Chapter 227

After escaping the cavern, Bruce could be seen running through the tunnel in the wall at full speed.

He refused to slow down even after the beast ceased giving chase.

The total absence of light in the passage had no effect on him, as he was able to peer into the oppressive darkness with his incredible vision.

While he was sprinting, a deep frown etched across his face.

"Bruce! What the fuck are you doing?! Turn back now!" Ray screamed inside the mind space.

He was currently standing over the werewolf who occupied the chair, focused entirely on his path.

However, the werewolf gave no reply whatsoever and made no attempt to return to the cavern.

"BRUCE! Are you deaf?! I said turn back now!" Ray bellowed, his hand stretched out to grab onto the werewolf.

Before he could make contact, though, Bruce turned his head to sneer at him.

"What do you think you are doing?!"

Ray clenched his fists, subconsciously wanting to swirl his Meta-Force around his body in order to summon his ability.

Unfortunately, nothing manifested due to his utter lack of MF.

"You just abandoned them to die back there!" the Tribrid argued loudly, his voice echoing through the mental void.

Bruce lifted an eyebrow. "So? Why do you care?"

Ray clenched his jaws tight, his teeth audibly grinding back and forth. "I care because my best friend is stuck there! How could you do this?!"

While they bickered, Bruce didn’t stray from the path, delving deeper and deeper into the winding tunnel.

"Well, if the heavens say it’s his time, who am I to say no?" the werewolf shrugged nonchalantly.

Ray froze.

His gnashing teeth paused as his eyes narrowed into slits at the creature’s callous words.

"What did you just say? You don’t care if Van dies?"

Bruce slowly turned his head to face the boy with a cold, detached look.

"I don’t give a damn about his life. Now sit your ass back down; otherwise, I will forget you own this body and give you a beat down to let you know who’s boss. All I care about is not letting this vessel die. Whoever else perishes doesn’t concern me."

Elyon heard a faint trickle and turned to see that Ray’s fingers had elongated to dangerous lengths.

They were digging into his palms, drawing blood.

Each crimson drop landed on the ground with a sound like water hitting the marble flooring of an empty hall.

’Wait. Is he transforming his hands? I thought he could only use his lightning ability in here,’ Elyon thought, watching the tension escalate.

"Bruce," Ray called out slowly, his voice sounding like a deadly monster being awakened.

"Get. Out. Of. That. Chair. Now." Ray dragged out his words, spitting them one by one as he stared daggers into the werewolf’s back.

Without turning around, the werewolf snickered. "Make me."

"....."

’Damn. This is bad. Because Ray had given up full control, Bruce will use it to the end. He won’t let the control slip from his grasp. This is bad...’ 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The air crackled at the point where Ray’s gaze met Bruce’s head.

There was a long, stretching moment of silence, and then—

Chaos!

"Get out!" Ray screamed as he bolted toward the werewolf in the chair.

Hearing the shout, Bruce turned his head to glare at the charging boy.

Without hesitation, he hauled his hand through the air, unleashing a jagged, straight obsidian line of energy that sped toward Ray at tremendous velocity.

’This is faster than what I used to produce,’ Ray mused inwardly as he swiftly vaulted off the ground with all his might.

He dodged the jagged energy by the skin of his teeth as it rushed past him, slamming into the deep darkness of the mind space.

A low boom resonated in the distance.

Ray clenched his teeth and touched down before lunging forward, closing the distance between himself and the chair in a single breath.

His hand stretched forward, ready to grab the werewolf and overthrow him.

Just a fraction away from the werewolf’s collar, Bruce tilted his head, causing the boy’s hand to brush harmlessly past.

Slamming his own hands onto the armrests of the chair, Bruce held them tightly and kicked off, hammering his legs sideways toward Ray’s abdomen.

The boy squeezed his jaws tightly and kicked the air, leaping backward and dodging the strike by a narrow window.

Outwardly, the physical body had paused a meter away from the tunnel exit as Bruce’s concentration was broken by the internal struggle.

Without losing a breath, the moment Bruce’s feet smashed into the air, they produced a thunderous bang that shook the very foundations of the mind space.

Simultaneously, a dozen jagged slashes of obsidian energy erupted from his toes, rocketing toward the boy like lethal projectiles.

Ray didn’t have a single moment to catch his breath.

As he landed back on the mental floor, he was immediately forced onto the defensive.

He began weaving and dashing around with immense velocity, trying to find a gap in the barrage.

Unfortunately, some of the obsidian slashes bypassed his guard.

They tore through his side and slammed into his thigh, causing him to bleed.

The impact slowed him down for a few crucial moments—just enough time for Bruce to land back into the seat, seize control once more, and continue his frantic run.

Ray tightened his jaws and pushed off with tremendous power, determined to close the distance.

Bruce ignored him entirely, focused on the fact that he was now at the exit of the tunnel.

With a swift, powerful leap, the physical body landed in another, smaller cavern that looked eerily similar to the one Ray and Van had fallen into earlier.

But the moment he landed in the chamber, Ray finally reached him within the mind space.

His hands reached out, grabbing the werewolf by the shoulder, ready to hurl him off the throne of control when—

The boy paused.

From the brief physical touch, a sensory bridge formed, allowing Ray to catch a glimpse of what Bruce was staring at in the outside world.

What he saw made his jaw drop in absolute horror.

His grip loosened as he finally turned his attention toward the only light source in the room—the mental screen displaying the outside world.

Now he realized that what he had glimpsed wasn’t a trick of the mind; it was terrifyingly real.

And what did he see?

Dead bodies.

Dozens of freshly mangled corpses lay motionless across the floor of the cavern.

"The—these are the other Aspirants that got swallowed by those strange tree trunks earlier!" he exclaimed, his voice trembling with shock.