The whole world seemed to freeze in front of Rob’s eyes, while he was observing his surroundings. The injection of the adrenaline that his body had produced after such a long calm period appeared to accelerate his already improved by the Tower perception to new heights. It seemed that he was like a racing horse that was locked inside the stable for an eternity before finally letting it go for the desired run. Even his senses intensified their power, adding brightness and contrast to everything. The smell, the touch of fabric from the clothes, the heaviness of the conjured steel. His lungs for the first time after his appearance in this realm made a full deep breath, waking him from the slumber.
The world followed the example, starting to show the change in the expressions of the crowd that only began to process Abraham’s shout. The confusion was switching to horror in a real slow-mo in Rob’s eyes, giving him enough opportunity to observe the people’s reactions. Unfortunately, just from a glance, he understood there was no chance to convince the panicked crowd of the false accusations. Moreover, the armed potential enemies were already forcefully pushing others to the side, trying to get to his spot. Therefore, Robert decided to follow the flow. Easing his self-restraints, Rob aimed to do what he could the best – to survive and fight. And that he did.
Bursting into action, Robert made a rotational swing, already in the process of conjuring the spiked mace. He managed to get a clear picture of the painted surprise on Abraham’s face before the steel construct smashed his skull, turning it into a gruesome mixture of bones and brain. The beheaded man stood for the next second before dropping down like a broken doll. There was momentarily thought about how easy it appeared to murder the person, who Rob believed was his friend just a mere minute ago but turned into a traitor. It seemed Robert’s mind had no hesitation at all as if his inner part already marked the former colleague as an enemy. And the enemies are meant to be killed.
Maybe it was overdoing – might have spared his life. Well, what’s done is done. There are still others…
Ignoring the terrifying cries and shouts from the crowd that started to flee, Robert made a step forward toward the incoming group in black. The hooded figure was already pulling the fabric away, opening a view of the similar armor, just much thinner, smaller, and painted in a dark red color. Equipped with the same short swords with electric sparks floating over the single-edged blade, they were clearly trying to get Rob alive. Otherwise, they would use something heavier than melee weapons. Neither did he know why, nor did he care, as he was already falling into a battle trance.
The next moment his body shot forward at the insane speed, accelerating in an instant. The lunge was so fast that the enemies failed to react in time. The crowd was even worse, being forcefully shoved away without any wariness. The feel of impact, before another person was sent flying toward the floor, didn’t halt Rob in the slightest. All his focus was turned on the opponents in front of him, treating the crowd as an obstacle. Such behavior without any regard for the consequences of Robert’s actions appeared to be surprising for the attackers. At least it could explain why they paused as if questioning themselves what to do. Maybe the equipped battle armor added to their confidence, but that appeared to be a grave mistake.
Crashing into the nearest black figure at full speed, Robert felt only a short resistance before throwing the heavy enemy into the air. The places of impact were already covered with steel, protecting them from the possible damage. Not waiting for any results, Rob continued his actions, directing his attention to the next opponent. The latter was already in the process of the thrusting motion, aiming at Robert’s chest. The electric sparks on the blade’s surface didn’t trigger any wish to test the weapon’s capabilities, so instead of deflecting the sword, Rob just rotated his torso, while stepping to the side.
The elector-powered blade pierced the air in mere centimeters from his body, but Robert was calm as ever. He could even say that the current moment was the calmest in the past two weeks, washing all his worries, irritation, and mental loss just with a slight touch of danger. The wild grin never left his face as it appeared from the start. So, with the same terrifyingly mad smile Rob gripped the hand over the handle, before trying to change the direction of the blade. Not surprisingly, it appeared to be a hard task as an inbuilt exoskeleton was fighting against his natural muscles. Well, almost natural.
They are indeed strong in this armor, but it doesn’t increase their reaction speed at all.
The contest of the strength lasted for a mere second, before Robert smashed the elbow from underneath, breaking the arm despite the armor. The long-noticed vulnerability in joints failed to protect the owner against the inhuman power. Despite the thick armored plates, the exposed parts lacked the same level of defense. The exoskeleton stole enough part of space to leave a gap in full-body equipment, replacing the tough material of the armor with a mechanism with much less durability. Still, it didn’t help Rob with a test of the sword’s might as the bent metal got stuck, turning the limb into some kind of a stick.
That’s unfortunate… Oh, well, I have three more test subjects. Or I can do this.
Deflecting the second arm with a short move, Robert gripped the neck of the enemy before focusing on his steel. The small collar encircled it in the next moment before suddenly disappearing without a trace, replaced with an unfocused shining light. The following explosion almost tore the head of the enemy, melting the metal. Only remnants of the armor kept the mutilated body part from leaving the torso. Not pausing on it, Rob stepped to the side, while pushing the armored corpse right under the flying strike. The sparks from the contact and the barely visible mark on the black surface were all results he got.
So, it seems the weapon is indeed meant to stun the target, but not to kill. Hmm, what the hell do they want from me?
Blocking another swing with the remnants of the dead’s helmet, Rob had to pause for a second to look at the powerful hit strengthened by the technology that simply tore apart the head of the corpse. Maybe there was an angry yell from the opponent, but the sealed armor prevented him from hearing it. Not that he cared. Conjuring a gun, Robert aimed it at the visor before “pulling a trigger”. The following collapse of the matter that turned into a white ball of devastating energy took a fraction of a second. His increased by the System’s influence toughness led to barely any backlash from the ability’s usage. However, the effect was more than noticeable.
The Energy Blast penetrated the greyed visor, and skull and went out from the other side of the helmet before finally making the deep hole in the floor. Not even blinking, Robert conjured another gun before changing the target. The nearest one had the same armor and was just processing what had happened to his mate. Seeing the pointed blob of the metal, the enemy dropped his sword in an attempt to get his hands on his own gun, which hung on the belt. Unfortunately for him, he wasn’t fast enough, and another ball ended his life a moment later.
Yep, it seems the chest armor is much thicker not only from the looks. It failed to penetrate the whole thing. However, I haven’t used much steel…
The thought was flowing through his mind, while Rob’s body never stopped acting. Focusing on the last owner of the black armor, who appeared the very same hooded figure, he noticed how the smaller enemy was making a backflip in the heavy armor while carrying two swords. That led only to a mental sigh before his next energy strike went flying toward the oddly agile figure. The latter, instead of avoiding the white ball, decided to take it head-on by crossing the weapons. Both blades were shining with the overwhelming energy as if being manually overcharged over any safety level.
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However, the Energy Blast didn’t care, easily going through the swords and entering the frontal armor plate. Moreover, losing the energy to melt the swords, it lost the power to make a deep wound, leaving a horrible burn on the chest, but not going through the chest. Not that made anything easier for the enemy as it was left with melted remnants of the hands. Dropping down from the pain shock, the opponent immediately was crossed out from the potential threats for the time being. Still, the group of five were already here, aiming with their massive rifles.
Their bulky armor even from the look granted more protection. The weapons in hands were also no joke. Huge barrels, and futuristic design, they made Robert worry about their capabilities. Therefore, he did the most logical thing he could, while waiting in the middle of the hall for the enemies to shoot him – Robert summoned the shield. Or, precisely speaking, the half-circular dome that covered him from the danger a moment before the enemies opened fire. Dark green material materialized right in front of him. Five centimeters thick (2 inches), it was insanely heavy. So heavily that it could crush the bones with ease. And that it did as not all people from the crowd managed to flee from the scene. Frankly speaking, almost no one as the time frame from Abraham’s shout up to this point barely took a dozen seconds.
All the screams from scaring fighting nearby, their grimaces of fear, the pleading shouts, while they were running for their life – everything was going in the background for Robert. Only now, at this very moment he finally really noticed them. Acknowledged their presence. This fact was like a cold shower, waking him from his battle-driven state into harsh reality. The reality that wasn’t divided into just black and white, or friends and foes. The reality that wasn’t the battlefield or the Tower’s floor, but just an ordinary civilian place with the same ordinary people, who weren’t ready for the broken fight with its bloody and gore nature.
Even from the first shout that had two important words in it, the crowd had panicked. Both “the bomb” and “Terranoid” led to obvious reactions. Nobody tried to play the hero in front of the towering giant who clearly went insane, attacking the people around. No, everyone started to flee in an attempt to save their lives. Of course, the latter took all priority over anything else, easily leading to violence, when someone else stood between the danger and a possible way out. Pushing, kicking, not even pausing for a second to see the consequences of their actions, the crowd simply stomped quite a few of the unluckiest just to save themselves.
Moreover, Robert’s own initial attacks that threw the enemy away didn’t end well for at least one man, who was unfortunate enough to be hit by the heavy figure. The weight of the fully equipped opponent together with the force from the hit left a twisted parody on the human, with broken limbs and a grimace of a silent scream from the terrible pain. Rob was just too fast to act, while the crowd was too dense to magically disappear from sight in mere seconds after the start. Therefore, any of his attacks could lead to such an outcome. Even his steel dome crashed the foot of the woman, who fell on the floor because of the inability to run fast on the high heels.
Fuck! I didn’t want this… I just snapped… How can I stop it? Damn it!
Obviously, Robert couldn’t as it wasn’t his actions that led to this situation. The unknown attackers were already sending a torrent of projectiles at him. Increasing the thickness of his protective construct even more, Rob focused his attention on the feeling of the steel, ready to repair it the instant he sensed any damage. Surprisingly, there was none. Instead, he heard a literal bombardment against the metal surface. A moment later the lying woman screamed from the pain, when a small dart penetrated her forehead, immediately injecting something. At least that was what he thought when her veins started to appear on her skin, pulsing with black. The next second interrupted Rob’s observation as the darts suddenly started to fly over his dome.
His reaction was instantaneous. Redirecting the steel from the thickness into coverage, Robert turned himself into a turtle that hid inside its shell. Waiting for two long seconds, he opened a huge hall in front of him only to face his opponents. Still, Rob’s sudden appearance surprised the attackers, halting them for a moment. It was enough for him. Following his will, five long spikes rose from the dome, pointing right at the enemies. The next was a mental command that started to convert each of them into a glowing white ball of energy.
The first Energy Blast only made half of the distance, when the second was conjured. It took an insane concentration from Robert to do it in quick succession without even a tiny delay. Fortunately, his supernatural abilities barely managed to be understood during the twenty-second fight. The devastating balls each found its own target, penetrating the bulky armor with a noticeable effort. Despite the usage of more steel, this time the Energy Blast had a short struggle in melting the surface of the metal, visibly losing the momentum and the size before finally finding its way inside.
I still need to work on my aim… or aim properly with a conjured gun.
The thought had flashed through Robert’s mind when he saw the result of his shooting. Only one of the projectiles managed to hit what he intended to – the helmet of the enemy. The second made a hole inside the chest, instantly killing the attacker. The last three went far from where he aimed at, barely hitting the target. Still this “barely” was enough to send the group to the ground. One of them lost the knee, and while the equipment managed to hold his leg in one piece, he clearly couldn’t use it. The other got an awful wound on the stomach, desperately trying to cover it with his metal gloves as if it could even work. The final opponent lost part of his shoulder, dropping the weapon. The latter was in the best condition among the enemies, marking himself as a priority target. Jumping on the feet and dispersing his steel, Robert conjured a new gun before quickly finishing the group only to pause several seconds later.
Well, again acting on instinct without thinking. I could leave one alive to get an explanation for the reason of attacking me in the first place. They clearly aimed to capture me alive. But what for? What was the thing with Abraham’s shout about the bomb? To put the blame on me? A simple explanation can solve the situation with ease… Or not. Fuck!
Looking at the mess around, Robert knew that he ruined any possible way out for himself. Not that he had many options to start with. Considering the open hatred and fear toward any Terranoid, a dozen dead around, including civilians, everyone would point at him as the main culprit. Even the attackers could be found innocent as they were not carrying any lethal weapons, aiming just to “stop the person with a bomb”. On the other hand, there was the terrifying Terranoid, who killed the single person who tried to befriend him. Who was constantly on the verge of snapping before it finally happened. Unsociable, gloomy war veteran from the most hateful planet of failed conquerors and genocide carriers.
“Hands up! Don’t move, Robert, or we will shoot!”
The shout was coming from his colleagues, who always neglected his greetings, thus giving no doubt they would do it without hesitation. Armed with emergency guns that were hidden inside the closed boxes, the Arena guards were aiming at him with dead serious expressions. Still, no matter how they tried to cover their real feelings, the mixture of disgust, fear, and anger was there, clearly visible to the naked eye. Robert caught it at once. Slowly moving his hands up, he only opened his mouth in an attempt to explain that it was a setup, but the gunshot interrupted him. The bullet went far above his head, most likely accidentally sent by a trembling hand of the guard, but the event already triggered the reflexive reaction. Unfortunately, it related to both parties.
Forming the huge great shield in a single instant, Robert covered himself from the fire, while starting to move. His deeply engraved reaction to the danger had pushed him into motion way before his mind processed it. The Energy Blast was already conjured when Rob realized what he was doing. The instinctive attempt to halt the flying energy ball obviously failed as there was no connection with the flying projectile. The short pause after one of his colleagues got an unnatural hole inside his chest was replaced with more intensive shooting. Moreover, the trained guards immediately started to encircle him, clearly aiming for the kill.
The regret, the confusion, the despair – there were many feelings at that moment inside Robert’s head. However, no matter how he tried to find a way out, his options once again were quickly narrowing to just two - to kill or be killed. To the cost he was willing to pay for his own survival as it seemed nobody would try to keep him alive after the situation had escalated to this point. Especially, when Rob noticed a new group of the heavily armed guards emerging from the distance. The rifles, they were carrying, didn’t look like the ones with darts. Moreover, they were already aiming at him, ready to send a real bullet storm toward him. Therefore, after a long second of doubt, Robert made a choice.
I will force my way out no matter what. I wasn’t the one to start it. If I can, I will try to leave the realm using the help from Aether. If not, I can try to steal the ship, taking the hostages. Maybe they will listen then… Or not. No more pondering, Robert, move your crazy ass!