As the attacks fly at him his mind raced to find a solution. He tried to think of many answers to their attacks yet all lead to him sacrificing something.
He didn't want to lose himself to Cain, he didn't want to let his instincts win! He didn't want to use all his energy all at once to push them back.
He didn't want to give up anything yet he had to chose. So he decided to sacrifice his body instead!
He forcibly broke the ice around his legs before lunging into the greatswords path!
He lifted his left arm using it like a shield to block the greatsword as he used his right hand to catch the other attack as he rushed at the boy.
The blade slammed hard into his barrier sapping a large portion of his energy leaving him with only 20% of his Soul Force remaining!
Sadly just because he used a lot of energy doesn't mean his arm would be fine.
The barrier was forcibly caved in on his arm from the force making his arm take the full brunt of the transferred power breaking it in multiple places!
'He must die right now! Don't hesitate! Don't give them a chance!'
Ryder was thinking to himself before Cain finally said something.
"If you don't kill them they will kill you. Kaylee will be overwhelmed captured and maybe even killed with you. Jacob will die, Daki will die. Everyone you call a friend will be killed because you were to weak to take the life of your enemy. Are you going to let them take everything from you!? Are you just going to be a weak minded brat forever unable to save anyone! Your father died protecting your mother from these same people yet he is dead! She was caught and you were left alone! Are you really going to let something like killing your enemies stop you from getting her back!? Stop you from protecting the ones you love! This is your weakness Ryder! DONT HESITATE!! KILL THEM WITHOUT MERCY!"
The voice ran through his head as the pain rushed through his body. In this moment his mind became clear. One thought appeared in his head.
'If I want to protect those close to me, then I have to kill those that would harm them!'
With a new determination he caught the boys arm before leaping at him!
This surprised both of them, they hadn't expected him to sacrifice one of his limbs to catch them off guard!
Now neither of them could react to his determined rush!
The boy was helpless in this moment as fear filled his eyes!
Ryder lunged towards him, he could see the fear in the boys eyes as the bloody chunks of brain matter appeared in his mind.
Yet this time he didn't hesitate, as a sudden burst of determination washed those images away he leaned forward his head close to the boys throat as he activated [Flicker Flash] appearing behind the two in a golden and slightly red blur.
Both of them stood still not sure what just happened when the girl looked over she gasped!
The green haired boy placed a hand on his neck only to see his claw being covered in crimson red.
At that moment a fountain of blood poured out of his neck making his body go weak as he fell to the ground.
He was in immense pain as he holds his neck. He also held up one hand trying to focus on the ring on his finger.
He was struggling as much as he could but in the next moment his eyes went dull as something carved through his head with extreme force caving it in only to become a blood splatter painting the grass and trees around in red.
The girl beside the boy saw a golden blur reappear above her ally. Sadly she wasn't fast enough to stop Ryder from finishing the boy off before she had to protect herself from an onslaught of claws!
Ryder was on all fours, one arm limp dragging against the ground as he dashed at her using his remaining hand for quick slashes before kicking at her with heavy blows making it almost impossible to attack with such a slow blade since she had to focus completely on keeping hold of the blade!
It wasn't enough, she was completely suppressed. The only reason she could fight fully earlier was because her fighting style was aided by the now dead boy.
She could only block but it was only a matter of time before she succumbed to the attacks.
'Damnit! Damnit! If it wasn't for this boy the plan would have gone off just fine! Fuck! Think! Think!'
She was desperate for a way out of her situation but nothing came to mind. She couldn't rely on her group because they have already been killed or off fighting more students!
She was truly alone in this fight right now which was not what she wanted!
Her fighting style was based off fighting in a group. With her as the main attacker she would use all her strength to attack while the others take care of her weaknesses.
Now with Kaylee, Jacob, and Daki fighting against the 2 men who was supposed to group with them to kill their main fighters she had no way of countering Ryder.
Finally, with a powerful kick to the greatsword her grip wasn't enough making the blade go flying before the same fate befell her head!
Ryder dug his claw into the ground spinning his body after kicking the greatsword away.
It almost looked like he was break dancing as his leg came around slamming into her head sending it off her shoulders before hitting a tree.
Ryder finally stopped moving for a moment as he breathed heavily. He was very out of breath at this point but he understood he couldn't stop now!
'Now to help them!'
He pushed himself off the ground with shaky legs as he headed back to the main road.
He tried not to think about what he did but the feelings of disgust couldn't be suppressed.
The delicious taste in his mouth also didn't help. He felt disgusted with himself because the blood he drank and the chunk he took out of the boy tasted like a perfectly cooked and seasoned snake.
Almost like he went to a master chief and had them cook a meal out of snake meat with the fires from the gods as well as the seasonings from them.
'Why does it taste so good! I don't like this!'
———
While Ryder was battling against the two rebel apex academy students all three of them had gotten into a triangle formation watching out for each other as two powerful men pincered them.
"Come here little princess, if you surrender willingly maybe I'll let these two live~"
He seemed to not take any of them seriously. Why should he?
A group of kids around 13 years old shouldn't be as powerful or as experienced as them right?
Unfortunately, that kind of thinking leaves many openings.
As his words finished darkness suddenly descended on the area around the 5.
Kaylee wasn't happy at all at this moment. If anything she was more worried which caused her to go all out!
She finally released her Avatar! All around the 5 people all they could see was space.
The distant stars were the only light around them as a rainbow of colors appeared in their eyes.
Soon those colors began to shift around in the space only to suddenly shoot down towards Kaylee completely covering her.
Jacob and Daki were shocked to see the whole area suddenly go dark.
They had heard of the Royal families power but never experienced it for themselves.
As they glanced back at her what they saw made them stop and look at Kaylee in a daze.
She was incredibly beautiful in this moment.
Her dark hair was flowing wildly in the air changing many different colors all associated with space.
Her body was very different now however. Instead of her young appearance she had the look of a grown women.
If the others didn't know any better they would say the Queen had come here personally.
She looked exactly like her mother just with a more juvenile aura around her.
The dress on her body completely transformed. It was turned into the embodiment of the stars!
It flowed down to the ground connecting with the space around as she brought her delicate hand up and pointed towards one of the 2 men a rush of purple gas filled the area attacking the man!
"What are you two doing! Go and get the other guy!"
She may look like a delicate maiden with a beautiful face. Yet her words were filled with rage and didn't sound like they came from a noble women but more like an angry tavern owner telling all the customers to settle down after a bar fight broke out!
'Note to self, don't piss off Kaylee'
Jacob made sure to take a mental note of this scene as he turned to his opponent before dashing at him!
"Daki! Back me up!"
With spear in hand he quickly got within range of the man readying his attack as flames swirled around his arms legs and back propelling him forward with each step he took!
"Yes sir!"
Daki yelled out as he release an arrow at the same time the spear went flying towards the man's body.