Noah was wounded, bleeding and tired from his relentless onslaught against the Mechas. He was now standing amid debris, smoke and fire of the second Mecha he had destroyed during his counterattack. In the corner of his vision, he eyed the third victim he had sent to the afterlife, standing far away with a spear embedded in the area of its cockpit; it housed the pilot who was controlling the Mecha, hopefully dead.
That should have done the job.
After blasting through the second Mecha with a headbutt for the ages, taking out the pilot situated in the cockpit, he was able to confirm the general positioning of the pilots within the Mechas. And the malfunctioning movements of the third Mecha told him that his positioning had been right, and his target was already on his journey to hell.
Slowly, Noah breathed out as he reminisced the scene of the spear he had launched piercing through the cockpit of the Mecha and killing the pilot within.
— Noah…
Note to self and you, past a certain distance, I cannot control the substance any longer.
He had yet to give a name for the substance that covered his body in all directions; hesitant and even reluctant to call them his body parts even though they had indeed leaked out of his body. However, giving them a name did not really matter in the long run. What mattered was that the substance was extremely malleable and efficient in its usage.
Though his current situation was quite a bit complicated if he had to be honest. Noah’s mind had been in such a high level state of focus that he could feel his brain going into overdrive, even overheating to the point that it felt like it would melt any second now. Merely a few seconds had passed since he went into this state, but it was no shorter than a small eternity for him.
His wounds were already healing but he felt sluggish all over, as though his mind was not able to keep up with the rapid changes. He did not believe that the guys chasing him would be dumb enough to let themselves and the others be killed as easily as the three he had taken down with that unexpected turn of events. Three out of nineteen down already— a good result, all things considered; however, nowhere near enough for him to safely get out of this messy scenario.
… Or perhaps it was.
The hell?
He was already prepared to square up but he could see seven Mechas pulling back from the formation and fleeing, leaving the battlefield at full speed. This resulted in him facing the remaining eight Mechas, still too many but far more doable than before.
Noah could practically see the confusion of the remaining eight Mechas as their teammates had deserted them. He was sure that all of them were now hesitant on how to proceed with the battle with their tight-knit formation useless due to the sudden deserters.
Noah looked down at his body, wondering if they were maybe thinking that he was still at full power, or if they thought he was taking it easy on them and was capable of killing them all at once if he so wished… or if they were simply that cowardly to face a sudden variable.
Expecting them to stick together through thick or thin was extreme but he would have never imagined that they would desert on the first signs of an anomaly and a reversal in the scenario.
— What do we do now?
Run like the wind.
This was different from the situation they had encountered on the spaceship where he was up against support personnel rather than warriors. Noah had the advantage but he definitely could not keep it up for long if they fought him at the same time.
But he knew where he wanted to go and the hole in their formation was the perfect place for him to run towards his destination.
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———
As Noah had expected, while #1 had been stunned by the unexpected panic and desertion of the soldiers, he recovered just as easily and started his advance.
｢# 3: What do we do?｣
｢# 1: We stick to the plan. Let’s push him towards the Captain. We don’t have to risk our lives to take him out like the other idiots.｣
He had no time to berate the pirates who had fled the scene. They should have known by now that fleeing was useless and they would return once they calmed their mind. He also kept a calm facade to avoid having more of his members deserting him.
｢# 1: Fire a few rounds regularly if he deviates from his position, keep him at a manageable distance, and be wary of any sudden movements. # 2, # 3, and # 4… go ahead and move before us to the clearing to prepare the trap. Once we reach the clearing we will stay clear and wait for the boss. Keep your distance and do not obstruct our vision once again.｣
He was a little too whiny but he wanted them to understand that everything was under control, even if it wasn’t in reality.
Inwardly though, N#1 was as worried as the rest. After all, the streak of kills had been simply too impressive and none of them wished to be the next sacrificial lamb for this inhumane monster.
If he had to be honest, he wished to stop fighting right this moment. At the end of the day, the one who would get the most of the reward for this trial would be the Captain himself, not them.
Fighting and dying for the sake of the ambitions of someone else was not in his plan at all but unlike those who fled and would certainly be punished, he simply needed to go through the motions and do his job properly. He was sure that would assure his survival through this mission.
｢# 1: Just stick to the plan.｣
Everything wouldn’t have spiraled out of control if not for that bastard, #15. So he kept repeating his words, hoping that they would understand, and thankfully it seemed like they did.
***
— They have eased their attack and movement speed. They are being cautious.
I know. Fucking stupid bastards.
Noah was in a weird state of mind at the moment. If he had to be honest, the rush he felt when fighting earlier was the likes of which had not felt in a long time. The wind cutting against his face, the surroundings changing as though a blur of motion, and having to make snap decisions instantaneously while knowing one mistake could kill him.
It was exhilarating and he craved such a feeling far more than he could have imagined. Still, all the rush died down when he realized what they were doing.
— You should be happy.
I am happy.
— It seems like my understanding of Happiness may be flawed.
Noah scoffed while he jumped in a tree and started moving like a ninja, sticking to branch after branch. He was taunting them in a way, hoping perhaps that one would bite the bullet and attack like the previous overconfident buffoon; however, it seemed like they were too prudent and would not put themselves in danger.
Was he happy? Of course, he was. His opponents were cowardly bastards and had fled a fight but could he not blame them for that?
Noah was simply too used to fighting unfeeling monsters who would fight to the death without the slightest hesitation, even if all but one was eliminated.
This had always been the norm for him.
Parasites did not retreat, and humans had no place to retreat. All the fights that ensued between them were extremely bloody and tragic, with hundreds and thousands of deaths happening during every engagement
How laughable.
Those pirates were undoubtedly stronger and far more technologically advanced than anything he had seen on Earth, but in Noah’s opinion, he would rather fight these bastards than face a competent human army.
— Weren’t humans literally about to give up back then?
“They were, and this is why it’s even more beautiful.”
Courage didn’t mean a lack of fear. True courage was feeling fear but still fighting and overcoming it.
Noah continued to jump, zoning out most of the information from the outside world. Subconsciously, he had already deemed the pirates as nothing short of being worthless, and not the simplest of threats to him any longer. He was already more or less rested and he was ready to destroy one or two more if they made the mistake of coming too close.
It was like this that, while being escorted by a group of Mecha, Noah finally arrived at the clearing and finally, he found what he had been searching for all along.
Two Mechas, sitting in the wild and unoccupied.
He accelerated once again. He only needed one, only one more struggle and this farce would finally come to its conclusion.