Chapter 35

The fight erupted into chaos as the angel flapped his wings and soared straight toward Mar, while simultaneously, Grace aimed her palm at one of the mercenaries and unleashed a beam of light toward him. The angel swung his fist towards Mar, who swiftly grabbed his arm, spun him around, and hurled him into a nearby tree. Meanwhile, Grace's beam struck the mercenary in the chest, causing him to cry out in pain as he collapsed from the shock.

The remaining mercenaries, now even more terrified, attempted to retaliate. Those with ranged weapons, like crossbows and guns, aimed at Grace. However, Zee already closed in on them, her dagger at the ready.

"I'll handle the angel. You and the rest can take care of the others," Mar declared to Jakel, who gave a nod of agreement. Mar charged toward the angel, wielding his mace high. He attempted to smash the angel's head, but the angel managed to evade the attack. Mar's mace crashed into the ground, creating a small crater and sending shockwaves through the surroundings.

"You're an enhancer, aren't ya?" the angel remarked with a grin, engaging in a fierce clash with Mar, who remained silent, fully focused on the intense combat.

As this happened, Xain dashed toward Jakel, who fired off a shot in his direction. Xain narrowly dodged the bullet with a twist of his body. But before he could regain his footing, Jakel struck him with the butt of his rifle. Xain managed to block the blow with his armored forearms, which, weirdly enough, didn't hurt whatsoever. However, the force still knocked him to the ground.

"Bet you didn't expect that!" Jakel sneered triumphantly. He was right; Xain hadn't expect Jakel closing the distance so quickly and engaging in hand-to-hand combat. Jakel aimed his rifle at Xain's head, but before he could pull the trigger, Xain executed a swift leg sweep from the ground, causing Jakel to topple over while still clutching his rifle.

"Ha! Bet you didn't expect that!" Xain retorted right back at him as he pinned Jakel down, attempting to land a punch. But Jakel countered by driving his knee into Xain's side, forcing him off. "Don't get cocky, kid!" Jakel exclaimed, attempting another shot. Reacting quickly, Xain grabbed the rifle, initiating a tug-of-war struggle with Jakel over control of the weapon.

Meanwhile, Zee swiftly kicked one mercenary in the stomach before skillfully blocking a slash from another with her dagger. As a third mercenary attempted to stab her in the back, a snap was heard, and suddenly, Grace materialized from behind him. With a lightning-fast punch to the head, Grace knocked him out before snapping the fingers of her right hand and switching places with Zee. The sudden switch confused the mercenaries as Grace delivered an uppercut to the mercenary whose slash Zee had blocked, rendering him unconscious as well.

"See, I told you I picked the best opponents for each of us," Grace remarked to Zee, who reluctantly acknowledged, "Fine, you did. Now let's take care of these people quickly so I can help Xain," as they stood back to back while the remaining mercenaries surrounded them.

Meanwhile, the angel blocked a swing from Mar's mace with his right wing. *That's pretty heavy,* the angel thought as Mar swung his mace again. This time, the angel deflected the swing with his right wing and attempted to counterattack with a right hook. However, Mar let go of his weapon, which fell to the ground near him, and grabbed the angel's fist with his left hand before trying to punch the angel with his right.

The angel instinctively blocked the attack with his left wing, but Mar took advantage of the opening to grab onto the angel's wing and yank it while executing a sweeping leg motion, sending the angel crashing to the ground. As the angel fell, he saw Mar preparing to stomp on his head. Reacting swiftly, the angel rolled aside, narrowly evading Mar's stomp, which caused another shockwave upon impact.

"You're damn tough, you know that?" the angel remarked, impressed by Mar's resilience, as Mar picked up his mace silently, his stoic demeanor unchanged.

Jakel and Xain continued their struggle over the rifle before Jakel yelled, "Fine, have it!" as he let go of the rifle, causing Xain to nearly fall to the ground, caught off guard by Jakel's sudden move. Taking advantage of the moment, Jakel kicked Xain as hard as he could in his armored chest. Despite again not feeling any pain, Xain was pushed backward, releasing his grip on the rifle, which Jakel swiftly caught before aiming it towards Xain once again.

Thinking quickly, Xain scooped up dirt and hurled it towards Jakel's face, causing him to cover his eyes. Seizing the opportunity, Xain tackled Jakel, but the mercenary leader managed to maintain his balance and deliver a blow to Xain's armored back. Though Xain felt the impact, there was still no pain as Jakel threw his rifle into the air before he grabbed Xain by his side and threw him off balance.

Despite being thrown off balance, Xain managed to stay on his feet as Jakel caught his rifle mid-air, swiftly aiming and firing a shot at Xain before he could react. With no time to react, Xain saw the bullet coming dangerously close to his head.

*If only Erkie was here!* Xain thought as he closed his eyes, expecting to die. But then he heard the bullet bounce off something. "The fuck!?" Jakel exclaimed as Xain opened his eyes. "What the heck?" he said as he saw his body surrounded by a shimmering golden light, which, for a lack of a better word, looked heavenly. The light soon dissipated, merging into the armor Xain wore.

"So that's what he meant," Xain murmured, recalling the angel's words. He then looked up at the visibly annoyed and angered Jakel. A smirk played on Xain's lips. "We should continue where we left off," he declared, newfound confidence radiating in his voice.