At a drop of a dime, all eyes were about to jump out of their respective sockets as four individuals, including the wounded cheeky woman, could only stare dumbfounded at the scene they had just witnessed while a deafening silence descended upon the treasure room.
Sensing the striking absence of silence, Virus turned toward the four and said, “What? She was trying to kill me, was I supposed to just be stabbed to death like a good boy?”
Finally, the veiled woman snapped out of her stupor as misery and sorrow descended upon her being, “H-Henna… Oh no… sob… Henna.” She cried and cried and cried like the moment of betrayal had not even happened. Despite Henna’s betrayal, the cheeky woman had still cared about that companion of many years.
After regaining some of her composure, at last, her tears of loss still wetting her eyes, she questioned in utter anguish as if she was blaming herself for her death, “C-couldn’t you have… kept h-her alive?”
Discerning the deep grief and heartache within the tone of the veiled woman, Virus responded coldly. “Keep her alive? The moment she tried attacking me, she was dead already.”
“SNAP OUT OF IT ALREADY YOU CHEEKY FOOL! WHY DO YOU STILL SYMPATHIZE WITH SOMEONE WHO BETRAYED YOU?” Suddenly roaring in a rare moment of rage, furrowing his brows, Virus scolded the veiled lady harshly.
Shaking his head next, Virus immediately calmed down as if his previous unusual episode just a second ago had not even happened! Then, he continued with a helpless sigh, “I already knew that you’ve been backstabbed.”
“N-no… she didn’t have a choice… her sister was poisoned so sister H-Henna-“
“Doesn’t matter what kind of excuses you come up with, doesn’t change the fact that she betrayed you. I’m sure if she was alive you might’ve even forgiven her after forcibly making yourself believe her excuse was somewhat justified. But who is to say she won’t betray you again in the future with other justified causes just like today? Let me give you a piece of advice, once a traitor, always a traitor. That’s it.” Finished with his little speech, Virus no longer paid any heed to the injured woman and instead turned toward Ra, Knightgruella, and the Purple-Maned Ancient Lion.
“Huh, you three must’ve greatly enjoyed watching the entertaining scene just now, right?” Smirking casually, Virus vocalized.
“Hahaha… indeed, can’t believe you just killed that bitch like that, but I couldn’t care less since I was about to kill her anyway. There’s no way I would’ve left someone like her alive with the knowledge that I killed this supreme ugly here.”
“Well, anyway, we have an account to settle between us, right?” Virus proclaimed, smiling viciously.
“Hahaha… your ant balls seem to have grown so large that you seem to have forgotten you’re merely an ant at the end. An ant mistakenly assuming it can defeat an elephant after a workout, such a joke, hahaha!”
“Hmm, is that so?”
‘Impulse!’
While wielding his Steel of Darkness, Virus’s energy began to gather on his third tempering sword as he discharged a strike.
‘Fountain Bow Cut!’ While a curving slash was going toward Ra’s neck, he abruptly burst into laughter as two rows of white teeth and a contorted expression became visible over his face.
“Hahahaha! Don’t any of you dare interject in our duel! I want to teach this ant a lesson. Hahaha…” He warned Knightgruella and the Purple-Maned Ancient Lion to not get in the way of their fight no matter what.
Bam!
Immediately, as the laugh continued, an ax barred the path of Virus’ weapon, victoriously stopping its beheading ceremony.
“Truly an ant, you get a bit stronger and your arrogance nearly breaks through the heavens!”
He then unleashed a hacking strike right at Virus’ face.
Raising his weapon to defend, Virus blocked the attack at once.
Unfortunately, the force behind the barbarian’s attack was so heavy that it coerced Virus to retreat several meters before he finally stopped.
Clicking his tongue, Virus glared at Ra in vexation.
‘Should I use the second form of my movement speed?’ The second that notion showed up, however, Virus denied it. Even if he revealed the second form, he could easily predict that he still would not be capable of defeating the barbarian in front of him in a head-on confrontation.
Thus, before he had a surefire plan and scheme that was guaranteed to work, Virus decided against revealing his trump card.
Just as various such notions were passing through his head in lightning speed, Ra took the initiative.
“Tree Cutter Ax!”
He rushed at him this time before striking with his ax from Virus’ left side. Apparently, he was trying to cut Virus into two parts much like a tree.
‘Impulse!’ With a simple sidestep to the right side, Virus dodged out of the upcoming ax’s path before it cut through nothing but thin air.
Afterward, the ongoing intense combat was witnessed by the remaining spectators who were truly in awe of both Virus and Ra’s strength.
And yet, it didn’t require an expert to notice that while Virus was in a defensive position, Ra had the upper hand as he kept persisting on offense!
If the circumstances of this fight continued this way, everyone could easily calculate that Virus’ end was nigh.
‘I need to do something before it’s too late.’ While various analyzes were shooting through Virus’ brain, apparently, he still failed to compute an end where it finished with his victory.
‘I’m not strong enough.’ Woefully, every possibility that displayed itself in his mindscape was rejected with the ultimate conclusion that he wasn’t powerful enough yet.
In the meantime, studying Virus’ frowning expression, Ra could effortlessly see through his thoughts.
‘Huh! He knows he’s powerless and I can see it plastered right on his face so easily.’
“Hahahaha… how about this, you stop these pointless struggles and I promise to kill you with no pain and-“
‘Unnamed Virus Technique, First Form – Impulse!’
‘Unnamed Virus Technique, Second Form – Friction!’
Before Ra even finished his sentence, promptly, arcs of lightning boiled all over Virus’ body before it proceeded with an intense wind in front of Virus’ figure.
Right now, Ra could scarcely sense the two invisible pillars of small hurricanes that seemed to have taken root in front of Virus’ body out of nowhere!
Not quite comprehending what kind of scheme Virus was cooking, with peace of mind and no concerns, Ra decided to watch and enjoy the last vain attempts of Virus.
Unfortunately, suddenly, he realized Virus wasn’t even aiming for him as he stormed toward the opposite direction, unlike any speed he had shown so far!
‘Fountain Bow Cut!’
Moreover, what bulged Ra’s eyes the next moment was the fact that instead of attacking him, Virus had completely ignored him as he adjusted his target toward the Purple-Maned Ancient Lion as he perfectly cut its head off!
SWISH!
FSHHHH!
As its head fell on the floor, the lion witnessed its own body bleeding like there was no tomorrow as it died in that stupefied state.
Previously, without Ra even noticing, Virus had slowly but surely swapped their positions in a way so that he was closer to the monstrous beast and Knightgruella instead of Ra himself.
And the instant he found the opportunity, he didn’t hesitate to unleash every bit of his power as he killed the monster!
Following quickly, as the monstrous beast died in utter disbelief, Origin began to suck and transfer its energy into Virus while his synthesis rate skyrocketed.
On the other side, just like ice statues, both Ra and Knightgruella remained frozen still for a long time, until Ra opened his mouth at last.
“W-What did… What did you do?! Do you have any idea what you just did?” He roared and screamed in perplexity while blood had long left his countenance.
To be honest, spotting such similar reactions from Ra, Knightgruella, and even the mortally wounded veiled lady whose face had gone paler, Virus could only feel bewildered himself while confusion fogged his eyes.
“Huh? What did I do? Did I perhaps accomplish an amazing feat? Hmm, that’s not right, I mean what’s so special about killing just a monstrous beast? Sure, it may have been a bit special considering he’s a representative, but so what?”
“You fucking idiot! ‘Just’ a monstrous beast??! You’re a madman!” Greatly alarmed, with his tongue hardly able to circulate his following sentence, Ra notified Virus, “H-he’s the fucking son of the Lion King! The ruler of the Animal Kingdom!”
