It crossed the distance in an instant, leaving the rcenary barely any ti to react before he was hit.
His armor lted on contact, followed quickly by the front half of his body, forming steaming puddles of molten flesh and tal on the floor.
The remainder of his body collapsed forward without a sound, his rifle clattering uselessly across the floor.
For a second, the entire warehouse fell silent.
The remaining rcenaries looked at the scene in horror, so even subconsciously taking a few steps back out of pure fear.
anwhile, Zion straightened himself, his jaw clenched as heat radiated from his left arm.
[Host,] Uriel spoke calmly. [Your left arm is temporarily overheated. I highly recomnd not using it again during this fight.]
Zion gave a simple nod, his eyes locked on his remaining targets.
'The remaining ones shouldn't be a problem.'
A path had ford in his mind. As long as he kept moving along a single line, they wouldn't be able to fire without hitting each other.
'At least, the first two won't be able to,' he thought, lowering his stance again. 'But by then, the remaining two won't be my match.'
Zion exhaled slowly and took a step forward.
The rcenaries stiffened at the movent, fingers tightening around their triggers.
"Co on!" the sa female rcenary who had taken command earlier shouted, pointing her rifle toward Zion again. "There's no way he has any energy left after that!"
Just then, Zion pushed himself off the ground at full speed, heading straight for the left rcenary.
As he was halfway there, he noticed red light flashing from the rcenary's guns.
Zion grit his teeth, jumping from the floor.
As he soared through the air, the plasma and energy shots exploded in several boxes below him. tal shards flew everywhere, slicing lightly over several parts of his body.
Ignoring the light sting from his wounds, Zion twisted his body midair, his feet slamming into the warehouse wall.
He kicked off hard, launching himself back toward his target at even higher speeds.
The rcenary he targeted quickly pulled out an energy handgun, his finger rapidly firing bullets toward Zion.
Zion raised his scaled arms, blocking two shots while three missed him.
"Help !" the rcenary shouted, looking desperately at his teammates.
But it was already too late.
Zion landed roughly behind him and didn't hesitate. He straightened his body and sliced his blade horizontally, cutting the rcenary's head clean off.
As the body collapsed to the floor, the remaining rcenaries no longer hesitated. All three turned and sprinted toward the exit at full speed.
Zion didn't chase imdiately, his eyes darting across the place.
'Is he still alive, Uriel?' he asked, staring at the young boy on the floor.
[Yes, but he's injured,] Uriel answered imdiately. [I can't examine to what extent from here.]
Zion nodded once.
'That's fine,' he thought, eyes narrowing. 'I need to finish these people off first.'
The remaining rcenaries had already run quite far, the front runner having just left the room.
Zion didn't hesitate any longer. He pushed off the ground and sprinted after them, closing in with each step thanks to his superior nanosuit.
Within seconds, he reached the narrow pathway.
The rcenaries were still running ahead, their footsteps echoing loudly through the corridor. Panic had completely taken them over now.
Zion dashed forward, closing the gap in an instant.
The last rcenary in line glanced back just as Zion reached him. A heavy kick slamd into his back, sending him crashing into a stack of wooden crates.
Before he could recover, Zion's blade pierced his skull.
'One,' he thought, imdiately continuing down the pathway.
[Host, both targets have stopped running,] Uriel reported. [They seem to be waiting around the final corner before the exit.]
'Stopped?' Zion thought, raising an eyebrow.
As he reached the final corner, he raised his scaled arms in front of him, anticipating an attack.
The mont he turned the corner, a burst of plasma fire shot toward him.
Zion barely had ti to react, only able to lean into the shot.
His arms took the full brunt as the rounds slamd into his scales, sparks and imnse heat enveloping his body—yet he kept moving.
[The scales can't withstand another plasma shot,] Uriel reminded him, though the burning sensation in his arms already told him enough.
Nearly four dozen feet away, one rcenary stood his ground, his rifle glowing red as he prepared another shot.
The other rcenary—the woman who had been shouting orders earlier—had her back turned as she worked frantically at a holographic panel by the entrance.
Seeing the rifle light up bright red, Zion knew he had no more ti to analyze. In a split-second decision, he jumped.
A bright red bullet flashed beneath him a heartbeat later, exploding where he'd just stood.
While in the air, Zion pierced his blade into a tal crate, using it to swing himself forward and close the remaining distance.
A glimr of hope flashed through the rcenary's eyes as he saw Zion propel himself through the air.
He raised his plasma rifle, aiming at the easy target along a predictable trajectory, his finger clenching the trigger.
Zion recognized the predicant. He raised his blade above him, letting it collide with a tal beam.
The impact shook his body, twisting it in midair.
At the sa ti, the shot rang out, soaring past where his legs had been a heartbeat earlier and slamming into the ceiling instead.
Zion dropped to the floor as gravity took over, debris raining down behind him.
Fear twisted the rcenary's face as he desperately tried to load another shot, but the distance between them had already vanished.
Before he could finish, Zion cut through his leg, dashed behind him, and plunged his blade through his throat.
As the rcenary hit the floor, the large tal doors began to slide open with a heavy grind.
The holographic panel vanished in front of the woman, but her smile had long disappeared as a bad feeling crawled up her spine.
She spun around, horror flashing across her face as she reached for her weapon—but Zion was already moving.
The blade slashed her throat, and her body slid down the wall.
Silence settled over the corridor as the last body stopped moving.
"That's all of them, huh," Zion muttered, his blade retracting between his knuckles.
[Affirmative,] Uriel replied, its voice low. [Congratulations, Host. You killed nine coordinated D-ranks while using an E-rank nanosuit.]
Zion let out a slow breath and turned back toward the warehouse.
'I wonder how many people they killed just like this,' he thought, closing his eyes. 'I hope the kid is still alive, at least.'
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