“I broke through but it looks like they’re getting away… That’s not good.” Muttered the young Vampire Marquess.

“Should we chase after them?” Asked a member of his squad as she stepped forward.

Her voice was mature, in the group she was the one closest to him and unlike them, her mask had neither a frown nor a smile but rather a mixture between the two.

Half of it had the smile facing upwards while the other half had the smile facing downwards.

“Hm~~ If you tried you could probably catch up to them… But nah, it’s fine.” Said the young Vampire Marquess before taking a few steps back.

“The gift I’m about to give them will be more than worth it… I’ll put all my energy into this one.” He muttered with an excited grin hiding behind the mask.

“Very well.” Responded the lady before returning back into the group’s formation.

The young boy’s eyes locked onto the group moving from platform to platform above the air.

As he pulled back his arm once more, almost instantly, a rod manifested, letting out waves of lightning which cracked the surrounding ground’s sediment.

The lightning began to flow through his body, causing his hair spike upwards as electricity coated it. His eyes began to glow a deep blue from beneath the mask as cracks progressed across it.

[Lightning Manipulation…]

The butler who could feel the bloodlust and danger of the attack, suddenly stopped before thrusting his arm out towards him.

[Barrier Manipulation: Dense Hexagonal Layout]

Once again, countless hexagonal barriers formed in the air, linking with one another to create an even denser barrier. The butler who had moved ahead of time was able

The young boy’s feet dug into the ground, his legs and arms bulged with muscles and veins.

“Maxiumum… Lightning Javelin-”

Then, with a quick run up almost impossible to see with the regular human eye, he shifted all of his body’s weight into his arm and pushed forward with his body before launching the javelin right into the air towards the group.

[Maximum Lightning Javelin.]

*VVVBZZZZZTTTT!!!*

All the Vampire’s eyes widened as it reflected an approaching giant glowing blue bolt of lightning with a rod in it’s centre. It’s path and speed were irregular, almost impossible to perceive as it travelled in a zigzag fashion.

‘Either way it’s not making it’s way through-‘

*FWOOSH!*

The butler’s eyes widened, his thought was instantly wiped past his mind as the bolt suddenly appeared before him and the group.

A grin grew on his face in disbelief. Rather than breaking through the barrier, the bolt of lightning curved right past it in a zigzag fashion.

Their hearts sunk once they realised, by the time the other Vampires moved to react, it was already too late-

*CLANG!*

It was late for them, but as for Xavier who’d already foreseen this event and moved prior to them, he’d made it just in time.

Their pupils dilated as they stared at Xavier’s back, as his figure tanked the electric bolt and rod head on with his swords, stuck together in a cross.

‘Argh… Fuck it hurts!!! Even though I leapt at it and swung with all I had, this shit won’t fucking budge!!’ Xavier cursed inwardly with his arms trembling.

He could feel his arms burning as the lightning from the rod coursed through his veins. His muscles expanded as he grit his teeth, putting his absolute all into stopping the attack.

The butler, the maid, Sangrea, Viera, Elaine and the five members of the shadow defence squad all watched, dumbstruck as the sight unfolded before their eyes.

“Head butler!!” Xavier called out.

[Barrier Manipulation: Hexagonal Barrier Wall.]

*BAM!*

Xavier’s back crashed against a barrier which manifested behind him as the momentum and force from the rod pushed him back. Even so, he kept pushing with all he had.

But strangely even his all didn’t feel enough to stop him. Xavier

had beaten noble’s but that did not mean his strength was on par with a marquess, or even close. He’d beaten them because he took advantages of their weaknesses and the fact that they constantly underestimated him.

But this, this was different. This was a full powered attack from one of them.

–

“Oi, oi, oi… Am I seeing things right now?” Asked the Noble Marquess as he watched the sight unfold from below. “Is that Vampire actually trying to stop it? What an idiot.” The noble laughed.

The lady in the mask approached the young boy before adding. “He is truly a fool to try and stop one of your Javelins during a storm.”

“Yeah… On top of that… My Maximum Javelin just gets stronger by the second.”

–

Xavier’s eyes widened as he looked at his swords. Cracks were slowly progressing from the blade towards the handle. It was going to shatter at any second.

Seeing this Sangrea could no longer stand back, both her and Viera wanted to help. The moment they took a step forward to do anything however, they were pulled back by Elaine, the maid and the butler who stood before them.

“Don’t… You should know you wouldn’t be able to change anything. The best thing you could do rihgt now is get out of that thing’s range so he can dodge.”

Sangrea and Viera both closed their hands, clenching them into fists. They were furious, but he was right. “What are you waiting for? Get out of the attacks path!” She yelled.

–

The dark clouds above were circling around Xavier. Based on what he’d seen previously with the previous lightning javelin, he could feel it, a bolt of lightning was about to crash right down on him from the clouds above.

Unlike the javelin before him, actual lightning was much faster and harder to dodge. There was no way he’d be able to dodge in his position. And even if he could, there was a chance the rod would strike someone behind him.

He didn’t want to take the chance of it being someone important to him or not, not when he had yet to set the checkpoint with [Rewind.]

So instead of trying to avoid it, he decided to tank it all head on. The rod and the lightning strike, and right before dying, he’d use his [Full Body Recovery.] from one of his two [Level Up Options.]

*Rattle!* *Rattle!*

Xavier’s swords were trembling, the cracks progressed even further along the blades. His arms were burning, his heart was pounding from all the adrenaline as his health drastically dropped with every passing second.

[HP: 43/50 – 40/50 – 37/50 – 35/50]

There was no telling when the lightning would strike, there was no telling whether or not his swords would hold out, or whether the barrier behind him would collapse beforehand.

There were so many factors out of Xavier’s control that he ended up shutting off his thoughts and relying solely on his instincts and his one single desire.

To stop the attack.

[Gluttony: Devour.]

Whether it was due to his burning desire to stop the move, or the system intervening on it’s own to save his life was beyond Xavier.

But in that moment, it happened. The skill gluttony activated on it’s own and for a single moment, he was able to see a glimpse of it’s evolution and true potential.

*Spark!* *Spark!*

A red smoke could be seen slowly flowing out of Xavier’s mouth as his eyes glowed a bright crimson. His stomach growled before the electric energy from the lightning javelin began to stream into his mouth.