Ralph turned the transceiver off and crushed it.

{A-awesome... if you keep doing this I'll be able to calculate your stats easily.}

"Shut the fuck up. I didn't ask," Ralph coldly answered back. His golden eyes filled with a madder red as he crouched in front of the rat-faced man.

{H-host? Are you ok—}

"—Dismiss."

Ralph grabbed the collars of Schumer's clothes and shook him violently to wake him up. Blood poured out from his broken nose and mouth and also from the back of his head.

"Guhhh..."

"Wake up, bitch." Ralph slapped the man across the face. A small boom rang out from the force.

"Kahk! Kahk!" Schumer coughed and spat on the ground, the slap enough to bring him back to the world. A mixture of blood and saliva dripped from his face as he looked at Ralph.

It was the same. The very same crazed eyes, the derisive smile, the haughty expression.

It was the same as his nightmares.

"Ah... AHH!" Schumer started screaming when he was pulled closer. Ralph brought his face next to Schumer's ears and whispered in the sweetest voice he could bring up.

"Be quiet," he said.

Schumer immediately shut his mouth, as if his body itself was following the orders of a higher being.

"Now," Ralph said. "You either tell me where you dumbfucks have taken my mother to... Or you can start breaking your fingers yourself. One by one, without a sound. Got it?"

It was all the same.

Schumer's mouth remained shut, but his heart was screaming and his eyes flowing with tears.

It was stupid to think they could take him on.

This was the same Ralph Rubinstein he had faced all the way back then.

Reaper of the Night. The one who mercilessly brought all the criminals of Renthal to the ground, leaving them with a fate worse than death.

It was the very same person.

"Y-your mother... they are all waiting... Kafk! In an ambush, near the seventh block. You can go there right away if you continue from this alleyway..."

Ralph closed his eyes and nodded. "Seventh block... got it."

Schumer sighed in relief. There was no point in fighting him. No, he couldn't even try to. The fear that was left in his heart was just that strong.

'Please leave already, please... I'll grow radishes in the countryside now, forever...' Schumer said in his mind.

"Well now," Ralph said. "Break all your fingers anyway."

"... What?"

***

Ralph left Schumer in a garbage chute behind the expansive buildings and cruised through the alleyways. Light barely reached the space between the giant buildings each at least thirty stories tall, so the area was rather dark. Yet, the place was rather clean. Other than scrap furniture and luggage, all the garbage cans were tightly packed close and were directly connected to the chutes inside the building, only opening up when they were being collected.

{Host! You are not acting like yourself. Are you ok?}

{Host!!}

The system tried to calm Ralph down, but it was all useless.

"You're being a bother. Come out when I call you. Dismiss."

After taking a couple of turns, Ralph came around the alleyways connecting to the sixth block and stopped before going to the seventh block. The buildings got shorter and shorter the further he came from the first block, so he was sure the seventh one wouldn't be very tall nor very big. Ralph collected his mana towards his legs and jumped up. He grabbed onto the safety railings and fire escapes on the buildings and climbed up to a height.

When he could take a glimpse into the seventh block, he placed his feet on a thin metal rod and balanced atop it as he stood without any support. His mana escaped from his feet next and gathered around his eyes. The blurry sights far away became increasingly clearer as Ralph's madder eyes were filled with mana.

{Host, I can't find any skill for what you are doing...}

"Because it's not. It's simple mana control. Now shut the fuck up, will you?"

The system window quietly disappeared at Ralph's words. This inconvenience was likely a result of the system not being able to read his mind, Ralph thought. As he gazed around with a hand over his eyes, a large warehouse laden with metal doors and concrete walls entered his sight. Holes were visible here and there and whatever he could see of the inside was dark.

"It's an abandoned warehouse. They must be there..."

Ralph scoffed and jumped down from the height, he dropped through the air and landed smoothly on his feet. His crazed eyes got wider as he licked his lips and rushed ahead. Not a single sound left his feet as he rushed past the alleyways at a very fast pace. He turned and dashed around until he was right in front of the warehouse.

"No guards, no scouts. Are they even trying?"

Instead of entering right away, Ralph looked around for a bit. Though not in an alleyway, the streets of the seventh block were fairly deserted, this one even more so. He walked around the warehouse, checking out the walls and windows for any escape routes.

Finding escape routes were integral before a fight.

So that no one runs away.

After making sure of everything and also searching for potential traps, Ralph dusted his hands and stepped up to the steel doors.

"Burn and ravage, flames of retribution. [Fire Magic: Blaze (E+)]"

A small spark appeared from Ralph's hands and bounced against the steel frame of the door.

***

A long pink hat with feathers adorning it sat on top of Lady Ba's cascading brown hair held stylishly in place by dozens of pins. About thirty or so members of her gang stood around her while Lady Ba panicked about what to do. They had already pulled back everyone and called off the ambush, but there was no mistaking that voice, they had to be alert at all times—

—BOOM!

"WHAA!!"

"AHHH"

Screams rang out as a large black cloud of dust and smoke appeared at the entrance. All the thirty people who had gathered around Lady Ba took on their stances as they waited with bated breaths and stared at the cloud of smoke.

A black silhouette emerged from the cloud.

-Step.

-Step.

The ones at the front gulped.

Long black hair reaching down to the shoulders. Golden eyes filled with a crazed shade of red. A pretty face that would be just as cute with a smile as it was terrifying right now. The person who emerged from the smoke patted his gray shirt and blue trousers as he gazed at his foes with a disinterested look.

Everyone was frozen in their spots. This kid who looked no older than sixteen had just barged into their base while making a big scene.

The person's eyes finally stopped when he saw Lady Ba.

"Ahh! I think I remember you now," he said with a smirk.

"Ralph Rubinstein…" Lady Ba grit her teeth. There was still a chance, this Ralph had been brought down by a troll, an E rank monster that maybe a dozen or so of her people could take on together.

If that was the case, thirty should be able to defeat Ralph.

"You're the bitch that cosplays a clown."

"Kill him!!"

At her words, loud shouts rang out as the ones on the frontlines charged toward Ralph.

"Gahhh!"

One person with two daggers in hand leapt towards Ralph. He jumped up and swung one dagger at his face while the other rushed in from the side. Ralph clicked his tongue and pushed the dagger on his side down as he kicked the man in the chest. The man dropped the dagger held overhead as he rushed past the air and fell to the ground.

Without even looking at it, Ralph grabbed the dagger with his other hand and brandished it.

He stretched his empty hand outward and gestured at them all with his fingers. "Come."

"Bastard!"

"DIE!!"

"ORA!!"

Steel rods, metal bats, knives, and even small swords, people carrying all kinds of weapons charged toward Ralph. Ralph hopped on his spot once and lowered his center of gravity, in the blink of an eye, he covered all the distance between him and the person closest to him.

Carrying the force of his charge, Ralph punched the guy in the front square in the jaw and pivoted to his left.

Kick. Punch.

The man barely managed to block the first two of Ralph's attacks and punched him back. Dodging it easily, Ralph grabbed the man's arm and yanked it towards him, his elbow smashed against the man's neck and hit him on the adam's apple.

Jumping from one person to another, Ralph made light of five people while the others were still busy shouting and charging at him. Without wasting a breath, Ralph dashed towards his left where another small group had gathered.

-Crackle!

"[Lightning Spears (E+)]"

Multiple arrows of lightning lodged themselves right in front of him. Ralph pushed his feet against the ground and came to a stop, staring at the black burnt marks left on the ground.

"Hah." Ralph scoffed. "Pathetic."

It was time to begin the next phase of the battle.

Ralph made a gun with his fingers and turned towards a woman at the other end of the room. "[Magic Arrow (E-)]"

"What?" she muttered in confusion at the mention of the most basic skill that awakeners rarely bothered learning.

-BANG!

An arrow of mana shot through Ralph's fingers at breakneck speed and crashed against the woman's chest before anyone could blink. The woman was pushed back and fell to the ground.

{!}

A red mark appeared in front of Ralph's eyes on the system's window. Ralph spun around and swung the dagger he had stolen to his back and casually cut a long metal pipe in half.

"The might of the beginning, the endurance of the end. [Earth Magic: Earth Wall (E+)]"

The ground rose at Ralph's command, a wall of earth charged up and hit the chin of the man who had sneaked behind him.

"Good job," Ralph muttered and jumped on the wall before using it as propulsion to dive back into the battle.

***

Unbelievable.

That was the only word ringing around in Lady Ba's mind.

Sparks and embers flew around in the warehouse. Blocks of ice froze her gang members while some had their hands and feet broken. A rain of blood poured in reverse, going from the ground and up to the ceiling as Ralph crushed everyone and anyone around him.

Even the few running towards the windows and doors to leave were caught up and crushed by him. He beat them all up, some to the point where they could never walk or talk the same way without getting advanced treatment inaccessible to petty criminals like them.

"How... he is even stronger than before... how?!" Lady Ba lifted the hem of her pink suit and grabbed the top of her pink hat as she turned around and ran towards a garage-like space inside the warehouse.

His mother!

She could use the hostage. Would a crazed monster like him even stop for his mother? She didn't know but it was the only thing she could do.

"AHH!"

"GAH!"

"[DARK BEAM— Ack!"

The screams behind her grew louder and louder by the second. Lady Ba shuffled towards the steel frame and went to the keypad installed next to it. She hurriedly put in the passcode to open it up.

With a loud crack, the automatic door started to open up.

"Hurry! Hurry!!" Lady Ba shouted at the opening door. A few seconds passed when a cold realization hit her like a bucket of ice water.

The screams had stopped.

Taking in a deep gulp, Lady Ba slowly turned her head to her back.

A demon covered in blood entered her sight. The long black hair had been stained a deep red while blood trickled down from his pale white skin and hands. She was sure, that not a drop was his own.

"Your circus held a bad show, Clown. You'll give me a full refund, right?"