It crossed the distance in an instant, leaving the mercenary barely any time to react before he was hit.
His armor melted on contact, followed quickly by the front half of his body, forming steaming puddles of molten flesh and metal on the floor.
The remainder of his body collapsed forward without a sound, his rifle clattering uselessly across the floor.
For a second, the entire warehouse fell silent.
The remaining mercenaries looked at the scene in horror, some even subconsciously taking a few steps back out of pure fear.
Meanwhile, Zion straightened himself, his jaw clenched as heat radiated from his left arm.
[Host,] Uriel spoke calmly. [Your left arm is temporarily overheated. I highly recommend not using it again during this fight.]
Zion gave a simple nod, his eyes locked on his remaining targets.
'The remaining ones shouldn't be a problem.'
A path had formed in his mind. As long as he kept moving along a single line, they wouldn't be able to fire without hitting each other.
'At least, the first two won't be able to,' he thought, lowering his stance again. 'But by then, the remaining two won't be my match.'
Zion exhaled slowly and took a step forward.
The mercenaries stiffened at the movement, fingers tightening around their triggers.
"Come on!" the same female mercenary who had taken command earlier shouted, pointing her rifle toward Zion again. "There's no way he has any energy left after that!"
Just then, Zion pushed himself off the ground at full speed, heading straight for the left mercenary.
As he was halfway there, he noticed red light flashing from the mercenary's guns.
Zion grit his teeth, jumping from the floor.
As he soared through the air, the plasma and energy shots exploded in several boxes below him. Metal shards flew everywhere, slicing lightly over several parts of his body.
Ignoring the light sting from his wounds, Zion twisted his body midair, his feet slamming into the warehouse wall.
He kicked off hard, launching himself back toward his target at even higher speeds.
The mercenary he targeted quickly pulled out an energy handgun, his finger rapidly firing bullets toward Zion.
Zion raised his scaled arms, blocking two shots while three missed him.
"Help me!" the mercenary shouted, looking desperately at his teammates.
But it was already too late.
Zion landed roughly behind him and didn't hesitate. He straightened his body and sliced his blade horizontally, cutting the mercenary's head clean off.
As the body collapsed to the floor, the remaining mercenaries no longer hesitated. All three turned and sprinted toward the exit at full speed.
Zion didn't chase immediately, his eyes darting across the place.
'Is he still alive, Uriel?' he asked, staring at the young boy on the floor.
[Yes, but he's injured,] Uriel answered immediately. [I can't examine to what extent from here.]
Zion nodded once.
'That's fine,' he thought, eyes narrowing. 'I need to finish these people off first.'
The remaining mercenaries had already run quite far, the front runner having just left the room.
Zion didn't hesitate any longer. He pushed off the ground and sprinted after them, closing in with each step thanks to his superior nanosuit.
Within seconds, he reached the narrow pathway.
The mercenaries were still running ahead, their footsteps echoing loudly through the corridor. Panic had completely taken them over now.
Zion dashed forward, closing the gap in an instant.
The last mercenary in line glanced back just as Zion reached him. A heavy kick slammed into his back, sending him crashing into a stack of wooden crates.
Before he could recover, Zion's blade pierced his skull.
'One,' he thought, immediately continuing down the pathway.
[Host, both targets have stopped running,] Uriel reported. [They seem to be waiting around the final corner before the exit.]
'Stopped?' Zion thought, raising an eyebrow.
As he reached the final corner, he raised his scaled arms in front of him, anticipating an attack.
The moment he turned the corner, a burst of plasma fire shot toward him.
Zion barely had time to react, only able to lean into the shot.
His arms took the full brunt as the rounds slammed into his scales, sparks and immense heat enveloping his body—yet he kept moving.
[The scales can't withstand another plasma shot,] Uriel reminded him, though the burning sensation in his arms already told him enough.
Nearly four dozen feet away, one mercenary stood his ground, his rifle glowing red as he prepared another shot.
The other mercenary—the woman who had been shouting orders earlier—had her back turned as she worked frantically at a holographic panel by the entrance.
Seeing the rifle light up bright red, Zion knew he had no more time to analyze. In a split-second decision, he jumped.
A bright red bullet flashed beneath him a heartbeat later, exploding where he'd just stood.
While in the air, Zion pierced his blade into a metal crate, using it to swing himself forward and close the remaining distance.
A glimmer of hope flashed through the mercenary's eyes as he saw Zion propel himself through the air.
He raised his plasma rifle, aiming at the easy target along a predictable trajectory, his finger clenching the trigger.
Zion recognized the predicament. He raised his blade above him, letting it collide with a metal beam.
The impact shook his body, twisting it in midair.
At the same time, the shot rang out, soaring past where his legs had been a heartbeat earlier and slamming into the ceiling instead.
Zion dropped to the floor as gravity took over, debris raining down behind him.
Fear twisted the mercenary's face as he desperately tried to load another shot, but the distance between them had already vanished.
Before he could finish, Zion cut through his leg, dashed behind him, and plunged his blade through his throat.
As the mercenary hit the floor, the large metal doors began to slide open with a heavy grind.
The holographic panel vanished in front of the woman, but her smile had long disappeared as a bad feeling crawled up her spine.
She spun around, horror flashing across her face as she reached for her weapon—but Zion was already moving.
The blade slashed her throat, and her body slid down the wall.
Silence settled over the corridor as the last body stopped moving.
"That's all of them, huh," Zion muttered, his blade retracting between his knuckles.
[Affirmative,] Uriel replied, its voice low. [Congratulations, Host. You killed nine coordinated D-ranks while using an E-rank nanosuit.]
Zion let out a slow breath and turned back toward the warehouse.
'I wonder how many people they killed just like this,' he thought, closing his eyes. 'I hope the kid is still alive, at least.'