Grey leaned against the elevator wall, silent and unmoving.
He had mentioned that he killed Jace to Wendy because he wanted to keep her as far away from him as possible.
Jace's death had hurt because he was too close to him.
To avoid that pain again, he couldn't allow anyone to get close and end up with the same fate.
"So, ignoring how cringe you were earlier, I've got a question," Apollo said, making Grey frown.
"Are you seriously going to face the horde all by yourself?"
Grey let out a heavy sigh and responded, "Yeah. That's the plan."
"Are you suicidal?" Apollo asked with a serious expression on his face. "'Cause that's the vibe you're giving."
"I don't intend to die. I promised Jace I'd survive, so that's what I'm going to do."
"Well, I don't know who this Jace is, but let's hope your promise to him is enough to keep you safe, 'cause the strength you possess now certainly isn't."
The elevator arrived, and its doors opened to reveal a massive number of sabretooths roaming about.
Grey's eyes widened in shock, and his heart pounded.
Hearing about it and seeing it in person were entirely different experiences.
The flame guy hadn't been lying when he said there were about a hundred of them.
He equipped [Banesword], and multiple sabretooths turned their gaze on him.
He felt the pressure of their hostile stares but steadied his breath.
It was time to carry out his plan.
He turned towards Apollo, who returned his gaze and said with a lazy shrug, "As always, you're on your own with this…"
Apollo didn't get to finish as Grey grabbed him by the fur under his neck and hurled him toward the pack of sabretooth like a ragdoll.
Apollo yelped, shocked by Grey's sudden action.
"If you're not going to help, then I have no choice but to force you to," Grey said with a sadistic grin, making Apollo's eyes widen. If he had thought Grey was suicidal, he was wrong. Grey was just batshit crazy.
The pack saw Apollo coming and were ready to receive him, but Apollo cursed as he controlled his body midair and channeled his energy. Frost mist formed around his arm, and as he landed, Apollo unleashed a powerful gust of ice that froze several sabretooths in place.
"Damn you, Grey!!" Apollo yelled, but then he saw a shadow pass over him.
He looked up and saw Grey, who acknowledged him with a salute for the assist before slicing into the approaching sabretooth.
Apollo bit his lip, furious at being taken advantage of, but he didn't have time to be mad as multiple sabretooths began attacking him, forcing him into combat.
Grey sliced and hacked his way through several sabretooths.
One attempted to ambush him, but he swiftly turned and slashed, severing its head in a single motion.
Another lunged for his neck, but Grey deftly bent his body, allowing the sabretooth to miss, before striking it with a dose of [Overcharge].
"Goddammit," Grey heard Apollo curse for the umpteenth time, and he chuckled.
He had to admit, that battling the sabretooths would be twice as hard without their attention split between him and Apollo.
He activated [Quickstep], blitzing past six sabretooth's, and a heartbeat later, their heads toppled from their bodies.
He stabbed [Banesword] into the skull of another, but couldn't dislodge it in time to guard against the next attack, so he left his sword buried in its skull and activated [Static Surge], delivering a powerful blow to the sabretooth that wanted to take a bite out of his neck.
Grey noticed they loved going for the neck, which only made their attack patterns predictable.
He was about to retrieve his sword, but before he could grab the hilt, a sabretooth rammed into him from the side, shoving him away from his weapon.
Grey cursed inwardly but readied himself to face the others using [Lightning Gauntlet]. What followed was a hand-to-hand brawl against multiple mutated beasts.
At first, Grey had the advantage, as his lightning-powered punches were strong enough to one-shot a sabretooth.
But he noticed that more sabretooths were coming at him at an overwhelming pace and figured Apollo must have escaped, leaving him alone to fight. 'Bastard.'
Grey attacked with more ferocity, punching and tearing through the remaining sabretooth with his lightning skills, his movements like a deadly dance.
But eventually, his energy waned, forcing him to resort to using only one or two skills. He began to take hits, and injuries started to slow his movements.
[Iron Feather] was almost in pieces from the relentless assault, and his energy was nearly depleted. But Grey wasn't thinking about that. The scent of blood, the gore covering his hands, the pain from his injuries, and the feeling of ripping through his enemies—all of it made Grey feel more alive than ever.
It was maniacal, but this was the most excited Grey had ever felt. The uncertainty of whether he would survive or not thrilled him. He didn't know how many sabretooths he had killed, nor did he care. He just kept going, letting his instincts take over, fighting like a cornered beast turned feral.
Slowly but surely, their numbers dwindled, enough that he could count them.
He caught one of the sabretooth by the back of the head and slammed its skull onto the ground. Another pounced at him, and Grey raised his hand to block. The sabretooth sank its teeth into Grey's arm, but it didn't get to relish the taste of Grey's blood, as its stomach was torn open by [Voltedge].
"One more," Grey said, turning toward the last sabretooth with a feral look in its eyes.
The sabretooth snarled at him, but it was afraid to come close, as if fearful. So Grey made the move.
"Quickstep," he muttered.
Grey suddenly appeared before the sabretooth, and before it could react, he unleashed [Voltedge], severing the beast's body in two, starting with its head. The beast fell dead, its blood spraying everywhere.
Grey breathed heavily as he looked around for any more threats but saw nothing. He fell to his knees, breathing heavily. His clothes were worse for wear, especially [Iron Feather], which had taken the brunt of the sabretooths' attacks.
Not that it mattered—he had survived. Though not without taking damage.
"Hey, don't think you've won just yet," Apollo said in a tone that sounded like a warning.
Grey thought he was saying that because he wanted to retaliate for the stunt Grey had pulled earlier, but he quickly realized he was wrong when he sensed a dangerous presence.
It was a sabretooth, but it looked different from the others. It swaggered in from the building entrance with immense confidence. It was bigger, and stronger, with dark brown fur streaked with purple hues. Its claws were monstrous, twice the size of those of the lesser sabretooth, looking sharp enough to tear through steel with ease.
As it surveyed the bloodied scene with its piercing yellow eyes, there was a disturbing intelligence in its gaze—a cold, calculating awareness.
And when its eyes finally locked onto Grey, there was no mistaking the deadly intent behind them
Grey's danger sense went haywire, and he barely had time to react before the beast appeared in front of him and slashed across his chest.
"Aaachk!"
Blood sprayed as Grey grunted in pain, the force of the slash driving him backward. He clutched his chest, warm blood seeping through his fingers and dripping onto the ground.
Though he had used [Iron Carapace] at the last moment to shield himself, it wasn't enough—the beast had torn through and left its mark.
The beast stood there, watching Grey with savage eyes. It raised its bloodstained claw to its mouth before licking it, sending chills down Grey's spine.
He immediately glanced at the panel to identify the new threat.
[Duskfang, the Abyssal Ravager]
Grey barely had time to read the name when a notification popped up.
Ding!
[You have received a Battle Quest: Kill Abyssal Ravager 'Duskfang']
[Rewards: New Skill, Shard Stone, Accessories]
[Time Duration: 1hr]
[Failure: System Disabled]
Grey narrowed his eyes. He could now see the pattern in the system's quest-giving.
It was the same as when he had faced the juggernaut zombie and the cockatrice.
The system wanted him to face stronger opponents and not run, giving conditions that ensured he wouldn't refuse.
Not that he was going to.