eye.

Jet saw Rama grinning.

'This fucker!' So, he increased his speed. Jet was confident that at his current speed, Rama wouldn't be able to dodge his attack.

Suddenly, when he was right in front of Rama and swung his sword, Jet saw Rama's body turn transparent like fog.

*ZRAASSH!*

Jet's sword only cut through the fog. Afterward, Jet, still in his momentum, received a punch to the face that sent him tumbling sideways into a charred house.

Jet's sword had indeed been enveloped with lightning magic, but it hadn't been blessed with any holy enchantment, so it couldn't hit Rama's current Ghost form. Besides, the magic surrounding the sword was of low level.

Rama didn't know all these details; he had just gambled using his Ghost power, and it turned out to work. Now, Rama's body returned to its solid form after deactivating his Ghost power.

Jet was still trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened. 'Wha... what just happened?'

But Rama didn't give him time to think. He ran towards Jet, who was still lying down after deactivating his Ghost form, and jammed his sole-covered shoe into Jet's face, making his head collide with the ground again.

Rama didn't stop there. He pummeled Jet with his fists relentlessly, swiftly, and powerfully, without pause, making Jet's face look like freshly beaten meat.

"JET!" Chris screamed, then aimed his crossbow.

Arrows flew through the air where Rama had been moments ago. He had leaped backward to avoid the arrows.

"HYAAAAHHH!!!"

Ron lunged toward him, using his body-enhancing magic. After witnessing Rama pummel Jet, he couldn't afford to underestimate him and immediately used his magic to attack. Something he hadn't considered doing when they had been taunting Rama.

Ron's speed and strength doubled after using the magic. Ron struck the ground, creating a small crater with his fist.

"Can I use two Supernatural powers at the same time?" Rama wondered. Then, realizing that merely wondering was pointless, he reactivated Soul Fusion.

< Soul Fusion Level 1 (Ghost) activated! >

< -2 Mana per second >

< Soul Fusion Level 1 (Ghoul) activated! >

< -2 Mana per second >

Rama's body immediately transformed, resembling that of a Ghoul, thin and with elongated claws. Afterward, his form shifted to become transparent, much like that of a Ghost.

Both Chris and Ron appeared shocked by what they had just witnessed. They were unable to react to the attacks Rama executed next.

Rama shot forward with Ghoul-like speed, combined with his fog form, allowing him to move at an incredible pace. He attacked Ron first and pummeled him until he fell unconscious.

Meanwhile, Chris continued shooting desperately. None of his arrows managed to damage Rama's foggy body.

"What... what kind of monster are you?!"

After dealing with Ron, Rama headed towards Chris. Chris attempted to flee after realizing that he had no means to attack Rama. The swiftly moving fog form approached him from behind like a grim reaper ready to claim another victim.

~~~