In a split second Ray made his choice, summoning the death system fully prepared to use it. But before he could even figure out how to use something he had abandoned for weeks and had never used he found himself screaming from the agonizing pain he suddenly felt in his thigh.
Still, he had barely opened his mouth to make a sound when he felt what he was sure was the bat make contact with his face. The sound of his jaw shattering and the streams of pain that came with it was enough for his eyes to roll back into his head.
At that point, he had already dropped to the ground without being completely conscious of it.
"He's going to kill me," was the only thought that he could form in his head before it also disappeared, replaced by a shrill white noise in his head, as he felt the impact of the bat against his neck, "his head" until he could no longer keep track of the places he was being attacked any longer.
"SHIt…"Gorren cursed under his breath, staring at the bloody bat in his hand with disgust, even more annoyed at the bloody but still breathing body in front of him. Regardless of where he hit, even though he could feel that Ray was finding it more difficult to breathe, he was also conscious that his entire death process was taking too long.
Gorren was still wondering what next to do to finish him off as soon as he could when he spotted a metal rod attached to one of the metal trash bins fastened to the building.
In the meantime, Ray continued to groan in pain. As far as being conscious went, he currently felt the most pain he had ever felt in his life.
"He's actually going to kill me if this continues. Why should he get to live while I die?" Ray thought. The enormous pain he felt channeled the right amount of anger he needed to fuel his consciousness awake, as he tittered on the brink of self-awareness.
"If he can kill me then why the hell am I in so much pain when I can just do the same. I could kill him right now if I was willing to use the damn…soul crush. I want power, I have power and yet I choose not to use it. He's right. Right now, I'm a powerless shit that gets bitten down by a bat. He didn't even bother to use his powers and yet, I pity him,"
"No…it's not pity. Deep down maybe I truly want to die. What's the point of living with nothing to live for," Ray thought, feeling the pain coursing through his body even more. Gradually, his eyes fluttered open, mainly out of curiosity for why the barrage of attacks against his body had suddenly stopped.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw the image of Gorren struggling to separate a metal rod from a metal bin, using all his strength to try and pull it apart.
"For something so simple, he's giving it all he's got and I can't even keep myself alive," Ray chuckled to himself, the veins pulsing on Gorren's neck more visible under the sweat glistening against his skin, as he stood almost directly under the only poorly–functioning light in the alley, groaning with all his might.
"What did she say? To live a happy life? If I can't live a happy one the least I should do is live right?" he mutterred to himself, even though all that came out of his mouth were completely incoherrent words.
"Yess…" Gorren sighed, finally pulling out a metal rod from where it had been attached to with a look of satisfaction on his face, turning his gaze to Ray who was now openly staring at him with a slight smile on his face, an excited gleam in his eyes compared to the dull one he usually had.
"COME…" Ray seemed to say with his eyes which only seemed to further piss Gorren off even if he didn't show it, as he walked forward and closer to Ray who laid on the floor, brandishing the metal rod for him to see.
"Death system" he thought watching the black transparent screen appear in front of him.
{Death system(Basic Lv1) {ONGOING UPGRADE 70%}
Stats
Strength-0.
Agility-0
Speed-0
Luck-0
Soul power-0
Kill stat- 0
Minions-1
Minion Ability-Soul crush
Stat creation Ability-0
Mission- Loading
He hadn't fully paid attention the first time he summoned the system, and even the second time.
Without really looking at each word written on it, Ray simply willed his mind to activate the soul crush, sending his will to kill the person in front of him directly into the connection he felt to the black screen that popped up in his mind.
"ERROR! ONGOING SYSTEM UPGRADE {80%}" The words had barely popped up in black all over the screen when Ray visibly panicked unable to stop the ground shaking fear that attached itself to his heart, as he watched Gorren continue to walk towards him, only about five more steps to completely close the distance between them.
"At this rate I'm really going to die," he thought, watching the rate at which the upgrade moved and calculating it with the time it would take for Gorren to get to him. By the time Gorren got to him it would barely be 90%.
From the look on Gorren's face Ray could tell that unlike before, this time around, he wouldn't spare any time in killing him, the moment he got to him.
"MMMnnn…" he began ignoring the extreme pain he felt when he tried to talk and move his mouth.
"I Guef…killying me wif a bat is too diffikult," Ray scrambled to say in a loud and clear tone only to come up short, even more scared to see Gorren not take the bait, and go as far as to increase his walking pace, easily getting to him in seconds.
"The metal rod should do it…" Gorren said swinging the rod hard enough at Ray and aiming it directly at his head.
Ray though was at a point where he no longer felt like dying or at least letting such a tiny cockroach kill him without going down with a fight as he watched the upgrade finally pass 90%.
"I just need to make it to 100," Ray thought rolling to the side to avoid the metal rod completely, regardless of the pain that shot through his broken ribs, jaw and everything.
"Bastard…you're still going to die," Gorren growled in annoyance, more pissed than ever that even at death's door, Ray still had the will to fight him.
Not holding back, he aimed at his stomach and kicked him as hard as he could, just as Ray stopped rolling on the ground, not seeing the attack, not to talk of reacting to it.
"Hmmph…" Ray let out as dark red blood dripped out of his mouth like saliva. He didn't need a soothsayer to tell him that he was dying.
"Just fucking stay still…" Gorren cursed holding Ray down with his right foot, while towering over him with a murderous glare in his eyes, raising the metal rod ready to bring it down on hs head and end it. It was already very late in the night and he would still have to find a suitable place to dispose the body.
Luckily his bones looked frail and broken so disposing them shouldn't be that bad, Gorren thought, positioning himself directly over Ray for his final attack.
"Shit…98…98,"
"99…99…"
"Please…hundred," Ray thought his breathing raggard, as he watched his life flash before his eyes, unable to follow the metal rod as he watched Gorren bring his hands down.
"UPGRADE COMPLETE! DANGER DETECTED! INITIATING INSTANT SOUL CRUSH!"
Regardless of the pain he felt coursing through every part of his body, Ray couldn't stop the smile that crept to his face. it was the first time he would feel such delight at killing someone using his new found powers.