Chapter 12: Run to the Rescue

“Ah! Leave me alone!” Melissa shouted as she activated an energy force field around her. She then confronted the people surrounding the force field, “What do all of you want with me?”

Drenched in sweat, her long and curly golden hair stuck to her face. She panted as the people fervently attacked the force field. She could not hold up for long.

“You offended our friend, which means you offended all of us,” one of the members replied.

Melissa furrowed her brows, “What do you mean? I do not know any of you!”

Just then, from a distance, a figure strolled into Melissa’s sight.

“Raphael! He is the cause of this nonsense!” Melissa’s eyes opened wide as she instantly recognized him.

She felt rising indignation as she suddenly expanded her force field and shoved away the people attacking it.

She shouted at Raphael, “What dirty trick are you playing on me? Why did you send these people to attack me?”

Raphael shook his head

Tsk, tsk, tsk…

“Why can you not speak nicely to me?” he put on a look of hurt and placed one hand on his broad chest.

Filled with anger, Melissa shot her biggest ball of energy toward Raphael who easily sidestepped it.

“What a stubborn little pretty girl,” Raphael snarled as he prepared to attack her.

Just then, Jon landed in front of Melissa and Raphael, “Hold it right there! What are you doing?”

He was prepared to face Raphael head-on. Now that he had received training from Master Hui, he was confident of putting up a decent fight against Raphael.

“I can distract him and buy enough time for Melissa to escape,” Jon told himself. He did not care as much about his own safety.

What a selfless young man!

Ha, ha, ha…

“This puny guy wants to stop me,” Raphael glared at Jon who neither blinked nor budged an inch.

Ha, ha, ha…

The members of Raphael’s gang joined him in laughing at Jon.

“I challenge you to a fight!” Jon determinedly shouted.

Raphael and his gang stopped laughing.

He was amused as he spoke to Jon, “You dare to challenge me?”

Jon resolutely nodded, “Just the two of us: you and me.”

He pointed at both of them for emphasis. He knew Raphael was full of dirty tricks and wanted to make sure the fight was as fair as possible.

“If I win, you and your gang will leave Mel and me in peace,” he negotiated.

Ha, ha, ha…

Raphael could not hold in his laughter, “He thinks he can win the fight!”

The rest of his gang chimed in.

“He has a loose screw!” one shouted as he guffawed.

“He is tired of living!” another proposed.

“Sure, I will fight you for the fun of it,” Raphael agreed as he cracked his neck and the knuckles on his hands. “I will have a good laugh at how you look when you are defeated.”

The members of Raphael’s gang then stepped behind their leader and stood in a straight line.

Knowing what was likely about to happen, Melissa hurried to dissuade Jon.

“It is too dangerous Jon. I do not want to see you hurt. Please do not do this!” Melissa pleaded with him as she grabbed his arm, her big blue eyes wide open with worry.

Jon shook his head and whispered to Melissa, “In the middle of the fight, run away as fast as you can.”

Before Melissa could say another word, Jon turned to face Raphael.

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Raphael stood with his saber on his shoulder while Jon held his sword in front of him, ready to attack at any moment.

Shing, shing, shing…

Raphael and Jon’s weapons hit each other and locked in position every time. They were on par in terms of brute strength.

“Not bad punk. You have improved,” Raphael had underestimated Jon.

Zap…

Raphael channeled energy to his sword to boost its strength. Jon did the same. However, the strength of his energy was not as high as Raphael’s.

Raphael smiled when he saw that he had an edge over Jon.

“Are you scared now?” Raphael teased.

Jon ignored his taunt and immediately employed a different tactic. He jumped on a tree branch nearby and shot multiple energy balls from it.

Raphael gracefully dodged the balls and shot some energy balls at him in return.

At lightning speed, Jon took shelter in the trees’ leaves and camouflaged perfectly in them.

“I need to preserve my energy,” Jon thought to himself. “I need to wear Raphael out to buy more time for our escape.”

In the meantime, Raphael grew impatient as he could not see his target.

“Come down here and fight me!” he challenged. “Are you hiding because you are scared?”

Ha, ha, ha…

Raphael’s gang laughed and cheered Raphael on.

Jon continued shooting energy balls from the tree.

Raphael instinctively generated a force field and deflected the balls toward Jon.

“Enough with the games!” Raphael exclaimed as he sent numerous razor-sharp energy shards at high speed toward the tree.

Pst, pst, pst…

The shards and deflected balls simultaneously hit the foliage. Jon had no time to protect himself from the massive attack.

While the leaves and branches shielded most of it from Jon, a few of them hit him.

“Ouch!” Jon checked his injuries while devising another plan. “I will attempt close combat with Raphael so that he cannot take his attention away from me.”

What Jon wanted to attempt was risky since he sustained injuries while Raphael did not.

However, Jon gradually felt a cool and soothing sensation spread over his injuries.

By the time Jon jumped down from the tree, his wounds had healed completely. That was one of the crystal’s power!

Thinking that Jon had managed to evade the recent attack, Raphael was shocked.

Jon, contrastingly, did not realize he was healed until he attempted his next move, which depended heavily on speed and force.

“Hiya!” Jon hit Raphael squarely in the stomach. He successfully launched an assault while Raphael was caught off guard.

Grr…

Unwilling to take it lying down, Raphael furiously fought back.

The two of them exchanged blows so quickly that they looked like a tornado.

Raphael’s moves were sharp and graceful while Jon’s were strong and stable. Neither of them was willing to back down.