Chapter Ninety-Two: Dashing Ahead The point from the wall where this figure once stood was about a mile away from the main building. The soldiers didn’t know where to point their guns as the figure disappeared. Meanwhile, despite the fiasco occurring at the back, One and Specter dedicated their entire being at the approaching enemy. The sonic booms drew closer and closer. One stood still and utilized the best of his mental and physical capabilities. Time seemed slower in One’s perspective. He could barely see the approaching enemy and thus he practiced the coming strike. Others called this practice a pre-shot routine, while others know it as mental rehearsal. This is One’s secret to his successful strikes against enemies across the world. The image that One envisioned was that he would be shredded by the powerful sound waves of Richie. One started to mentally visualize his counter attacks. As One dove deeper into his subconscious the concept of time changed. In this realm of deep focus, One managed to analyze every detail of his opponent. He visualized every possible attack that the enemy would do, and the possible counters he could do to stay alive. In most of these scenarios, it ended with both he and Specter either dead or critically wounded. One strengthened his form and made the necessary adjustments to eliminate any useless movements. Specter was hovering over One. Surrounding the two were various invisible wires that he stealthily placed. The technology of stealth traps had evolved over the years as countless wars brought out the need to counter trap-detecting devices. The invisible wires spread out like a spiders’ net with Specter on the center. The hidden weapons that Specter held were the full suit. Nothing was left out. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The figure sent several powerful jet-fueled bursts allowing him to readjust his charge to dive in between the two warriors. The two waited to strike when suddenly another powerful burst shocked the two as the lone figure suddenly stopped several meters in front of them. One and Specter was about to attack but immediately stilled their arms at the abrupt stop of their foe “Ready?” The figure confidently laughed. BOOM! The image and possible attacks that One had rehearsed all fell to shambles. The enemy had a totally different attack pattern as it dove straight to the two assassins. One foresaw himself not being tortured by the immense soundwaves but he saw himself dying several times. In many of those scenarios, we would be sliced into three different pieces. One maintained his calm and gripped his sword tighter. A light reddish glow could be seen on the small protruding steel of his katana. Specter was the first to act as he moved forward. The thin wires resonated to his movements and started forming barricades before Specter. BOOM! A loud sonic boom echoed out. The zooming figure’s response to the moving wires was to spin faster. The burst caused the approaching figure to spin faster as a sword could be seen slashing out. The wires did not entangle the sword as was originally designed, but the wires were all sliced apart. BOOM! Another loud bang sounded as the figure dove downwards to face One. One quickly drew his sword but the successive strikes of the enemy struck his sword at an extremely fast speed. The strikes came from various directions leaving the katana shaking and soon breaking from the pressure. A small reddish explosion occurred as One’s sword was sliced into two. One managed to make a quick dodge causing the enemies sword to slice his mask off. One utilized the boosters on his feet to retreat. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! A series of eruption caused the figure to spin faster and rose to meet Specter. The sudden change of attack where the enemy abandoned its attacks towards One and rose to attack Specter caught the two off guard. Specter threw several minor explosives and used several hidden weapons available as he rose further to the sky while his wires formed a net in front of him. BOOM! At the last moment, a stronger boom echoed out and sent the figure flying straight towards the palace. One was so surprised at the movement that his jaw was wide open. Specter already threw his hidden weapons and all of them pierced through the thick floor. No one was ready for the last burst and no one could intercept the sudden change of direction. The enemy had entered the palace unhindered. Blur noticed the sudden change and with a burst from his boosters, he zoomed to meet the foe. “Foolish!” Lowengren laughed as the explosions rang out. Several spider mines had made its way towards the palace entrance and exploded blocking Blur’s path. The enemy disappeared into the main building. Strike and Clutch took the opportunity to attack Lowengren but Alean’s rain of fire showered relentlessly on the paths. This time the napalms exploded and left a burning scent of sulfur and brimstone. The explosions made Blur retreat but then Blur started to advance towards the main entrance. He zoomed past the explosions caused by the spider mines. As he reached the entrance, a powerful explosion occurred sending shrapnel towards Blur. Blur jumped backward still propelled by his boosters. Blur raised his hands towards the sky as another burst appeared on his hands pushing him backward. BOOM! Another explosion occurred behind him but this time the shrapnel’s that were sent out started to emit electric sparks. Blur thought he had evaded most of the sharp shrapnel suddenly an electric current charged from one shrapnel to the other and a web of electricity charged forth. Blur tried to evade at the last moment but the electric nets zapped pass his mask. The mask that Blur was wearing was charred black and the circuits of the mask were damaged. Blur immediately removed the mask before it could harm him. Strike and Clutch paused in their advance as they noticed the explosions and the electric lines. “British Lightning rod technology?” Strike paused as he motioned Clutch to stop attacking. The shrapnel that spread around the area would suddenly be traced with lightning, creating a net of electrical currents that spread from the center of the explosion. Blur evaded at the last moment and removed the mask that was damaged from the last explosion. A young Caucasian man with blonde hair and blue eyes appeared. He gazed angrily at Lowengren who was laughing at Blur’s failed attempt. Blur readied to chase Richie but then a voice stopped him. “Blur! Don’t go! Facing that man alone would be suicide. We deal with the threats here first before chasing him. Don’t forget that half of our team is still inside. Besides, he is in there.” One walked calmly towards Arthur who had backed away after the last strike. Lander had withdrawn back near Alean. They stood back-to-back with Lander facing Blur towards the building’s entrance. Clutch and Strike were facing Alean while Twister positioned himself to the east of Alean and Lander’s position. On another side of the battlefield, Lowengren and Arthur stood together as they awaited the approaching three. Force, Specter and One calmly walked to meet them. “So this was your plan? Help my Master and get our guards down and invite yourselves to our doorsteps to kill us?” Force cursed at Arthur. “It’s simple yet very effective.” Arthur shrugged expressionlessly. “The plan was to send him inside to fight your master while we deal with you.” “Are you really sure that the four of you can deal with the seven of us?” Blur immediately disappeared as he dashed forward. BOOM! A muffled explosion sounded out and Lander disappeared from his position. Blur was surprised to find out that Lander had already appeared in front of him and to his horror was brandishing the two guns right in front of his head. A series of gunshots were heard as balls of fire hindered Twister’s sneak attack from killing Lander. Blur immediately flew back at extreme speeds and barely evaded Lander’s attacks. Arthur and Lowengren stood side by side to hinder Force, One and Specter from joining the melee. “Shall we dance, Samurai?” Lowengren laughed. “For someone so smart, I can’t believe you’d be so stupid. If Richie helped you fight us, then you might have killed us.” Force mocked. “No. That would be stupid. He needs to dash ahead of everyone and make sure to fight Meng before he meets all of us. Isn’t Meng’s unique power something that naturally erodes everything around it?” Lowengren laughed. “How did you know that?!” Force shouted angrily. “Deduction. Your attire appears to be the same suit you would use on your assassination missions. You told us that yourself. Yet when you changed on your underwater gear, Alean told me that she saw several strange scars and wounds. Many of which, seemed to have been incurred recently. So why would you have wounds when your suit is practically perfect? The only conclusion is that it is incurred whenever your off mission.” Lowengren laughed as he readied several bombs on his arms. “But that’s absurd! You guys are at the peak of your forms? Who could wound you except your fellow peers? Yet the wounds that Alean saw were similar to burn marks. As if the skin itself was corroding. I think Clutch would be the only assassin out here that could do that. The other option is your master. But then we have a problem. Your loyalty to your boss is something rooted in respect and not fear. That is obvious at how you take offense at us insulting or defaming your master. So why would there be wounds when this leader of yours doesn’t invoke fear and why do you allow yourselves to get wounded by your boss?” Lowengren casually walked ahead of Arthur as he juggled the bombs with ease. “If your boss is much of a freak or more than Richie, then I would have to toss common sense aside. So your boss has the ability to somehow corrode things just by his presence. Therefore, fighting your boss together with your team is disadvantageous to us. You guys are used to his powers. We are not. So that guy has to rush and meet your boss in order to make sure that Meng won’t disturb our battles.” Lowengren stopped juggling. Arthur and Alean gave Lowengren an exhausted stare. They knew that Lowengren learned of Meng's capabilities through Seeker's information. “Impressive deduction. So you made Richie rush inside to fight Master since your three friends are inside the building and they might run into Master? Impressive as always, Arthur.” One walked forward to face Lowengren. “But you’ve made several miscalculations.” One then assumed a sword-drawing position. “Those three friends that you sent inside are probably dead. Not only are the assassins inside our Demolition Team, but the Judge also accompanied Sting to meet your friends.” One gave a confident grin. BOOM! A large explosion occurred on the east wing of the main building. “That must be Blast. The Explosives experts of our group.” “Judge?” Lowengren asked. Force gave a hearty laugh. “Our organization has twelve assassins. But should any of these assassins betray Master, He is sent. He is both Judge and Executioner. Even Sting who has grown stronger couldn’t beat that monster!” “That could only mean that he is a personal disciple of Meng… Then that exceed our initial calculations.” Arthur frowned. “Exceed your calculations? You can’t calculate him! Those three should be dead by now!” Force laughed once more. “Don’t worry about those three friends of ours.” Arthur readied his mace. “You say that those inside are stronger? Well, the same could be said of our three.” The flames, smoke, and rubble had started to dissipate. Three figures stood up from the sudden explosion. Their appearances looked ragged as several parts of their suits were burnt. Before they were a pillar of fire that was slowly burning out. “Get Blast and Trigger here! We can’t kill these monsters!” The man with the strange mask spoke angrily. Three figures started to walk out of the flames. “Who’s the weakling now, Typical?” Meryl shouted as the burning glow around her started to disappear.
Chapter Ninety-three: Miracles of a Believer The moment Richie gave the terrifying shout, the three assassins that were talking to Lynd, Meryl and Cliff were alerted. “Richie!” Sting shouted with horror. But before Sting could immediately rush for the door, the masked assassin immediately waved his hands sending out three shurikens that raced towards Meryl. Shock didn’t understand the masked assassin’s movement but reacted accordingly. His arm immediately gave an electric spark and lightning started to arc towards the three. Lynd, Meryl, and Cliff immediately evaded the lightning sparks by immediately using their boosters the moment the masked assassin threw the shurikens. Cliff revealed a mini cannon and blasted the wall allowing the three to escape through the opening. As Meryl zoomed towards the hole Cliff created, she slashed the shurikens headed towards her with a glass sword. The shurikens were cleanly slashed by the sword. However, as it was thrown off by the slash, all three continued to fly towards Meryl’s face as if it was being guided. Meryl gritted her teeth and used the boosters to give her a quick spin. One of the shurikens left a cutting mark on Meryl’s cheeks. The two groups maintained a distance from each other. Sting who turned his back was unable to aid his two companions from fighting. “What gave it away?” Meryl asked as she wiped the blood of her cheeks. “Your reactions. You weren’t surprised at Richie’s voice. Though your expressions seemed genuine, it’s not enough to fool me.” The masked man answered coldly. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Typical, Judge and Executioner of the Dragon’s Fang.” “You alright?” Lynd gave a worried whisper at Meryl. “Yeah. Be careful. His weapons aren’t ordinary ninja stars.” “You three are quite skilled.” Shock admired as he readied his metal arm. “To be able to live through young masters attack… Arthur’s allies are indeed formidable. But you three made a mistake to fight against us.” Sting’s tone was cold. “You guys are no average joes yourself. To attack us without hesitation. But next time, please practice some manners. I know it was kind of a split second decision but why did you have to attack the only girl in our team? I mean, Lynd’s pretty tall. So he’s hard to miss.” Cliff joked. “Manners have no use in assassinations. And I didn’t attack the girl by chance. I aimed for her since I deemed her the weakest of you three. She was lucky to damage the homing tech on my shurikens with that strong sword. But that won't happen again. Goodbye, weaklings.” Typical waved two of his hands sending eight shurikens flying towards Meryl. Typical was a master assassin who could easily read emotions. When Richie’s voice echoed throughout their base, Typical found the reactions of these three weren’t confusion but alertness. And as he threw the next set of shurikens, he did not bother to even glance at Meryl and gazed at the expressions of the other two. And in their eyes, he saw frustration. Typical was about to smirk at the sight of this then noticed the two men weren’t frustrated at him or his attack. They didn’t even bother to glance at the shurikens he threw. Why were these two showing the emotions of frustration whilst staring at the girl? And why did this frustrated emotion, look as if the two were annoyed that something troublesome would happen? Days before the attack on Larson Complex… “After we meet with the assassins, we’ll send a signal if we push through with plan A, or do plan B.” “I have a question!” Meryl raised her hands like an innocent student. “Why does Plan A have such an unbalanced division?” “Of the eight of us, you three are the strongest. Since the aim of this attack is to allow us to sharpen our Unlocking, the best way to put our lives on the line is to expose our weaknesses.” Arthur explained. Meryl and Lynd looked at each other with a peculiar gaze. “Therefore, Lynd has to avoid simulating the two of us. You must not make any plans before the battle or even during. Can you do that?” Arthur warned. “Wait! Isn’t that a part of Lynd’s strength?” Cliff argued. “The problem we face right now is that we are too strong together.” Lowengren summarized. “Every battle you’ve faced so far had the advantages of information, planning, and readiness. Before Arthur came along, you had Seeker, who is more of a cheat than Arthur. He knows who our enemies are and can generally win the battles by strategies alone. This was why you won against Richie.” “During the battle on the Australian Avarice, you had me and Lowengren to make the plans.” Arthur reminded. “The battle was already half-won with all the traps we’ve set.” “Traps? Sacrificing those soldiers who reached Unbecoming was just a trap you planned?” Alean interrupted. “Forgive me for my poor choice of words.” Arthur gave an apathetic respond. “That was the best choice. I had to sacrifice them to hide your existence.” Lowengren slowly explained. Alean remained quiet and gave a soft, bitter sigh. “No need to apologize or explain. I understand. I know the cost of that war. At least those soldiers were decorated as heroes.” Seeing Alean’s silence, Lowengren continued. “As Arthur already explained, a few Unbecomings can do little to win the war. If we want to make a noticeable difference in the future, we either have to add more Ranked Heroes on our army, or train someone to reach World Champion.” “And that’s what we’re trying to do. We’ve always had powerful chess pieces we could use during combat. That is our weakness. As for you three, there was no struggle entailed in your battles as you already knew you would win. What we all need is uncertainty in our fights.” “So we divide brains and bronze…” Alean nodded. “That’s why Lynd shouldn’t imitate our planning abilities. What you three need is not the intelligence to face the enemy, but the raw power to break through whatever obstacles you have. I need the Lynd that went berserk in Malay-Pangea.” Arthur spoke bluntly. The entire room fell silent. This was one topic that everyone avoided. “Look.” Lynd hesitated. “The truth is; I’m terrified of unleashing that… thing.” “I’m right then. You can seal your own skills, right? You’ve been sealing the abilities you displayed back then.” Everyone was surprised at Arthur’s conclusion. “Sealed?” “Lynd’s path of observation and empathy is very convenient in masking pains. Whenever instances arise where he is reminded of these traumatizing events, he imitates someone else. His Path allows him to draw from someone else experiences.” “What a terrifying path. So that’s how you manage to learn the Paths and skills of other people. You actually can experience and go through what they did. That’s how you learned Lander’s technique.” Lowengren rubbed his chin as he pondered. “In order to survive, you need to unseal it. That anger, that trauma, that deep rage that was accidentally embedded on your soul as you saw the helpless children being mistreated and killed, unseal it.” Lynd remained silent. His hands were visibly trembling. “You have to do this. Since the Aragarians will be watching, we can’t use techs that are too obvious or ones that could pose a threat to them.” “But Arthy! That’s a bit too much! Can we even win in that scenario?” Meryl gave a worried cry. “We have no choice. Through Seeker’s efforts, we already had Unlocked ourselves into a realm that is humanly impossible. It shouldn't be easy to reach Inhuman but we already have one now. But this is where it ends. Seeker’s training cannot push us further. I don’t have time to go over the details as to why I know that to be true, but right now we need real pressure to push us higher.” “But what if we die?” Cliff argued once more. For the first time, a trace of fear was heard in his voice. “That’s exactly why we need to fight this way. You need to go beyond yourselves in the coming battles. You need to break further in your Unlocking. It’s not about reaching your potential. It’s about increasing your potential.” “Why does it feel that you’re pressuring us too much?” Meryl could not help to ask. “If Plan A pushes through the three of you would be the ones to enter the main building. There is a chance of meeting Meng there. If Meng were to appear then you three have to stop him until he arrives to fight Meng.” “What?!” “That will give us the highest chances of everyone’s survival. But don’t worry too much. Whoever they send to accommodate you should be the weaker group as they would treat me as the stronger opponent. So whoever remains inside the building should be easier to deal with the enemies we would face.” “What if the stronger ones are inside?” Meryl asked. “There’s a forty percent chance of that being the case. After all, someone needs to protect the base.” Lowengren did not deny the possibility. “Forty percent? That’s a high risk we’re taking! You’re risking these two? Didn’t Seeker tell you not to risk Meryl?” Cliff argued. “We have our own reasons as to why we’re risking you three. And I think it’s time to finally address the truth. You probably know this to be true. Lynd, Meryl, you have more potential than Seeker.” Arthur finally dropped the bomb. The two were silent. They did not look too surprised. “Seeker didn’t tell you at first because it might cause your emotional and mental states to be disturbed. But now, you should be very clear of it. You two are stronger than Seeker.” The two remained silent. It seemed as if they already knew about this. “But, dude, what about me?” Cliff finally erupted. “Honestly, we don’t know. You clearly have the potential to reach Surmounting Inhuman. But you don’t seem to have a Path.” Lowengren shrugged. “This is why you have to be placed in such a perilous scenario. If you want to live, you need to make a Path or at least manifest a skill.” “So you’re sending me off to die?!” Cliff shouted angrily. A powerful force engulfed everyone. Only the parents who silently listened to the conversation were paralyzed while the rest gave a wary look at Cliff. “Cliff.” Alean began. “While it might seem that way, if Meng appears earlier than anticipated, then we’re all dead. If he does appear, who would you rather be with? Arthur and Lowengren, or Lynd and Meryl?” Alean glared. The pressure subsided as Cliff realized the truth. With Meryl’s Path and Lynd’s own strange abilities, they would be more likely to survive. “It’s not as suicidal as it seems. We do have a technology that could greatly help you three.” Arthur continued. “My father was able to develop a unique suit. Inside the suits are nerve connectors which allows you to connect your nerves to the suit itself. While the suit in itself has no functions when it is connected to your nerves, the suit can provide you energy as it is stored with the same nutrients that you use to burn energy.” Arthur handed a suit to Meryl. “Just by connecting my nerves to the suit? I don’t understand.” “You’re Believers. Make a miracle out of it.” Arthur shrugged. “Any other helpful advice?” Meryl gave a sarcastic reply. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1.” Arthur handed Lynd and Cliff the suit with a serious face. “Gee… Thanks, Pastor.” Meryl glared. Back in the present, the shurikens zoomed towards the three teams while two were aimed at Meryl. Meryl was extremely angry because of Typical’s callous comments. Lynd and Cliff knew it would be dangerous to stand next to Meryl and sprinted as fast as they could. An unexpected phenomenon occurred when Meryl’s nerves bonded with the suit. Arthur expected a Miracle from the Believers, but Arthur vastly underestimated the power of the Unlocking. A hot yellowish glow surrounded Meryl. Her entire body gave a golden-yellow glow. Lynd and Cliff dashed out of the area as fast as they could. BOOM! A miniature sun erupted with Meryl at the center. “Retreat!” Typical ordered as they dashed out of room destroying the walls near them. "Who’s the weakling now, Typical?"
Hope you enjoyed this chapter/the story so far and had a great holiday! Now a Loooonnnnngg rant. Please bear with me. A little announcement, I posted this story on Inkstone, which is the Webnovel site or the app if you use it. Honestly, I was against posting it there mainly because of the whole Qidan-WuxiaWorld thing, if you guys are familiar with the history (which i'm sure many of you should be considering you browse the forums of NU)... regardless of what legal issues you side with (translator vs. author argument), the fact is, the two organizations had a deal and Qi broke it. Not to mention the succeeding scandals that occurred after that. So I was hesitant in posting it there since its kind of iffy on my part if I want to be a part of an organization that has its history of doing shady business. As all folks should be wary of. As an author, I do need to protect myself. The reason I decided to post there is simply because my brother-in-law met with a few guys working in Webnovel as an English-Tagalog translator and encouraged me to give it a shot. So I did. Not before taking my time to read the terms and conditions, which I never ever do. I didn't even do that in my Marriage contract. Because of that, I will be asking for your help once more. I only posted 20 of the 90+ chapters so far and plan to release the chapters at an "every-other-day" or a "one-chapter-a-day" pace. I'm doing this mainly to maximize visibility by being on the updated chapters page. Of course, people would also be motivated to buy the ebooks in that scenario. I will continue to post in this site as usual though. Thankfully, googling this story isn't that easy. So if you're already using the app, or read on that site please give this story a review and please vote with power stones. You can vote up to two power stones per day so please do so if you have the time. Another thing that I'll be asking you if you use the app and read on that site... is to... well... keep your mouth shut about the chapters on this site or on RoyalRoad. Since there's a chance that I could score a contract and actually earn on that site, that would be great. As per Inkstone rules, that may happen if my story reaches a certain amount of views as well as stability in chapter updates. Both of which, I'm fairly confident I could reach granted I have about 70 more chapters in the bank. You should find my story by searching New Game+ on the app or by going to Genre> Sci-Fi> New. For those who prefer the site, here it is: http://www.webnovel.com/book/12605355406106405 Thanks guys! Have a blessed year ahead!
Sorry for posting here. I know I usually post a chapter first before adding a note or comment... but since Scribble Hub (NovelUpdates very own site for original writers) just got launched, I'll be asking my dear readers here if they can leave a good rating there. Here's the link: https://www.scribblehub.com/series/3265/new-game/ I posted only 24 chapters there, matching the one in Inkstone for the same reasons. That way, I'll be on the "recently updated list" and I'll keep posting one chapter on a day-to-day or every other day basis which will draw in more views. Don't worry. I'll still be posting the latest chapters (94 and so on) here and on royalroad. Lastly, same thing with the Inkstone/webnovel page, I do hope you guys won't say anything about this page or the one on Royalroad so that the readers will stay on scribblehub site to help improve my visibility and rating. Not to mention, I left the links for the ebook on those two sites. I already managed to score two ebook purchases because of the links in Inkstone/webnovel. So help a brother out... Think of my 7-month-old baby, Elie... just... keep quiet about the additional chapters here and on royal road. If some of those readers do find the additional chapters here or the ones in Royal road, well good for them... As is written in the Christian Bible, "seek and you shall find." But if some decide to buy the ebook... good for me... for it is also written, "a worker is worth his wages." (Insert Evil laugh) Thanks for the much-needed assist guys!
Chapter Ninety-Four: Masks and Deception While the outside building appeared like a huge mansion with several buildings and warehouses connected to it, the inside of the building did not look elegant or extravagant. It was made with Hardstone and metal. The entrance led to a wide hall carefully guarded by soldiers. But even for these soldiers, what happened next were just too fast. Only Suit was prepared and ready to fight the approaching threat. Knowing how several of his brother’s fought against Richie, he immediately readied five Exoskeleton Suits. The Exoskeleton Suits were programmed with heat vision and trajectory prediction that could match and attack enemies at the speed that Jet Powered Exoskeleton’s were using. As the intruder believed to be Richie approached the gate entrance, Suit and his automated Exoskeletons raised their gun barrels. BOOM! BOOM! Two powerful sonic booms could be heard on the other side of the main door. The figure changed direction on the last second and blasted its way inside the building. The Suit’s reacted immediately but it was too late for them to fire accurately and hit the target. The target somehow managed to pierce its way through the thick doors decimating three Suits at its entrance. Some of the more experienced soldiers managed to shoot at the entering figure but the speed exhibited by the figure was just too fast. Suit and his surrounding robots immediately chased the figure. The Exoskeleton's accompanying Suit started to merge with the Exoskeleton he was equipped as they were moving towards the direction their enemy dashed off too. BOOM! Three figures who stood outside of a blazing room were to focus at their enemy that they could only stare at the zooming figure. BOOM! Another sonic boom was heard and countered the force of his flight until the figure stopped at the end of the hallways. “Nice! You've grown! Talk to you later!” A cheerful sound was heard and another powerful sonic boom propelled the figure onwards, as it pierced through walls and rooms. Near where the figure landed and left, Cliff and Lynd were standing with a confused expression. They had just broken through the wall to escape Meryl’s rampage. But before the two could speak about the bizarre scene, gunshots were heard and the two had to dodge by entering the room the broke out off. BOOM! Explosions rocked the area where they were. “Trigger, Blast, Suit. Attack together with us!” Typical called out. “But Young Master, that other person is headed to attack Master!” Suit answered back as its large bulking armor finally appeared in the East wing. “Master is not someone who needs our protection! And what can you do? You’ve merged three Suits? Did that person destroy three already?” “He caught me off guard!” “No more excuses. If he got through the seven assassins outside, he can go through you. Just help us deal with the monsters in that room!” Typical shouted. While the insides of the base were chaotic, the observing army outside continued their detailed analysis. “Are the drones inside yet?” Pridgeon asked impatiently. “Presider, the bug drones were able to slip in unnoticed thanks to the commotion. The team is carefully positioning them to give us clear visuals.” “We’re in position!” Another soldier yelled immediately. “Transmit the feed now! I want to see how strong Meng and Richie’s disciples are.” Several images started to appear on the large screen. The video images were curved and distorted but were slowly starting to give a clearer image at each passing second. “The bug drones are now synching the images for clarity.” The thin soldier reported. The respective perspectives of each drone merged with each other and the entire battle between the eleven warriors was broadcasted. Arthur was clashing with Force, One and Specter. As the leader of the group, the assassins deemed it important to kill him first. Lowengren was escaping the attacks of Clutch. The poison mist blocked his path towards Arthur. Behind Clutch was a thick flaming region with dark smoke. His attempts to attack Alean were met with an explosive counter as his chemicals were either extinguished by the fire or would blow up due to an unbalanced chemical reaction. Lander and Alean continued to work together as they fought Twister, Strike, and Blur. As the battles of the three progressed, it was clear that the assassins were keeping each fighter away from assisting their comrades. One and Force moved at incredibly fast speeds. Specter was high in pursuit but kept his distance. Arthur utilized his own boosters to evade one and strike the other. One and Force attacked at opposite ends. Yet despite this strategy, Arthur could easily counter or evade the attack without looking back. Specter idly observed from the distance as he ‘hovered’ over the air. Suddenly, he moved at incredible speed to clash with Arthur. One and Force retreated immediately. Arthur frowned as he noticed Specter approaching. A bright dagger appeared on Specter’s arms which flashed a powerful and bright light. Arthur didn’t wait for Specter to get closer and immediately struck his two maces together.. BOOM! A powerful blast occurred and the two were sent two flying backward. Specter was about to crash on the ground when suddenly he stopped falling. Arthur revealed an undamaged appearance and simply checked his maces. “Ingenious. You have invisible wires that can move on their own and even harden. Your real weapons are those threads of yours that could either pierce through me or coil up to me, correct? That bright dagger is used to hide these hidden weapons of your attacks. Isn't that an overkill. I can’t see the threads anyway but you still took the effort to blind me.” Specter leaped back to his feet. “And yet, I was at the losing end of that exchange. Pangean Whiplash technology? And you seem to be wearing special gear to make yourself immune from it. I didn’t know that American Miscellaneous technology has created such powerful steel.” Seeing that Specter failed to assassinate Arthur, One and Force immediately moved. “Specter, move back.” One ordered as he and Force came to an understanding and started utilizing faster speeds. Their attacks glowed differently this time as traces of dark spots were forming in Force’s fist and One’s laser sword. Arthur merely smiled and suddenly the two maces on his hand started to emit electric charges and vibrating. “British Lightning Rod combined with American Miscellaneous metals and Pangean’s whiplash…” Specter identified the technologies that Arthur wielded. “Richie sure is generous.” Force glared. “The best for his disciples.” Arthur gave a mysterious smile. The three stood silently for a moment and then the next moment loud bangs were heard as each used their boosters and dove towards each other. BANG! BANG! The melee continued once more. Arthur’s attacks were more dangerous as mini whiplash bombs and lightning would sometimes explode at Arthur’s strikes. Arthur’s timing was precise and his hits would always cause one to either stagger or back off allowing him to evade the next other assassins attack. As Arthur returned to strike Force, Force exerted great effort as his fist charged with a shade of dark red energy. “Foolish.” Arthur scoffed and struck the fist with his mace. BOOM! Arthur used the whiplash explosion to turn around delivering a roundhouse mace attack towards Force's face. Force attacked Arthur with another punch. But since he was still staggering from the last strike the momentum and force that he used on his second punch were weak. BOOM! Blood started oozing on Force’s ears as the lightning and an intense vibration radiated in his body. Arthur was about to withdraw, but then Force's fist remained glued to Arthur's mace. Force laughed heartily as his trap worked. Specter flung a small metal pike at the opening and One delivered a quick slash. Arthur countered One's slash with his mace. The moment the mace and the laser sword were about to hit each other, One canceled his laser sword’s solidity and the sword energy dissipated. The sudden disappearance of the laser sword allowed One to position the handle of his sword towards Arthur. Arthur saw the predicament and could not help but admire his opponent. One was confident his laser unorthodox sword slash would kill Arthur before Arthur's mace could deal lethal damage. One was right. Arthur would have lost. The deceptive attack would have killed Arthur instantly. But Arthur had Selective Unlocking, Arthur had long mastered a way to focus his Unlocking to one or two attributes boosting them greatly. The moment his mace was stuck, Arthur focused on time perception. Time slowed down and Arthur’s brain started to feel the strain. A decisecond passed slowly in Arthur’s perspective. Then Arthur could count by centiseconds. One's cunning attack was easily seen through. BOOM! BOOM! Two whiplash explosions occurred as Arthur pulled the trigger. The explosion sent One flying with his mask shattered. The other explosion caused Force to fall back ending the magnetic pull. Arthur immediately released the handle of his two maces and boosted backward. Specter misunderstood Arthur’s capability. Arthur did not have the armor to protect him from his own explosions. Arthur was simply timing his retreat to avoid the whiplash or ride it. And like a surfer riding an invisible wave, Arthur casually retrieved his mace as he flew backward. Arthur suddenly spotted a dagger approaching on his peripheral vision. Arthur strained his entire body to force his heard to turn. The dagger slid pass by Arthur’s mask scratching it. Arthur landed safely but his neck muscles were in pain from the sudden movements. “You guys really are experts. Even in that scenario and the quick turn of events you were still able to send out such deadly attacks.” Arthur admired. One and Force had already stood up and glared angrily at Arthur. “Too bad you lost that exchange.” Arthur continued his insults as he gazed at Specter. “Is that so?” Specter laughed. Then the upper portion of Arthur’s mask suddenly started cracking. Arthur realized it and immediately used the mace to scrape the upper portion of his mask ripping the top part off his face. A synthetic covering covered his face with only his eyes being revealed. The upper half of Arthur’s mask fell on the ground and it continued to crack as the part which the dagger sliced started corroding. One and Force gave a devilish smile. “You’re not the only one with interesting technologies.” Specter laughed. “Corroding metal." Arthur frowned as he watched the terrifying effects of the corroding metal. "We're professional's We never expect to win easily. So we always have a deception that we mask in deception." “Tell me… If you had this, why didn’t you just aim for my Maces from the start?” Arthur wondered. “Force is interested with that mace you carry.” Specter laughed. “So instead of attacking my weapon, you decided to aim for my face?” “Those thick glasses you wore when we met indicate you have poor vision. So you must be using advanced technologies to see. Especially when you’re in a fight of this level. Your not the only one who can make deductions. Now that your mask is gone I wonder how you will fight. These wounds are worth the new technology you are offering us.” One chuckled. "My how greedy." “Still putting up a calm front? Let’s just end this.” One readied a stance. The three assassins were standing in three different locations surrounding Arthur. “Wait.” Arthur motioned before the three could move. “What now? Are you going to tell us your last request?” Force laughed. “No. I’m just unmasking my deceptions." Arthur smiled. "You guys are completely off the mark. I don’t need glasses. I only wore them because the Marketing team made me do it to give me a more ‘cunning’ and ‘smart’ look. I soon developed the habit of wearing it all the time.” Arthur gave a sly grin. The assassins felt threatened and immediately attacked. BOOM! A loud sonic boom was heard as Arthur moved faster than before. Even for these Assassins with well-trained eyes, all they could see was a blurring figure which moved upwards. “NANI?!” One great surprise caused him to instinctively cry out in his native tongue. The blurring figure of Arthur who rushed upwards suddenly dove and headed towards Specter. The wires wrapped around Specter immediately. BOOM! Another sonic boom sounded and the blurring figure suddenly changed its direction. BANG! One could only see Force's battered body flying in the air.
Hey guys. I decided that this will be my last post here. With scribblehub in the mix, its very tiring to post my story everywhere. Not too mention redundant. As discussed on the previous post, i will slowly update the succeding chapters there. But you can still read the updates of this story in Royal road. So please visit that site for the latest updates until the chapters in scribble hub catches up. Thanks guys! This isnt farewell since you can still reach me on those platforms rr, webstone, scribble hub... But of course for nostalgias sake...this was still the place where my journey began. And i thank you guys. I think its fitting for this last post to give a shout out to @Eternalce1 . Thank you for the support!