"ARGH!!!!" The Kessho groaned out In pain as he soared up into the sky - *CRUNCH!*

The dragon soared up into the clouds with the Kessho, disappearing off into the distance before returning down with him.

It's size had drastically increased as it returned back down.

*ROAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!!*

Dumbfounded, Lara watched as the dragon zoomed past the fleets before crashing down into the ground.

Still not believing her eyes, she looked over at Kylo and her heart sank.

She quickly kicked off at the ground, running towards him with a desperate look in her eyes.

There Kylo laid, at the end of the ship's deck, with his bloodied head hanging over the edge.

The floor of the deck ahead of him was completely torn up in a trail leading towards him, it was thanks to it that he was able to slow down from all the momentum.

But as a result... He had countless broken wooden pieces impaled into his back, his vision was fuzzy and he had completely forgotten his objective.

'What... What was I doing...?' He asked.

Part of it was from exhaustion from using the technique.

The main reason however was the impact. His entire body had become disfigured.

As he slowly shut his eyes to take a small nap, a bright golden blinding light manifested before him.

It forced his eyes opened, and what he saw after doing so was something he'd never be able to forget.

Golden feathery wings resembling that of an angel's manifested behind Lara's back. It was only an imitation.

[Divine Holy Healing.]

*ROAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!!*

"Another dragon?" Ruby asked as she looked over in the distance.

Charlotte looked over in the direction of the source causing the sound before smiling.

"This one's on our side." She responded.

"Yeah... A wind dragon, looks like Kylo was hiding a lot of potential." Said Rub as she winced while looking in the direction.

Thanks to her great sight, she could see it clearly.

"Still... What are we going to do about that? Have the Duke and the others already managed to invade the ship successfully?" Ruby asked.

"I hope so... The duke's strength is truly unparalleled, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he's our best fighter now that the king is dead."

Ruby's eye brow twitched as she heard that.

With blushing red cheeks, she looked over towards Charlotte before shaking her head.

"No... The best fighter we have right now is Gray without a doubt."

Despite her blushing, through her gaze alone Charlotte could tell that she was serious.

"I know... But we don't exactly have Gray, he's not a horned one and I doubt he'd just willingly work for us either."

"That man only does things that would be in his best benefit."

"The only way you way he'd be one of ours would be if he married you and became the new emperor."

Ruby's ears twitched, her cheeks blushed at an even stronger shade of red before she said. "M-Marrying Gray? T-Truly that sounds like a good idea..." She nodded to herself with her hand beneath her chin.

"B-But it's too soon!" She suddenly yelled out, pointing at Charlotte.

Charlotte smiled nervously and responded. "Is that the only thing part you heard?"

*Atchoo!*

Gray rubbed his nose and looked up at the ceiling.

'A bad omen?'

'No... Someone must be talking about me.'

He did a few stretches before staring down the door ahead of him

It had strange patterns inscribed on it with glowing vibrant red runes.

If this didn't spell out boss room, then he wasn't sure what would.

He took a step forward and moved his arm out to open it, btu right before he could.

*Clunk*

The gears of the door began to grind, and to his surprise the door opened on it's own.

"Oh."

After the door was fully open, Gray's eyes widened.

Through the door he could see a large room, and inside were a group of Kessho's all lined up along side each other on the wall.

There red eyes stared at Gray but neither of them made a move.

At the very end of the room there was a large window panel which allowed one to look out of the ship. Standing ahead of the large panel was but one man.

His black and white hair and similarly matching clothes made him stand out.

He had his back turned to Gray and was staring outside through the glass panels at the flashing lights happening outside.

The battle was raging on.

It wasn't just his attire but the calm aura protruding around him. Gray didn't need to ask to be able to tell.

He was their leader.

"Quite a warm welcome." Gray muttered as he stepped into the room with a smile.

*SHUT!*

The moment he entered the door behind him snapped shut before glowing a strong deep red which indicated that he was locked inside.

Gray looked back at the door before looking over at them.

The moment he had completed his turn, a fist appeared before.

It was one of the countless Kessho's lined up alongside the wall, the closest one.

*WHAM!*

[Immobile Fortress.]

Grah's head hadn't moved an inch despite receiving the punch.

The kessho on the other hand was suspended in the air.

Gray [Unpaused.] himself and his head cocked back with a burst of wind. The Kessho had a strong punch.

But after what he had gone through in the canteen.

For Gray it was nothing but-

"Disappointing."

*Stab*

Gray's Katana pierced right through the Kessho's chest where his heart supposedly was. A split second later, the Kessho's neck was slashed off.

[Unpause.]

*CRASH!*

Gray slammed the Kessho's head into the ground beside him. The Kessho's body fell over right ahead of Gray.

[You have killed a Kessho!]

[Update!]

[You have killed a Kessho Captain!]

[You earned 160 XP]

[Kessho Captains have red eyes and a superior combat prowess in comparison to regular Kessho's]

'Oh, looks like the evolution is helping with the info. I've been Killing captains all this time but it only updated now.' He remarked sarcastically.

Gray crouched down and looked at the room filled with Kessho captains ahead of him.

They were all observing him and had yet to make their moves.

"Good thing you closed the door." Said Gray.

In an instant, a surge of blood lust burst out from within him. It was directed at every individual Kessho in the room, not just the leader.

"I'm not trapped in here with you all... You're all trapped in here with me." He muttered before taking a step forward.

One of the Kessho's on the very last row spoke up.

"Based on my information, he can stop freeze you in place with a touch and freeze your weapons with a glance."

"Second... He can also teleport around."

"And lastly, it's suspected that he has control over time."

The leader who heard this turned around and looked at Gray.

His eyes were clouded in darkness, his expression was still, completely lacking emotion. He almost resembled a puppet in a way.

"Kill him." He ordered.

At that instant, they all kicked off the wall charging at Gray.

Row by row, they all moved in to attack with their bare hands and abilities.

[Leaf Manipulation...]

[Poison Manipulation...]

[Heat Manipulation...]

[Horn Manipulation...]

[Rock Manipulation...]

Lights flashed across the room from every direction.

A multitude of abilities were simultaneously fired at Gray, all of them at the same time.

[Pause Step!]

Gray appeared in the air above them, gripping tightly onto his sword.

*GRAB!*

A Kessho with wings grabbed onto his arm throwing him over to a nearby wall.

[Pause.]

Upon releasing him, the Kessho found himself suspended in the air, while Gray suddenly appeared above him.

*Tear*

Gray tore off both of his wings simultaneously upon unpausing him, causing him to groan out in pain.

*Stab!*

He instantaneously slashed off the Kessho's head a split second after, before getting launched by antoher one from behind.

[You killed a Kessho captain.]

[You earned 155 XP]

With his body spinning around in the air, the abilities which had missed him were all fired at him at once.

[Fast Forward!]

Gray fast forwarded all the way towards the wall, but as a result of his miscalculation he ended up fast-forwarding right towards a Kessho with lights being emitted from her fists.

[Combo Manipulation: Five Hits]

*WHAM!*

Short pearl copper hair, and crimson red eyes. Based on her figure alone, she was incredibly fit and powerful.

The one hit on his head, caused his had to sway left and right repeatedly five times.

It was as if five blows were compacted into that one hit.

He was blasted away towards the projectiles directed at him.

[Pause Level 3: Chronos Field!]

A ten-meter-wide field manifested around him as he paused himself in the air to cancel his momentum and not be thrown out of the field.

[Pause.]

To Gray's surprise, after a single blink he found himself in a completed different location than before.

He was standing in the middle of the entire group and countless attacks with countless attacks heading right at him.

[Swap Manipulation: Swapping Places]

He grinned as he looked over to his field. Inside there was a Kessho standing at the spot he was before.

He had swapped places.

Gray couldn't hold back his excitement, his forehead began to glow as the attacks drew closer to him.

[Mark Of The King First Stage: Activating...]

'Stop time.' The thought flashed through his mind.

At that instant, with the attacks just a breath away, everything froze.

Time had stopped.