Chapter 277 204: Broken Blade's Assault (Part 2)
Soon, both cars reached the end of the road, where a dead end loomed, and beyond the guardrail lay a cliff with a drop of dozens of meters.
Blade and Ou Chenyu stared directly at each other, both hoping the other would back down.
But until the very last second, neither stepped on the brakes.
"Boom!!!"
Both cars simultaneously smashed through the guardrail, their wheels leaving the ground, the bodies suspended in midair.
A violent sense of weightlessness surged through their bodies, their vision overturned, and they began to plummet down with the cars.
"Boom, boom, boom—"
The car bodies crashed madly against the cliffside, dull thuds echoing in the rainy night, accompanied by the sound of metal and glass breaking.
Both cars crashed to the ground one after another, the surrounding rocks shattered and scattered, the car bodies completely twisted and deformed, debris raining down like droplets, malfunctions sparking continuously, igniting the leaking fuel.
"Boom!!!"
The explosion was deafening, flames blossoming in the dark sky, casting tragic shadows around, as the acrid smell of fuel permeated wantonly.
The wreckage of the two cars burned fiercely in the flames, the torrential rain unable to extinguish them, the smoke curling upward into the sky, straight into the heavens.
"Boom!" Suddenly, the door of one car was blasted open with great force.
Ou Chenyu kicked the door away, his hands braced against the top and bottom, prying open the deformed car body amidst the sound of twisting metal and emerging from inside.
His skin was somewhat charred, flames flickering on his clothes, which he casually patted out; his domineering full-body artificial replacement showed almost no damage from the collision just now.
Soon, Blade also crawled out from his own car, similarly almost unscathed.
Ou Chenyu stared at Blade coldly and said, "I know you, one of Audiana's men. So, do we have a grudge? I don't think I've offended your mistress, have I?"
Blade's fingertips emitted a beam of laser energy, his mechanical cybernetic eyes flickering coldly: "Personally, I have no issue with you, but Lady Countess wants you dead, so you can only die."
"Heh." Ou Chenyu sneered, his tone turning sinister, "Let me guess, did that Su guy ask her for help? Well, he always had a good relationship with your mistress."
"I say, what did that Su offer her? Could it be he served her so well, the old woman was smitten, willing to help him with anything?"
Killing intent surged in Blade's eyes, the laser beam on his fingertip flaring to the extreme: "Watch your mouth, kid, unless you want to die painfully."
Ou Chenyu twisted his neck, producing a cracking sound, his gaze icy: "Don't think just because you're a Legendary Mercenary, I'm afraid of you."
The battle erupted instantly.
Blade's fingertip laser energy surged madly, transforming into scorching rays shooting toward Ou Chenyu, azure hues tearing through the rainy veil, emitting dazzling light, illuminating the surrounding darkness largely.
Ou Chenyu, utilizing his excellent agility, continuously dodged, but the laser beams were too dense, the rainy ground too slippery, and he momentarily lost footing during evasion, his arm grazed by a laser beam.
At first, a chill spread, then it quickly turned into burning pain.
He inhaled sharply, instinctively glancing down to find a thumb-wide scorch mark burned onto his arm.
Unwilling to show weakness, he drew the Fire Lizard Laser Combat Knife from his back, the blade turning crimson-red amidst the energy surge, rainwater evaporating into white mist upon contact with the high temperature.
Simultaneously, he activated his Artificial Spine, entering bullet time, his figure flickering like a warp, nimbly dodging incoming laser rays, quickly closing the distance.
Ou Chenyu attacked Blade head-on with the Fire Lizard Battle Saber slashing downward.
"Clang!" The sharp collision of metal rang out.
Blade didn't dodge or evade, directly intercepting the saber with his wrist.
His artificial skin was burned and cut open, revealing the subdermal "Military-grade 1" cybernetic armor.
Though the Fire Lizard Laser Combat Knife could cleave open a car, it was inferior against this level of cybernetic armor, completely unable to cut through, being blocked entirely.
The laser assembled at Blade's fingertips, forming a blade shape, launching a fierce attack at close range on Ou Chenyu.
Ou Chenyu immediately put the saber away to parry.
The two engaged in an intense battle on the desolate outskirts, alternating attacks and defenses, sparks flying from the collision of the Laser Blade Beam and the Fire Lizard Laser Combat Knife, the sound of electric arcs interweaving.
The power of their internal artificial components was fully utilized, the core temperature gradually rising, each unleashing their full strength, moving rapidly on the battlefield, intertwining and tangling, each clash accompanied by a strong metallic clank.
At first, Ou Chenyu held his own, countering each move effectively.
But it wasn't long before his disadvantage gradually became apparent.
In terms of hardware, Blade was entirely outfitted with military-grade level 1 cybernetics, custom-ordered by Audiana, personally tuned by the best engineers from the Iron Blood Alliance, with perfect compatibility across components.
Though Ou Chenyu's cybernetics were recently replaced with military-grade ones as well, they were mostly level 3 or 2, assembled by himself, lacking professional tuning, thus less perfect, in comparison to Blade's.
In experience, Blade had been a mercenary for over a decade, fought countless masters, full of experience, and his combat skills were exceptionally ruthless and seasoned.
Ou Chenyu, on the other hand, was a newcomer who entered the field earlier this year. Though he had experienced quite a few battles, they primarily involved overpowering the weak, having not yet faced any real tough opponents.
As time elapsed, both Blade and Ou Chenyu accumulated numerous wounds, the latter considerably more obvious.
"Clang!" In one clash, the Laser Blade Beam struck the side of the Fire Lizard Laser Combat Knife, instantly sparking, leaving a scorch mark on a weak point.
The blade of the Fire Lizard Laser Combat Knife was damaged, the power supply becoming unstable, reducing the blade tip's temperature and destructive force.
Blade seized the momentum, his offensive becoming increasingly fierce, every attack aimed to kill.
Ou Chenyu leapt backwards to open the distance, his body surface temperature peaking from the intense battle, white steam rising amidst the cold air convection.
He wiped the rain off his face, gritting his teeth, "What benefits did that Su offer you, huh? I'll offer triple, deal?!"
Blade chuckled sinisterly, advancing toward Ou Chenyu in large strides: "Usually, mediators don't easily involve themselves in mercenary conflicts, but you've brought this upon yourself."
"Ou Chenyu, your Fang Tiger is finished, and so are you. Stand there and face your death, and I'll make it quick."
Ou Chenyu's facial muscles twitched constantly, flames of anger burning in his eyes: "I'm destined to stand at the pinnacle of this world, and you think you can kill me here? Just you?!"
Blade wasted no more words, swinging the Laser Blade Beam as he charged.
Ou Chenyu didn't engage head-on, instead turning to flee, leaping off a nearby cliff.
Blade immediately chased after to check.
Below the cliff was a railway, and a high-speed train hummed its way across, Ou Chenyu landing steadily atop it.
Blade hesitated not at all, joining him atop the train, charging at Ou Chenyu once more.
On the train's roof, Blade galloped like an agile mechanical leopard, dodging the bullets shot by Ou Chenyu while the Laser Blade Beam lit up with lethal arcs, engaging him in combat.
The wind howled around, the train speeding through the valley, the tracks flanked by an unfathomable gorge, resembling an abyss in the dark rainy night.
They danced as if on a knife's edge, eyes locked on each other's movements, every attack and dodge fraught with peril and unrecoverable danger.
"Vroom—vroom—"
At this moment, the train horn sounded, heralding its entry into a tunnel.
The tunnel entrance wasn't far, with a ceiling built rather low, requiring one to lie down on the train top to barely avoid it.
"Clang!" Their weapons clashed again, equally matched in strength, locked in a stalemate.
They gritted their teeth, neither retracting their stance.
The train approached the tunnel nearer and nearer; should they collide with the ceiling at this speed, even with full-body military-grade cybernetics, the result would be nothing but a pulverized fate!
