Chapter 333: A D Rank Showdown [2]
Knight Exosuit- Ratel!
Warlord!
BZZZ!
Dhruv’s Knight Exosuit materialized!
The veteran terrorist’s Knight Exosuit was not based on a regular humanoid Knight, rather it was an oversized humanoid mechanized Ratel that was scaled up to gigantic size of 4.5 meters.
This was a humanoid Beast Knight Exosuit standing on 2 legs.
Its weapons were its claws that were sharper than knives and swords, its teeth that could tear armor apart, and its powerful legs for kicking.
The moment the Knight Exosuit materialized, surrounded by swirling tides of violet ADE, its immense size meant it covered the entire underground base completely as its head punctured its way to the upper underground base layer.
From above, it looked down at the D Rank Neon Beast.
Its sheer size dwarfed the D Rank Neon Beast, pushing it backward slightly, and then Dhruv finally attacked.
With its right leg, the giant mechanical Ratel kicked the Scorpion-type D Rank Neon Beast with a perfect side kick unleashed with maximum rotation, sending it flying to a corner of the underground base in one attack and then it turned to face the nearest corner of the underground base.
The Knight Exosuit didn’t even look at its 2 main enemies once.
Controlled by Dhruv, it raised its right hand and twisted it slightly in a position that made it look like a blade, letting its claws gleam in the dim lighting and suddenly the violet ADE converged on that arm, making it- especially the sharp claws to ignite with a sharp presence like a sword.
This was not any Ratel, this was a Knight Exosuit, a Ratel with the combat and weapon knowledge and proficiency of a Warlord.
Warlord!
The Ratel slashed with its claws and the world groaned.
SHWING!
That one attack carved a large hole through the layers of earth like it was a sword attack from a Sword Saint in an eastern fantasy cultivation story.
The attack was not random though as in its aftermath, it exposed a secret escape tunnel underground. This was Dhruv’s escape route and without hesitation, the Ratel charged towards that tunnel even though it couldn’t size it.
Dhruv Laden already recovered from the mental shock of seeing his student transform into a monster, and the moment he did, the first instinct that came to him was to escape.
Logic dictated so.
He had no intention of killing the mutated Garak first or even vent against his 2 enemies. The priority was escaping.
Experience taught him that despite his rage and anger, this was the time to escape or he would regret it. He could not afford to let his anger dictate his actions.
Afterall, he was heavily injured both from the first attack from Umar, and then the second attack with his Blood Manipulation.
And since he was not a Gene Augur who could heal actively mid-combat, his combat power was effectively crippled for now. Because of all these reasons, he had no intention of staying behind.
He could have his revenge another day.
As for the mutated Garak, he deliberately left the D Rank Neon Beast to help his escape by stalling the 2 D Rank Ascended who would undoubtedly go after him.
The moment Dhruv turned around to escape in his Knight Exosuit, knowing his style well after clashing with him for decades, Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq reacted immediately as his ADE flared.
"Don’t let him escape!" He growled in a desperate voice.
Both Ascended reacted immediately as Leon focused on stopping the D Rank Neon Beast while the Lt. Colonel charged after the veteran terrorist.
Once upon a time, a D Rank Neon Beast was an insurmountable target for Leon but now, after becoming a D Rank Ascended himself, he was no longer scared of them. He could kill them as easily as he killed E Rank Neon Beasts as an E Rank Mechanist.
Drone Control Matrix!
The hidden sword drones within the vicinity came to life, descending from the sky around the D Rank Neon Beast and catching it off-guard as they punctured holes through it even as Leon picked his personal vibro-blade from his pocket.
Miniaturization!
He held the vibro-blade on his right hand and the Terra Nova 71 Rifle on his left. Both were toy-shaped before but with Miniaturization, they were back to full-size as Leon entered combat mode.
"RAGHRRRRRR...!"
The D Rank Neon Beast roared angrily as it pounced, attacking back against the Mechanist with rabid aggression and power.
In response, Leon retreated, kiting the monster and dodging its attacks while retaliating with the Terra Nova 71 Rifle.
BAM... BAM... BAM...
Despite all the oppressive power of the monster, without the right intelligence to use its catalogue of traits and abilities properly to close him down, Leon managed to disable all its advantages and slay it in less than a minute!
It was too easy.
DING!
~----~
[Congratulations! You have killed a D Rank Neon Beast!]
[You have gained +118 Ascended Essence!]
[You have gained +135 Data Points!]
...
[Ascended Counter: 440/4000]
~----~
And just like that, Garak’s story came to an end, having met his end at the blade of a D Rank Ascended as a D Rank Neon Beast.
In its last moment, Leon thought he saw gratitude in the eyes of the beast.
That made him feel even more complicated as he looked down at the mutilated body of the D Rank Neon Beast beneath him.
To kill the beast surgically, he didn’t hold anything back as with Enhance, his sword drones, the Terra Nova 71 Rifle and finally his vibro-blade, he dominated the monster till death.
Only after the chaos of his short but intense battle against the Scorpion-type D Rank Neon Beast did he hear the loud chaos of the battle between Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq and the terrorist, Dhruv Laden.
Looking over, Leon saw the Ratel Knight Exosuit moving with monstrous strength and technique as it displayed the full capabilities of a D Rank Exo Knight’s Warlord ability.
Despite its immense size, it moved with the fluidity and technique of a master swordsman whose sword were its claws and teeth.
Each strike from it was made with the perfect technique, striking with a force that could cut mountains and obliterate hills.
Umar Farouq fought intensely, utilizing all his abilities just to keep up with the obliterating power of the Knight Exosuit.
And yet, Leon noticed something wrong immediately as he stared at both of them. ’Why is that...?’
The moment the Lt. Colonel noticed that Leon was done killing the D Rank Neon Beast, without turning his head, he bellowed at him.
"Dhruv’s already escaping, stop him!"
’Eh?’ Leon was stunned. ’How?’
The Lt. Colonel explained. "Just like your mech suit, he doesn’t always have to be inside the Knight Exosuit for it to fight, he can also give it simple commands! He’s already escaping!"
"He’s used this technique for me before in the past!"
Leon’s eyes widened.
He didn’t need to hear more as his eyes immediately darted towards the tunnel that was hidden at the depths of the earth, then he charged towards it in a bid to pursue the veteran terrorist.
Leon barely started moving when he heard it...
BOOM!
A bomb detonated inside the tunnel, making it collapse on itself as Dhruv’s escape route became blocked.
The terrorist’s escape plan was full proof.
Leon froze. ’NO!’
Dhruv escaped..., or not.
Leon’s brain whirred. Due to a multitude of reasons, he had no intentions of letting the veteran terrorist escape alive. No matter what.
Afterall, this was Mission 1.
For a few seconds, Leon’s brain was on overdrive as he searched for ideas and finally he got an idea.
His eyes gleamed. "Davis". He called.
DING!
His A.I immediately materialized in front of him.
"Search the wasteland across miles, find him!"
Leon wasn’t instructing Davis directly, instead, he instructed Davis to control the Zerphyr-7 that was levitating high in the sky to do its job.
Finding escaping targets was part of his specialty.
Immediately, somewhere hidden in the sky, the stealth vessel went to work as its cutting-edge and sophisticated sensors scoured the wasteland across miles in every single direction.
Just 10 seconds later, Davis came to life in front of Leon again.
DING!
A hologram floated in front of Leon.
The hologram showed a live footage 2 miles out of a bleeding man charging through the wasteland on foot at a rapid speed!
’It’s him!’ Leon’s eyes gleamed.
Without hesitation, he turned around, abandoning Umar Farouq as he jumped towards the surface and as he did, he called.
"Bulwark".
BZZZZ!
A crate dropped down from the Zerphyr-7 Stealth Reconnaissance UAV that was hidden high in the sky.
...
[Special Appreciation to MachaMarvelous and Yametekudastop for the Golden Tickets, thanks for the support!]