"...Girls, stay back for now," Gray declared.
"Uh, why?" Claire asked, tilting her head in pure confusion.
The monsters were too strong for Gray to deal with them alone.
"Yeah, why?" Selina added, looking at him weirdly, "You can't beat them alone."
Mira also looked at Gray.
To their words, Gray simply replied.
"I need to test something. If it fails, we go with the same plan as before."
The three girls exchanged glances, but then nodded slighly. After all, after these battles, their trust in Gray had exponentially increased.
Although... their favorability probably didn't.
However, just as Gray was about to stretch a little...
[WATCH OUT!]
"Huh?"
BAAAM!
A thunderous impact crushed into his ribs.
"GUAAAHK—!"
His body shot across the cavern like a ragdoll, smashing spine-first into the stone wall. The sound cracked through the air.
A geyser of blood erupted from his lips, splattering the floor as his knees buckled.
"GRAYYY!"
