Got Him!

Ryan was dumbfounded. He was a hundred percent sure that Barry was dead. No one could survive facing a monster as massive and terrifying as that!

Yet, here he is, carrying Elaine in his arms while floating along the wall. Barry's cold gaze seemed to pierce through Ryan at any moment. Ryan felt frozen for a moment, but the roar of the giant cat behind him snapped him back to reality.

He had to get out of here as fast as possible.

"Help me!" Ryan said.

Barry just snorted and then kicked the door frame of the room he passed through to increase his speed.

"I'll give you money!" Ryan continued to shout.

But Barry ignored him. Meanwhile, the sound of the cat behind him was getting closer.

"Shit!"

Desperate, Ryan pulled out a golden-colored rope from his back pocket. A rope he took from Dock's corpse, his deceased friend. He had hidden the rope initially, thinking it could be a weapon that he needed to keep concealed.

Now was the perfect time to use it.

Ryan threw the lasso he had formed towards Barry. The lasso tightened immediately upon touching Barry's legs, trapping him so he couldn't move any further and had to fall.

Barry turned with a furious expression. "Get this shit off me!"

Ryan grinned. "No."

While Ryan approached, the giant cat also moved closer toward him. 

Barry didn't have any other choice now. This rope seemed to be no ordinary rope as it emitted a soft golden glow. He was sure that he couldn't release the rope in a conventional way.

So, Barry gently placed Elaine on the floor. He had to act quickly to kill the giant cat. Despite his anger towards Ryan, he couldn't deal with him right now.

Ryan stopped in front of him and then threw the rope to the ground. The rope stuck to the floor as if there were some kind of anchor embedded there.

"You deal with that giant cat. After that, I'll release you. This rope will obey my commands," Ryan said. "You're quite skilled, aren't you? After all, you've already defeated that huge zombie."

Barry gritted his teeth. The giant cat was now less than five meters away from him.

"I guess you're not gonna help," Barry said, looking at Ryan with a cold tone.

Ryan didn't answer. He just grinned and ran past him. When he saw Elaine's body again, he decided to carry her and take her away.

"Good luck with that, haha!" Ryan laughed as he sped away with the unconscious Elaine.

"Fucking bastards," Barry grinded his teeth. In his heart, he had already resolved to kill Ryan in the cruelest way possible. How dare he do this to him?!

The giant cat charged with such ferocity. Doors and windows shattered under its huge body. 

Barry once again utilized his Gravity Manipulation. He jumped to the left wall just as the giant cat arrived in front of him, ready to strike with its claws. Then, he kicked off the wall and soared to the right. The rope bound to his leg passed over the upper neck of the giant cat.

Barry landed on the right-side wall and kicked the wall again, causing the golden rope to entangle the cat's neck. The cat let out a disturbing scream and fell to the floor hard. It clawed at its neck, trying to break free from the rope, but only inflicted more damage to its flesh.

Barry grabbed his worn dagger and stabbed the exposed part of the cat's neck, wounded by its own actions. Suddenly, Ryan's grinning face appeared in his vision.

Barry gritted his teeth, intensifying his stabs. The giant cat tried to retaliate, attempting to rise, but Barry pulled the rope tied to his leg, causing the cat to fall again. It turned out that the cat's strength wasn't as great as its size suggested.

The cat's claws hit Barry several times, causing wounds on his hands, body, and legs. However, fueled by anger, Barry ignored those wounds and continued to attack.

After dominating the fight for some moments, the giant cat finally died. The text that appeared in Barry's vision was the sign.

[ You have killed a Level 9 normal big zombie cat! ]

[ Obtained: 230 exp, Insightful Gaze (Rare passive skill) ]

Barry felt his body weary. However, his mood slightly improved upon obtaining that rare-grade passive skill. 

But that was still not enough to quell his anger towards Ryan. Barry pulled the golden rope that bound his leg. The glow on the rope had significantly dimmed compared to before. It seemed that the strength of the rope would decrease without a sufficient supply of magic power. Another lies from Ryan's mouth. 

He pulled the rope from the floor and released it from his leg. Then, Barry ran in the direction where Ryan had gone.

---

Ryan was panting, holding the still unconscious Elaine. He grinned, thinking he had once again escaped death. Ryan believed it was because of his clever thinking!

The rope he took from Dock's corpse also helped him escape death. Ryan kept that secret, not revealing that one could take anything owned by someone they killed.

Unfortunately, Ryan couldn't be near Barry when he died and took the skill that allowed him to manipulate his weight. When he saw how Barry could use that skill, Ryan thought it was quite useful.

'That poor guy, he definitely de-'

A golden rope suddenly snaked around Ryan's neck and yanked him backward, causing Elaine to fall to the ground quite hard.

"Khakkh!"

He let out a groan. The rope continued to pull him until he could finally see Barry's face above him. Barry's gaze looked cold and cruel, especially with blood and bits of flesh covering his face.

Ryan felt a chill running down his spine. His eyes widened. Suddenly, he knew that something terrible was about to happen to him.

"Ho-how-"

*BUAGH!*

A punch landed hard on Ryan's face, breaking his nose and tearing his upper lip. Barry sent another punch.

*BUAGH!*

*BUAGH!*

"You can't escape anymore now," Barry said with a devilish grin.

---