Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

Chapter 337: Suspicions

Besides, it was rare for Rain to find an opponent that didn't show any hatred toward him. The giant was only attacking Rain because he was an intruder, and the giant had been trained to fight intruders.

"... I always wanted to try that, but most opponents aren't that easy to deal with," Rain thought. "Well, I don't have many options aside from this."

Rain didn't have much mana left either, so he could only perform that for a few seconds. Without hesitation, Rain charged toward the giant and then jumped to the side before using Limit Breaker. The enemy raised his guard, but then Rain suddenly used Impulse in the opposite direction and then approached the enemy faster than he could react.

Thanks to that, Rain was able to punch the enemy with a heavy hook that made the enemy stagger. In the next moment, Rain kept moving thanks to the power of Imoul. Still, soon, he used it again not only to stop but also to move in the opposite direction and then punch the enemy with a left hook.

The giant enemy was caught off guard again, and the power of the punch, added to the momentum of the attack, made him take several steps backward. That didn't stop Rain from continuing with an endless sequence of attacks.

Rain's furious hooks reverberated through the area, a testament to the combined force of Impulse and Limit Breaker. The gigantic adversary struggled to shield himself, raising his arms in a futile attempt to deflect Rain's relentless assault.

With each thunderous punch, the massive foe coughed up blood, his once defiant eyes fading into unconsciousness. Rain, gasping for breath, finally ceased his barrage, having shattered the enemy's defenses completely.

The colossal opponent crumpled to the ground, knocked out cold. Rain, despite his victory, was not unscathed. He winced in pain, realizing that his fists throbbed intensely. A grim discovery followed as he examined the damage – all of his fingers were broken, and his wrists had suffered severe injury from the relentless assault.

"... You were one hell of a tough guy," Rain said while raising his fist one more time to pierce the heart of the unconscious enemy.

"Please, wait!"

Rain sighed… he never thought that such a cliche thing would happen to him. When he looked to the side, he saw Branden, Lorene, and Orcis leading a large group of people. Some of them were men, boys, and girls, but most of them were women. They were the other presences that Rain felt there. It seemed that they realized that something was amiss thanks to the chaos of the battle.

Among one of those people, a certain woman stepped forward. She was a bit hairy and also quite muscular. She also had a tail, so Rain assumed that she was a beastwoman. She was probably the mother of the giant enemy, and that would explain his immense size and physical strength.

"... What do you want?" Rain asked.

"He is my boy. Please don't kill him," The woman said.

"He is a bit too big to be called a boy," Rain said. "Anyway, I killed all the other guards, and this guy will definitely try to kill me again once he wakes up, so why shouldn't I kill him?"

"He won't do anything as long as he knows that I am safe," The woman explained.

Rain let out an exasperated sigh, his frustration palpable. His intentions had been simple – to aid his friends and diminish the enemy's numbers. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder why he always seemed to be pushed to such extremes.

However, as he reflected on the situation, it didn't take long for him to reaffirm his resolve. The thought of ending a child's life before their own mother was a grim prospect he couldn't stomach. Despite the hardships and challenges he faced, there were lines he refused to cross.

"I won't give him a second chance if he attacks me again," Rain said, and then he left the giant guy there.

"... We truly didn't expect to find you, Rain, ever again," Branden said and then sighed in relief. "Thanks for coming for us."

"How did you find us?" Lorene asked, visibly surprised.

"The rain in the middle of the night helped me," Rain replied. "Anyway, we have to move. I left home for a while already, and I don't feel comfortable doing that for so long."

Rain understood that escaping the Island wouldn't be a simple task. The place teemed with a diverse array of inhabitants: the beast people, sea folk, and the magic people, and various demi-humans. To complicate matters further, there was only a single available ship for their getaway.

Fortunately, amidst this bustling and chaotic mix, there was a silver lining. Rain found relief in the fact that, at least, there were no dragons or demi-human dragons on the Island. This spared him from the daunting prospect of having to confront these formidable creatures in order to reach Joanis.

While Branden was healing Rain's hands, the others began to work on gathering everything in the port that they could use. There were plenty of weapons there and food as well, but there were no signs of potions or even the anti-magic substance. There were some tools that were used to extract blood. Rain destroyed them all.

During that time that he was being healed, Rain saw the prisoners working together with Lorene and Orcis to fill the ship with whatever they could find, but they couldn't unload everything there since they had two hundred people and they had to leave with them.

Rain wondered if those guys didn't show any animosity toward him… he was sure that some of the people he killed were their children. He could only imagine that they couldn't see them as their children anymore since they had been trained to become tools for Joanis… even so… it seemed that they found solace knowing that they died and wouldn't live for decades as mere tools for someone else's gain.