Chapter 220
Being grateful for life is difficult.
The world is absurd, and the universe is cruel.
Moreover, we are dissatisfied with what we have and create our own misery by coveting what we do not.
How many people in this world truly know how to be grateful for life? People must have called such individuals saints.
……I am no different in my inability to be grateful.
However, at this mont, I, too, am sincerely grateful.
‘Be grateful for your innate talent, Luka.’
Since ancient tis, talent has been considered a gift from the heavens—bestowed by the universe, a god, or so transcendent being.
Thus, those who overwheld others with their talent were called geniuses.
Calling myself a genius would be both distasteful and embarrassing, so let’s borrow soone else’s words.
‘Hemillas called a genius.’
It was another na for an Irregular. A genius failing to adapt to the existing order was only natural.
Of course, there must be plenty of people whose ‘innate talent’ surpasses mine.
‘Noel Mullizcane, founder of Akies Victima. Ragnata Anima, who reached the pinnacle with nothing but flesh and blood, despite receiving biological enhancents. Hemillas Kusthoria, whose brilliance was so excessive that it beca a problem.’
Ilay must also surpass in so fields.
Just being ntioned alongside them, being compared to them, was a blessing. It was proof that I was not just ‘competent’ or ‘gifted,’ but a true ‘genius.’
I recalled the first incident where I made a na for myself.
‘I used ballistic trajectory control against a death row convict without ever having learned it.’
It was shortly after undergoing neural chemical treatnt.
Ballistic trajectory control was my first talent.
Tap, tap.
I heard a sound in my head, unsure if it was breaking apart or coming together. My blood vessels felt as though they were thickening with a tense strain. It almost seed as if my writhing neurons were growing in real ti.
For a fleeting mont, my mind wavered, but it gathered itself again, allowing to perceive reality with perfect clarity.
‘My opponent right now is Mushir al-Kashura.’
He wielded four firearms with complete mastery. Against such bizarre marksmanship, escape was impossible.
‘My only option is a frontal breakthrough.’
I widened my eyes, drinking in every glimr of light in the world. The flood of incoming information was so overwhelming that it made my head throb.
‘A beam-type energy projectile weapon, a large-caliber firearm resembling a cannon, a rifle firing shock rounds—a hybrid of energy and live ammunition—and a small-caliber handgun for suppression.’
Kashura used four different types of firearms. Each had its own characteristics, making them a formidable challenge.
‘I must not deflect energy beams or shock rounds with my sword. The heat output is too high; Firelight Saber will overheat in no ti.’
My gaze distinguished between what I had to evade and what I could deflect.
Wooong…….
A faint chanical hum resonated in the stretched-out mont.
Kashura had also caught on to my intent and was rapidly accelerating his motorized wheels in reverse rotation.
‘He’s practically a tank, firing multiple types of cannons.’
I focused on my body—the connection between the nape of my neck, spine, pelvis, and legs. Treating the body as a continuous line made it easier to maximize output.
‘My prosthetics are Lazuli-21.’
My cybernetic arm and leg were crafted with utmost precision by Lapis Lazuli. Among all the prosthetic limbs I had ever used, their performance was the finest.
‘I’ll even disable my subconscious output regulation.’
The key to combat prosthetic usage was controlling the strength and regulation of neural signals. A natural-bodied human would need to send self-destructive signals from their brain, powerful enough to rupture their own muscles. Overcoming the instinct for self-preservation was essential.
The resolve to move forward even if my body tore apart. A sensation as if I had beco a bullet, ant to be fired and discarded.
Warriors and soldiers like us were, by nature, expendable. We were used to the feeling of consuming ourselves.
Zzzzeeeech!
My cybernetic leg, operating at heightened output, crushed the road beneath . The ground split open around the point where my foot landed, leaving a deep dent.
Crack!
The pavent shattered under the pressure of my prosthetic leg, sending debris flying.
Thoom!
I shot forward as if propelled into the air.
Crack!
Every step I took fractured the ground beneath . Even the shock-absorption chanisms in my prosthetic leg couldn’t fully mitigate the impact, sending tremors through my biological body.
Grrk.
Even my trained muscles struggled to endure the sheer output of my cybernetics. I could hear the sound of muscle fibers tearing, starting from my abdominal muscles.
Sssss!
The scenery around blurred, shifting too quickly for my perception to keep up. Floating dust struck my pupils, and the pressure of the air crushed against my face.
Kashura, who had been far away, was rapidly closing in. I was outpacing his acceleration.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The ground behind shattered, leaving a trail of destruction.
Ping!
Kashura’s handgun round aid straight for my chest. I blocked my heart with my left elbow, deflecting the bullet.
Swish!
Imdiately, I pushed off the ground and leaped low. Twisting my body into a straight line, I minimized my target profile.
Vzzzzt!
An energy beam grazed past . I straightened my body and stretched my feet toward the ground.
‘I can’t afford to stay airborne for too long.’
I had no ans of maneuvering midair. Against soone like Kashura, if I were to hover for even a mont, he’d land a direct hit and bring down. I needed my feet on the ground at all tis to be ready for sudden directional shifts.
Thoom!
I gripped the hilt of my sword with both hands and deflected the large-caliber round at an angle. If I had been using a cheap prosthetic arm, my wrist would have snapped.
A bright red spot flared up on the blade where it had absorbed the impact. The concentrated heat distorted briefly before spreading across the entire edge.
‘Just a little more.’
My focus had reached its absolute limit. Ti stretched—each short distance felt endlessly long. It felt as if I had already run several kiloters.
‘Ignore the sound.’
Reality moves faster than sound. Reacting to what I hear would an falling behind.
I envisioned my nerves stretching taut, sharpening my connection with the present, making my perception faster and more sensitive.
Imrse yourself at the boundary of life and death. Drive yourself to the edge of madness.
Kashura had finished aligning the sights on all four of his guns. He was about to unleash a barrage at as I charged straight toward him.
Click.
His auxiliary arm was pulling the trigger. I could hear it even from a distance—or perhaps it was rely the sound my mind imagined upon seeing it.
……And at that exact mont, my rational thought and conscious processing shut down.
Like a bullet leaving a barrel, like an arrow released from a bowstring, like a machine executing a preprogramd sequence—
I gathered every last shred of awareness and concentration, slamming them entirely into the present.
My consciousness no longer stretched into the past or future. There was no delay between my perception and reality. I existed purely in the now, with a perfect, uninterrupted awareness of the world at a distance of zero.
The ancients would have called this state muahjigyeong—selfless absorption.
Deflecting, dodging, over and over. My vacant pupils locked onto targets with chanical precision.
The blade flared with each impact. The acrid scent of energy weapons mixed with the thick stench of burning smoke. It slled as if sothing volatile and dangerous was being incinerated at close range.
A shock round exploded beneath my feet, collapsing the ground. I twisted my trajectory by stepping off the debris as it flew upward.
Skidding, I extended my foot toward an abandoned vehicle on the road. Before impact, I bent my knee, preparing to leap.
Thoom!
Kicking off the car, I accelerated. The vehicle I had just stepped on went flying into the distance, crashing into sothing with a tallic clang.
In an instant, the distance between Kashura and had closed.
Kiiiiiiiing!
Kashura suddenly reversed, then leaped high into the air. He aid his shock rifle directly at .
I adjusted Firelight Saber into a diagonal position below , then guided the blade along the trajectory of the incoming shock round.
Vzzzt!
The motion was swift and precise. The blade sliced cleanly through the very center of the projectile.
Kwoooom!
Everything slowed. The shock round exploded just ahead of , releasing an intense burst of heat.
Before the explosion could fully ignite, my blade made contact with the shock round’s energy.
The ignium absorbed the heat like a magnet, glowing red-hot. And so, I cut through the explosion. The blue energy, halted mid-detonation, scattered to either side of my blade.
Beyond the split explosion, Kashura ca into view.
Viiiiiing!
Then, Firelight Saber trembled violently, emitting a deafening roar. I released my grip on the overheated blade and hurled it forward in a long arc.
Firelight Saber soared over Kashura’s head—then shattered.
Fragnts of the broken blade scattered in all directions. The detonating shards flew toward as well.
I twisted my body through the deadly spray, narrowly avoiding the sharp debris slicing through the air beside .
Even my prosthetic arm and cybernetic limb, which had withstood countless impacts, were scratched. The synthetic outer layer, designed to mimic human muscle, lted under the intense heat, exposing the circuits and internal components beneath.
I looked at Kashura. He had leaped backward, retreating at full speed. But the flying debris was even faster.
With his massive fra, Kashura had no choice but to take the impact head-on. So of the shards embedded themselves in his face, electrical sparks bursting as his lens lted away.
Kggggk!
Damaged exoskeleton grinding, Kashura landed with a stiff, faltering motion.
Vrrrr!
He skidded for a long ti before lifting his head. Only one of his optical lenses remained functional.
His helt, partially lted and shattered, revealed what lay beneath. His combat suit was equally damaged.
And inside—there was no flesh.
Kashura was a full-body prosthetic. On the outside, he resembled a combat exoskeleton, but in reality, he was a heavily armored cybernetic fra, similar to a Legion.
“This is… quite surprising,” Kashura said. I was already closing in on him at high speed.
He was heavily wounded. I could take him down barehanded.
“Far more than I—”
Kashura never finished his sentence. I drove forward and slamd his face into the ground.
The massive Kashura crashed headfirst, his enormous body toppling over as a cascade of chanical components snapped and shattered from his neck.
Ziiiiing!
Even his last remaining lens cracked.
Kkriiik!
He desperately twisted his one still-functional auxiliary arm, trying to bring a gun to bear on .
Crunch!
I swung a knife-hand strike, severing his auxiliary arm. The limb broke apart at the elbow upon contact, losing all strength as it fell limply to the ground.
Vrrrr!
I caught the falling shock rifle and pressed it against Kashura’s temple.
I had subdued Mushir al-Kashura.
Click.
My machine-like consciousness registered reality once more. The gray void of my emotions began to fill with color again.
‘Was I able to cut through the explosion by using ignium’s properties?’
‘Mushir al-Kashura is a full-body prosthetic? How is he maintaining Akies Victima while piloting a Legion-grade armored fra?’
‘What was I just…?’
A flood of thoughts surged in, belatedly.
Chiiik, chik.
All I had to do was pull the trigger, and Kashura’s head would be gone.
“Let’s make a deal, Luka. This fight has made it clear to —I still lack the skill to capture you.”
I could feel my operational ti running out. My brain must have been pooling with blood. As quickly as my mind had cleared, it was now growing sluggish again.
“Where is Kinuan?”
“If you’re curious about Kinuan, then with , you—Gahk!”
Well, never mind. I could just ask his head. Extracting that much information should be possible. If I attempted to negotiate in my current state, I’d only get caught in his wordplay.
Crunch!
I drove my fingers into Kashura’s nape, twisting and ripping out components and cables.
“Guhh, gahk, kuurgh… ha, ha… hahahaha!”
Kashura laughed. His shattered arms struggled to move, trying to wrap around .
Krrk!
I shoved his arms away, seized his head, and wrenched it sharply. Cables and tubes connected to the base of his skull snapped one by one.
Clunk!
There was a detaching sound. A faint explosion erupted from Kashura’s back.
Thunk!
A tallic box that had been embedded in his back was ejected by the blast, sent skidding far across the ground.
The shockwave from the explosion rocked my body as well.
‘Even during Firelight Saber’s explosion… Kashura protected that tal box without a single scratch.’
He had prioritized safeguarding the box, even if it ant taking blade shards to the head.
Vrrrr!
Without the tal box, Kashura’s armored prosthetic fra sagged lifelessly.
Krrk, krrk.
Then, from the box, spindly legs like those of a spider unfolded, scuttling away at high speed.
Before I could even react, the tal box darted between vehicles and debris, vanishing from sight.
“…No way.”
I silently stared at the head in my grasp.
Grrk!
I gripped the outer shell and tore it open.
Vrrrt, vrrrt.
Kashura’s head was entirely chanical—there was no trace of biological tissue.
‘He carries his brain… in a box?’
His cryptic words and actions flickered through my mind.
If my suspicions were right… there was more than one brain inside that box.
Mushir al-Kashura might be the most monstrous being I had ever encountered.
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