Chapter 141 - True Thunderclap

Rynold felt conflicted.

As he continuously ran, Rynold had doubts as to why he keeps getting thrown into responsibilities.

From the day that the New World started, Rynold had gotten bigger and bigger duties. The most recent one of which is to stop the Duke. Granted, he was going to stop the guy, anyway. That was always part of the plan.

But... Why is it always him?

His predicaments seemed to have gradually gotten worse. And, currently, there was just a lot at stake.

'The power to change fate? What kind of bullshit is that?'

It was the most fraudulent, overly convoluted bullshit that Rynold has ever heard. The worst of it was the fact that Rynold had no choice in refuting such power. He was stuck with it.

Rynold let out a deep sigh as he ran up the main road.

As Rynold and X kept moving forward, the sky seemed to have only gotten darker. It wouldn't surprise him if the sky suddenly started pouring rain.

Regardless, though, he could finally see a shroud of black mist just over the horizon. It was still a bit of a way to get to it, sure, but, at least, they could finally spot it.

'It's moving a lot slower than I thought.'

With the considerable amount of time between the Duke and Rynold's departures, Rynold was sure that the Duke would have gotten to the castle by now.

So, why the hell was he so slow?

During the brief moment when Rynold had contact with the Duke, it appeared that the man was sick. It was even safe to assume that the guy should be in bed and resting.

However, it was still just as clear that his magic was far stronger. The decrepit old man facade never really worked for Rynold, considering how he almost died at the Duke's hands. If he had that much power in him, why was he moving so slowly?

'Something's not right.'

He was still quite a distance from the black mist, but Rynold was sure that he was catching up to him. The black mist seemed to get nearer and nearer as he got closer.

However, the rate at which it got nearer seemed to have been too fast. It meant that the Duke must be moving slowly intentionally.

As Rynold and X got closer, the more Rynold was sure that the Duke's speed was intentional. The warning signs that Rynold had in his head made him stop in his tracks.

"X."

The Mech Knight stopped along with him. But, before Rynold could actually say anything, thunder rumbled.

Sounds of thunder echoed along the main road, prompting Rynold to look up. From there, he saw that the lightning didn't come from the sky.

No, it was coming from one of the buildings.

'What the hell is he doing?'

With just a single glance, Rynold immediately knew that Leo was the one responsible for this. After all, who else would have that kind of power?

Motioning the Mech Knight to stay put, for the time being, Rynold pulled out his Miniature Floating Platform. He then climbed aboard and hovered to where the light was flashing.

As he slowly approached, Leo screamed just within Rynold's earshot.

"Thunderclap's Exit!"

Suddenly, pure electricity shot out the walls. Rynold, unaware of what it was, activated Formless Mana Defense on reflex.

Electricity went out in all directions. The floor the Leo was currently in was no more as the rampaging electricity extended throughout the entire floor.

'The hell?'

Rynold, from the outside, was also taking the brunt of the hit. What's more, his Formless Mana Defense was constantly being chipped away.

Luckily, it seemed that his defense could withstand the electricity for a long period of time. It was a tiny benefit from upgrading his Mana Core.

However, it was still rough. The electricity didn't seem to let up and was only getting stronger by the second. Rynold thought it couldn't get any worse until he accidentally looked up.

The thunderclouds in the sky seemed to be attracted to what was happening.

The previously dark clouds were no longer as quiet as before. Lightning seemed to be coming down onto the ground in reaction to Leo's Thunderclap's Exit.

Boom!

Lightning struck the main road just a few feet away from where X was standing. It was by some craptastic luck that the Mech Knight wasn't hit. He was practically a lightning rod, with him being made of metal and all.

Unfortunately, that was just the beginning.

After the first descended, another followed. This time around, though, it managed to hit its mark. X bore the entirety of the lightning strike as he stood there, unmoving.

Rynold, however, had no chance to help the Mech Knight. He was too busy trying to survive the electric strikes coming from Leo.

'No way am I going to go down in a freak accident.'

With a determined look on his face, Rynold concentrated everything he could on his defensive Mana. If he so much as let up once, Rynold would surely die.

'I can definitely do this. No big deal.'

Rynold hyped himself up as he concentrated deeply on his task. If there were somebody watching, they'd assume that Rynold must've been mad to do that in a middle of a thunderstorm. However, Rynold's concentration resembled that of a deeply meditative trance.

As far as Rynold could tell, if the storm were to get any stronger, he would undoubtedly get screwed. However, his concentration on maintaining his defenses would buy him enough time to survive. All he had to wait for now was for Leo to finish casting.

Which, unfortunately, did not seem like it would end anytime soon.

Regardless, Rynold held on. He had to. He was barely hanging on with his Formless Mana Defense all the while, X seemed to be standing still.

The Mech Knight was motionless. He had been struck multiple times by lightning as it stands. And, as the situation continued to worsen, more lightning struck down. Whether the Mech Knight can withstand all of those strikes from above was something yet to be seen.

As the two bore the forefront of the electrical attacks, Leo was having the time of his life.

Well, it wasn't anything like that, but his current situation was pretty fun.

Currently, he was at the third and final building that housed opponents. When he fought against the enemies in the first two buildings, Leo had gotten used to his abilities.

However, Leo had no clear gauge of what his spells would look like with the buff that Renegade of Storms gives.

Truthfully, Leo knew that casting Thunderclap's Exit on three people may have been excessive. But, his curiosity had gotten the better of him.

He really wanted to try his Thunder-Attributed spells out, especially when Renegade of Storms was active.

Naturally, Leo definitely thought that his actions served no consequences. He was alone and isolated. The only people around him were his enemies. It was an opportune time to use a spell that caused omnidirectional damage.

However, once he cast it, it seemed uncontrollable.

The smile on his face instantly faded as soon as he realized that pure electricity was too wild to control. No, it was more accurate to call it being too powerful.

Still, he decided to double down and focused.

His surroundings started to fill with light. The enemies that were standing before him were no more. It was clear that the electricity he had so playfully controlled before was nowhere to be seen.

'Shit, gotta focus.'

Leo's electrical Mana was spreading out of his body and into the open air. He had to find a way to close the lid.

'This power is mine. Mine alone to control. Mine alone to wield.'

Leo started to chant a personal mantra. One that he had made on the fly to calm himself down. Repeating the same words over and over, his Mana started to subside.

Soon, the sound of rumbling thunder slowly became quieter. And, with that, the rumbling thunder clouds were no more, and Leo felt utterly calm and serene.

His mind was just like the calm after a storm.

Opening his eyes and breathing a sigh of relief, Leo calmly looked around.

'What the hell happened here?'

The room that he was standing in before was completely gone. No, it was obliterated, to be more accurate.

Charred debris, an open ceiling, even the walls were entirely gone too!

It was a miracle that he was still standing. It was even more of a miracle that the building was still standing.

With the current state of things, though, he didn't know if it was safe for him to move. Getting crushed by a building that he caused damage to was a bit ironic. Naturally, staying still was no good option either.

Leo racked his brain with great effort. That was until somebody from outside the building called out.

"Are you fucking insane?!"

It was a familiar voice. Leo looked out where a wall used to be but didn't move from that one spot. Well, he didn't really have to. A guy suddenly floated up on top of a white metal board.

"Oh. It's you. What's up? What are you doing here?"

Leo calmly waved at Rynold, who was absolutely fuming.

"Why did you think that was a good idea?!"

Rynold was gasping. It was obvious with the look on his face that he was tired. He had expended a lot more Mana than he had expected to survive Leo's carelessness.

"Alright, calm down. Besides, you didn't really tell me that you were coming here. As far as I knew, you weren't anywhere near close to me."

Leo raised both his hands in playful defense. It was clear that he didn't mean it and was holding back his own laughter over Rynold's idiocy.

"And, that gives you the okay to wreck an entire neighborhood?! Even if you were up against four people, the trick you just made was overkill!"

'An entire neighborhood?'

Rynold's declaration surprised Leo. Leo didn't expect that his spell would cover such a wide area. For the destruction to spread over the entire neighborhood, it seemed rather unrealistic.

"Er... Uh..."

Leo was truly stunned. He didn't know what else he could say to defend himself. There was no way that Rynold would lie too. There was genuinely no point in doing so.

"Dude," Rynold let out a sigh and shook his head with much disappointment. "Whatever, let's just go. I don't think you should be standing in this place for too long. You'd get crushed."

"Right..."

In his confusion, Leo took a step forward Rynold, who had been floating by the side of the building. Doing so was a mistake.

The ground beneath his feet started to crumble at the sudden change in weight. From there, Leo looked at Rynold with wide eyes.

'Nope. Nope, nope, nope.'

Crack!

The cracks in the ground stretched throughout the entire floor. It was then that Rynold knew what was happening.

Moving reflexively, Rynold controlled the Miniature Floating Platform straight towards Leo was standing.

Unfortunately, Rynold was too late.

'Shit.'

Rynold reached out his hand as Leo fell down. The cracks in the ground opened into a hole that swallowed Leo's entire body.

Leo was reaching out as he fell down. As panic filled Leo's mind, he didn't activate any of his spells to save himself.

Having no other choice, Rynold shot the grapple from his left gauntlet. However, he couldn't see where it went because of the collapse.

Suddenly, something seemed to have grabbed onto the grapple, pulling Rynold down.

'I need leverage.'

Rynold extended his drill and stabbed it into a support pillar. One that, luckily, seemed to be standing stable. From there, he retracted the grapple, slowly pulling it out.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Rynold saw Leo held up by the grapple.

Unfortunately, Leo's current state was worse for wear.