The emergence of the tier 9 Shadowwolf sent a chill down everyone's spine and their expressions didn't hide it
They were shocked beyond belief, their cold expressions making that very clear.
The first one to adapt to the situation was Craig— A huge smile formed on the corner of his lips
"Well aren't you full of surprises, kid? ...Interesting, just INTERESTING"
He unleashed his aura enveloping the surrounding area, his murderous intent permeating the air and the extent of a master class warrior's bottomless power out on display.
The pressure was crushing, so much so that the prisoners could barely stand, could barely even breathe. However, Arc Stollen was unfazed
[The power of a mere master class is nothing before the future overlord of the nine realms! Know your place mongrel!]
Ofcourse, Craig couldn't hear I, but it caused Arc to chuckle a little. He took a deep breath after that and prepared to lock in
"Sigh..... Yami"
The Shadowwolf unleashed it's own aura in that instant, cancelling out Craig's own and freeing the others from it's intense pressure
"Please....head for the entrance, I'll hold him off as best I can"
The others were still shocked and dumbfounded, especially Rei— the look on her face was one he hoped he wouldn't have had to see, and he couldn't help but mutter "I'm sorry" under his breath.
Yuki lifted her up, carrying her like a sack of potatoes on his shoulder before addressing Arc.
"I don't take orders from you, human.... but I'll do as you say this time. I'll come back with help, so hold out till then"
"You got it"
Embracing his intrusive thoughts once again, Craig sent multiple liquid slashes their way in middle of their farewell, but they were all swallowed up by Yami's shadow.
"Rei... I promise to explain everything later, so.... please stay safe"
She didn't reply. They parted ways while Craig was still sending slashes— Arc paid no attention to them and prioritized seeing his companions off, after all, the slashes posed no threat to him.
After their sillouetes vanished into the distance, he turned to face Craig.
"You sure have gotten real cocky, kid. Did taming one little disaster class inflate your ego?"
"Maybe.... But something like that shouldn't matter to someone who's about to die"
"Why you little...."
Enveloping his blade in ygg which transformed to a pale blue liquid, he dashes towards Arc faster than a thunderclap, but Yami intercepted him, the resulting clash wrecking more frames of the labyrinth and expanding the battle space.
The moment both hunter and beast touched the ground, they sped up even further, the only evidence of their clash being the resulting shockwaves, actively reforming the landscape.
In spite of all this, Arc remained still, unmoving from his spot. His calm gaze watched the battle and Craig's futile attempts to try reaching him
It was like reaching for the sky to Craig, the more he tried approaching, the further Arc seemed from him, every opening was covered, every advance blocked and countered by the Shadowwolf
[Still though, he is quite impressive]
Normally, anyone below master are advised to run when they cross paths with a disaster class and even master class hunters have to fight in groups just to bring one down. Yet, here was Craig Ryder, going toe to toe with a disaster class by himself.
Guess that's the difference between regular hunters and Cradle trained ones.
Still though, he was getting pushed back
"Liquid Slash... HUNDRED!"
"Yami, Shadow Slash"
Engraved from his claws, Yami's slashes collided with Craig's, causing a shockwave and raising debris, as well as a gap in Craig's defense.
Yami went for it, about to deal the fatal blow... but Craig assumed a stance, enveloping his immediate area with and charging his ygg for a big attack, despite the obvious fact it wouldn't make it in time
*BANG
Yami jumped back instinctively, sensing danger as he approached Craig and was right— it was Dave, accurately sniping from several kilometers away through obstacles and debris.
"Thanks for that, bro.... LIQUID SLASH: DEEP SEA FLOOD!"
The ygg surrounding him errupted, taking liquid form, resembling a fountain. With the swipe, he sent the powerful current of ygg at Arc, intending to wipe both him and the entire labyrinth out right there and then
But....Arc was still unfazed, unmoving
"Alberto"
Answering his call, the great white serpent locked in— charging to Craig, annihilating the flood between them with brute force alone in the process, and driving Craig into the wall
*KEUK
Coughing up blood, Craig was on his knees
"If you promise to leave me alone, I'm willing to let you go"
"What?"
[Whaaaat?!]
"Target or not, we were once cradle trainees. I'll rather not kill a former comarad—"
"Sorry but I'll pass...."
Craig said, getting on his feet
".... I'm not comrades with an abomination like you, and the only who'll die here.... is you!"
Aside from overwhelming strength, there is one thing that sets master class hunters and above from Slayer classes and everyone below. That is a special condition— without it, no matter how strong you are, you'll never make it past Slayer 1
Hunters make use of beasts to acquire their skills and abilities and in the process of cultivating and improving on these abilities, the sap that is their ygg also gets cultivated. After reaching a certain pinnacle of mastery, your ygg evolves, unlocking a unique skill— one that isn't from any beast, but their very own power and the identity of their ygg. That skill is called their...
"Unique Skill....."
His ygg and aura suddenly got a different feeling to it, he was finally taking this seriously. For the first time in the fight, Arc moved... preparing to spam boost on his beasts should the need arise.
*Tap
Suddenly Craig stopped—Dave tapped him from behind.
"Alright, times up"
"What? Really? C'mon five more minutes, I'm getting to the good part"
"Not my problem, I'm the one who gets scolded if we're late to the assignment. Besides...."
He looked over past Arc with a focused gaze
"....The guards will soon get here, if they find us, that'll be another brand of trouble. You don't want Mika to find out about this, right?"
"Sigh, I guess you're right"
He sheated his sword
"You got lucky kid. Once I'm done with my job, I'm coming for your head!"
Speeding into the distance, they both vanished.
"You should've just killed them instead of drawing out the fight"
Irene said, stopping time again.
"Haha, well—"
"I don't want to hear it, it's probably another dose of platitudes anyway, creepy"
Arc shrugged in response. She continued
"Anyway, the guards are on their way, if they find you like this in this mess, they'll suspect you can use your powers"
"True..... Well, what do you sugge—"
He received a powerful kick in the gut from her, followed by a slam into the floor, knocking him out cold.
"There.... That's better"
She said, smiling, releasing time for the guards to find him, a bloodied mess on the floor.
*******************
He awoke in the infirmary, feeling a sense of deja vu, although, no one was at his side this time.
The pain all over his body was similar though
"Atatata... I know she was angry but did she really have to hit me that hard?"
[You should be greatful, fool. This way, the guards won't suspect you were the one behind the damage in that labyrinth. They'll just think you came across powerful monsters who caused that destruction and barely managed to survive]
"I see... Well, Thanks"
[Huh? Uhm... well.... I... didn't expect you to actually say it]
"No seriously, why are you the one flustered, I?"
[A-Anyway.... You're safe as long as one of your "friends" doesn't tattle on you]
"C'mon! They won't do that..."
He said, walking towards the door. As he opened it, he saw Yuki standing in the hallway.
"Mr Yuki, I—"
"—The one you really want to talk to is in the dining hall"
He said, walking past Arc into the infirmary and shutting the door.
Arc moved forward, one step at a time, to the dining hall... To see Rei.
She was seated on a table in the dark, a rather dark and scary expression on her face
[Ohhhh, she's pissed as hell! Rest in peace my brother, haha]
You didn't need to add the "haha"
Arc took a seat right next to Rei—she didn't react, she didn't say anything, she didn't lash out.... Just sat there silent.
"Rei, I....."
He tried to muster up the words but nothing came up. The words were stuck on his throat, trying hard to escape but in futility.
He tried again
"R-Rei..."
"Arc!"
She called out his name, shocking all his senses. Her words were cold, perfectly matching the icy glare she stared at him with.
"That power you used earlier. That means..."
He could almost feel the end of their relationship approaching.... He kept a big secret and she was mad at him for it. The icy stare he saw told him she'll never forgive him, and he couldn't blame her.
Or perhaps she saw him as a freak now, considering the fact that it's obvious his power was not from ygg since the collar was still on his neck
[Here it comes....]
She grabbed his shoulder and pushed her face close to his, then....
"..... THAT MEANS, BACK AT THE FOREST, YOU WERE HOLDING BACK ON ME, WEREN'T YOU?!"
[That's what she's mad about?!]