My Tribrid System: More than a Monster

Chapter 141

CRACKLE—!

”HOW DARE YOU BASTARDS TOUCH MY FRIEND!”

ZAP—!

The thunderous sound reverberated violently through the room, shaking the very foundations of the laboratory.

Before Bryce even had the opportunity to blink, something tore through the air with uncanny, lethal speed.

In the next heartbeat, the pistol gripped in his hand was seized by a hand possessing monstrous, crushing strength.

No matter how much he strained or struggled, Bryce found himself utterly unable to liberate his weapon.

He was forced to stare deep into a pair of piercing grey eyes that had electrical sparks crackling through the irises.

The guards in the room stood paralyzed by the sudden intrusion, and even Elysa’s confident smirk vanished into a mask of shock.

Van, however, let out a weak, bloody smirk at the new arrival.

Ray’s silver hair wavered in the air for a tense moment before freezing, as if suspended by some unseen, primordial force.

His teeth were audibly gnashing as his grey eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.

Bryce’s own eyes widened in sheer horror at the prospect of being trapped in such a powerful, unrelenting grip.

”Who gave you the right to touch Van?”

The question emerged as a low, guttural growl.

Ray continued to grind his teeth, his fury manifesting in his physical form.

Crack—!

As Ray applied more pressure to his grip, jagged cracks appeared across the supposedly solid frame of the weapon.

The fractures spread at an astonishing velocity as Ray’s fingers dug deep into the metal, his digits slowly elongating into something resembling sharpened claws.

Before the weapon could be completely pulverized, a violent gust of wind erupted from one of the guards.

The localized gale screamed out, smashing into Ray’s chest and sending him sliding backward.

The force caused him to finally relinquish the weapon, his boots skidding across the tile for several feet.

He came to a halt just a few inches in front of the fallen Van.

The guards finally broke their stupor, moving in unison to surround their leader, who now had beads of cold sweat cascading down his pale face.

Bryce was gulping continuously; the sheer, oppressive killing intent radiating from the boy before them was suffocating.

To the men in the room, it felt like standing in the shadow of the devil himself.

”Ray... I’m glad you are here,” Van weakly muttered.

Though his words were barely a whisper, Ray’s heightened senses picked them up instantly.

Turning around, he finally caught a full sight of his friend’s dire condition.

As he gazed at the blood rolling down Van’s bruised face and mouth, and noted the fragile, pained expression in his eyes, Ray’s entire body began to shake with a rhythmic, uncontrollable rage.

Van’s knees finally buckled, and he began to collapse toward the floor, but Ray moved with blisteringly fast reflexes.

He caught the inventor in his firm grasp and slowly, gently, set him down against the masonry.

Ray made sure that Van was positioned safely, his back pressed tightly against the wall for support.

Ignoring the enemies surrounding them, Ray focused entirely on his internal interface.

[Purification Pulse (LV 1) Activated!]

Instantly, Ray’s hands began to shimmer with a ghostly, ethereal white light.

He reached out, placing his glowing palms directly onto Van’s battered frame.

The inventor could feel a warm, soothing aura descend upon him, mending his spirit and body with every movement of his friend’s hands.

The dull ache, the biting pain, the active bleeding, and even the deep muscular soreness began receding at an impressive rate.

However, a significant problem remained; his broken ribs were still fractured, left unhealed and untouched by the current power of the skill.

That was the inherent limitation of the level one ability.

For now, Ray simply needed Van’s condition to remain stable enough for him to finish the business in this room.

Once the threat was neutralized, he could get his friend to a proper clinic for full restoration.

For some reason, everyone else in the room watched the scene unfold without moving an inch.

They stood like statues, staring in disbelief as Van’s superficial wounds began to knit together at a decent pace.

’Huh? He is a healer-type meta? Then what was that monstrous, physical strength from earlier? Wait... how did he bypass my elite guards and move so quickly? Something doesn’t add up here,’ Bryce mused inwardly, his eyes narrowed as he stared intensely at Ray’s back.

The guards stood poised, their muscles coiled and eyes locked on the target.

They were a unified wall of tension, merely awaiting a single syllable from their leader to dismantle the new threat that had dared to interrupt them.

Fortunately, the healing skill Ray utilized possessed no restrictive time limit, nor did it seem to drain his reservoir of energy.

He didn’t cease the flow of ghostly light until he finally observed the healthy color returning to Van’s pale cheeks.

”Are—are you okay now?” Ray asked, his voice trembling with a mixture of relief and lingering fear.

Van grimaced, his hand instinctively clutching his side where several ribs were undoubtedly fractured.

The pain was sharp, a jagged reminder of the beating he had endured, but he managed to offer a forced, albeit painful, smile.

”... I’m always okay, bro. And I’m feeling even better now that you’re actually here.”

Ray managed a soft, genuine smile before reaching out to ruffle Van’s hair as if he were a younger sibling.

”You really need to stop placing yourself in constant peril. Seriously, quit playing the damsel in distress for me to rescue every single time. Tsk!”

Van swatted Ray’s hand away with a light shove and let out a weak scoff.

”Don’t mess with my beautiful hair again; I’m not your pet.”

This lighthearted bickering was their practiced method of venting the immense pressure, fury, and agony clogging their hearts.

They shared a brief, knowing chuckle while staring deeply into each other’s eyes, finding a momentary sanctuary in their friendship.

The other occupants of the room watched the exchange in utter disbelief.

It was as if the two boys were completely oblivious to the lethal danger surrounding them, conversing with a casual ease that defied the gravity of the situation.

”Alright then. Just stay seated here; I have a score to settle.”

Ray closed his eyes for a focused moment, exhaling a long, soft breath.

His perception suddenly flooded the chamber, expanding outward like a ripple in a pond.

It allowed him to sense every individual present—their breathing patterns, the subtle shifts in their stance, even the minute twitch of a muscle.

Everything was laid bare to his heightened senses, even with his back turned toward the enemy.

With his vision obscured, Ray’s mind naturally flashed back to the harrowing image of Van’s battered, broken body.

The white-hot fury he had suppressed to stabilize his friend began to surge, rising with every passing second like a tidal wave.

His jaw tightened until it ached, and his fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned a ghostly white.

His blood seemed to bubble with a righteous anger that threatened to burst through his skin.

’What if my arrival had been delayed? What if I had been a mere two seconds late? Van... Van would have been gone. They would have buried the truth and covered it up as if his life meant nothing. I would never have known what happened to him.’

The more the thought took root, the deeper his nails dug into his palms, eventually drawing droplets of crimson.

His teeth grated together with a harsh, audible sound as he kept his eyelids squeezed shut, fighting the urge to let the darkness take over.

’... Most importantly; if I hadn’t received that SOS from Van, then what would the outcome have been?’

His mind drifted back to the frantic moment he first received the distress signal, the very message that had led him to this den of vipers.