Flames influenced by the power of Pyron rapidly swirled across the battlefield, their heat creating a sense of uneasiness within Ray's body. "Stopping here would just mean I don't deserve the title of a top entity hunter!" he screamed, clicking the modified switch against his plasma gun. "I won't give up, no matter what happens to me!"
Ralph slowly descended beside Ray, minimizing the unstable firepower that stood within his body. "I've heard just about enough from you!" he complained, aggressively grabbing his opponent by the neck and holding him from falling off the building entirely. "You entity hunters always carry fake pride with you… pride only the Realm God should have possessed! Sheer luck is the only element that has brought you to your current state, and I'm here to PUT YOU RIGHT IN YOUR PLACE!" With a heavy grunt, Ray put on the smile of pride Ralph had always resented. "Ralph," he muttered, sneakily tightening the grip over his gun. "In your own words, what makes a true entity hunter?" Ralph froze for a moment, his pupils shrunk. Instead of relentlessly attacking like always, he had finally halted - his mind latched on to a playlist of memories revolving around the books he read about the tales of the Realm God, filling both his eyelids up with tears of confusion and nostalgia. Another second passed, and the grip over Ray's neck slowly faded along with his opponent's words.
Or so he thought.
Even stronger than before, the flames exploded right out his body, creating such a devastating impact that it blew Ray right into a nearby building. He wiped the debris off his head in order to take a closer look - but instead, he was met with a blinding light that engulfed Ralph's entire body. "What the hell is that!?" he said to himself, aiming the plasma gun straight towards the mysterious beam of light that hovered into the sky. "My conciousness… why does it feel weaker!?" a deep voice boomed from the beam of light. Without any fearful thoughts, Ray continued to feel an unpleasant chill that rushed through his body and repeated with each glance. "What it means to be a true entity hunter, you say!?" the deep voice continued. "Not even he, the first recorded entity hunter in all of history, is a true entity hunter! Even in the present, people like you are portrayed as good - even when there are some people you completely DISREGARD!"
Another burst of power sent a shockwave racing through the city, blowing the plasma gun right out of Ray's hands and knocking the switch straight off. "If you really are a true entity hunter, COME AND PROVE IT!" Despite his scattered grunts and shaking hands, Ray managed to crawl across the building and obtain his gun, connecting it with the switch yet again. "Ralph…" he stuttered, picking his body up and slowly limping to the edge of the building for a better look. "Good or evil, I won't let you die!"
Volume 13, Chapter 41 - A True Entity Hunter
"That feeling…" Kevin muttered, watching as his enemy retreated from the battlefield in order to keep up with his army. "A proximity transmission… no. This is something way different from what I've seen before…" he observed. The colors within his eyesight rapidly flashed from normal to inverted, revealing a light of not only extreme power from Pyron, but also great ancient power. Without a second thought, Kevin lifted his body off the ground, rocketing off the building with his gravitational power and pursuing the ominous, white light that captivated his attention.
He broke right into the scene of the battlefield, catching Ray's attention almost instantly. "Kid, what the hell do you think you're doing!?" Ray screamed, failing to emerge from the ruined building. Without word, the blinding light engulfed Kevin as well, leaving a vibe of silence among the battlefield alongside Ray.
---
An empty canvas - literal nothingness. Kevin, now casually standing alongside his enemy instead of brawling, locked eyes with his enemy. "You…" Ralph sputtered, his head spinning from all the simultaneous events that had taken place. Kevin nodded his head in reply, noticing a blinking orange light far off in the distance. The empty canvas had evolved into a drawing with two former enemies quietly watching this silently pulsing glow. "You're the leader of the Mutation Liberation Army," Kevin quietly called out, extending his hand in Ralph's direction. "I'm Kevin. I strive to be the best entity hunter of all time alongside my friends." Ralph slowly extended his hand towards Kevin's, but an external emotional force within his body prevented him from grasping it. "The same vibe of nostalgia… it lingers within this kid too, but where does it originate from?"
Ralph turned his head back, afraid to admit the truth to Kevin. He was completely aware this symbolized the power of Pyron going completely awry within his body, but the same external force preventing him from touching Kevin also prevented him from revealing anything to him. Before he was capable of speaking another word, he had already been mounted onto Kevin's back. "Ready to go explore?" Kevin asked with an eager tone, pointing straight towards the pulsing orange light and giving out a wide grin that matched with the color of the background surrounding them. Ralph silently nodded, his facial expression blank. Both him and Kevin now soared across the ominous dimension, advancing closer and closer towards the mysterious orange light. "I wonder what's happening on the other side," Ralph told Kevin, looking back at their entrance point for a quick moment. "If anything was to go wrong, Ray's our only hope at this point…"
"That's not true," Kevin interrupted, yet another smile appeared across his face. "My friends are extremely strong, and they'll be sure to protect the city as well if anything happens! After all, neutralizing the threat of Pyron isn't the only objective of our mission!" A minute into their journey, they had come to a sudden halt due to the growing size of the orange light. "What does this orange light symbolize..?" Ralph asked himself, continuing his trek for a closer look.
That was the moment a ferocious knot of ancient power altered the dimension, ripping straight into the scene from the ground-up and attempting to stab Ralph with its sharp fingernails. "You… are not authorized with this type of power!" the deep voice from earlier continued. "Gravitational Kick!" Kevin shouted, deflecting the enormous hand from Ralph's directions and carrying him back to safety. "Who the hell are you!?"
The voice chuckled for a second, followed by a deep sigh that sent moderate wind currents in the duo's direction. "I am not sure of myself anymore - but I am here to retrieve the power stolen from me." The entity took a closer look at Kevin, gently reaching his hand towards him and stroking his brown hair. "You seem familiar, kid - I feel like we've met before, but I also feel like we haven't." Upon the gentle touch, Kevin's mind flashed back to the exact moment he, Forrest, and Itama had encountered a human within Pyron via a proximity transmission link. "Remember what I told you back in that exact moment."