35 1 vs Many
Emery sprang into action. His broken wrist already put him at a disadvantage compared to Carlos' men. If he let them strike first, then he would regret every bit of it.
"Ha!"
He kicked the first person in front of him, sending them flying into a bunch of others. He jabbed an elbow into the next. His advance action ended there. The remaining Awakened had time to regain all their senses.
"Hey, get him!" someone yelled.
A few flashes of bright light emerged from the crowd of people after that yelled. They had all activated their powers. He hadn't fought any Awakened since that first time, this was bound to be a difficult fight.
"Bring it!" he growled back.
A flaming fist swung forward, cutting an arc through the air. He jumped back, but a bit of the flames had grazed his jacket, threatening to burn it off completely.
Another followed up, slicing downward with a sword in hand.
'Weapon!'
He completely forgot about those. After all, powers weren't the only way you could hurt someone.
The blade cut a bit of the jacket off and pierced into his skin.
'Fuck!'
It drew blood.
Emery couldn't let that happen again.
Pantry!
A white light shone out, and a small knife appeared in his hands. A fruit-cutting knife. It looked harmless like it couldn't harm anything, but no one took it at face value.
He darted forward, the blade slightly to the side. It seemed to disappear despite it being in plain sight. His wrist still dangled slightly, sending small stabs of pain forward at times, but he ignored them.
An attacker rushed him from the side. Their power was a lot less flashy, but he slammed into Emery with the force of a bull, driving him back a few metres. The chef took that chance, and at the same time, drove the knife into the opponent's side.
The force was enough to leave him grasping for air but not enough to kill him just like that.
It was already difficult enough to come to terms with the fact that he did that, and with such a small knife, too.
No time to think. There were still a bunch of them remaining. Emery went for the fire user first. A small burst of flames emerged from the man's body, enveloping his figure.
This one would be a difficult fight.
He tapped into the energy, causing a visible green aura to cover the entire knife. Afterwards, he cut a clean arc straight through the air. The opponent ducked to the side, burning some things in the process.
Razor Blade!
A slice mark appeared in the sturdy stone walls behind. If it had touched the flame user then perhaps the battle would have ended then and there, but clearly, it wouldn't be that easy.
The flame man picked up some items from a nearby table, setting them aflame. He hurled them forward, some straight at him, others from above.
It wasn't enough to kill him, but just enough to keep him busy for a few seconds. And those few seconds were enough for the man.
Emery kicked one of the flaming items away, but at the same time, he noticed the burning man come out from the corner of his eyes.
"Flaming Heaven Fist!"
The man punched out, and all the flames condensed into that one attack. It was too close to dodge completely, but the same went for the enemy.
Emery twisted his body to the side slightly, then brought the knife down at the same time.
His green aura still covered the blade of the knife, meaning it would be effective no matter what he did.
The fiery fist slammed into his side. A scalding hot pain shot through his body, paralyzing him for a very brief second.
'Fuck!'
He regained control of his body and swiftly slammed the blade a few metres above the man's waist area.
Almost immediately, Emery's aura was injected straight into the man, causing him to collapse as though it were a killing blow in the first place.
Emery couldn't stop now. He turned straight towards all the remaining gang members.
How many of them were left?
About three. None of them looked particularly strong.
'Can't take that chance,' he thought.
One of them shivered slightly. It was the blade user from earlier. It looked like the previous blow was merely a lucky shot.
"Hey, let's run away! He was able to leave Ben in such a state. He was the strongest out of all of us!"
Bingo.
Emery sliced down with the blade. It disappeared into a blur, but a thin line appeared on the sword user's two arms. He continued on by slamming his leg into the other two and sending them flying into the wall behind.
Finished.
He looked at the crowd of defeated opponents. Perhaps cooking really wasn't the best for him in the first place.
'Fat chance. I'll cook so hard that my exp gain from doing so will be even more than killing beasts,'
Emery looked back to the fire user, who still remained collapsed on the ground. That was a tasking battle. His side still stung perpetually. The wound reminded him in many ways of the ones he'd sustained when he was still powerless.
Whoever the dude was, he wasn't a pushover at all. Especially with the way he creatively used his powers and the surroundings to fight. But unfortunately for him, Emery had a sort of advantage in the form of that energy.
He was only Class Ten too, so his attacks didn't have a lot of force to them.
As he thought about that, he remembered that woman and her status. He didn't just run away for nothing back there.
That woman… was Class Eight.
He remembered the name her status showed. Amelia.
A Class Eight Awakened after him was the last thing he expected. Especially seeing as he just advanced to Class Nine less than an hour ago. The difference was very large, but the boosts from the dishes and his own innate battle instincts didn't make it obvious.
Anyway, back to the mission at hand.
Emery cut one of the collapsed opponent's shirts and tied them around his wounds. He even used another tight cloth to keep his left wrist in place. It was dangerous to let it dangle around like that.
He had a burnt torso, and a dislocated wrist now. Hopefully, this won't get any worse.
'Man, I just want to cook.'
He sighed and then looked down to the end of the corridor. It would be a while before he could get back to the kitchen again.
"Well, here I go now."
