The air reeked of burning fuel and scorched metal, the inferno all around me and my targets casting long shadows over the docks. Ships and vehicles lay crippled, their flames clawing at the still morning sky as pillars of smoke reached into the heavens.
"Enough of this! We'll deal with you later, Orland. For now…"
The female guard snarled, her glare snapping to me with a predatory focus. Her sword glinted in her hand, its edge eager for blood.
"Oh, I certainly hope so"
Orland sneered, his voice dripping with mockery. He wasted no time scurrying off, a rat fleeing a sinking ship. I didn't bother chasing him. With everything ablaze, there was nowhere far enough for him to run, at least not anywhere I couldn't reach. If he tried, I'd find him.
""...""
I said nothing, returning the guard's bloodthirsty glare with a blank stare, unshaken. For a moment, we measured each other, two predators circling, neither willing to make the first move.
"Make this quick, Cynthia. We have more pressing matters to attend to"
Came an exasperated voice from behind her. The finely dressed man flicked open a golden pocket watch, glancing at the time as if I were a trivial inconvenience.
My eyes flicked toward him for an instant. Unlike Orland, he hadn't run.
((Confident in her ability to protect him, or confident in his own strength? Time to find out...))
I refocused on the guard—Cynthia, if I'd caught her name correctly, locking my gaze on hers. She studied my eyes, no doubt trying to predict my next move. Perfect. I subtly shifted my right arm, keeping the motion imperceptible.
*Thwip!*
The bolt fired from my wrist mounted launcher and screamed through the air, its shrill cry slicing through the silence like a banshee.
"Lord Harold!"
Cynthia moved faster than I'd anticipated. Her face twisted in shock for a fleeting moment before she lunged, intercepting the bolt with her own body.
*Squelch!*
"Gah!"
She snarled as the bolt buried itself in her shoulder, dark crimson blood staining her clothes. But she barely flinched, her reaction more instinctive than pained.
""...""
I was already in motion, closing the gap with unrelenting efficiency. My blade, "Mumei", cut an upward arc, gleaming in the firelight as it slashed from her right hip to her left shoulder.
*Rip!**Clang!*
The blade tore through her clothes effortlessly as it should, but the steel met unexpected resistance on her skin. Sparks exploded where it should have bitten into flesh. The vibration in my left hand told me I'd struck something far harder than muscle or bone.
"AARGH!"
Cynthia staggered back, her lips curling into a snarl as she raised her sword.
"You'll pay for that! Die!"
*Shing!* *Whoosh!*
She lunged, her swing wild, but I was already ten steps away, retreating into the distance.
""...""
My expression didn't change, though I observed her with cold calculation. Her skin was shifting, the color bleeding into a metallic gray sheen that rippled under the flickering light.
""...Iron skin""
I muttered, my voice flat.
"This isn't the first time you're stealing our side's work...""
"...Rrrrrr!"
Her eyes narrowed at the accusation, but she didn't deny it.
Iron skin—one of the Mekhanites' many creations. Born from genetic alchemy and biomancy. It worked by transmuting the skin into a specially designed carbon lattice structure when the body detects a spike in cortisol—a stress hormone signaling danger. The transformation offered impressive protection, turning flesh into something akin to tempered steel.
((It's not perfect...))
I mused seeing the effects the augmentation was having on her.
((The process of transmutation consumes immense amounts of energy, burning calories at a staggering rate. And the stress required to activate it often dulled a soldier's reflexes, which was why it was typically paired with other augmentations to counteract the side effects. But she doesn't seem to have those. This stolen variant is crude. Inefficient. It'll leave her vulnerable in prolonged combat—and she's already burning out by the looks of it...))
Cynthia's breathing was labored, her chest heaving as though she'd just run a marathon. Her grip on her sword was iron-tight, but the pain in her shoulder was clearly taking its toll. She wasn't compatible with the implant. That much was obvious.
""I'm curious...""
I said, my tone devoid of emotion.
""How much time do you have left on the clock? 1 minute? 3 maybe?""
The question might have come off as more mocking than I intended as...
"SHUT UP!!!"
She screamed, her voice raw and furious. Her grip tightened on her weapon, her gaze searing with determination. But her trembling hand betrayed her.
((Ahh...so she's already near her breaking point))
I stepped forward, my blade at the ready, prepared to press the advantage.
But Cynthia was already a step ahead...
*BOOM!*
The ground beneath her cracked, spiderweb fractures splintering across the pavement as she launched forward like a bullet. Her sword—a glinting arc of steel—aimed straight for my abdomen with lethal precision.
*Shing!*
I twisted my torso, sidestepping just in time. My blade lashed out in an upward arc, aiming to carve into her exposed side. But before it could connect—
*WHOOM!*
She torqued her body unnaturally mid-motion, bending away from my strike like a coiled spring snapping back into place. Her counterattack came instantly, her sword reversing direction and slicing toward my face.
""...""
*Whoosh!*
I barely ducked in time, feeling the blade whistle past the top of my head, the air disturbed by its edge sharp enough to nick a stray strand of my hair. My muscles tensed, ready to strike again—
*Bang!* *Bang!*
The sharp retort of gunfire rang through the air. My instincts screamed. Without hesitation, I threw my weight back into a twisting flip, narrowly avoiding two bullets that zipped past where my head had been a split second before. The heat of their passage sizzled against my skin, barely missing my right ear.
"Haaaaa~"
A sigh followed, slow and drawn out.
"I can't believe I have to intervene in this…You've disappointed me, Cynthia."
The voice was calm, tinged with disapproval, yet utterly indifferent. Smoke curled from the barrel of the ornate pistol in his hand. Harold. His expression, cool and unimpressed, barely changed as he regarded the battlefield.
"My apologies, sir Harold..."
Cynthia's voice was strained, her fingers tightening around the hilt of her blade. The way she shifted her stance told me she hated his interference—but she wouldn't protest. She couldn't.
Harold exhaled through his nose, the weight of his disappointment lingering for only a moment before his lips curved into something resembling amusement. He twirled the pistol in his fingers, the motion slow, deliberate.
"Never mind…Perhaps I was too harsh expecting so much from you..."
He mused, his tone shifting from disapproval to something smoother—almost indulgent.
"The augmentations are still new to you, and, to be fair, you are up against The White Jackal of all people..."
His eyes flicked toward me, calculating.
"Forgive my discourtesy."
Cynthia straightened slightly at the shift in tone. The rigid tension in her shoulders lessened, but only by a fraction. Harold was pulling the "carrot and stick" maneuver, giving her a few words reprimand only to offer a hand right after. A master at keeping control.
""…""
I said nothing at first, my gaze flicking between them, studying their subtle interactions—the way Harold's stance adjusted ever so slightly, the way Cynthia clenched her fingers just enough to vent restrained emotion. A moment passed in silence before I spoke.
""Do you two need a moment?""
I asked, voice flat, tone devoid of sarcasm or malice.
""If so, I wouldn't mind taking care of Orland first and returning to you later""
I meant it as a simple, practical observation. If they were too occupied with their own theatrics, I had better things to do. But the way Cynthia stiffened and Harold's smirk twitched at the edges told me they had taken it as something else entirely.
Cynthia's brow furrowed, a flash of indignation in her eyes. Harold let out a breathy chuckle, shaking his head.
"You really have a way with words, don't you? I expected something more professional from the Mekhanite's White Jackal"
He muttered, tilting his head as if to scrutinize me.
"Tch!"
Cynthia scoffed, shifting into a stance that screamed she was more than ready to put an end to this conversation with steel.
((...I take it that means no))
I readied my sword again, indifferent to their reaction. If they were done, we could proceed.
"Haaa~"
Harold exhaled through his nose, rolling his shoulders as if shaking off some unseen weight. Then, with a small, amused smirk, he spoke.
"Cynthia…I authorize the full use of your augmentations, we won't win without them, not against HIM"
"Ha-!"
Cynthia's breath hitched for a fraction of a second. Then her expression shifted—her stance tightening as if some invisible restraint had just been lifted. Her fingers flexed around the hilt of her sword, her knuckles going white.
*Thump-thump*
The air pulsed with something unseen as veins along her arms briefly bulged, her muscles surging with power. A think purple aura emanated from her, burning like a fire being fed prime firewood.
((Prana...she's getting serious))
Then, in the space between two heartbeats—
*BOOM!*
The pavement beneath her exploded into spiderweb cracks as she shot forward like a human missile, the sheer force of her takeoff leaving behind a small shockwave, the combination of her augmentations and her Prana had increased her physical abilities EXPLOSIVELY.
At the same time—
*Clink!*
Harold flicked a silver coin into the air. It spun lazily in the firelight, catching the glow of the burning wreckage around us. His pistol was already raised before the coin reached its apex.
*BANG!*
A single shot.
The bullet pierced the coin dead center, but instead of simply tearing through, the round detonated, transmuting the coin into a searing-hot plasma burst. Superheated beams of white-hot energy lanced through the air, streaking toward me like miniature solar flares.
""...!""
I moved.
*ShhhhZZT!*
I twisted my body, dodging the first burning streak of plasma by a hair's breadth. Heat brushed past my cheek, singeing the air with the scent of burnt ozone. I pivoted my foot—
*Ssshh!*
Another plasma streak shot by, barely missing my shoulder.
Then—
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!!!"
*CLANG!*
Cynthia was already upon me. Our swords clashed in a violent burst of sparks, the force behind her swing sending a bone-rattling vibration down my arm. My feet barely held their ground—until Cynthia's strength surged.
*BOOM!*
The impact sent me flying backward like a ragdoll, my back crashing into the solid brick of a nearby wall. The structure groaned under the force, debris cracking and falling from above.
""...Tch""
I barely had time to adjust before Cynthia was already airborne, her silhouette a blur against the fire-lit sky.
"DIE you wretch!"
I moved.
*CRACKLE! BOOM!*
Pushing off the wall, I launched upward just as Cynthia's sword came crashing down where I had been. The pavement below shattered under the force, dust and debris billowing from the impact.
My boots met the side of a building, and I didn't hesitate—I kicked off, ascending vertically in rapid bursts, scaling the wall like a phantom. Cynthia followed in relentless pursuit, leaping after me with inhuman agility, each bound carrying her farther than any normal human should be capable of.
Our swords met mid-air.
*CLANG!**CLANG!**CLANG!* *CRRZZZZZTTT!!!*
Blades clashed at breakneck speed, the sheer force of our strikes sending out shockwaves of pressure. Sparks ignited brighter than even the fires of the buildings around us, metal grinding against metal in a deadly blur of motion.
Gravity no longer seemed to apply.
I flipped over her, angling my sword downward in a precise stab—
*SHING!* *RRREEEE!*
She twisted in the air, deflecting it, her blade screeching against mine before retaliating in kind.
*CLANG!*
I barely parried the follow-up slash, the raw strength behind it threatening to throw me off-balance again.
Then—
*Clink!**Clink!*
((That guy again...))
My eyes flicked downward just in time to see another two coins mid-air.
*BANG!* *BANG!*
Followed by two gunshots echoing from below.
Two more plasma shots ignited, streaking toward me with deadly precision.
((Tch—))
With no choice, I spun off the wall, narrowly avoiding the two beams by weaving my body mid air through the gap between them as they sizzled past, melting the concrete of the building where I used to stand into molten slag as it cored through the building entirely.
*SSSSSS*
Cynthia took the momentary opening—
She was already above me.
A downward slash, aimed to cleave me in half.
*CLANG!*
I barely caught it with "Mumei", the impact sending another shockwave through the air. The force sent me spiraling downward—straight toward Harold's line of fire.
((…I might be in trouble if I don't end this quickly))
I thought, as this was the first time I fought an opponent on relatively equal ground, the stamina and magic potion I took earlier were still in effect so I had options to explore but it was clear to me they were not to be underestimated.
I twisted mid-fall, realigning my sights just as Harold was about to fire again.
*BOOM!*
The moment my boots hit the "ground", the concrete beneath me groaned, struggling to withstand the force of my landing. But before I could so much as take a breath—
*BANG!* *BANG!*
Harold's pistol roared again.
Two more plasma beams streaked toward me, their searing glow carving through the air like divine judgment. I barely had time to react.
*SHHZZZTT!*
I twisted my entire being at the last second, slipping through the gap between them. The moment they passed me, the beams cored through the remains of the building under me just like before—melting solid concrete and steel like butter—
*CRACK!* *CRACK!*
But this time...they hit something important as then—I heard an earth-shaking groan.
The entire upper section of the structure buckled as molten metal dripped from its wounds. A heartbeat later—
*RRRRMMMMBBBBLLLLLEEEE!!!!!*
The building snapped in half, the upper portion tilting forward, collapsing like a dying beast. A wall of dust and debris roared toward me.
But I had bigger problems.
*CLANG!*
Cynthia was already on me again.
*CLANG!**CLANG!**CLANG!**CLANG!**CLANG!**SKRRRRT!* *REEEEEE!**CLANG!*
Our blades clashed at blinding speeds, each impact sending a shockwave through the air. Sparks rained down like falling stars, our strikes so rapid they blurred together in streaks of silver light.
*SSSSSZZZZ!*
Both our blades began to heat into a brilliant yellow-white hue as the friction of traveling through the air at such speeds combined with the kinetic force of our clashing heated up the metal like they were being reforged in a smithy.
*CLANG!* *CLANG!* *SHING!* *CRRRZZZZTTT!*
((Tch—annoying...I can't play defense forever, but good news is her metabolism is burning rapidly, she'll burn out soon. SHOW ME AN OPENING ALREADY!!!))
She was relentless, her augmented strength turning every strike into a wrecking blow. Each attack faster, sharper, deadlier than the last. Our swords clashed as we ran up the portion of the building as it was tumbling down like a felled tree, defying gravity again.
Then—she finally showed me an opening I could take advantage of.
((Finally! About damn time!))
As the collapsing section of the building descended toward the ground, I made my move.
*SSSSS!* *Shing!*
Cynthia swung her still sizzling blade.
A diagonal cut, aiming to carve through my chest. I weaved into her, twisting my body and ducking down just enough to slip through the gap in her strike. For the first time in this battle—She overextended, whether it was because of her desperation in ending the fight before her metabolism gave out from overclocking or a genuine mistake in the heat of battle didn't matter as it was a fatal mistake.
My hand blurred—
*SHING!*
An Iai slash—faster than the eye could follow.
Her sword left her grasp.
*CLANK—CLINK—CLANG!*
"Ha-!"
Cynthia's eyes widened, she let out a stifled gasp as it spiraled through the air, glinting in the firelight.
For a split second, her instincts took over—she immediately raised her guard, activating her iron skin to brace for what she assumed would be my killing blow, the grayish black color spreading rapidly from her chest to the rest of the skin on her body.
Unluckily for her, she was wrong.
Instead—
I caught her own blade mid-air.
And before she could react—
*SHNK!*
I threw it downwards (or upwards since we're upside down right now) driving it through her leg, pinning her to the collapsing building.
"GAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"
She screamed, her body spasming as blood splattered against the cracked concrete. The iron skin augmentation hadn't reached her legs yet—it was too late.
I didn't hesitate, leaping away at a last moment before the building hit the ground.
*Thwip!*
A sharp, mechanical hiss cut through the chaos as I fired a tether bolt from my wrist-mounted launcher. The bolt shot through the air, embedding itself into the skeletal remains of another building in the distance.
*Click!* *Whirrrr!*
The mechanism engaged instantly, yanking me away just as the rubble crashed down where I had stood moments ago. My body cut through the smoke-filled sky like a bird, propelled by the taut line.
*KRRRRAAAAAAAAASSSSSSHHHHHHHH!!!!!*
The collapsing building slammed into the earth, a tidal wave of dust and debris erupting into the air, engulfing everything in a choking cloud of destruction.
With a practiced twist, I released the tether mid-swing, flipping through the air before landing soundlessly on a nearby rooftop. The moment my feet touched solid ground, I turned, watching as the structure caved in on itself—burying Cynthia beneath tons of concrete and steel.
"Haaaa~"
I exhaled, steam curling from my blade.
*SSSSS!*
Mumei gleamed in the firelight, the metal still glowing ominously and sizzling from the heat of friction from that intense clashing of blades.
""...One down""
I wasn't foolish enough to think Cynthia was dead, she was an augmented like me so I believed this wasn't enough to kill her, but there was no chance she would walk out of that unscathed and combined with her overclocking metabolism her threat to me was pretty much nullified.
Harold, however, was still a standing threat.
*EEEEEEE!*
A piercing metallic groan echoed beneath the mountain of rubble. The heap of shattered stone and twisted rebar shifted, pieces tumbling away as something—someone—forced her way out.
""Oh...maybe I spoke a bit early""
I watched, blade resting at my side, as Cynthia staggered forward.
"GAAAAAAAAAH!!!...ha~...ha~...ha~"
Her skin, once smooth and unmarred, was now blackened from the overuse of iron skin. Six jagged metal beams jutted from her torso and limbs, impaling her like some grotesque iron maiden. Blood leaked from her forehead, matting her hair and trailing down her face, staining what little remained of her uniform, her breathing was ragged and pained. One of her arms hung limply at her side, shattered from the impact.
"We're...ha~...not done!"
And yet, despite everything, she still clutched her sword in her remaining hand.
""...Haaa~"
I tilted my head slightly, sighing.
""Gotta admit...For a third-rate, hacked, reverse-engineered job, that's not bad""
Cynthia's bleary eyes flicked upwards towards me standing on the roof of another building, unfocused, her breathing ragged.
""Whoever did your augments isn't on the level of my superiors...but I'll admit, they did decent work""
My gaze swept over her ruined form, analyzing with a detached demeanor.
""If you weren't a Scarlet Chorus proxy, you might've made a passable GEN-7 soldier""
The fight between me and Cynthia was the quintessential example of how battles between augmented beings would go, this was undeniable proof that the Mekhanite's considerable investment in the creation and mass production of super soldiers wasn't a waste.
"Ha~ haha...rrr!..."
Her lips curled into a half-snarl, half-smirk—whether from defiance or delirium, I couldn't tell. But she didn't get the chance to respond.
"Enough of this!"
Because Harold moved.
*FWOOSH!*
A surge of energy crackled through the air, an eerie golden light illuminating the battlefield.
""...""
I shifted my stance just as Harold raised his pistol—not toward me this time, but skyward. His other hand traced a complex sigil in the air, the lines of the glyph shimmering before vanishing into the ether.
Then, with a muttered incantation—
"O sundered skies, hearken unto mine plea and smite mine foes with thy blazing wrath...[Dawn Hammer]"
The heavens split open.
*KRRA-KOOM!!!*
Beams of searing light lanced down from the sky, streaking toward me with the force of a falling star.
*BOOOOOOOM!*
The rooftop I stood on evaporated in an instant. The sheer impact reduced the structure to molten slag and wood ashes, fire and debris exploding outward in a shockwave of destruction.
But I was already gone.
A flicker of motion. A blur of shadow against firelight.
*BOOM!**BOOM!**BOOM!*
Dodging between the columns of death raining from the sky, I wove through the air with precise footwork and instantaneous micro-adjustments, twisting my body past searing beams of celestial fire. Every movement was calculated to the millisecond, my instincts guiding me like a phantom through the inferno.
The battlefield trembled. The air itself was alight with the suffocating heat of Harold's bombardment. Entire sections of the anchorage melted into slag or turned to ash and dust, steel beams turning molten and collapsing in slow, tortured groans, wood being incinerated creating ash and smog that tortured the lungs.
And yet, through it all, my blade remained steady.
""HAMMPH!"
I took a single deep breath before diving through a column of smoke.
((Enough!))
A silent pulse erupted from within me.
*Fwoosh!*
A black aura, obsidian in color, ignited around me—Prana, my life force made manifest. It flickered, then surged, swallowing the glow of Harold's spell as if the light itself could not contest its existence.
My body responded instantly. Strength coiled within my limbs like an iron spring. The soreness, the fatigue—all of it drowned beneath the overwhelming rush of sheer power. The world slowed. My perception sharpened. And with that, I moved.
*CRACK!*
The ground beneath me shattered as I launched forward with newfound speed, leaving a crater where I once stood.
*BOOM!* *BOOOM!*
Explosions pursued me no matter where I went as the rain of searing light seemed particularly insistent on turning me to ash according to their caster's will.
Suddenly I heard a guttural, wet scream probably from someone who's throat is currently choked by blood.
"Jackal!"
Cynthia, still wreathed in her violet aura, was already moving to intercept, climbing up the buildings chasing me like a frantic pinioned automata. Even wounded, even faltering, she was still fast, her instincts honed from battle after battle.
((Seriously? Die already!))
She had the same thought it seems.
"DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEE!!!!"
Her sword cut through the air with lethal precision, seeking my throat in a desperate final strike—
*Shing!*
I tilted my head at the last moment, letting the edge pass a hair's breadth from my skin before twisting my wrist to redirect her momentum. Her balance faltered for the briefest instant—a single heartbeat—and that was all I needed.
*Snap!*
With a flick of my fingers, I reached into the very fabric of the world.
(([Arcane Reflection]))
Mana surged within me, coalescing into a lattice of refractive force—an unseen prism woven from sheer magical will. The very air shimmered as I bent the incoming energy, distorting its trajectory with an imperceptible shift.
A redirection.
One of Harold's divine beams, already carving through the air towards me, twisted mid-flight, bending at an unnatural angle as though the heavens themselves obeyed my call.
"Wh—"
Harold barely had time to react.
"Gu-!"
Cynthia's eyes widened as the golden pillar of destruction curved toward her, its searing edge cutting a crescent moon straight through her already broken form.
"Ah-aa...ah...lord...Har-"
A strangled gasp tore from her lips.
For a single, frozen moment, she was suspended in the air—her limbs twitching, her broken sword slipping from her grasp. Then, like a doll with its strings severed, her body crumpled, the remnants of her violet aura flickering out as she plummeted into the abyss below.
Harold's voice cut through the battlefield, a mix of shock and disbelief.
"Cynthia—?!"
Not concern. Not grief. Just confusion.
A mistake.
One he would not recover from.
Before he could react, before he could turn his gaze back to me, my fingers uncurled from the hilt of my blade.
""Save a spot in Gehenna for me would you?..."
"Mumei"—still sizzling, still alight with the lingering embers of our clash—whipped through the air like a vengeful specter, a streak of steel and death.
*Schlunk!*
The blade buried itself deep in Harold's chest, impaling him clean through, pinning him to the ground like an insect on display. His body convulsed, his hands twitching as his breath hitched in a choking gasp. Blood bubbled at the corners of his lips, his wide eyes staring at nothing.
A perfect silence settled over the battlefield.
Then, in a whispering exhale, his body slumped.
Lifeless.
I remained still for a moment, my Prana aura slowly dimming, the unnatural darkness receding into the ether.
""...Phew...at least one of them is dead""
I muttered, taking a well-deserved sigh of relief.
But then—
A wet gurgling sound reached my ears.
"Lor-...Haro..."
I turned.
"Damn...yo-...ki-...KILL!....I'LL FVCKING MVRDER YO-GAH!...AH!...a~...guh!~"
Cynthia was still alive.
Despite everything—despite losing her sword arm, despite the beam cutting through her turning her upper torso into something akin to an apple having a bite taken out of it, despite the metal impaling her from the collapsed building and her remaining arm being shattered, bent into shapes no arm should be in—she still clung to life. Her remaining arm hung limp, broken beyond use. Blood poured freely from her wounds, pooling beneath her feet. And yet, even in her ruined state, she still glared at me.
((It's almost impressive how hard it is to kill this woman...))
Hatefully she glared. Like a rabid beast unwilling to die, I was even unnerved although I'd never let it show as this was one of the very rare times I was having difficulty killing something.
"Kill...kill...kill...kill!"
Her lips moved, bloody curses dripping from her mouth.
""I'll end your pain now""
I said emotionlessly, raising my wrist and placing a metal bolt into place before taking aim, my concealed bolt launcher primed and ready. A single shot to the head—quick, painless. I'd put her out of her misery.
But then—
*SKRRRRCH!**CRACK!*
A sickening squelch echoed through the air.
""...!""
((What the!-))
Her body shifted.
*SSSSS!* *POP!* *POP!* *POP!*
"Kill..."
Her skin bubbled, twisted—flesh warping into something inhuman. Muscle mass exploded, veins bulging beneath her blackened skin. Her face contorted into something grotesque, her bones snapping and resetting at unnatural angles.
*Thwip!*
Taking no chances I fired the bolt straight at her forehead but...
*Clang!* *Crack*
Her head snapped to the side and her maw distended quickly beyond what is possible for a humanoid revealing new sharpened fangs before biting down on the bolt mid flight, snapping it in half.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
With a monstrous *SNAP!*, whatever the fvck she just turned into lunged at me with animalistic fury.
*SHRRRIP!**BOOM!*
""Shi-!""
I barely had time to reinforce my body with Prana before four jagged claws tore across my torso, carving bloody furrows through flesh. The impact sent me flying.
*CRASH!*
I skipped across the battlefield like a stone across water, the ground cracking beneath each brutal impact before I finally slammed into the rubble below.
""GAH!...ptoo!...""
A sharp pain lanced through my ribs, tar-like black blood splattering from my lips.
""Tch…""
I wiped my mouth, tasting the bitter metallic tang of my own blood. My fingers clenched into the dirt, my breath ragged.
((Multiple ribs—broken, right arm—fractured...yeah this isn't good))
I thought assessing my injuries.
Pain flared through my body with every breath. My ribs—broken. My right arm—useless. My torso—riddled with deep, bleeding gashes, though my clotting augments had already begun their grim work of sealing the wounds. It wasn't enough to stop the dull, throbbing agony coursing through me, nor the sharp stabs of pain with every movement.
""GHHRR-AAAGH!""
I forced myself upright, bracing against the rubble as my Prana flickered, then roared back to life. My body screamed in protest, but I ignored it. I had to. There was no other choice.
"RRRRRRRRRR!"
A guttural, beastly roar thundered across the anchorage turned battlefield.
Cynthia—if she could even be called that anymore—loomed above, her grotesque new form writhing in the moonlight. She was no longer human, not even close. Fangs jutted from her warped mouth. Her skin stretched unnaturally over bulging, grotesque muscle. One arm was swollen, misshapen, pulsing with raw power, while the other, though smaller, ended in razor-sharp claws that gleamed like obsidian sickles.
((I underestimated her, third rate or not her augments have mutated at a rapid pace...I didn't expect this))
I thought staring up at the beast.
*CRASH!*
The ground shook as she landed, cracks spiderwebbing beneath her feet.
""Haa~...Haaaaaaaa~""
I exhaled slowly.
A long, weary sigh.
""...Haaaa~...Fine then. Let's just get this over with""
I rolled my shoulders, ignoring the agonizing pain. Another monster. Another fight. Another damn mess I had to clean up because no one else could.
((I FVCKING. HATE. This job...))
Inside, the complaints were endless. It was always like this. What was supposed to be a simple kill never stayed simple. No, it always had to spiral into some hellish ordeal, dragging me through the worst possible scenarios—ones that left me bleeding, exhausted, and questioning, yet again, why I even bothered.
But in the end, there was no point in dwelling on it.
I didn't get to quit.
What would I even be IF I quit?
What would even be the POINT of me quitting?
Will this REALLY be the rest of my life? This constant struggle fighting someone else's battles followed by a meaningless empty existence outside of my assigned function?
Deep down these were the questions that I was asking myself.