Chapter 49: Potential Unleashed
Seeing Rhys take a combat stance, both Bort and Crispin chuckled, their eyes mocking his apparent foolishness. In the next instant, Bort vanished, becoming a blur of motion within the confined office space. His Mantis Blades crackled with electricity, moving faster than the naked eye could follow.
Crispin just stood aside, grinning confidently. Just another gonk with no real chrome. What could he possibly do against a Sandevistan and Mantis Blades? Crispin fully expected to blink and see the kid skewered. Then, as usual, Bort would rip him apart.
But then, Crispin blinked, and the black-haired, organic Asian kid vanished too.
He became a streak of light, the black-and-red katana trailing a matching afterimage. The next thing Crispin saw was a collision of red-black and electric blue. Heat met current.
CLANG!
BOOM!
A figure flew past Crispin's vision. He whirled around in shock to see Bort staggering, coughing, a noticeable dent in his chest plate, and a fresh nick in his right Mantis Blade. When Crispin turned back, the katana-wielding organic was already charging him at an impossible speed.
Shit! Crispin slammed his Sandevistan into overdrive. The world slowed to a crawl—sounds muted, air thick, everything tinged with an ethereal blur. But in front of him, the kid was still sprinting...
Fuck! He's still moving in slowed time?! Is he really organic?!
"Bort!" Crispin roared, crossing his Gorilla Arms defensively. The downward slash of the katana impacted with enough force to send shivers down his chrome. He threw a counter-punch—but unlike his usual Sandevistan fights where opponents were frozen statues, this kid reacted. His eyes locked onto the incoming fist.
Duck, weave, dip, charge.
Rhys slipped inside Crispin's guard, entering the kill zone. Crispin, a Wraith lieutenant forged in countless brutal fights, reacted instantly, bringing his massive arms together like a vise, intending to crush the arrogant little shit. You might be fast, kid, but you think your meat body can match my chrome strength? Crispin could already picture pinning Rhys down while Bort finished him.
But his closing arms met resistance. Two forearms blocked his path.
Raw strength? That was Rhys's strongest suit. The average human Body stat was 3. Rhys was nearing 10. Even legendary Gorilla Arms only added +6 Body. A highly trained operator might hit 10. Anything above that bordered on legendary potential. When it came to pure strength, Rhys wouldn't lose.
"Get off!"
With a roar, Rhys exploded outwards, forcing Crispin's arms apart. Seeing the shock on the Wraith's face, Rhys leaped, driving a knee straight into his chest.
CRUNCH!
It wasn't like hitting flesh; it was like hitting solid steel. But the sheer impact staggered Crispin, sending him stumbling backward. Rhys instantly reversed his grip on the katana, bringing it down in a killing blow—
CLANG!
"You forget about me, asshole?!"
Bort intercepted the strike. At the same time, Crispin regained his footing and charged back in, roaring. The brief, ten-second exchange had shattered their arrogance. Freak... this organic kid is a fucking freak!
"Bort!"
"I fucking know! Stop yelling!" Bort fumbled in a pouch, pulled out an airhypo, and slammed it against his neck. He immediately overclocked his Sandevistan, pushing it to its absolute limit. Time for suppressants. Going all out!
His speed increased exponentially. Bort became a crimson blur, his optics glowing red as he vanished again. Crispin charged in, swinging his Gorilla Arms wildly, the displaced air stinging Rhys's face.
Rhys dodged Crispin's onslaught, but his focus remained entirely on Bort. A punch from Crispin would hurt, maybe break a rib, but a hit from Bort... Those electrical Mantis Blades worried him. It wasn't the cutting he feared—he'd had his eyeballs popped out for optic surgery, a severed limb was nothing. It was the current. Paralysis. That was the real danger.
Whoosh—
The whisper of displaced air behind him. Rhys spun, katana flashing up horizontally.
CLANG!
Metal screamed against metal.
"Stop looking around, asshole!" Crispin's voice roared in his ear. His Gorilla Arm hissed, pneumatic boosters firing as he slammed a devastating blow into Rhys's side, right over the liver.
BOOM!
Rhys flew backwards nearly ten meters, slamming into the wall with enough force to buckle the steel plating and expose the rebar underneath. Dust filled the air, obscuring vision.
But Bort was already airborne, leaping high, his right Mantis Blade extended in a deadly thrust aimed straight at Rhys's position in the dust cloud. If he won't join us, kill him! A kid like this... one-on-one, neither Bort nor Crispin could take him. Leaving him alive was too risky.
As Bort plunged into the dust, the electrical glow of his blade illuminated what lay within. He saw a pair of eyes staring back at him—eyes that glowed an intense, impossible crimson. Not the light of cyber-optics... these eyes looked like they were bleeding, the pupils dilated, the irises webbed with pulsing red veins, turning the entire eyeball blood-red.
BOOM!
Ptuh—
Bort flew out of the dust cloud, spinning end over end, crashing hard at Crispin's feet. Crispin looked down in horror. Bort's jaw was shattered, wires sparking, synth-skin torn away to reveal bent metal plates. Coolant and lubricant leaked onto the floor as he choked and writhed in agony.
"..." Crispin stared, frozen. A figure emerged from the dust.
Katana held ready, Rhys wiped a trickle of blood from his lip. A deep indent marked his right side where Crispin's blow had landed. He had activated Potential Overdrive. Thirty seconds... gotta end this now. Otherwise, the post-activation weakness would hit, and he'd be dead.
But then... even a minor weakness debuff, combined with his injuries... if the other Wraiths heard the commotion and charged up here... could he even escape?
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a massive explosion rocked the building.
BOOM!
The sudden blast stunned all three combatants. In the next moment, the entire factory erupted in chaos. Gunfire echoed from the floors below, punctuated by the heavy thump of grenades or maybe even a rocket launcher.
Rhys paused, then a wide grin spread across his face.
Maine and the crew.
They were coming.
Okay. No need to worry about the cooldown anymore.
He gripped his katana tighter, took a deep breath, and charged.
"Die!"