The latest version of the Takwin lunged savagely toward Ren, its steps hamring the floor with thunderous impacts that rattled the walls. But Ren dodged with ease, his body flipping to the side just as the monster’s fist—heavy enough to crush steel—obliterated the spot he had just been standing.
Ultro, the AI companion inside the Mark II armor, had already calculated the attack vector before the punch even finished. Every motion of the monster fed into its algorithm for movent prediction and structural weakness.
『Slow movent. Muscle activation delay too long. Estimated 73% probability of an opening after second vertical strike.』 Ultro’s voice echoed calmly inside Ren’s helt.
"Good note, Ultro. Also add: breath slls bad enough to short my sensors," Ren muttered, flipping backward and activating dual plasma blades on both arms.
The Takwin gave no pause. It charged again, its massive shoulder aid at Ren like a raging bull. Ren fired up the micro-thrusters in his boots and shoulders, lifting into the air with a sharp twist.
From two ters high, he spun midair and dove down, driving both energy blades into the monster’s back. But they only sank halfway before being forced out by the dense, shifting flesh.
"Seriously? Your skin’s like reinforced tire rubber," Ren muttered, landing lightly behind the beast. He rolled to the side just in ti as it spun and swung its massive arm.
The swipe crashed into the wall, obliterating a quarter of the stone with a sickening crack. Dust filled the air, and Ren used the cover to launch a specialized smoke grenade from his left arm.
The room filled with smoke in seconds. Optical sensors would’ve been useless—but not for the Mark II. It switched instantly to thermal tracking and spatial sonar.
『Target disoriented. Recomndation: attack rear knee joint. Structural weakness detected.』
Ren crouched and slid beneath the monster, firing two plasma bolts directly into its left knee. A muffled burst followed by a pained roar echoed as the Takwin lost partial balance.
The creature slamd a hand to the floor to regain footing. Ren was already on its shoulder, twisting and landing a full-powered kick to the back of its neck.
The Takwin recovered quickly, swinging upward. Ren flipped through the air and blocked with his energy shield. The impact flung him backward into a stone pillar—but the Mark II absorbed most of the blow.
His armor creaked, but held. Ren stood, shoulder aching, and muttered, "Okay... now I know what it feels like to get slapped by a dump truck."
Across the room, the witch only smiled—watching the fight like it was a theater show. She made no move to interfere, as if confident her creation would not lose.
Ren spun his blades once more, inhaling deeply. "This is getting boring... Co on, Frankenstein’s monster, show your ultimate move."
The Takwin roared, veins bulging as if they’d burst. It charged again—not like a human, but like a beast driven purely by instinct.
And Ren was ready. Because this ti, he knew exactly what needed to be destroyed.
He stood perfectly still for a mont. Eyes focused, breathing steady. Inside his helt, every system read "optimal." But he knew—ordinary strikes wouldn’t be enough.
『System suggestion: activate TAF. Warning—this module will cause extre internal cooling pressure.』
"Extre pressure?" Ren shrugged slightly. "Well, I can take it."
With a single tap to his chest plate, the core panel of the Mark II slid open, revealing the slowly rotating tal sphere within—the TAF Core. As it unlocked, the tiny disc began to glow purple... then burst into blinding light.
A faint ticking sound, like a sped-up clock, filled the air.
Then... the world shifted.
In an instant, ti around Ren slowed dramatically—not for him, but for everything outside the TAF field. Light bent. Dust hung motionless in midair. And the charging monster froze, mid-roar, suspended like a statue of flesh and fury.
To everyone still conscious—Derek, the remaining two soldiers, even the witch—what happened next defied logic. Ren disappeared... reappeared... and vanished again. Repeating, within a single second.
But for Ren, it was all clear. He moved with full awareness. One punch, straight from his plasma-enhanced knuckles, landed in the exact center of the Takwin’s chest—and that one punch was enough.
The strike landed between two artificial muscle plates. The pressure of the compressed plasma, enhanced by the TAF field, exploded inward. Its bones fractured from within—before the creature’s brain could even register pain.
Ren stepped back just as the TAF system shut off. The tal ring in his chest dimd. The warped field of ti vanished. Gravity snapped back into place.
And with it... reality resud.
In an instant, ti returned to normal... and the Takwin’s body exploded. Not like a dramatic bomb blast, but from the inside out—flesh and muscle shredded apart, and black blood sprayed in every direction.
Chunks of the massive creature slamd into walls, floors, even pillars already cracked from the battle. Pieces of limbs and its chest bone scattered like broken toys.
Derek stood frozen, his body trembling, unable to process what he’d just witnessed. The two surviving soldiers collapsed to the floor, stunned that they were still alive after seeing power like that.
The witch across the room tensed. Her eyes widened—not in fear, but in shock. This was sothing she hadn’t accounted for... not even in the oldest forbidden spells.
Ren stood in the middle of the carnage—burned flesh and shattered pieces everywhere. Smoke rose from his armor. His left knee trembled slightly, but he remained upright.
Inside his helt, he exhaled long and steady. "Ultro... never activate that again unless I say so. Got it?"
『Note updated. TAF requires a minimum of 15 minutes to cool before next use.』
"Good." He patted imaginary dust from his chest plate. "’Cause I’m not trying to beco a marshmallow in a microwave twice."
Ren began walking slowly toward the witch. His steps were heavy but firm, each footfall echoing like the approach of an executioner.
"You made that thing, didn’t you?" he said flatly. "If that was your best work... I hope you’ve got a beta version with better manners."
The witch stared at Ren, still frozen, trying to process what had just happened. The aura around her wavered slightly—like an illusion on the verge of collapse.
"So," Ren continued, raising his right hand. His repulsor humd softly. "I’m not gonna ask the first question again. Here’s the second: hand over that Minecraft money."
She remained silent. Her breath ca in shallow bursts. Her eyes searched for an escape, but there was none. The wall behind her had collapsed. And the only way out was now blocked by the man who had just shredded her creation into stew at.
She subtly reached into her sleeve, fingertips brushing sothing small—a vial filled with thick, purple liquid. But before she could lift it—
A sudden sound. Footsteps.
Derek, face red and eyes filled with fury, lunged forward. "You think I forgot what you did to my team!?" he roared, short blade trembling in his hand.
Ren flinched, too late to stop him. "Derek, wait—!"
But before Derek could strike, a massive raven burst through the rubble. Its wings tore through the air like blades, its body black as shadow incarnate.
In one fluid motion, the bird transford mid-flight into a tall man with long white hair, wearing a black coat patterned with silvery geotric lines. He grabbed the woman’s arm and yanked her away just in ti.
The Marbel Erald slipped from the witch’s hand, floated briefly in midair, then rolled across the ground, stopping right between Ren and Derek.
Derek fell forward, his blade stabbing only air. He looked up, stunned, at the man now standing calmly with a hand on the witch’s shoulder.
"Geez, C..." the man said flatly. "Didn’t I tell you to bring at least one of us along?"
The woman—C—scoffed and looked away. "X? If you were watching, you should’ve jumped in sooner, idiot!"
X didn’t respond right away. He tilted his head slightly, eyeing Ren with a look that wasn’t hostile—but judging.
"Oh, and watch your mouth, girl. No one’s marrying you if you keep cussing like that," he said casually, like the fight monts ago was just an inconvenient comrcial break in his lazy afternoon.
Ren lowered his arm slightly, eyes fixed on the pair. "Okay... what now?"
X turned to face Ren fully, eyes narrowing as if he’d just realized sothing important. "I didn’t know Veskar gave that stone to you... No wonder our tracking on him’s been weird lately. Turns out, he passed it off."
Ren scowled. That na wasn’t unfamiliar—Veskar, the forr Mark I user. A hornet-like mutant who’d taken everything Ren had to defeat back in the day.
"Who the hell are you?" Ren asked, his tone sharpening.
X stared straight into the helt. "Hmm... you can call us the Sinister Seven."
"Sinister Seven? Not Six?" Ren raised an eyebrow, half serious, half mocking.
"That would be copyright," X replied dryly. "Wait—how do you even know about that?"
Ren didn’t answer imdiately. But inside, tension rose. His heartbeat picked up. "That’s my question... You’re from Earth too?"
Silence. Then X’s eyes scanned the Mark II armor from boots to helt, like he was staring at a ghost from another world.
"Damn... I thought it was so kind of enchanted artifact. But it’s real. Iron Man, huh?"
"C, we’re leaving," X muttered, his left hand drawing a circle in the air. A magic ring ford under their feet—glowing blue-violet and pulsing like a heartbeat.
"Wait!" Ren stepped forward, but he knew—there wasn’t enough ti.
The two vanished in a quiet shup, leaving only fading magical residue hanging in the air.
"Damn," Ren hissed, shoulders sagging. "Teleportation magic..."
Derek approached, still panting. He stared at the spot where they’d disappeared, then looked to Ren. "Who were they...?"
"Sa as you," Ren replied, eyes still locked on the fading light. "I have no idea."
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