Gray dropped to his knees.
His breathing grew heavier and heavier and his pants became more frequent. But that was it. There weren't any internal injuries unlike before.
All he could feel was exhaustion from using the move.
[You killed a Hell Bringer.]
[Earned 540 XP!]
[SKILL: PAUSE APPROACHES EVOLUTION]
Gray's ears twitched.
"Approaches Evolution?" He asked
[AFFIRMATIVE: SKILL LEVEL CAP 5]
[ONCE A REQUIREMENTS ARE MET AND SKILL CAP IS REACHED]
[SKILL EVOLUTION WILL BECOME AVAILABLE.]
[WARNING: ONE COMPATIBLE SKILL MUST BE SACRAFICED FOR SKILL EVOLUTION.]
Gray placed his hand beneath his chin to think. After a short while of thinking, he nodded in understanding and got up.
'I've hit the cap, meaning next ability orb or skill point I place into it will allow it to evolve.'
After coming to that conclusion, he shut his eyes. The shadow was dead and so he had no more business here.
"As long as I meet the requirements."
[AFFIRMATIVE.]
-
Gray's eyes opened, he found himself laid down on the floor, staring at the starry night sky with arms wrapped around him.
Gray looked down only to find Ruby's black twin-tails hanging over his chest.
Her face was dug into his chest right beside her red gem placed above his heart.
"Ruby?" Gray called out to her.
There was no response.
Gray slowly got up, turning her over to check on her.
She was fully unconscious and fast asleep, the light on her red gem had dimmed down completely.
"Did she exhaust herself trying to heal me?" He questioned before looking around.
His eyes widened when he did.
Peace. That was the sight which he was greeted with. No more fighting, or explosions resounding everywhere. No more mutated monsters wreaking havoc.
It was quiet and peaceful just as he had worked for.
A cold breeze crashed against their face sending shivers throughout both his and Ruby's body.
The second war had ended once more.
Gray took a moment to let the sight sink in.
Only one more Airship had remained airborne, but that very same one was surrounded by Naval fleets. Charlotte had already made her move.
[X-Ray: Level 1]
[Zoom In: Level 1]
Gray's Artifact eye narrowed and glowed brighter. From his location he could see all the way up to the other Airship and even through it.
The remaining living Kessho's were being placed in specialised restrainers by the Horned ones who were invading their ship.
The Kessho's had already given up and lost their will to fight.
Everything was going smoothly. For now at least.
Gray looked over at Ruby's sleeping face, she had the most innocent looking sleeping face he had ever seen, letting out cute puffs of air every second.
Although her expression looked calm, he could tell based on how much she was shivering just how cold she was.
[Energy Manipulation: Thermal Energy.]
With his legs crossed, and her head leaned onto his shoulder, Gray began to circulate the [Thermal Energy] within his body whilst gathering some more from the surroundings.
Once he had gathered enough he slowly released it at a steady interval, making sure he'd release just enough to keep her warm.
[Release.]
A slightly orange aura radiated around him, and just as the skill applied, his body began to release heat.
After just a short while, the shivering decreased and a few seconds after, it had come to a complete stop.
Gray's expression softened after seeing Ruby's expression grow relaxed. Without him even knowing it, the corner of his lips were curling upwards.
"I have to go and hunt down the remaining Kessho's..."
"But I don't mind staying like this until she wakes-"
Gray was interrupted by Ruby in her sleep talk- "Gray~ Don't be silly~ W-Well if you insist...". She murmured with a smug smile.
'What's she dreaming about?' He wondered with a nervous smile.
He looked over at her sleeping face and found his cheeks growing slightly redder.
Her small pink lips, had a shiny glint to it, the more he stared the more it sparkled and captured his attention.
After thinking it through for a short while, Gray slightly tilted her chin upwards before leaning in.
*Kiss*
He gave her a smooth and quick smooch before quickly backing away.
Even though he had already kissed her and done other more advanced things before, his heart still fluttered.
He backed away from her before laying her down.
He raised his head up to the sky and rubbed his hair, making it even messier than it already was.
He then looked to the other end of the ship and said.
"Show yourself."
For a few seconds, there was nothing. But as more and more blood lust began to sip out of Gray, the person realised hiding themselves any longer would probably make situations worst.
And so, they decided to show themselves.
From the other end of the ship, a figure emerged.
Long dark messy black hair tied back in a pony tail which reached his waist, and a long dark mask covering it's entire face.
The dark mask looked somewhat pixelated, it had particles flowing out of it into the surroundings with every passing second.
Gray didn't say anything and simply stared at the person.
The person stared back in his direction.
Through the mask, a pixelated grin appeared. It widened, showing something of a smile.
"You... You're the one who's been watching me, aren't you?" Gray asked.
-Memory
It happened after evolving. Gray's senses had drastically increased, so much that it was incredibly painful and difficult to adjust to.
One of the things he noticed, was the constant feeling of being watched.
He assumed it might have been the system, but when he was on his way up to the other Airships.
Mid-air as he leapt up from platform to platform. Through the corner of his eyes, although it was very far away, he could see it.
An unknown face with similar features staring right at him.
Gray had no doubt that this was the person.
-Memory End.
"So you really did notice my presence that time... You're amazing... You've been constantly blowing my expectations away." Said the person, their voice was being altered by the mask.
Gray took a step forward towards them, but just as he opened his mouth to speak, his eyes widened.
Right beside him, with his entire arm resting on his shoulder stood the dark-haired masked guy.
He didn't even see it, not even with the artifact eye which allowed for advanced visual acuity.
He didn't see him move.
An instantaneous movement ability too? Recently a lot of people who he had been fighting had that, it was really starting to get him on edge.
Despite it all, from just that one movement from the dark-haired guy, he knew, he was realms stronger than anything he had ever faced.
"Say it." Said Gray
The dark-haired guy leaned in towards Gray. "Hm~?" He let out in a confused tone.
"Tell me what you want."
He leaned in even closer to Gray's ears with a smile and said. "What is the secret behind your power?"
Gray's heart sank. Just how long had this person been watching him? For him to only realise now especially?
He was shocked and didn't know what to say.
But his expression didn't show it, it remained still and calm.
He glanced over towards Ruby in order to make sure she was safe. Fortunately, there was nothing around which looked as if it could harm her.
"The secret behind my power?" Gray asked.
"Yeah, that's ri-"
[Pause]
Before the Dark haired guy could finish, he leapt back and away from Gray.
Gray had swung his sword horizontally towards his neck forcing him to step away. Before that he was sure that he was sure that he had paused him.
And yet he still moved?
'How? I'm sure I paused him, so how did pause fail?' The thought flashed through his mind.
Whilst thinking that, Gray was already on a leap towards him with another attack in motion.
*Blink*
Once again, with another blink the person appeared right beside Gray, standing completely still with his guard down.
[Incomplete Time Stop.]
At that instant, everything came to a stop.
A dreadful silence emerged followed by the loss of colours.
In a world of black and white, Gray found himself being the only one able to move once again.
It was the world of frozen time.
Without wasting any time, Gray landed his leap and returned back towards the masked guy before staring right at him.
He too was frozen.
"I attacked him on reflex even though he showed no hostility, but there's just something about him..."
"He's dangerous."
Gray stretched out his arm towards him placing it right before his right arm.
[Pause Level 5: Authority Over Frozen Time.]
"I guess I'll just question him for now... Let's start by breaking any bones that might pose a threat to me."
[Bre-]
"I'd rather you not do that." Said the dark-haired guy.
Gray's eyes widened, the skill activated on it's own as it was almost completely active.
[Break.]
The entire space before him broke on specific areas which included the young man's arms and legs. Or at least should have.
Gray's eyes widened as the dark haired guy was no longer standing before him. He quickly glanced around wondering if time had resumed.
But no, time stop was still active.
With a confused expression, Gray slowly turned around.
And there they were, crouched down behind him.
"Oh~ That was close~" He muttered with an amused look as he stared right at him.
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