"Who is? Isn't he the guy that looked as if he was dead?!"

A mark could be seen on the middle of his forehead. It resembled a maze, a glowing puzzle of some sorts which was constantly shifting

The king reflexively stepped back, stepping on top of Lara's head.

The moment he did that, his eyes widened as a fist appeared before him.

*BAM!*

The fist landed cleanly in the King's face, caving it in as Air burst through it.

The king crashed into the boat's staircase.

[Pause Level ???: Incomplete Time Stop.]

[Warning: Using this so soon after evolving may contain permanent side effects. It is advised that-]

"Shut up." Said Gray.

[]

Gray dropped down to his knees, before inspecting everyone.

They were covered in physical injuries. It was clear that they were beat up repeatedly.

Maybe it was to enjoy it before finishing them off.

He stopped ahead of the three who were impaled. He could see it clearly, the expression they were making.

[Warning: Those spears contain a minor curse of death. With each stab there is a small chance that the person stabbed may die.]

[The more stabs, the stronger the effect. Although it requires to be stabbed a certain amount of times, death is guaranteed. It may lead to excessive blood-loss however it's most likely best to remove them.]

[15 seconds left of the incomplete time stop.]

Upon hearing this, Gray grabbed the spear. His hands, began to burn as he pulled them out of each of them individually.

He quickly grabbed Ruby and dragged her ahead of the three, before grabbing Lara and doing the same.

[10 seconds left.]

Gray turned to the staircase where the King was, the look for surprise in the King's face changed into a smile, as he burst out laughing.

"Even if you remove the spears, they'll bleed out! I don't know how your ability worked however, none of their healing abilities will work within this dimension I've created."

The King continued to laugh.

He turned back to the three ahead of him, before swiping his finger up and down repeatedly.

'What is he doing?'

Four flasks containing a strange liquid suddenly manifested above his hands.

'Don't tell me that's a Potion!?'

Gray had not heard a single word he had said.

His expression was emotionless when he had stared at the King.

Through his mind he could hear but a single thought.

And it was what the most painful way to kill him could be.

[Time resumed.]

Everyone's eyes widened as Gray's figure appeared before them.

The tears grew stronger, as their eyes swelled up and noses reddened.

"G-Gray... *Cough*" Aurora cried out.

Ruby turned to her father who gradually approached them.

The three's vision grew blurry, as they felt a surge of pain travel through their backs.

*Cough*

Their coughs grew more frequent as they began to cough up blood.

They wanted to speak and call out his name but they physically couldn't.

Mid cough. Gray popped open the three options and forced it into their mouths.

He watched closely, as the liquid went down their throats.

They could feel themselves getting better with every drop.

The hole on their back was also closing at a visibly fast rate.

The first thing they noticed after seeing him however, was the expression on his face.

They couldn't see it clearly, it was if a shadow covered it.

They could only see a strange pattern on his forehead, glowing a golden colour as it moved on it's own.

It was terrifying but they weren't afraid. After all, it was still Gray.

Ruby was too frightened by the Aura around him. It had grown.

Gray hadn't wasted 400 Coins on each of the very strong health potions for nothing.

Seeing how it was having it's effect, Gray gave the three of them a pat on their head.

At that instant, The Horned King leapt at him and appeared before him a spear in his hand.

He thrust it at his head.

Without moving a step, Gray tilted his head to the side and swung a back hand at the same speed towards the King.

Gray avoided the spear thrust.

The King raised one arm to block the backhand.

[Trajectory Shift]

*BAM!*

The backhand slipped past his raised arm and slammed cleanly to his face.

It sent him sliding back on the deck with a surprised look in his face.

Gray's figure seemingly vanished, before he appeared ahead of him, his arm stretched out to grab his face.

Countless Dimensional Spears, manifested all around Gray.

As they were propelled at him, they all halted in the air around him.

The king's eyes widened as swung his arm down.

[Dimensional Slash]

[Dimensional Gravity x 100]

The Gravity inside of the cube, was multiplied a hundred times, crushing the people inside.

Gray dropped to the floor as he had been mid-leap. At that moment, a vertical slash tearing away at the deck was propelled towards him.

[Pause.]

The slash stopped, inches from his face.

A few seconds after however, he could be seen slowly rising from the ground.

The king took another step back.

"How?! How is this possible?! How is he able to use his abilities?!"

[The King's Awakening: 1st Stage]

[Auto-Regeneration.]

[Ignore most debuffs during its activation.]

[Limitations significantly decreased over time related skills.]

[Temporary physical boost.]

[Cooldown significantly decreased over time related skills.]

The pattern on Gray's forehead glowed, as he vanished once more.

[Pause Step]

He appeared right above the Horned King's head, before kicking down at him with an Axe kick.

The king's figure vanished, as he appeared on the corner of the deck. He could move freely within this dimension of his.

Despite that, his eyes widened as the kick landed in his liver.

Gray had Pause Stepped again, a second time in a row, mid-air.

The limitation for pause step was overwritten.

The king's figure went flying to the right, before coming to a stop as Gray paused him in the air.

His eyes widened, as he looked down. He was missing one of his legs.

Looking to the right, he could see his Right leg, floating in the air, paused in the exact spot where he had been kicked.

His leg stayed but his entire body went.

Gray walked menacingly towards him, watching as his body began to regenerate the leg.

Feeling a chill rush down his spine, The king tried moving but to no avail.

He was completely paused.

By the time Gray reached him, his heart sank.