Lucas continued to watch as the boy in front of him continued to scream. While the two other men left groveling on the ground could not help but cover their ears, Van's howl drowning in their mind. They knew that fighting Van with only one of their legs working was suicide, and so, they just chose to back down.
"Hurting the woman was not our intention!", Lucas, who could no longer bear to hear Van's cries, shouted. "We thought that no one would be there. If we--"
"!!!", Lucas did not finish his words as he suddenly crouched and rotated his body, sweeping the area within his reach using his four muscular arms. And as soon as he did so, Van appeared behind him, just a few inches away from his range.
Lucas was going to grab both of Van's feet, but Van backed away before he could do so.
"...", Van stared him straight in the eyes as he retreated.
"I've already fought people as fast as you, boy", Lucas said as he returned Van's gaze, "Just walk away. Our only job was to wreck your house. I will forgive you for harming my men"
"...Forgive me?", Van let out a chuckle, "That's funny", he muttered before disappearing from his spot once again.
Van rushed towards Lucas, going behind him and swinging the knife at his feet. But for some reason, Lucas was able to avoid him, with his fists already moving straight to Van's face.
Van quickly backed away, his eyebrows furrowed as he once again stared at Lucas.
"Seeing how small you are…", Lucas spoke, "You must be a freshman from NYSA. I suggest you walk away now, boy"
"..."
"Our levels are too far apart", Lucas continued as he put up his stance, "My base level is already level 29… I am much stronger than you!", Lucas shouted before suddenly rushing towards Van, his footprints embedding in the ground.
"!!!", Van's eyes widened as Lucas' fist was suddenly in front of him. Van quickly turned on his [Time Perception] skill, it would seem that his reflexes were still not fast enough without it. Van moved to the side, avoiding the three fists that wanted to destroy his torso.
Van tightened his grip with the knife and was about to rush towards him, but Lucas continued to slam his fists on the ground. His four fists continued hammering the ground around him even without Van advancing towards him.
"Hm…", Van ran towards him, but the uneven surface of the street made him lose balance as he slightly stumbled, making him retreat and turn off his [Time Perception] skill.
"I told you, boy! I have fought people as fast as you before!", Lucas shouted. He had fought countless creatures during his time as an Explorer that were as fast as Van, and so, he was more than confident enough that he could defeat him.
"Go ho-- w… what the…", Lucas was about to say more, but he suddenly felt something amiss.
"You might be stronger than me…", Van said in a cold tone as he slowly raised his hand, holding something in it, "But I seem to be much… much… faster than you"
"T… that", Lucas could not help but gulp as he saw the object in Van's hand. He then slowly turned his head down, only to see that one of his arms was missing, blood dripping profusely from one of his elbows.
Lucas could not help but grit his teeth as the pain suddenly crawled through his entire body. "W… when!?", he roared.
Van, however, only examined his dismembered arm. And after observing it a bit, threw his knife away which was now blunt and chipped beyond repair due to shaving off Lucas' steel-like flesh.
"I can use this…", Van whispered as he gripped the dismembered arm by the wrist. He should probably buy a weapon soon so that he would stop using limbs as a weapon. Van then could not help but place his attention back on Lucas as he heard a disgusting squishing sound.
"Your arms… grow back?", Van slightly tilted his head as Lucas' dismembered arm started to grow from his elbow, "You'd be very famous in the Relic Graveyard with that skill"
Hearing Van's mocking tone, Lucas could not help but scream in rage as he rushed from his spot, rotating his body and swinging all of his arms like a tornado, "You won't be able to hit me, boy!"
"...", Van disappeared from his spot, only to appear within the blink of an eye hovering above Lucas.
"!!!"
Using his [Air Step], Van pushed himself down towards the perplexed Lucas and slammed his own dismembered arm down through his shoulders.
Loud cracking noises reverberated in the air as the bones on Lucas' shoulder shattered from the impact. His dismembered arm also bent and twisted, its shattered bones penetrating his flesh.
Van's hand instantly became numb from the force, but still, he did not stop as he pulled the arm back, tearing Lucas' flesh open. He then continued to slam the hand towards Lucas' head, slightly retreating to add more force causing Lucas' jaw to dislocate.
Lucas could not help but drop to the ground as his consciousness slightly faltered. Van was about to hit him again, but a smile suddenly formed on Lucas' face.
"B… boy", he chuckled even with blood coming out from his mouth, "I admit… y… you are strong…", he whispered.
"But if you are thinking… going to Gerald for revenge… don't", Lucas chuckled once again while coughing up blood, "He… is much stronger than me"
"...", Van slightly stepped back as he stared at the struggling Lucas, curious as to what he was saying.
"D… do you know how many crystals their father made them forcefully absorb?", he continued, "Even his younger brother… is probably stronger than me".
"They're monsters… you can't defeat them…"
"...", Van slightly raised his eyebrows in confusion. Just why did this man suddenly tell him that? Was he… trying to warn him? Van thought. But after a few seconds, he shook his head.
"You seem to know a lot about Gerald...", Van dropped Lucas' arm as he slowly walked towards him, a smile forming on his face. "Can you…
...Tell me more?"