Rise of the Crusader

Chapter 9: Raphael Vs Adrian

“There are no rules and regulations in this battle, everything goes. You can as well as kill each other in there.”

“I should also inform you that the barrier can withstand any attack whatsoever, so the both of you shouldn’t hold anything back,” Hector said with a smile on his face.

Adrian had a demonic smile on his face as he stared at Raphael, “Hehehehehe!!!! I’m going to destroy you.” He exclaimed, and the moment he heard ‘Start’ he launched himself at Raphael.

With his hand already clenched into fists, Adrian sent out a full-force punch at Raphael’s face the instant he got to him.

Raphael took several steps backward once he felt the punch that had just been thrown at him. Considering the strength gap between the both of them, it would quite a foolish thing if he were to respond to that fist with one of his own.

He moved back and eluded Adrian’s punch, right about when he dodged that punch, Adrian struck another one at him. But the situation was just like the first one, as Raphael swiftly moved away.

While Raphael couldn’t match up with Adrian in terms of strength, his terrific reflexes made it so that despite how powerful Adrian was, he wasn’t able to land a punch on his body.

.....

However, the situation changed very quickly, as Adrian’s excited voice rang out, “Got you!” Adrian might be hotheaded, but he was observant, and after every punch of his being eluded, he began to discern Raphael’s movement.

He continued to feed himself the knowledge, and when the right chance, as well as opening, Adrian immediately made a move. By executing a fake right kick, Raphael moved his body to the left, only for him to see Adrian appear beside him.

The pace at which Adrian took, increased the chances of his punching landing on Raphael’s face successfully this time around. And a few seconds for that to happen, the mocking voice of Raphael suddenly sounded.

“Oh really!”

Adrian saw the smirk which had just appeared on Raphael’s face, and before he even realized what was going on, his fist bypassed Raphael who lowered his upper body, then with his left leg raised slightly, he sent a fierce kick at Adrian smug face with his right foot.

“Oh... My... Godd!!” The people around the arena were appalled when they saw Adrian stagger several steps backward after Raphael’s kick. If it wasn’t because he quickly covered his face with his right hand, he would have even moved a couple more steps backward.

Everyone, including Hector, was still stunned by how the situation had changed when a loud explosion blast suddenly rang out.

BOOM!

The instant Raphael landed on both feet, he didn’t even wait for Adrian to stabilize himself, he brought a small cylindrical weapon out of his ring, and threw it at him.

It was just as Hector had said, the barrier was able to withstand any attack. The arena shook violently, but the barrier had contained the damage so well that the explosion didn’t affect those outside.

“Damn! He has let the academy know our secret. We have been keeping a low profile, so you all wouldn’t feel intimidated. Sigh... Now, the good days are over.” Aiden spoke in a decisive voice.

His words made the students who were around him stare at him with perplexed expressions on their faces. The female student was already staring at him with adoration in their eyes.

Who didn’t want to have a powerful partner, especially when it was in a place where even the vilest and evil deeds were permitted?

As for Devon, he rolled his eyes when he heard Aiden, “Intimidated my ass!” Devon mumbled. He, however, couldn’t deny that he didn’t like the way everyone was staring at him and Aiden.

“I WILL KILL YOU!!!!!!”

Once the smoke on the arena cleared, a furious voice rang out, and a second after a figure was revealed.

It was Adrian. But his appearance took a huge change, whether it was his face which had now turned black or his uniform which was torn apart, he had come unrecognizable. If it wasn’t because they had seen him go to the arena, then they would have assumed that it was someone else.

Raphael suddenly broke into a smile, “I threw just one toy, and you want to kill me, what will you do when I do this then.” As Raphael spoke, a small sack appeared in his hand.

Adrian’s eyes twitched when he saw the sack that had just appeared, “Y-You...” His body shook, and a look of dismay appeared on him when Raphael brought out of a similar cylindrical weapon that he threw at him earlier.

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

The loud explosion sound soon reverberated the surrounding, as once Raphael took out the weapon from the sack, he launched it at Adrian. And a few seconds after, he brought another one out, also throwing it at him.

The cycle continued until there was nothing more left in the sack. Throughout the entire moment, a smile hung on Raphael’s face as he threw the weapon.

“What the hell... He has to be the devil incarnate.” Among the student who was around the arena, one of them said with a stunned expression on his face.

“Jackson, are you still going to face him when this is over?” The fight between Raphael and Adrian had spread around the year-1 and year-2, and when the year-1 elite division heard of it, they rushed to the arena right away.

Jackson raised an eyebrow when he heard his classmate teasing, “There won’t be a need for that anymore, he is good.” Jackson said. He was then met by the laughter of the elite division students.

The fact that Raphael was dominating a battle with a year-2 student showed just how capable he was.

Meanwhile, Hector’s hands were clenched into a tight fist, and a deep frown could be seen on his face. “I bet you didn’t see any of this coming. You see, this is the reason the elite-” Bryan suddenly paused when the surrounding became enveloped in a cold aura.

“I admit, I underestimated that student of yours, but you shouldn’t forget the family which Adrian is from.”

Hector had just spoken when dark particles filled the arena, and Adrian appeared in front of everyone. The last time they saw him, he was being bombarded with explosions, but now Adrian’s body was wrapped around by an unusual particle.

The dark particle seemed to have become a part of his body, as they moved about him, but the only area of his body, that they didn’t advance to was his face.

Along the dark particle that had just emerged was also an intense killing intent brimming out of Adrian’s eyes as he glared at Raphael, “You will wish you were never born!” He uttered in a cold voice.

Everyone around the arena had become quiet, as they watched Adrian’s transformation unfold, and when he dashed towards Raphael, they were startled by every one of his movements.

“We are dead!” Aiden muttered.

Raphael was having to face multiple attacks not only from Adrian himself but also from the dark particles around him. The particles stretched themselves like a web and began to attack him from different directions.

Raphael was in a very difficult position, as he had to run around the arena, dodging both the dark particle attacks and Adrian, who was also coming at him.

It was already problematic enough, and when about five different more webs materialized from Adrian, Raphael suffered an attack from one of them. “Urgh!” He bit his lips, as the particles penetrated into his right shoulder.

The others were now approaching Raphael at a quicker pace, as the hit he suffered immobilized him for a few seconds, and that was the moment they needed to deliver an even more fatal attack.

However, before they got to Raphael, a figure had appeared in front of him. It was Adrian, with his hand wrapped around with that dark particles, that he struck a punch at Raphael’s face.

Adrian’s punch didn’t stop at just one, after delivering the first one, he began sending out more, and even involved both of his hands. “Pfffftttt!” Raphael spat out a mouthful amount of blood, as his body was bombarded with different attacks.

BANG!

As Adrian leaped, he struck a kick that had Raphael staggering several steps backward. “Urgh!” Raphael blurted as Adrian sent him towards the particles.

They pierced right through his body, and it was only because Raphael was able to adjust his body that one of them didn’t puncture through his heart.

Bryan’s mouth opened slightly, as the table had switched sides, and with the barrier in place, there was no way he could pull Raphael out of this mess. All he could do was hope Raphael could survive the remaining seven minutes.

“Devon, I thought you said, he had a high chance of coming out of this alive. There are still seven more minutes, and look what’s happening!!!” Aiden mumbled as he stared at Raphael, who was bleeding all over.

Devon’s eyebrows furrowed, “My calculation was wrong, I didn’t expect Adrian to have gotten better at controlling his powers.” He muttered.

Just like his father, and brothers, Adrian possessed the power to manipulate dark powers. He could create, shape, and manipulate darkness and shadows.

He was from a household where darkness was a friend, an ally.

As Devon and Aiden stared at Raphael, who found it difficult to stand properly, fear and panic swept over them. Even Bryan was worried as if anything were to happen to Raphael, he would have to answer to Serena.

The only person who was familiar with Raphael, and wasn’t concerned about him, was Gus. Gus stood on top of Devon’s head, with its eyes shut closed.

“If you think you can survive the remaining seven minutes, then you’re terribly wrong because I will shred you into pieces before then.”

There was no remorse or pity in Adrian’s eyes as he stared at Raphael, whose clothes were covered in his blood. He pointed his index finger at Raphael and a beam of darkness materialized.

Adrian was about to release the beam of darkness which he had just formed when he suddenly heard a roar of laughter coming from the person who was in front of him.

“Hahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!”

Raphael broke into a demonic smile, “You’re right. There’s no way you’re going to get out of this place alive.” Raphael uttered, then removed the gloves which he had on.

The instant the gloves come off his hand, it was as though Raphael was a different person. The aura which was brimming out of his body was entirely different, and his eyes shimmered with killing intent.

BOOM!!!!

Adrian didn’t wait for Raphael to move before he released the dark beam. The loud sound of the blast rang out in the surrounding, and the area in which the beam struck was distorted.

The beam of very powerful, and there was no doubt if it were to come in contact with Raphael, what would be left of him would be pieces of his bone. “How... Come?” Adrian had been waiting to see the sight of Raphael’s scattered bones, but instead, he was surprised to find no one or even bones in the area.

With the injuries which Raphael had suffered, Adrian found it impossible that Raphael was about to move away from the attack, but he did.

Adrian then gathered dark particles around him because he knew that Raphael could appear out of nowhere, however, he was surprised to find Raphael in front of him. “Die!!!” A second after and Raphael struck a fist at him.

With the disparity in strength between the two of them, there was no way Adrian would choose to evade this punch, and he immediately sent out a punch of his own.

Adrian was a B-rank metahuman, with an overall of 35,855 whereas Raphael was a C-rank. Apart from his reflexes being far better than Adrian, and his speed close to his, there was no other aspect which Raphael could match up to Adrian.

It was predestined that once Adrian’s fist came in contact with Raphael, Raphael would have his whole arms crushed from the impact. But just when the first was to collide, Raphael loosens his grip and held Adrian’s hands.

The ground shook violently, and Raphael felt his whole body quiver when he decided to hold that punch. He would have been swept away by the impact, but he steadied himself and stood in position.

If Raphael had struck a fist of his own then the collision would have only destroyed his arm, but by grabbing it, he allowed his body to deal with the damage.

“Fool!” It was Adrian’s voice that rang out.

As Raphael vomited another blood from his head, he lowered his head, but when he raised it, a sinister smile could be seen on his face, “You have lost!” Raphael declared, then tightened his grip on Adrian’s hand.

Adrian’s eyebrows furrowed when he heard Raphael. His eyes soon twitched, and his body trembled when he saw his right hand begin to rot. One finger crumbled first, and before he even knew what was happening, he had lost his five fingers.

Once the fingers were gone, the decaying process of his hand advanced and his right palm was no more. “Y-You...” Before Adrian could even get the rest of the words out of his mouth, Raphael slammed his palm on his right chest.

Adrian staggered backward, his eyes widened right away as he could feel the same thing that happened to his right hand begin to occur all over. The bones and cells in his right chest began to rot rapidly.

.....

“Help... Me!” With much difficulty, he turned toward the people outside and mumbled out those words.

A few seconds after he had spoken, Raphael clenched his right hand into a fist, and struck an uppercut at Adrian, “Aaaarghhhhh!!!!” With blood splattering all over the arena, the uppercut raised Adrian in the air, and right when he was going to hit the ground, Raphael delivered a fierce kick that sent him flying.

Raphael then wiped the blood which was oozing out of his mouth, as he had overexerted himself to pull those off.

He took steady steps, till he got to Adrian, who was on the ground. Despite the severe state in which he was, and his breathing coming erratically, Raphael wanted to finish the job.

However, as he raised his foot wanting to smash it on Adrian’s face, he felt a stab in the neck. Raphael stretched his hand towards his neck, and as he took out the needle that had just stabbed him, a frown appeared on his face.

He soon began to feel dizzy, and a second later he fell to the ground.

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