Rising from the ashes of Sniper's attack, Mike breathed heavily while observing his surroundings. He was now in the middle of a jungle, amidst a sea of endless, lush and serene greenery that spanned beyond where the eye can see. Suddenly, like six meteoroids, the Grand Cardinal knights landed around Mike with their crystals all burning with the impatient wrath of their abilities. These are the very knights chosen to hunt other cyberknights, and their status as Grand Cardinals meant they had completed at least twenty successful hunts each, with some of them in active duty way before Mike was even born.
[Mike] - "Heh! You bastards should know there is a reason why I'm the Grand Knight and none of you are, despite being twice my age. "
Said Mike as he ignited his crystals in preparation.
[Luther] - "Extential Judgement: Domain of the Dark Gods! "
Said the knight as he pressed his hands together to concentrate his power.
With lightning speed, Mike turned toward Luther and presented him with the sight of his glowing crystal.
[Mike] - "Existential Judgement: 1st Dimension! "
As the ability of Luther and Mike's technique clashed, at first, it seemed like an equal fight. However, as Luther's ability manifested as an endless void of grinding teeth that tore matter apart without resistance, Mike's technique immediately crushed Luther alongside his ability with a force so powerful, his opponent was instantly reduced to a grain of glowing fire. There was a level of confidence from Mike's expression that made the five remaining knights shudder. Suddenly, with one snap of his finger, Mike unleashed the little ball of nuclear fusion that used to be Luther's body at another one of the knights, causing him to be erased out of existence in a cone of unholy fire.
Suddenly, another knight jumped at Mike with his fist raised.
[Schorner] - "Damnation's Reach: Curse of Amageddon! "
Within a single punch, Schorner delivered a strike so powerful, it reduced a large portion of the jungle into pure molten lava while the shockwave of the impact caused magma to spill all the way into space. As Schorner struck at Mike through the mayhem of the lava column, a hand instead reached through the chaos and enveloped his face. Filled with rage, Schorner struck back and landed his fist against Mike's face. As the lava cleared from his sight, Schorner was delighted to see just a sliver of blood from Mike's cheek as he smirked with pride at his accomplishment. However, instead of pain, all Schorner saw was a defiant grin from his opponent as Mike uttered a few barely audible words.
[Mike] - "Guilt Extension: Blade of Pandemonium! "
Since Schorner was armed with a set of powerful defensive abilities that shielded him from even the impact of his strikes and the pillar of lava that surrounded him, he mocked Mike's attack as he barely noticed any damage on his body.
[Mike] - "I see patience is not your strongest attribute, knight Schorner. "
As the second second passed by, Schorner immediately noticed small flesh wounds all around his body.
[Schorner] - "This is nothing! You can barely- "
Before he could finish his sentence, Schorner was instantly reduced to a fine red mist which sprayed into the air before dissapating without reaching the ground. Just as the pillar of lava cleared, a duo of knights ambushed Mike, one striking at him frontally with a long sword while the other clapped his hands together behind him.
[Dante] - "Existential Judgement: Dream of the Dragon Lord! "
In one blinding explosion, a cone of plasma so hot that it glowed with a pale azure colour shot out of Dante's sword, enveloping Mike in a pillar of fire so tall, it reached outside of the atmosphere. On top of the intense heat, a number of near-infinite imaginary swords also accompanied the tower of fire, ensuring nothing could survive.
[Laurent] - "Existential Judgement: Singularity of the Ten Rings! "
In an instant, alongside Dante's ability, Mike was struck by a set of ten slashes that left kilometres worth of gaps in the Earth on each side. As the attack propagated through the air, clouds were sliced into multiple pieces until eventually, even the moon received a few slashes that left visible marks on its surface.
However, as much as the two hoped their attack was enough, reality would remind them that in a world where Gods exist, they are but guests in their domain. Despite Dante's best effort, he couldn't help but notice the presence of a figure in the fire, which grew larger and larger until a hand reached out and grabbed his sword. Shocked, Dante tried to pull back, but found his sword firmly stuck in Mike's grip.
[Mike] - "Echoing Verdict: Relativist Realities! "
Said Mike as his hand formed the shape of a gun and fired at Dante.
In an instant, Dante could feel his mind spin as if he couldn't tell the ground from the sky anymore. Soon, blood flowed out of his orifices as Mike's technique instilled chaos within the gravity and atmosphere around Dante. Before he knew it, in his confusion, his attack was guided to turn around, before it consumed his entire body in the matter of a single nanosecond.
On the ground, Laurent barely had the time to react before Mike appeared before her in a flash and delivered a powerful punch to her chest. Though she recoiled without much injury, Mike was already done with her.
[Mike] - "You shielded your body against a raw impact, yet that was not my intention. You are already dead before you know it. "
Said Mike as he played with a dirty screw in his hand.
Suddenly, Laurent found herself choking and unable to breathe while she felt as if he body was bitten by thousands of mosquitoes at the same time. At that time, she didn't realize that Mike had removed all the iron from her blood with a single strike infused with magnetic properties. As Laurent began to succumb to the agonizing effects of asphyxiation, Mike activated his crystals and shot the screw through her head, granting her a painless death.
With the sight of his comrades massacred so effortlessly, the last knight decided to discreetly sneak away to avoid the same fate. However, before he could take more than a few steps, Sniper descended from the skies and crushed him under his feet, ending his life in an instant.
[Sniper] - "Heretics may be burned, but cowards shall become nutrients for the lower species, destined to be turned into feces and forgotten. "
Said Sniper in a scornful voice.
Sniper's presence emitted an aura of doom inside the jungle. Animals, small or large, immediately felt the overwhelming sense of doom that loomed over their home. Even tigers, the kings of the jungle, had to recoil and whimper like scared kittens upon feeling Sniper's presence. A white aura shone through Sniper's clear crystals as he landed softly atop a massive tree. All the way at the riverside, sat Mike, who stared back at him with a burning hatred in his eyes. After pushing himself off the ground, Mike's crystals also began to shine with a fiery blue light.
[Mike] - "SNIPER! "
Yelled Mike with an earth-shattering voice.
Slowly, Mike began to walk toward his opponent. Suddenly, thousands of tree roots jumped up to impale him. However, Mike remained unfazed as any root that approached him was immediately reduced to vapour. With determined steps, Mike gradually increased his pace while his eyes were only focused on his target.
Soon, the trees began to come to life as they smashed their massive trunks against Mike with increasing ferocity. Meanwhile, with a few twitches of his fingers, Sniper summoned massive bolts of lightning from the sky that struck Mike repetitively. Despite all these attacks, Mike kept his pace and remained unchallenged by his surrounding hellscape.
This was the true side of Mike that remained oppressed by Sniper. He was no longer the insecure and helpless boy who only knew how to obey orders. When he finally became his own master, when he finally decided to fight for what he believed in, Mike finally found the passion that was long lost inside his heart.
[Mike] - "All these amateur-level attacks... Just who the hell do you think I am? "
Yelled Mike as he raised his fist in the air.
With a single strike, Mike not only reduced the hostile nature in a kilometre radius to an empty desert but also cleared the visible sky of all cloud presence. However, Sniper still remained unimpressed by Mike's effort as he summoned an earth giant the size of around 9 Burj Khalifas stacked on top of each other.
The massive creature squeezed Mike between its ginormous palms, but a massive explosion abruptly blew off the giant's torso and head. Like a bolt of lightning, Mike arrived in front of Sniper and punched him with all of his power. However, to Mike's surprise, Sniper wasn't even scratched by his attack.
[Sniper] - "The hubris of a mortal is often his downfall in the face of a God. "
Said Sniper in a monotone voice.
With a single punch, Sniper sent Mike crashing into the ground with such force that much of the debris ended up in space. Before Mike could recover from this blow, Sniper suddenly appeared in front of him and landed a right hook below his chin. In an instant, Mike crashed into the moon and left the celestial body with half a broken side. After jumping back into space, Mike turned around and realized how damaged the moon was.
"Shit... I have to be more careful. Can't cause the end of the world because of this bloody bastard. "
Thought Mike as contemplated what to do.
With a gripping motion, Mike replaced all the broken pieces back on the moon. Although not perfect, the moon was at least still a perfect sphere capable of serving its purpose. With this done, Mike dashed back onto Earth like a shooting star before landing directly on Sniper. With a powerful punch, Mike finally managed to deliver a critical blow against Sniper. This time, Sniper crashed into the ground with a missing leg and a flattened abdomen.
[Mike] - "How does it feel, old man? Did this finally cure your arteritis? "
Said Mike in an exhausted tone.
[Sniper] - "How naive of you to believe I would leave myself vulnerable. "
With a single snap of his finger, Sniper's body immediately rewound to his previously uninjured state. Meanwhile, Mike suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. When he looked, he was shocked to find a huge hole on the left side of his chest. Sniper's hit was precise and deadly; while Mike was focused on his attack, Sniper used this opportunity to divert part of his defensive power into a rapid and deadly strike. The result, Sniper allowed himself to receive recoverable damage in exchange for inflicting a lethal injury to his opponent.
[Sniper] - "You are already dead, Mike. Without a heart, you can only have another 20 seconds before you meet your doom. "
Said Sniper in a cold tone.
To Mike's shock, the wound he had inflicted on Sniper was almost instantly healed.
[Mike] - "Heh! That's not an issue for me. You have been heartless your whole life, and still lived until now. So what's different for me? "
Said Mike with a defiant grin on his face.
Using his reflection on Sniper's shiny armour, Mike reconnected his major blood vessels before stimulating his blood flow using his ability. Despite the immense pain, Mike simply shut his teeth together and endured the pain with a grimace.
[Sniper] - "Impressive. Perhaps I truly underestimated your mastery of the crystals. However, how would you replace your head if it were blown into a mist? "
Said Sniper in a cold voice.
In a flash, Sniper's palm cleaved toward Mike's face. The speed of the attack left Mike with no time to react as he immediately diverted his power toward his head's defence. Unfortunately for Mike, this proved to be a feint by Sniper as he focused his power into his other hand. With a swift strike, Sniper stabbed his other hand through Mike's abdomen and out through his back.
[Sniper] - "You can never win, Mike. It's like when an ant picks a fight with a human; the odds of the ant achieving victory are beyond the realms of possibility. "
Said Sniper as he stared pitifully at Mike.
With a loud splash, Sniper withdrew his hand alongside a massive puddle of blood. With a thud, Mike fell to the ground as his severed spine meant he could no longer control his legs. However, instead of losing his time, Mike channelled his power and prepared to strike again.
[Mike] - "Existential Judgement: 2nd Dimension! "
However, before Mike's attack could even take effect, he was brutally interrupted by a lightning-fast strike from Sniper, which stabbed through his neck.
[Sniper] - "Can you really afford to use your fancy techniques with me, boy? I prefer to do this the old school way! "
Said Sniper as Mike's blood slowly coated his hand.
[Mike] - "Ugh! Then have it your way, ya old bastard! I will gut your bloody face either way! "
Said Mike, still with a defiant grin despite the unbearable pain.
[Sniper] - "So you would condemn both Doctor Ethan and your pathetic whore to die with you. As expected from a mortal coward. When you are drowning, you have to drag some people down with you. "
[Mike] - "Her name is Kadyn, you bloody bastard. And who the fuck told you I was drowning? "
Said Mike with a confident grin.
Sniper abruptly ripped Mike's vein out of his neck, but Mike had already taken the time to rewire his blood vessel during their conversation to prevent the injury from becoming fatal. Now freed, Mike quickly crawled to his feet while using his ability to support his legs.
[Mike] - "The fact that you had to take damage to inflict a critical hit against me already revealed your weakness. You are afraid to admit it, but it means your power level is equal to mine. If you were stronger, you wouldn't have needed to sacrifice defence for offence. "
Said Mike with a confident grin.
Suddenly, Mike's defensive shield reacted to a powerful strike against his head. Thanks to the semi-automatic nature of his ability when it comes to defence, Mike was able to defeat the attack without receiving severe injuries.
[Mike] - "You are scared, Sniper. That sneak attack tells me all. "
Said Mike as a line of blood streamed down from his head.
[Sniper] - "I can regenerate any injuries instantly thanks to my exfoliated crytals. Taking damage from you is less than an inconvenience for me. I allowed you to strike me because I want to see you full of hope before I take it away. "
Said Sniper in a spiteful tone.
It was clear to Mike he had caught his opponent's weakness as a small change finally occurred in Sniper's cold, stoic expression. To think that Mike was his equal earlier already annoyed Sniper, since to him, no one on this earth could match his power. Now, with this discovery, a boiling rage rose inside Sniper's chest as he sought to punish Mike for even bringing this fact up.
With a killer aura around him, Sniper walked up to Mike and launched a punch in his direction. When Mike blocked his attack, his other fist came from the other side, but was also intercepted by his opponent. With both their hands locked, Mike abruptly head-bumped Sniper and caused him to crash into the ground.
"I'm a God. He couldn't be stronger than me! He is nothing but a mortal brat! "
Thought Sniper in total disbelief.
With a single jump, Sniper stood upright and met Mike with a hand chop. Being now more experienced and cautious, Mike met Sniper with a spontaneous defence attack, which punched a fist-sized hole in Sniper's forehead, which was immediately patched up by his healing power.
[Sniper] - "Ugh! "
Grunted Sniper in frustration.
The two men's confrontation soon turned into a duel fought in hand-to-hand combat. Aside from the occasional flesh wound, both fighters seemed to be equal in skill. As Sniper intercepted a strike from Mike, he abruptly summoned a stone spike from the ground, which impaled Mike through the shoulder. Despite the number of injuries on his body, Mike pushed through the pain by reminding himself of his promise to Kadyn.
"I will come back to you, I will honour your dream, Lemon! "
Thought Mike as he fought the pain that was threatening to blur his consciousness.
Since Sniper was expecting Mike to also sneak an attack behind him, he concentrated part of his focus on his backside defence. However, Mike has already prepared something for his opponent. As he punched forward, a shower of tiny hypersonic metal particles shot out from his armour at Sniper. In an instant, Sniper's body was turned into a piece of Swiss cheese by Mike's projectiles.
With this level of injury, Sniper briefly lost his focus as his body healed the damaged parts. With a wave of his hand, Sniper created a veil of dirt in front of him before disappearing underground. Mike quickly scouted his surroundings for any surprise attack, but due to his disabled legs, he was unable to feel it when Sniper's fist smashed through the ground below him. Although Mike tried to block the attack, his delayed reaction allowed a small dose of Sniper's ability to reach his chest.
[Mike] - *gasp*
Mike could only recoil to avoid Sniper's subsequent strikes. However, he suddenly realized that he couldn't breathe as Sniper's ability had collapsed his lungs. Just as Mike was about to heal the damage, Sniper jumped at him with an intense barrage of punches. Left with no room for recovery, Mike could only defend himself while his vision slowly darkened due to a lack of oxygen.
[Sniper] - "Time to end this. "
Said Sniper as he collected dry ice from the air and coated his hands in the substance.
Mike immediately realized that Sniper was trying to inject him with dry ice. If Sniper managed to land a single strike, it would be over for Mike, as not only would dry ice freeze his blood and organs, but the saturation of CO2 in his body would also bring about his demise. On top of that, Mike could repair superficial damage to his body, but he isn't experienced enough with his ability to filter out specific molecules from his blood.
Most urgently, Mike needed to reinflate his collapsed lungs or else he won't last long. He tried to create a veil of sand in front of himself, but Sniper simply pulled him through the cover. There is no way to escape as Sniper used his ability to mark him and pull him back if he tried to flee. To add insult to injury, Sniper launched Mike into the air and proceeded to continue his attack while leaving Mike with no surrounding assets to aid his escape.
The sheer speed and ferocity of Sniper's strikes left Mike no time for anything but defence. At this point, Mike was already slipping into darkness, but at the last second, an idea flashed inside his mind. By colliding his fists together, Mike created a massive shockwave that acted as a defensive measure against Sniper. Meanwhile, the pressure wave coming in his own direction was used by Mike to reinflate his lungs.
[Mike] - "Now it's my turn, mother fucker! "
Whispered Mike after breathing a sigh of relief.
Now refilled with oxygen, Mike collided his fist with Sniper's before creating an invisible coil-like structure around his opponent's arm. Unbeknownst to Sniper, when he blocked Mike's punch, a massive wave of pressure travelled around his arm before reaching his body. The enormous power of the compressed gas easily smashed Sniper's body to shreds. Now, as long as Mike pressed his attack, Sniper won't have the opportunity to rewind his body.
However, Sniper made a gamble. As Mike's fist approached him, he focused his ability on his blood, which splashed near his opponent's neck. In an instant, Sniper froze his blood into an icicle, which pierced through Mike's neck. Fortunately for Sniper, his gamble worked as the sudden perforation caused Mike to barely miss his attack. Using this brief moment, Sniper repaired his body before slamming Mike into the ground.
When the dust settled, Sniper stood over Mike's barely functional body. Although Mike didn't lose consciousness, he was simply too tired to keep going. The pain, combined with the amount of mental exhaustion caused by his ability, which was keeping his body alive, proved to be too much for him to handle.
[Sniper] - "In the end, the gap between our mastery proved to be too large. While I can repair any damage inflicted on my body, you can only waste away in your injuries. You put up a valiant effort, but in the end, you can only dream about overthrowing a God. "
Said Sniper as he cast his shadow over Mike's face.
[Mike] - "Heh! Maybe that's the case, but I just need one hit to splatter your brain over all seven continents. "
Said Mike in laboured breaths while maintaining his signature grin.
[Sniper] - "Pointless defiance won't grant you a victory. "
Said Sniper with gritted teeth, full of hatred.
[Mike] - "It's not pointless... I have people waiting for me, unlike you. If I die, my ideas will still live on, yet if you do, no one will even mourn your death. "
Said Mike as the defiant grin reappeared on his face.
Mike's defiant attitude finally caused Sniper to snap. With anger boiling inside his veins, Sniper raised his foot and pressed it against Mike's head.
[Sniper] - "Gods do not need a purpose. You could've chosen to ascend your human self by showing your loyalty to me, but you decided to stand with the weak and pitiful. You soiled your bloodline by copulating with that abominable creature created against nature's law and rejected the divine plan I devised for the greater good of humanity. You are a disgrace, Mike, worse than the likes of Michele! "
Yelled Sniper in disgust as he made sure to smear the mud under his boot on Mike's face.
[Mike] - "I agree, I'm a disgusting, lowly human being. I have flaws and biases, and I have committed sins. But at the end of the day, I'm happy with the way I am. It's due to our imperfect nature that we have a reason to fight. We seek to fill the imperfection in our lives. People like you who convince themselves that they have reached perfection could only stagnate in the void while repeating the same meaningless task until they reach insanity. "
Said Mike in a sincere tone.
[Sniper] - "Then stay mortal, human. "
Said Sniper as he raised his fist in the air and struck at Mike.
With that one last punch, Mike was finally pushed down to his knees; His injuries, too numerous to let him continue. Yet, despite his pitiful state, Mike resisted while screaming at Sniper like a wild beast with a mouth full of blood. However, Mike knew his body was already pushed to the edge. It won't take long for him to finally lose the fight.
To be continued...
*EXTRA
- Profile: Sniper
- Complete name: Charles M. Mundy
- Ability: [Virtual insanity]: "One of the rarest abilities obtainable for a crystal user, with only 3 known cases. Sniper's ability can manipulate molecules and energy in any way he desires as long as it follows the rules of physics and chemistry.
Unlike Mike, Sniper trained his ability to accomplish certain tasks with much more precision and ease. When in combat, Sniper can also improvise, but he prefers to rely more on a set of specific abilities he already acquired beforehand. However, the rule remains that the more complex the task, the more mental efficiency and focus are required.
When Sniper's mind or ability is idle, a passive molecular shield is maintained subconsciously, which protects Sniper from unexpected harm. Since every user's power core has a limited energy output per second, in a fight, users like Sniper have to balance the energy spent on defence and attack. "
- ABILITY STATS:
Power - S
Speed of the ability - S
Speed granted by the ability - A
Range - A
Durability of the ability - S
Durability granted by the ability - S
Precision - S
Potential - S