"Look at you, walking all carefree. Did you think that I won't come back, looking for revenge, pink?" A familiar voice entered Ray's ears, and he turned his gaze in the direction where the voice had come from.
In front of him, a few metres away, stood Stephen Lee, the main leader of the bullies. He had a big smirk on his face, and behind him stood three men who were all emitting intimidating auras towards him. "Time for my revenge, bitch!" Stephen Lee said with a sinister expression and snapped his fingers, and the three men behind him began walking, heading towards Ray.
"Hello? You there, babe?" Alyssa asked once again, and Ray replied, "Hey. I just wanted to tell you that I'll be late today. It seems that I have to take out some trash."
"The fuck did you call me?" Stephen grit his teeth and stared at Ray as he screamed loudly with anger, but Ray simply hung up the call and placed his phone back in his pocket calmly before shifting his gaze back at Stephen.
"Don't tell me that your ears also stopped working after your brain?" Ray shrugged his shoulders and replied with a smirk on his face. "I called you trash. Which is what you really are."
"Fuck! Don't you know the situation that you're in right now, bitch?" Stephen Lee sounded like he was going insane, with the way he spoke. He pointed at the men who were standing behind him and said, "These ain't your normal thugs. They're experienced hunters, people who've fought foes much stronger tha-"
Whoosh!
Ray stomped his foot on the ground and shot forward as Stephen was speaking, appearing in front of him within a split second, catching him off guard.
"Look out!" One of the thugs who were standing behind him realized the situation and stretched out his hand, which was enveloped in rocks in an instant, towards Ray.
BAM!
Ray's fist had already collided with Stephen's face before the thugs could touch him, and the overconfident and dumb bully was sent flying backwards and slammed his head onto the pavement with a loud noise.
Whoosh!
Ray had noticed the thug's attempt to attack him before he punched Stephen Lee in the face, and he immediately ducked down to avoid the strike, missing the thug's rock enveloped fist by a hair's breadth.
'These guys are even afraid of using their abilities outside of dungeons, huh…' Ray couldn't help but scoff as he countered immediately, going in for a quick but powerful jab, aiming right for the thug's chin.
BAM!
Ray's fist slammed against the thug's lower jaw with incredible speed, causing it to get dislocated, and the man was flung back as a result of the attack, crashing down onto the pavement with a loud noise.
"You son of a bitch!" The other two thugs who were watching the fight charged forward, both of them using their abilities as they rushed towards Ray.
Whoosh!
Ray powered down, faster than gravity, his eyes on one of the thug's faces. His hands were already moving, and his monstrous uppercut caught the thug under his chin before he could land a hit on Ray. The guy went over backward and landed on the pavement, and Ray immediately ducked down to evade the other thug's fist, which was enveloped in flames.
WHAM!
Ray counterattacked with his elbow, hitting the guy right in the neck, and with just one hit, the thug went down like a deflated balloon.
"What the hell are you doing?" Stephen Lee screamed loudly as though he was insane, his hands nursing his bloodied nose, his forehead completely covered in blood. "Don't just stand there and watch, you dipshits!" He turned his attention towards the remaining thugs who were standing behind him, and roared angrily. "I didn't pay you to watch him beat you guys up! Get him!"
BAM!
As Stephen was screaming loudly while lying on the ground, Ray rushed towards him once again, and his boot collided with his face, causing him to faint.
He then turned his attention towards the rest of the thugs, who couldn't help but flinch after receiving Ray's sharp gaze.
"So, what's the plan?" Ray asked the remaining thugs, who didn't seem to understand his question. "Do you really want to continue this fight?" Ray pointed his finger at the three unconscious thugs whom he had defeated, and continued. "I'm pretty sure those guys are the strongest in your group, right?"
The thugs stared at each other with shocked expressions on their faces. Clearly, they weren't expecting their target to talk to them with such an intimidating aura, especially when they had an advantage when it came to numbers.
But what Ray had told them was also true; the three of the thugs who were lying on the floor, unconscious, really were the strongest among them. And their target had taken them out with just one hit.
Of course, the best course of action would be to attack him all at once, which would most probably increase the chance of landi a hit on him. But doing so also meant that one or more of them could end up getting hit and completely knocked out by Ray. They weren't soldiers, but thugs. They weren't about to take a hit and get seriously injured for their comrades.
"How much did this fucker pay you to beat me up?" Ray asked, seeing that he hadn't received a reply from the remaining group of thugs, and their attention turned to him once again.
"Uh, 700 coins.." One of the thugs spoke up, and the others nodded their heads in agreement. Ray scratched his chin before kneeling right next to the unconscious Stephen and took his wallet out from his pocket.
"There's… about a thousand coins in here…" Ray murmured under his breath as he took out a few coins from Stephen's wallet. He then threw the wallet with the rest of the coins to the thugs, and one of them caught it.
"Here's your payment." Ray said with a calm expression on his face as he watched the thugs huddle around the one who caught the wallet with greedy eyes.
After watching the thugs for a few more seconds, Ray turned around and started to walk towards the parking space, stepping over the unconscious bodies of Stephen and the three thugs in the process.
———————————
Ray could see Alyssa waiting for him outside her apartment, staring at her phone as he stopped right next to the gate.
"Hey," Ray said with an apologetic smile as he took off his helmet, and Alyssa asked, "I assume you took out the trash?"
"Yup." Ray replied with a nod as he got off his motorcycle and walked up to Alyssa, who seemed to be pouting. "Are you mad?"
"For what?" Alyssa replied while still continuing to pout, and Ray put his hands around her waist and pulled her close to him before placing a kiss on her lips.
The kiss lasted for a few seconds, after which the two separated. "What about now?" Ray asked with a smirk on his face, and Alyssa acted as though she was thinking deeply.
"Hmmm…. Maybe one more?" Alyssa replied with an innocent expression on her face, and Ray let out a short chuckle before placing another kiss.
———————————
Inside the Dungeon Entrance Building, Horicon City.
Miss Maria was sitting alone at the front desk when the phone rang, and she picked it up and placed it close to her ear.
"Hello. Horicon Private Dungeon Entrance Building. How may I help you?" Maria said in a monotonous voice, and after a few seconds, her eyes widened with shock and surprise, and she leapt up from her seat. "Sir. Yes, sir." She spoke with a great sense of anxiety. "Okay, sir. I'll deal with it. You can trust me, sir."
"Phew!" Maria let out a sigh of relief as she hung up the call, after which she pressed her finger on the screen on the desk. "Derrick!" She spoke into the microphone that was placed near the front desk. "I'm going to need you to assemble everyone on duty. Ask them to be on their best behaviour. We have a special guest about to arrive."
She let go of her finger from the screen on the desk after finishing her words. She then walked around the front desk and stood in front of it after adjusting her clothes, and right then, she heard the sound of the entrance doors slowly opening.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
A group of ten men, all wearing black suits and dark sunglasses, entered the Dungeon Entrance Building with large briefcases in their hands. The man who stood in the middle of the group with a large moustache and beard on his face seemed to be their leader, as his outfit appeared to be a bit different from the ones worn by the rest.
Maria couldn't help but gulp down her saliva due to the immense pressure she was feeling. The group of men stopped right in front of Maria, and the man with the large moustache and beard took a step forward, his eyes scanning an anxious Maria before asking her, "Show us the portal."