"You... You said you would kill me, didn't you? Then... It's only fair if I kill you, right?" Gray asked with a smile.
"That's enough."
A voice sounded from outside the store. The sound of guns being loaded and pointed at Gray followed.
Gray turned to the source of the sound, only to find a group of soldiers pointing guns at him. Gray saw something quite similar to a blizzard outside at the same time.
'It's snowing?' He wondered. 'Ah... That's right... Aurora.'
"Let him go."
The voice came from a grown woman in a military uniform. Long brown hair and sharp light brown eyes. Her well-developed, slim yet large curvy figure enhanced her mature feminine charm and her red lipstick only amplified it.
"Ah... It's the hot captain!"
"Isn't that the head of the defense squad?"
"Has she come to stop them?"
Gray, on the other hand, could care less. He was too focused on how he could make Axel experience the suffering he had.
His grip on Axel's neck tightened as he asked, "Why should I?".
[Unpause]
[Pause]
Whenever the timer ran out, Gray simply paused him again.
"He's a good kid." She said.
Gray, tightening his grip once more, said, "Well if he's a good kid... He'll go to heaven.".
The bulging eyes of Axel gave Gray a cold stare as if daring him to try. The lady gave off a tight-lipped smile before trying to convince Gray otherwise.
"Look... I don't know what sort of quarrel or grudge you two may have with one another, but look around."
Gray did as she was told. Giving a quick glance around.
It was a mess, there was no other way to describe it. Several tables were broken, and food and drinks spilled. The crowd had gathered around, some looking terrified.
However, one girl stood out from the crowd and caught his attention.
A girl with short, straight purple hair which stooped down to her chin and bright scarlet iris, could be seen slurping on her noodles with a blank expression.
The chaos that had just occurred didn't bother her at all. As she glanced through her glasses in Gray's direction, she cocked her head as though to ask, "What?".
'...?' Gray didn't know what to think.
"This is a refugee. The people are meant to feel safe and protected here. That guy is a part of the team that enforces that protection. If anything happens to him, you won't get out of here alive."
All of those M4's? Gray doubted he could handle them. It was probably the least of his worries. God knows how many ability users were in there, would it really be worth making an enemy of the government over a grudge from the past?
Gray pulled out an orb from his pouch and replied, "Perhaps you're right.".
The lady's eyes widened as she saw it. Seeing the purple spherical orb emitting a purple mist, even the girl who had been eating stopped to watch. People who were still there stared in awe.
'Wait... That's a skill orb? But how does he even have it...? More importantly, why is he bringing it out, doesn't he already have a skill? It won't work on him...'
[Convergence option available]
[Would you like to converge?]
"Yeah, Converge."
[Converging]
He placed the orb over his chest and a purple light radiated from it. It began to sink into his skin, and his eyes glowed bright white.
She widened her eyes.
'Don't tell me...! He's already figured out a way to use it even with a skill?!'
Seeing the urgency of the situation, she snapped out of her thoughts and screamed the command.
"Stop him! Don't let him use it, we need to retrieve it!"
But by then, it was too late.
[Converged, Skill pointed gained. Would you like to allocate skill point to pause?]
[Allocated, Congratulations! Skill: Pause, has levelled up]
[Pause Level 2: Pause Step]
The soldiers, mistaking it as an order to fire, open fired on Gray.
*Dududududduduudud*
Almost everything in sight was anhilated by bullets that pierced the ground where they stood. As they came to a halt, steam was visible escaping from the nuzzle.
Just as she was angrily about to tell them off for firing without permission, the thought disappeared off her mind once she noticed that Gray and Axel had vanished without leaving a single trace behind.
This wasn't like Axel's ability to accelerate, and move faster than the eye could see. It was far more than that, the air didn't burst from any sonic booms and yet.
There he was, right behind her, with a knife in front of the artery, just beside her neck.
'When did he...!?'
Gray glanced around now that he was outside. It surprised him to see the other guys, including the big guy from before, lying unconscious, freezing on the ground.
Aurora, on the other hand, was barely visible between countless ice spikes. The visibility of her pants underscored just how cold it was.
Additionally, there were countless soldiers around her, as well as someone with a fire ability. He was spewing steam.
As he clenched his fists, flames engulfed them. His red hair shone brightly, and a bright smile could be seen on his face as he took a stance.
The soldiers in the lady's squad turned their guns against Gray when they noticed Gray was missing and their captain was being held hostage. The bloodlust they were releasing was unparalleled. Aurora, meanwhile, remained in the sights of the other squad.
Even if his skill had evolved and he had gained a new movement ability, there was no guaranteeing Aurora's safety.
It was either going to be her or Axel.
"Tsk."
Gray released the hostages with a click of his tongue.
The red haired man with flaming fists had leapt straight at Aurora, ready to punch through her ice defense to create a bullet path for the military men.
However, he was suddenly slammed to the ground as something snatched him mid-air.
He glanced up only to see a gray-haired fool. Aurora, who saw Gray finally relaxed as she was at her limit, was about to collapse to the ground.
She was grabbed by Gray however, who once again, with instantaneous movement, appeared before, grabbing her before she fell.
"Didn't I tell you not to overwork yourself?" He asked.
Her eyes flashed and her jaw trembled when she heard his voice. "Hehe..."
Gray's moment was interrupted however, by a voice which came from within the restaurant.
"Isn't that enough?" The voice asked, as she left.
Turning towards the source of the voice, Gray ignored the soldiers only to see the same purple haired girl as before.
"How about we stop this quarrel?" She asked, raising her hand. At that moment, all of the weapons being held by the soldiers were flung into the air.
They didn't drop but rather levitated there, their sights still pointed at Gray and Aurora. Simultaneously, Gray found himself slowly levitating off the ground himself.
'Telekenesis!'
