The Seven Demon's Tamer

"Haaa!"

Captain Kyujiro blasted forward, swinging his fist at Ryder with all his might. He had wasted no more time and began his offense once more.

This time, Ryder didn't try to act mockingly. The playful demeanor that had given him the courage earlier to dodge incoming strikes disappeared instantly, replaced by the cold realization that Captain Kyujiro was no longer holding back even a fraction of his true power.

Ryder quickly made an abnormal leap backwards, his body moving swiftly through the air, but only momentarily.

For a brief moment, as he soared through the air, Ryder allowed himself to believe he had successfully created the distance he needed. But that moment of relief was short-lived.

**Rooooaaar!**

A loud mixture of growl and roar thundered right behind Ryder, who was still coursing through the air mid-motion from his leap. It was the Eclipse Tiger.

The massive predator had moved with speed that should not have been possible for its size, launching itself from the ground with such force that small craters formed where its paws had pushed off.

"Damnit!" Ryder cursed as the familiar leaped from the ground, its massive jaws opening to reveal fangs that gleamed in the darkness.

Chomp!

The Eclipse Tiger's bite was with clear evidence of accuracy—not aimed at Ryder's torso where it might cause immediately fatal damage, but at his legs where it could restrain him with less fatality. Captain Kyujiro's orders had been clear: bring the black-marked summoner back alive.

The familiar's teeth sank into Ryder's left leg, and immediately slammed him to the ground with enough violent force to create a small crater upon impact.

Ryder's body bounced against the ground at the moment of collision, the impact driving the air from his lungs and sending saliva spewing out from his mouth.

Unfortunately, that was barely the beginning.

From above his head, as he lay stunned and gasping in his crater, a multitude of tentacles stretched toward him. The Blue Lili-Octopus had positioned itself directly overhead, its azure form crackling with electrical energy that made the air itself crackle with danger.

"This is bad," Ryder gritted his teeth as he tried to stand up, his muscles tensing up with the intention of escaping the octopus's grip. But in response, the tentacles tightened around his body, and he could feel the familiar's electrical energy building dangerously.

The Blue Lili-Octopus had activated its affinity, sending electrified shocks coursing through every tentacle and directly into Ryder's body.

The electrical current seeped into every fiber of his entire body, causing him to tremble violently. His white hair stood on end, and his body smoked just a few seconds into the shock.

But then, as suddenly as it had begun, the familiar was probably satisfied so it deactivated its affinity and ended the shock.

Ryder was freed from the octopus's grip just after, but not through any effort of his own. He was freed by a punch that was equally as devastating as the electrical assault—Captain Kyujiro's massive fist connected with his torso, sending him flying through the air from the ground once again.

This time, however, the captain wasn't content to let Ryder land and recover. As Ryder's body coursed through the air, Captain Kyujiro was already in motion, rushing forward.

The scarred figure was rushing toward him, sending barrages of punches at him even as Ryder flew helplessly through the air. Each strike was packed with enough strength to ripple the air.

*Wham!*

A punch caught Ryder in the ribs, changing his flight path.

*Boom!*

Another connected with his shoulder, spinning him like a rag doll.

*Crash!*

A third strike hit his back, driving him toward the ground.

"I gave you a chance!" Captain Kyujiro screamed in a craze. "A chance to end all this without violence!"

With lightning-fast movement, he grabbed Ryder by the neck, his massive hand easily wrapping around the younger man's throat and halting his movement entirely.

Ryder dangled in the air, unable to do anything as Captain Kyujiro's grip tightened.

"But you threw it back at me!" Kyujiro continued, his voice dropping to a menacing whisper. "You mocked me, even when you were going overboard!"

"Now, you are—"

Mid-sentence, Captain Kyujiro stopped talking. Well—"stopped talking"—would make it sound so formal, which wasn't the case at all. Ryder had grabbed the captain's mouth with his left hand and ended his speech, causing Captain Kyujiro's eyes to flutter wide in shock.

The movement had been so swift, so unexpected. One moment Ryder had been hanging helplessly in his grip, appearing defeated, and the next he was able to take action.

Ryder had just stopped receiving hits, and he could already summon enough strength to make such rapid movement. Kyujiro could hardly believe it.

A smile crept across Ryder's face as he swiftly swung his other arm, knocking away Captain Kyujiro's grip on his neck. The captain's massive hand was forced away with so much force that it nearly broke, and Ryder dropped gracefully to the ground, landing in a perfect combat stance.

"If I hadn't learned the Luo techniques just earlier today," Ryder exclaimed, his voice now regaining the casualness he had previously lost, "I don't think I would have been able to withstand all those attacks."

"But look," Ryder continued, spreading out his arms, "all your attacks weren't able to do as much as scratch my skin."

**Rooooaaar!!**

The loud roar of the Eclipse Tiger resounded across the battlefield, the sound carrying such power that it sent an explosive heatwave from its maw blasting outward in all directions but particularly concentrated towards Ryder.

The heatwave struck Ryder with the force of a freight train.

He quickly dug his feet into the ground, his subconsciously activated techniques allowing him to regain control of his movement even before the heat wave died.

Even with his prepared stance, he still skidded backward for several meters before finally halting, leaving furrows ridged in the surface where his heels had scratched during his motion.

'My body is subconsciously activating the appropriate techniques at the right time and enabling me to defend myself without consciously defending myself,' Ryder thought to himself, a grin spreading across his face.

'I can even go as far as activating multiple techniques at once,' he continued thinking but was interrupted by...

**Roar.**

Captain Kyujiro's familiar quickly returned to his side. The Eclipse Tiger's golden eyes never left Ryder, and electrical energy still crackled around the Blue Lili-Octopus's tentacles.

The threesome—Captain Kyujiro and his two red-marked monarchs—took their stance to launch forward, but they hesitated.

Each of Captain Kyujiro's familiars were red-marked monarchs, creatures of abnormal strength and physical capability for even other red-marked beasts.

A single red-marked monarch was typically enough to match Luxy in terms of physical capability which Ryder was harnessing. The two red-marked monarchs which stood before him should have been enough to overpower him completely, adding Kyujiro would make it an overkill, but unfortunately...

They couldn't.

Just because of the influence of the seventy-seven Luo techniques, Ryder had become something approaching untouchable.

Just because of the influence of the seventy-seven Luo techniques, Ryder had become something approaching unrestrainable.

"What are you waiting for?" Ryder screamed from the distance that had been created between him and the threesome, his voice carrying confidence and arrogance as well. "I have decided to not spare—"

**Boom!**

A loud explosion resounded across the battlefield, not like the explosion that would have occurred upon collision or upon flame, but it was the kind of explosion that comes from rock shattering under great force.

All the pods that had crashed to the ground exploded into countless fragments simultaneously, allowing whoever was inside each of them to finally emerge.

All two hundred members of the Falcon Guild were finally physically inside the Red Eastern perimeter.

Speaking of wrong timing.

Bending his legs slightly, Ryder readied himself.

*Explosive ru....*

"That's enough." A voice suddenly sounded from right behind Ryder, startling him, but he quickly realized who it was. "I will take it from here."

"Master Sung!" He exclaimed. "You are finally here!"