I Spread my Genes to Level Up in the Apocalypse

"No!" Fern shouted loudly, her eyes closed, as Ray's fist slowly descended toward her face.

Ray was always merciless to his enemies, whether they were male or female. It didn't matter when you were fighting for your life; equal rights meant equal fights.

Just then, an Ice Lance appeared and launched towards him.

"So you finally showed up?"

Ray caught the spear with his bare hand, which instantly froze on the spot, freezing his hand with it. He tightened his fist and completely destroyed it.

"What do you want?" Seraphine said with a serious expression.

"I want to stay here. So are you finally willing to compromise?" Ray looked at her with a smile that didn't look like a smile at all.

"Hmm." Seraphine narrowed her eyes, looking at Ray with a dangerous glow.

"You think you can beat me with just that?" Seraphine extended her hand to the sky.

"I will show you my third Awakening."

The ground began to freeze with Seraphine at the epicentre.

Within moments, the area around her, stretching out to a hundred metres, was covered in ice.

The almost destroyed house she stood on was also encased in frost in no time.

Like a plague, the ice spread rapidly, almost reaching Ray, who was about two hundred metres away.

"Hmm?" Ray frowned as he touched the sharp edges of the ice. It was even stronger than before.

Then, under his astonished eyes, a ray of light emerged from Seraphine's hand, reaching up to the sky.

Ray's heartbeat skipped a beat, and the blood flow in his body pumped faster and faster.

The ray of light only lasted for a second, but in Seraphine's hand now there was a blue lance emitting a chilling aura that made everyone shudder.

This wasn't the chilling aura that Ray could feel from his summons; instead, it felt like a suction force that could snap away all heat. There was no such thing as cold, just the absence of heat.

"Interesting," was the only word that escaped Ray's lips as he shot forward, destroying all the ice in his path.

In the next moment, he appeared right in front of Seraphine with some light cuts all over his body. Ray punched out right at her face, this time not holding back.

At the same time Ray punched Seraphine, she also thrust her lance at him, aiming right for his heart.

Ray didn't retract, a sneer on his face, mirroring Seraphine's cold expression. She had already taken his punch to the face once, so she believed it wouldn't make much difference if she took another one.

That's what she thought...

The lance couldn't penetrate Ray's skin, though it did freeze it. However, Ray's punch broke her nose, causing blood to gush out as she was launched into the air.

"Lightning Arts: Lightning Spear," Ray muttered in his heart.

Electric arcs gathered in his hand, slowly forming electric currents in the shape of a spear. Even Ray could feel some pain in his palm from holding the Lightning Spear; the voltage was terrifying, making it the most powerful move in his Lightning Arts.

Ray lightly threw it in her direction.

Boom!

The Lightning Spear effortlessly traveled through the ice, reaching Seraphine in the blink of an eye, shooting towards her heart.

Zhhh!

Seraphine couldn't react in time as the Lightning Spear pierced her armor.

"Damn it."

She instantly increased the cold around her to an extreme by suctioning all the heat. Luckily, her instinct worked; the Lightning Spear couldn't reach her heart but dispersed around her skin, instantly electrocuting her.

"Ahhhh!"

Seraphine screamed in pain, caught off guard. If she had been prepared, she would never have suffered such a loss from the Lightning Spear.

"So, are you willing to give up?"

Seraphine heard a voice right beside her. Her pupils flickered in horror as she turned to look at the smiling face of Ray.

"What do you want?" She gritted her teeth, maintaining her usual cold expression even in pain from the electric discharge.

"Truly worthy of being called the Ice Princess." Ray chuckled. If not for the grunt and the vein popping in her head, he would have thought she hadn't been hit by the Lightning Spear at all.

"Is that all?" Seraphine finally calmed down, her breathing ragged. The electricity flowing in her body had dissipated significantly.

"I need to kill King," Ray said.

"Hmm, are you an S-class Awakener?" Seraphine didn't reply but asked Ray calmly. Since he was willing to talk, she surmised he didn't want to kill her.

"What do you think?" Ray asked mysteriously.

"You must be an S-class Awakener," she said firmly, with conviction.

Ray chuckled. Considering his initial Awakening, he had been an E-class Awakener instead.

"If you really want to defeat King, even for you, it won't be easy."

"Oh?" Ray raised his brows.

"King has already advanced once during this trip. He might advance again. Are you sure you can beat him then?" Seraphine said deeply, studying Ray's expression to discern his thoughts.

"If King advances again, he would reach Awakening III. Don't underestimate the power of an S-class skill. Awakening II in Sage Arts already allowed the King to have the power to fight the military."

The higher the class of the skill, the more mutation energy is needed to advance. Ray's B-class skill needed 100 mutation energy; an S-class skill must require a terrifying amount.

"I can. You don't have to worry about that," Ray said lightly. "I just need to stay here and ambush him."

"Alright then," Seraphine replied, wisely choosing to compromise.

She couldn't beat him anyway; if she fought against Ray, she would definitely die.

From the punch imprint still on her face, Seraphine could tell that he really doesn't show mercy, even if she is a girl.

And she was right—Ray wouldn't show mercy in a fight. To him, everyone was equal under his fist.

"Alright then, we are going back," Ray said, extending his hand gently.

Seraphine looked at his hand, then supported herself by the floor, barely managing to stand.

"I don't need your help," she said coldly.

"Feisty," Ray shrugged, retracting his hand.