Chapter 19: Not As Dangerous

Rayleigh wasn’t planning on letting the Ascendant-Ranked Runer launch the first attack on him again.

It was a lesson well learnt.

► [Plasma Stun Gun Selected]

Particles began gathering in the air, condensing together until they formed the shape of a weapon. The Plasma Stun Gun materialized into existence in Rayleigh’s hand.

It looked different than it had the last time he used it. It was bigger, more powerful and more refined. His system upgrade had upgraded his weapons as well.

He was now holding a Level 3 Plasma Stun Gun.

Cassandra Moon seemed taken aback momentarily.

Rayleigh’s ability wasn’t something she had ever seen before.

She had no idea what kind of weapon he had just summoned, and she didn’t have enough time to dwell on it because Rayleigh pointed the gun at her and fired.

A dangerous plasma beam shot forward with terrifying speed, burning through the air as it traveled toward Cassandra.

Cassandra acted swiftly.

She dropped her body and rolled across the ground, narrowly avoiding the beam as it passed over her.

The plasma beam struck a metal pole a few meters behind her, its impact left a wide dent in the metal, which immediately began sizzling and dripping like candle wax.

Seeing Rayleigh’s ferocious attack, Cassandra’s eyes changed.

She slammed her foot into the ground, sending a powerful vibration through the concrete.

Rayleigh had predicted the attack, but he lacked the necessary speed to evade it.

The force erupted beneath him and knocked him off his feet, launching him into the air whilst rattling all two hundred and six bones in his body.

Before Rayleigh could recover, Cassandra pushed off the ground with intense force; the vibration beneath her feet propelled her forward, allowing her to converge with Rayleigh in mid-air and close the distance between them.

Her fist was already coated in concentrated vibrational force and she violently drove it straight into Rayleigh’s gut.

A bone-shaking shockwave exploded through his body.

►[ -8 HP ]

[ HP: 7/20 ]

"Ahhh!" Rayleigh gritted his teeth as the force sent him flying through the air before he plummeted toward the ground.

His body slammed into the ground with a loud thud.

Cassandra descended with such gracefulness that she barely seemed affected by the exchange.

She had barely even broken a sweat.

"You’re not as dangerous as they say you are." Cassandra looked almost disappointed that Rayleigh wasn’t putting up much of a fight against her.

Rayleigh slowly pushed himself up, pain spreading through his body.

’Damn it! She’s far too strong. I’ll need to fight smarter.’

He glanced at the weapon still in his hand.

’Does this Stun Gun have any special ability?’

As if responding to his thoughts, the ARS appeared before his eyes.

► [Plasma Stun Gun — Special Ability Available]

► [Broad Spectrum Plasma: Releases a wide-spectrum plasma discharge that shocks all targets within range, disrupting their nervous systems and temporarily impairing movement.]

► [Effectiveness decreases with distance and the number of targets affected.]

► [This skill reduces the weapon’s energy drastically.]

Rayleigh’s eyes widened slightly, realizing that could actually work.

► [Broad Spectrum Plasma Activated]

The Plasma Stun Gun suddenly began charging.

A strange hum filled the air as energy gathered around its barrel.

The plasma didn’t form into a single beam this time. Instead, it expanded outward, forming a wide field of charged plasma that distorted the air around it.

Rayleigh pulled the trigger.

The first Broad Spectrum Plasma surged toward Cassandra.

She immediately recognized that something was different; she thrust both hands forward and released a powerful vibration.

The vibration collided with the incoming plasma field, disrupting its structure and scattering much of the energy before it could reach her.

But while she focused entirely on the first attack, Rayleigh had fired another.

The second Broad Spectrum Plasma came immediately but acting a bit too late, the plasma field engulfed her.

Bolts of electricity surged through her body; her muscles seized and her movements stopped.

For a brief moment, the powerful Ascendant stood completely frozen in place as the plasma discharge disrupted her nervous system.

Rayleigh grinned as he finally got a clean hit on the Silvered agent. ’Not so invincible after all!’

But Rayleigh knew better than to waste the opportunity.

Before Cassandra could recover, he tossed the Plasma Stun Gun aside, selecting his second energy weapon.

► [Gamma Requiem Selected]

The particles surrounding his hand shifted immediately and a much heavier weapon materialized in his grasp.

Remembering this gun had a special active skill, Rayleigh wasted no time in using its.

► [Gamma Collapse Activated]

Rayleigh tightened his grip around the weapon.

Now, radiation was generally toxic to humans, but Runers had developed a major resistance to it.

That resistance, however, didn’t make them completely invincible and Rayleigh intended to find out exactly how much Cassandra could withstand.

He aimed the heavy energy weapon at Cassandra Moon, who was still recovering from the Broad Spectrum Plasma.

The weapon began pulsing as energy compressed inside its core until the air around the barrel seemed to distort.

Rayleigh pulled the trigger, releasing an almost invisible beam of gamma radiation that blasted forward like a cannon ball that Cassandra hadn’t even seen coming

BOOM!

The effect was devastating; a violent burst of gamma energy detonated around Cassandra, consuming everything within its four-meter radius.

The ground was scorched black, nearby metal sizzled and melted from the combined heat and radiation of the blast.

Even the remnants of the plasma attack had left the surrounding area damaged.

"Holy mother of dune!" Rayleigh exclaimed, staring through the smoke.

"Those attacks are strong, far stronger than anything I could have done before my system upgrade!"

But as the smoke began to clear, his expression slowly changed because Cassandra was still standing.

Her Silvered armour was damaged, and there were visible signs that the attack had hurt her, but the damage was nowhere near what Rayleigh had expected.

His attacks had barely done any substantial damage against Cassandra Moon!

Then Cassandra lifted her head, her eyes were no longer calm; she was enraged.

The air around her began to vibrate, sending Rayleigh’s instincts into a frenzy.

Cassandra unleashed her power, a wave of vibrational force erupted from her body, tearing across the field.

Rayleigh threw himself to the side, missing the attack by inches, and slamming into the ground behind him, sending chunks of concrete flying through the air.

Releasing five more attacks, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Cassandra was no longer attacking with the same meticulous control she had displayed earlier.

She was now attacking with rage.

Every movement sent vibrations through the surrounding area, cracking the ground.

Even nearby structures trembled and metal poles bent under the pressure.

Rayleigh managed to avoid most of the attacks, but even when they missed him, he could still feel the pressure of everything Cassandra was throwing at him.

’She’s super pissed. I could use that in my favour.’

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