CHAPTER 38: D-RATED VILLAIN

(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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"Fuck" Orion couldn’t hold himself from saying.

He was fully awake and watching. Orion watched through ETF as the man suddenly became alert, his eyes widening in what he believed was urgency; he’d most likely realized his targets were missing.

"What’s wrong?" Alice asked, noticing Orion’s frown, her mind trying to avoid the obvious reason.

"He’s coming," Orion replied, his voice grim.

Alice’s face paled, her conjecture seemingly coming to pass. Michael held a guilty and scared look on his face. They didn’t know how Orion could tell, but his facial reaction and their current situation didn’t hint at Orion joking or telling a lie.

"I’m sorry," Michael said, feeling guilty for his error.

"What do we do?" Alice asked, her voice trembling in fear.

"I’ll start it quickly, maybe we can escape him," Michael said, his hands about to press another button.

"No, don’t, if he chases after us and somehow damages the craft, we’d be well and truly stuck here." Orion quickly stopped him.

His mind worked, searching for a solution, deceit, explanations, ways he could make this seem different from their intentions.

It was pointless, whatever excuse he gave wouldn’t cut it, Harry wasn’t stupid, he’d been foolish enough to leave the pyramid open out of trust that they hadn’t seen through his intentions but that didn’t seem likely to happen now and on the off chance he did, their chance of escaping would further fall as he’d become more cautious.

’I have to fight,’ Orion thought with trepidation and a faint degree of excitement.

"Stay in here," Orion said resolutely before he started walking out.

"But," Michael said, his voice quivering.

"No buts, stay here," Orion said, his voice rising, carrying a scary intensity despite his stature.

Whether out of fear or some faint trust in Orion’s wits, they couldn’t find it in them to refuse.

"Wait," Michael called out.

Orion turned to him, about to say something.

"Here," Michael handed him a short sword that he brought out of his storage ring.

"Thanks," Orion nodded.

As he walked down the ramp of the Nexcraft, Orion’s mind buzzed with thoughts. He’d done right by telling them to remain put; they had zero fighting ability, the best they could do was stay out of his way and prevent further complications.

’What now? I’ve never fought a hostile human; the Field fangs could be fooled by petty tricks, a full-grown man wouldn’t. The odds are really against me, but for some reason, I’m kinda looking forward to it.’ Orion thought, his hands clenching in a nervous yet slightly excited feat.

He looked up, and standing there in all his glory was Harry, his brows pressed together in a scowl, already aware of their planned escape.

-DETECTED DANGER TOWARDS HOST

-QUEST GENERATED

SURVIVE:

Defeat individual Barnes Randyll and survive your first contact with a hostile human.

DURATION: -

REWARD:

+1 rank in proficiency.

ACCEPT/DENY?

If something at the back of his mind still held hope for a less-than-violent exchange, the system had completely cleared such thoughts.

’Accept,’ Orion thought.

"You really are one despicable little child," Harry said, the frown still on his face.

"I saved you from your misery, brought you to my home, fed you, and treated you with care, yet what do I get as repayment. Theft," He continued.

Orion’s mind worked, detailing the best way to go about this and survive, his mana flowing through him in response to his predicament.

"I have no idea where you’re from, Harry, but back home, prisoners aren’t exactly the nicest of people," Orion said, staring defiantly, hands holding a sword in front of him, his eyes scanning and waiting for any movement from his adversary.

Harry’s eyes widened in realization of his current situation being exposed, before staring at Orion’s actions and snorting.

’He’s not worried, well, he’s right not to be, most kids my age couldn’t even circulate their mana properly. I’ll take advantage of that’ Orion thought.

"How you came about such a theory is baffling to be candid, I’m as free as anyone can be. If-" Harry was about to continue.

"Oh, shut it, Barnes. For some reason, you believe your stupid act of being subtle is fooling anybody, well, news-flash, it’s not."

"I can read your eyes and actions like an open book."

"Deceit is for the wise, stop trying to emulate what your mind and body clearly cannot keep up with," Orion said, stopping whatever rubbish was about to come out of his mouth.

Harry, or rather Barnes’s eyes, widened before his face flushed with anger at being belittled by a child.

’Fuck, probably wasn’t the best idea to rile him up,’ Orion thought.

"How do you know my name?" Barne’s voice rose as he strode closer to Orion, a frown still on his face.

"Yeah, that’s confidential," Orion replied, his senses sharpening.

"How much do you know about me?" Barnes asked.

"Much more than I’d love to have in my head, Pedophile," Orion said with distaste.

Barnes frowned before turning his face to the Nexcraft.

"Is this some act of heroism? If it is, I suggest you stop now, you’d die before you-" His eyes slowly widened for the umpteenth time.

"No one’s coming for you," He said with a wide grin. His façade dropped completely.

"You little runt, you tricked me, you three are stranded here, that’s why you were trying to escape," He said, laughing.

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock," Orion replied with an eye roll.

Barnes didn’t understand what Orion meant by that phrase, but he could tell he was being mocked, so a frown appeared on his face, and now that he knew no one was coming for this loud-mouth brat, whatever restraint he had evaporated.

"You are dead, brat," He said with a chilling finality.

For a second, he man’s voice unsettled Orion before he dropped into his stance.

Barnes vanished from his position, his body a blur as he appeared behind Orion.

Orion’s sense rang as they alerted him of Barnes’s presence behind him.

His neck bent forward, swiftly dodging the blow sent to the back of his head.

A flash of surprise appeared on Barnes’ face as he wondered how a child had dodged such a strike.

Orion didn’t waste any second; he pivoted sharply, his arm lurching forward in a vertical strike, trying to sever his opponent’s left arm in a surprising burst of speed.

’Fast,’ Barnes thought, quickly side-stepping the attack.

Orion quickly took a few steps back, creating space between them, his sword in front of him.

’Tch, I guess trying to take his arm off in one strike was too optimistic,’ he thought with a frown.

Barnes looked at the boy with a certain gleam in his eyes.

’This should be fun,’ Barnes thought, a smile appearing on his face.

’What’s he smi-’

Orion couldn’t finish his thoughts when he felt nerve-wracking pain in his abdomen. Barnes appeared in front of Orion, knee deep in his guts, sending him flying in the opposite direction.

Orion coughed, his insides feeling like they’d been manhandled, tears forming at the edge of his eyes, yet he had no time to wallow in his pain; he could feel it, the bastard was coming.

He rolled on the ground from the impact of the hit before flipping himself to his feet, his eyes searching for his adversary.

His spatial senses alerted him again; he was caught off guard once, never again.

’Right,’ He thought.

His arm moved like it had a mind of its own; he struck horizontally, swift and hard, towards where he believed Barnes’s knee would be.

If Barnes had thought Orion’s earlier reaction was a fluke, now he knew the kid was the real deal.

He raised his left knee out of Orion’s strike range before striking directly, his legs snapping like taut string towards Orion’s neck.

Orion’s eyes had yet to catch up to the ongoing movement, but his senses picked up every movement like a clear picture reported directly to his mind.

He could feel the leg coming toward him, the way the surrounding air parted, pain, serious damage, his mind quickly concluded.

His knees loosened, his body willingly dropping to the ground as he dodged the hit, his sword in his right hand, turning until its edge faced upward.

Barnes wasted no time before bringing his legs in a hard stomp towards Orion’s grounded head.

Orion rolled out of the way before jumping to his feet, as the muscles in his arms flexed, bringing the sword upward in a devastating vertical strike towards Barnes’ crotch.

Barnes simply shifted out of the way, his legs gliding on the soil as though slipping through loose sand.

Orion didn’t fail to notice this as he got to his usual sword stance, panting slightly from mild exertion, his eyes finally catching up to his actions.

’Of course he can surf on the ground,’ Orion thought, annoyed.

"I underestimated you, yo-"

"Yeah, yeah. Save it, you’re a d-rated villain at best, don’t start some stupid monologue, your voice grates on my nerves," Orion said, his annoyance clear despite his dire situation.

Barnes’ face flushed red.

"You’re dead, boy".