"Be careful with him, he's a Crimson I.D.," Naisha warned.
"So what if he's a Crimson?" Draven asked.
"Aside from their dangerous abilities, once their I.D. awakens, their physical strength is boosted three times."
An individual's status awakens once they reach the age of 5.
For a Terra I.D., physical strength doubles. For a Crimson I.D., it's tripled. And for a Luminous I.D., their strength increases by four times.
Why? Because using skills requires a strong body to release their powerful abilities.
That's why the Verdants can hardly do anything against other I.D.s.
"Now I understand why they're strong because of this I.D. something," Draven muttered as he grinned.
He recalled the ten mad clan members he fought and even Gorvex, whom he couldn't take down despite hitting him hard with a pipe.
Without warning, Gorvex attacked like a sledgehammer. His chain-covered fist slams toward Draven and Naisha with terrifying speed.
The impact erupted in a cloud of smoke as the ground beneath them cracked from the force.
As the smoke cleared, it appeared that Draven blocked the blow with his pipe, holding both ends firmly.
"I said stop interrupting us!" Draven responded while blocking the blow. Then he turned to Naisha behind him and said, "Move back, dear."
But Gorvex didn't stop. "Who cares? DIE!"
He swung again, his fists crashing down like wrecking balls, the blow heavy enough to shatter boulders.
Draven smirked, sidestepping the first swing and letting it graze past him.
While evading, he lashed out with the pipe, striking Gorvex's exposed ribs before spinning away from another incoming punch.
"Too slow," Draven taunted, landing another hit on Gorvex's side.
The chains covering Gorvex's body clinked but absorbed much of the impact, leaving the larger man unfazed.
Gorvex roared, throwing a powerful backhand.
Draven ducked low, the attack missing by inches, and used the momentum to strike Gorvex's thigh.
The blow made Gorvex stagger briefly but not enough to slow his onslaught.
The floor beneath them cracked as Gorvex stomped forward. He unleashed a barrage of punches, but Draven deftly evaded. Each miss left Gorvex more frustrated.
Draven kept moving. He weaved between attacks while delivering strikes to Gorvex's joints and sides.
But the chains covering Gorvex's armor-like body dulled the damage.
"Is that all you got?" Draven leaped back as Gorvex swung both fists downward.
The ground erupted in a cloud of debris.
From within the dust, Draven charged forward, shoot the pipe inside one of the chainholes, and yank him off balance.
Gorvex stumbled, his frame wavering for a second.
Taking advantage, Draven spun around, delivering a strike to the back of Gorvex's knee.
Gorvex grunted, dropping to one leg, but still managed to swing an iron-clad fist sidewards.
Draven jumped before he twisted his body mid-air, narrowly avoiding the punch, and landed in front of Gorvex.
Then he hit Gorvex's head with his right knee and followed up with a strike of his pipe.
The force made Gorvex skid before he stumbled. He instantly stood up. But exhaustion and difficulty of breathing can be seen in his face.
When the others saw the chaos between the Mad Clan and the villagers, they froze, unable to believe what they were witnessing.
"Impossible!" echoed the thoughts of the Mad Clan members.
Aside from that, the leader of one of the strongest slave hunter groups was on the ground in front of a Verdant.
Gorvex laughed. "Hahaha! You're arrogant, Verdant! You and your kind are nothing but worthless. You're barely worthy of the air you breathe, you cursed people!"
"And you're worthy?" Draven grinned.
Gorvex paused, his grin widening as he eyed Draven. "Of course, scum! I didn't think I'd have to use my ace on the likes of you… but here we are."
"Really? Make sure this is not just a talk."
But then Draven froze as Gorvex's aura swelled. Slowly, he felt a little of what he experienced in Mr. Goodness's aura.
'Seriously?'
Draven stepped back an instant, reassessing his approach against this surge. He felt a strange heaviness as if the air around him had thinned as same before.
'What is this? Don't tell me he is like that old man?' he thought.
Gorvex's eyes reddened with strain as he struggled to push himself up, raising both palms.
Then he let out a powerful scream. "Aaahhh!"
From the palms of Gorvex, numerous massive chains erupted, spiraling slowly, then faster and faster, until they twisted into a powerful whirlwind.
[Whirlwind Chain!]
As the whirlwind grew larger, its reach expanded, and the members of the Mad Clan began to panic, scattering in every direction to escape.
"We're doomed! Nothing can stop him now; he's going to destroy everything around him!" one of the Mad Clan members shouted.
The rest of the clan scrambled back, widening the distance between themselves and their leader.
Still wrapped in the blanket, Naisha approaches Draven while he is focusing on Gorvex.
"We should retreat," she said. "In the end, we're no match for someone with abilities."
But Draven just grinned. "Who said I'm no match for him?" he replied while looking around.
Naisha blinked, caught off guard. "Huh? Don't you see his ability?"
The whirlwind of chains surrounding Gorvex slowly tore through everything in its path.
'Is he seriously thinking of stopping that?' She murmured. "Hey, get back!"She yelled, panic rising as she saw him tighten his grip on the metal pipe.
But Draven wasn't retreating. Instead, he was stepping even closer to the storm of whirling chains, his eyes locked on Gorvex.
'Is he insane?' Naisha whispered under her breath, struggling to understand his calm in the face of such danger.
The chains continue expanding until they are capable of shredding anything or anyone foolish enough to approach.
Yet Draven's face remained unreadable.
He carefully positioned himself between two large boulders and tracked the chains with intense concentration.
He was waiting for something, though Naisha couldn't fathom what.
"Come on, let's go!" Naisha shouted, struggling against the fierce winds as she forced her way closer.
Draven stood rooted to the ground. His eyes locked on the vortex of chains spiraling out of control.
The whirlwind had grown into a monstrous force, smashing trees and splintering rocks around them.
After a moment, Draven ripped strips from his shirt and wrapped them tightly around his hands, preparing himself.
Naisha's eyes narrowed as she watched his stubborn defiance.
"Are you out of your mind? That thing will kill you! You can't stop it!" She shouted, her voice barely heard.
"Yup. I know," Draven answered calmly, standing firm as the deadly cyclone continued its relentless spin around Gorvex.
"Then why are you doing this?" Naisha demanded.
A strange smile crept across Draven's face. His eyes glinted with an intensity that bordered on madness.
"Because it's fun," he replied as his face lit with a sadistic thrill.
Then it happened, a split-second opening.
The chains struck a massive boulder.
Draven's eyes narrowed, and without hesitation, he leaped and drove the base of his 1-meter metal pipe into the ground beside the giant stone.
He angled it sharply at 45 degrees, aligning it with the trajectory of the whirling chains.
The bottom end of the pipe dug deep into the earth, steadying itself against the metal storm rushing his way.
'He's doing the impossible,' Naisha thought, still unsure. 'The force of those chains should snap the pipe in an instant, shouldn't it?'
And then the chains struck.