Chapter 194 - Telekinesis

'Well, no time like the present, I guess.'

The situation even made Rynold's inner voice sound depressed. He was facing something unprecedented, after all. But, he was feeling begrudged all the same.

That said, Rynold raised True Caliber and aimed it at the disturbing-looking creature. His hand was steady as he sharply inhaled a mouthful of air. As soon as he did, though, something strange happened.

Rynold concentrated on firing a bullet that wouldn't miss. That was what he was doing as he steadied his aim at his target. Even though the distance between him and this strange brain person wasn't long, Rynold didn't want to take any chances and miss.

So, with that in mind, Rynold's focus was on his target. But, as soon as his Mana reached True Caliber and was just about to fire, the Soul Dolls seemed to have shifted their aim. To where exactly?

Well, suffice it to say, Rynold won't have an easy couple of minutes.

"Shit!"

One word was all Rynold could mutter as he hastily shuffled himself out of the way. He had managed to sneak his way and reached this point. Whatever tipped off his presence wasn't anything that Rynold noticed.

Although, he really wouldn't have the luxury of thinking about it as low-tiered Fire-Attributed spells were coming his way. Even with Protecting Light up, Rynold wouldn't dare take all of these attacks at once.

Using whatever technique he had in his arsenal, Rynold maneuvered past the thick yet flammable vines; while simultaneously dodging the Fireballs shot his way. Fortunately, with Axiom's help, Rynold managed to do both, albeit with some difficulty.

'Damn,' Rynold cursed inwardly, 'I actually felt that one.'

After multiple attempts to hit him, Rynold was struck more than once by the occasional Fireball. None of the other hits had managed to hurt him, with what Protecting Light doing its job and all. Rynold didn't feel any of them until the very last one — one that had gotten past his defenses and left a small burn mark on the clothes on Rynold's back.

Fortunately, Rynold didn't have to navigate through the complicated overgrown thorns anymore. He was now out in the open, in the same clearing as his opponents.

Now having lost the element of surprise, Rynold would have to face a series of troubling opponents. Each one had the same properties as the other, except for the one in the middle, which gave Rynold a sick feeling every time he looked at it.

'Guess I have no other choice.'

As the Soul Dolls readied to fire another barrage, Rynold struck first. He shot a regular Mana bullet at the nearest one then charged in without hesitation. He decided to keep his Mana Gauntlets at Speed-form as he planned to strike fast and hard.

The single bullet Rynold fired managed to push the Soul Doll back a bit, although not enough to kill it. With that, Rynold lunged and moved at full speed. Soon, he reached the nearest Soul Doll and used Charging Fist.

Rynold's hand went straight through the Soul Doll and left a hole where its heart should be. The contact of Rynold's fist to the Soul Doll's chest made for an interesting reaction.

To which, Rynold only had one thought. It was that these things were weak.

His initial impression of what a Soul Doll was, had long been determined by the Duke. The fight when Rynold was barely the victor. Hell, he could still remember the bite over his shoulder.

Regardless, Rynold's initial thoughts of what a Soul Doll was, didn't match this pathetic one right in front of him. His expectations were higher than what reality presented to him.

Still, he couldn't complain about it, though.

After defeating this one Soul Doll, the others released their Fireball spells onto him. Naturally, Rynold wasn't about to give them such an opportunity. He retracted his fist with great speed and retreated a few steps, dodging all the Fireballs that came his way.

Then, Rynold side-stepped and launched himself to the nearest Soul Doll and threw a punch to this one. Unlike before, though, Rynold's swift attack didn't kill it off in one hit.

Having expected something like this, Rynold spun and threw a spin kick at the Soul Doll's head. The attack landed and knocked the Soul Doll down, defeating it after two hits. From there, Rynold kept moving on to the next Soul Doll and the next one after that.

Rynold kept going, but he didn't try to take down every single Soul Doll. He counted over two dozen Soul Dolls, and that was an extremely shallow estimate. Who knows how many were actually there?

No, Rynold had a much more efficient way to deal with this.

As he maneuvered through the Soul Dolls, killing them off as he went, Rynold soon reached the open-headed person. And, just as how he expected it, the brain was even more disgusting up close. Well, it was a good thing Rynold didn't have to look at it anymore after this.

Bang! Bang!

Now within an even closer distance from the creature, Rynold shot two Mana bullets with True Caliber. Rynold was sure that, at this distance, the bullets would have made their mark. And to an exposed and vulnerable target, no less.

But, alas, that was all just wishful thinking.

By some unknown and strange phenomena, Rynold couldn't believe what had happened. Something caught the two bullets in mid-air. Not only that, but with Rynold's jump trajectory, he won't be any different. So much for trying to jump over this guy, huh?

Soon reaching the other side of his jump, Rynold became entangled in mid-air as well. It was as though he had not only become weightless but immobile as well.

'Damn it,' Rynold cursed at himself for executing such a flashy move as he struggled to move any part of his body. But, alas, he was stuck. Rynold couldn't move at all and could only look at this damned creature. And, unfortunately, its brain.

And, at this angle, it was a lot more disgusting than Rynold first thought.

As Rynold kept struggling, the creature before him suddenly moved. It seemed aware of Rynold's desperate attempts as it raised its head. Following this, it then slowly turned its head to face Rynold. How the creature did so seemed to send chills down Rynold spine.

'At least this guy's got a face.'

It was the first thing Rynold noticed as the two of them faced each other. Rynold stared with eyes unblinking while the creature gradually opened its eyes. The two of them then made an uncomfortable level of eye contact. The worse part about this was that Rynold couldn't look away.

The two stared at each other for several seconds. Rynold secretly hoped that this thing before him would do something, anything that would've relieved him from this awkwardness.

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem likely. The creature stared at Rynold with great interest, studying him from head to toe. It made Rynold worry as its beady, unblinking eyes raised and lowered its gaze. There was a limit to how much Rynold could tolerate, and this situation was nearly reaching it.

After a few more seconds passed, Rynold got sick of this staring contest. So, he willfully decided to break the silence by speaking first.

"Who-"

It stopped there. Rynold could only get out one syllable as the two bullets Rynold fired before regained their momentum. But, it was as if the trajectory changed. The bullets went over what Rynold had initially aimed for and instead went another way.

In the short turn of events, the two bullets landed on Rynold's chest and leg. He didn't know what happened, but he could guess his gaze never left the thing in front of him.

'This son of a bitch! Telekinesis of all things? Are you kidding me?'

Rynold knew how much a pain to deal with magic like this. There was no telling how much of a problem this would become. And, not only that, but Rynold knew he had no match against someone like this. Spatial magic was a tough matchup for anybody, after all.

'If only this guy would ease up his grip on me for a bit. At least let me move my left hand. If I could do that, I'd be able to get out of this thing.'

His brain kicking into overdrive, Rynold became relentless. He tried throwing his arms around and initiated a flailing motion. Sadly, those attempts still bore no fruit as the creature kept its watchful eyes on Rynold.

But, as luck would have it, the creature then acted on its own volition.

It raised its hand and pushed the air. In doing so, Rynold was thrown back with great force. The simple motion brought Rynold tumbling to the ground at a high velocity. The creature threw him like how a child would with a toy.

'Damn this,' Rynold thought as he painfully landed on his face. Even though he was now able to move, the impact of being thrown was still too much. He needed time to recover, time in which he did not have.

Struggling to get himself off the ground, Rynold could sense the Mana rapidly concentrating from behind him. The Soul Dolls were targeting him once more and, with his current state, it won't be so easy to defend himself.

'Screw this.'

Moving his left hand, Rynold shot the grapple to a nearby overgrown thorn. From there, he pulled himself out of harm's way with the bare amount of effort he could muster.

'No way am I going to go down like this.'

With another barrage of Fireballs steadfastly coming, Rynold pulled the strength to stand back up. His reactions were still a little slow after a throw like that. But he managed to maneuver through this next wave of attacks just fine. All he needed to do now was to find a way to beat this freak capable of telekinesis.

His brain immediately kicked into high gear.

Rynold had to come up with a solution, and it seems that the telekinesis only works within the immediate vicinity of his opponent. That said, the idea of pairing telekinesis with the ability to control Soul Dolls was a clever move. The Soul Dolls covered for the telekinesis's short-range, while the telekinesis would protect its user whenever someone got past the Soul Dolls.

Although, Rynold could still spot some glaring openings in the creature's defense. Since it could stop things made out of Mana, Rynold would have to be cleverer than that.

Running around the clearing while dodging the Fireballs thrown at him, Rynold had a hard time preparing. Regardless, he was confident about a few things as he took down whatever Soul Doll he came across. All he needed now was some breathing room to execute his plans.

That window of opportunity was soon coming as Rynold took down a handful more Soul Dolls.

The original number of over two dozen Soul Dolls was now down to about five. It took some time to make it to that point, but Rynold, at the very end, pulled through.

Now that his opponents were reduced to a manageable number, Rynold mouth turned up to a smile.

'Just you and me now, bastard. Let's go.'

With True Caliber in hand, Rynold raised the firearm with insurmountable concentration. The creature reacted by commanding the Soul Dolls, all of which simultaneously raised their aims at Rynold as they cast the Fireball spell.

However, the Soul Doll's movements were far too slow as Rynold fired two bullets filled with his intent. At first glance, these two bullets weren't anything special, but Rynold obviously knew better.

Just like before, the bullets once again stopped in mid-air. The telekinesis that the creature possessed was far too powerful for two measly bullets to bypass. If only it were that simple, that is.

Seeing the bullets stop, Rynold slyly chuckled.