Kio took out the Item Box that Miyu found earlier and checked what was inside.
Although there was a wide variety of loot in the Item Box, he only had time to briefly check out their effects. As his excitement was about to disappear after checking through half of the items, his eyes suddenly landed on a pile of scrolls.
When he inspected the scrolls, he realized that they each had unique effects that would disappear after a single use. There were only three scrolls inside, but Kio hoped that at least one of them could allow him to turn the situation around.
Scroll of Gravity - Upon activation, creates a 10x gravity zone 25 meters around the point where the scroll was used. The effects of the gravity zone lasts for an hour.
Scroll of Thunderbolt - Upon activation, an electrical discharge will be launched towards the user's designated target.
Scroll of Tornado - Upon activation, a mini windstorm will appear at the user's designated location that will last for an hour.
***
The effects of the scrolls gave Kio a pleasant surprise, as he immediately came up with a strategy to kill the mutated Ray. Although he wasn't completely sure it would work, since Ray seemed to be extremely strong and sturdy, he wanted to give it a shot before retreating.
After half an hour, his preparations were finally finished. Luckily for him, Ray didn't wander too far away as it seemed like Ray was somehow attracted to the demolished building.
"Whew…"
Kio released a deep breath as he tried to calm his nerves. The moment his anxiety went away, he opened his eyes and looked straight at Ray.
*Woosh*
He threw a pair of throwing knives that were aimed at Ray's chest. Next, he used a charge of [Shadow Step] to move diagonally before throwing out another knife.
The third knife hit one of the previous knives and altered its trajectory, causing it to fly towards Ray's eyes since Ray had moved the moment Kio's invisibility effect wore off. Kio tried to repeat the same thing he did last time, which was to remove the mutated zombie's vision first.
*ROAR*
However, Ray released a loud growl and swung his armblade, instantly knocking down the knives that were flying towards him.
"Shit… Only 2 charges left."
Kio started to dash from place to place, as he avoided each of Ray's attacks. Although Ray was strong, he wasn't able to accurately hit Kio who was buffed with [Haste].
Every time the armblade landed on the ground, a shockwave erupted outwards, causing debris to be launched all around them.
With each step, Kio was baiting Ray closer to the trap he laid earlier.
On one occasion, Ray followed up the armblade with a downward swing of his black sword, causing Kio to dive into the shadows to evade the fatal blow.
With only 1 charge left, he knew that he couldn't afford to make any mistake.
As Kio finally arrived in front of the trap he set up, he dashed to the side the moment Ray lunged towards him with the armblade raised above his head.
*BOOM*
The swing caused Ray to fall into one of the holes he created earlier as the pool of water erupted and splashed onto his body. Kio had spent a long time earlier filling up the hole by pouring water into it with a few water stones.
"Scroll of Thunderbolt!"
Although Kio normally doesn't shout out the names of his skills and items, he was currently too engrossed in the battle to notice.
The scroll disintegrated from his grasp as a streak of lightning was discharged towards Ray. The lightning spear moved too quickly for Ray to react, as it pierced through his stomach and created a large hole in it.
The residual electricity also continuously shocked Ray as his body was currently drenched in water.
"Holy shit! I didn't expect that scroll to be this strong."
Even though he understood the scroll's effect, it was impossible to know the extent of its power. If Kio knew that it was capable of such a powerful attack, he would've used it at a closer distance towards the head.
He originally planned to use the electricity to burn it alive. Since Ray was standing in the pool of water, it would constantly shock him until he died.
Even though black blood was oozing out of Ray's stomach, it wasn't a fatal blow to the mutated Ray.
*ROAR*
Kio could see Ray struggling in the pool of water as the electricity was constantly zapping different parts of Ray's body. The smell of burnt flesh permeated across the area as Kio was delighted with his strategy.
Right before Kio could take out his Scroll of Gravity to submerge Ray into the pool of water, Ray roared loudly and jumped out of the hole towards Kio.
*ROAR*
Kio was only distracted for half a second to take out the scroll from his inventory, but that proved to be disastrous as Ray already closed the distance to a few meters.
"Fuck!"
Kio leapt backwards as he tried to escape into the nearest shadow, but he could see the armblade reaching closer to his head with every passing second.
Right as Kio completely faded into the shadows, the armblade was already less than a centimeter away from reaching him.
*BOOM*
Due to how close he was to the impact, Kio's body received the full brunt of the shockwave as the armblade slammed into the ground.
"Cough… Ack…"
Kio spurted out a mouthful of blood as his chest felt extremely painful. A few of his ribs had cracked from the shockwave, and he wasn't sure if any of his organs ruptured.
He couldn't even control his movements within the shadow, causing his body to launch outwards a second later and colliding onto the wall of a nearby building.
The impact further increased his injuries as more blood leaked out of his mouth. As his body slowly slid downwards, he wanted to dive back into the shadows, but he knew there should be 0 charges left.
"...Is this my fate for being too greedy?"
The mutated Ray was already dashing towards him, but the only thing in Kio's vision was the sight of Miyu who had tears trailing down her eyes.
'No! I can't give up and die here!'
As soon as Kio landed on the ground, a glint reappeared in his eyes as he looked at his surroundings. A horde of zombies could be seen coming towards them due to the ruckus created in the battle.
He decided it wasn't a good idea to continue fighting, so he immediately turned around and ran the other way. Although he was running towards the zombie horde, he figured it was better to fight those regular zombies than to fight the mutated one.
Even though it was hard for him to breathe, he forced himself to move his arms as he sliced the zombies blocking his way. His other arm wasn't idle either, as he was continuously throwing his knives into the heads of the zombies in front of him.
*ROAR*
After he was halfway through the horde of zombies, he noticed that the growl was a lot closer than he expected, so he turned around after decapitating another zombie.
Kio was perturbed when he discovered that Ray was only a few meters behind him, and it would only take a few seconds before he gets within range of Ray's attack.
He turned around and raised his sword in front of him to block the incoming armblade that was being swung towards him.
*Snap*
Kio's short sword snapped in half as it wasn't even able to block a single hit from the armblade. However, as the armblade continued through with the attack, it suddenly stopped midair for a brief moment.
*Shatter*
The sound of a barrier cracking echoed, as Kio realized it must've been from the blessing he received back in the elven village.
The force of the attack knocked him backwards as he flew for a few meters. His body was about to land in the shadow of a building, causing Kio to subconsciously activate his [Shadow Step] for the 7th time.
Luckily for him, an hour had already passed since his first usage of the skill, so he was able to use his [Shadow Step].
"[Steal]!"
The moment he felt something appear in his hand, he immediately stored it into his inventory. Delighted at the item he stole, he then exited the shadows at the farthest alley he could reach.
After consuming an invisibility leaf, all the energy left his body as he passed out on the ground.
The last thing he saw before his consciousness faded, was the sight of Miyu running towards him with tears in her eyes.