Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 601: Black Skull. (Part Thirty Three)

To put it in the simplest terms possible, Dante's current state was quite volatile. He had been on a bloodlust-induced rampage for a few days now, so putting the enemy he was after right in front of him was like putting old, weathered wood beside a raging fire. He wanted nothing more than to rip the skull-faced bastard apart, and because of that, holding back became more and more difficult over time.

Dante's goal wasn't to murder the Black Skull lieutenant—death would be too merciful a punishment for him. For the time being, breaking his limbs and incapacitating him would do, but that was looking like it was going to be more difficult than he previously thought.

'Barriers?' He asked internally.

[That does not seem to be the case.] Volcan replied.

"C'mon now, where did all that rush go! Don't tell me you're out of juice already!"

Dante kept his distance, not reacting to the constant barking. He focused on the input of his Absolute Awareness, analysing everything it captured while trying to find a work around them. Volcan was handling most of the complicated stuff, of course, but it was still important to do his part. Somehow, it felt like a very bad idea to let his resident AI do all the thinking, especially now that he was nothing more than a brain loaded into a robot body.

Quelling his eagerness for another charge, Dante went against the very purpose of his 5-3 legs. It was like wearing brand new running shoes only to go for a leisure stroll, walking in a circle around a dog who's more bark than bite. The taunts and insults went in through one ear and then out of the other. Eventually, Dante began to realize that the bastard was trying to trick him into getting close.

[

Rose: He can destroy things with his touch.

Be careful.

]

The message arrived just as he came to the same conclusion. He asked his purple-haired friend, and she provided him with more details, shocking him with the news that Harry had been turned into a pile of dust with a dingle touch.

'Let's try this…'

Reaching behind him, Dante equipped a pistol.

BLAM!

TINGG!

The shot was loud enough to be a cannon, and it had the power to match. Nevertheless, it failed to penetrate the invisible wall in front of the skull-faced bastard, bouncing off it before piercing a nearby metal beam.

"A gun? Really!?" Jason cackled. "Aren't you a mighty cyborg or something!?"

The pill Jason took seemed to have altered a part of his brain, and from the looks of it, that enhanced his mind and perception. Though he couldn't react to the bullets themselves, he could still follow Dante's movements, activating his ability the instant he saw the gun.

Letting his arm drop to his side, Dante resumed walking. A couple of steps later, he seemed to realize something and fired another bullet. This time, he closed his eyes and relied only on his Absolute Awareness.

The invisible wall had a physical form, obviously. It looked a lot more crooked than one would think, like a large piece of glass gradually disintegrating at the edge. Dante was about to wrack his mind in an attempt to understand what it was when he suddenly realized that something about it was familiar.

'It's space…'

The effect was much more crude, but Dante could tell it was something similar to what happens when he uses Type 8's Spatial Distortion or Spatial Severing.

'He can manipulate Space?'

[No, that does not seem to be the case, either…] Volcan sounded a bit displeased. [The ability does affect Space, but I wouldn't call it manipulation.]

"Could it be…" Finally getting tired of the barking, Jason changed his tone and his posture as well. "Are you trying to buy time?"

Catalyst had a three-hour time limit, as long as the user doesn't burn through the juice that comes with it right away. That meant the best way to deal with them was to just wait and let the effect of the miracle drug run out. The skull-faced bastard knew that much as well, which is why he decided to go on the offensive, subverting Dante's expectations.

"Can't have you-" Pulling back his hand, Jason clenched his fist. "Do that!"

The way he twisted his body made it appear as if he were about to punch the air, going for a ranged attack. Dante wasn't about to sit still and let him have it, but moving proved to be futile. Jason appeared right in front of him, his hand reaching out. Not only did he catch Dante off guard, but he also caught his jacket, gripping at its hem and pulling him closer.

In his enhanced perception, Dante watched as his red jacket began to disintegrate. He didn't allow panic to take hold of him and unequipped it without a thought, and instead of countering like he usually does, he leaped back and put some distance between himself and the skull-faced bastard.

'What was-'

Before he could ask the question, a hand came swinging at him from the side, and he realized the bastard had closed in on him a second time. Unlike the first, he managed to graze Dante's left arm. In the instant the two of them connected, lines began to spread through the green plating of 4-3's Module.

This time, there was no avoiding the horror.

[Dante! Swap the module!]

He was already activating the Silent Ghost Mode of his oni mask and quickly distanced himself, giving the command to swap 4-3's Module with 5-3's. Dante could still perceive himself even when others couldn't, and for that reason, he was able to see as the lines continued to spread over his bionic arm before it turned into countless white threads.

The horror he felt only escalated when he realized those weren't lines, but cracks. With only a single touch, his bionic arm was almost gone, and the rest of his body would have been next. As the sharp, segmented plating of 5-3's module took form, Dante put all his focus into it, heaving a sigh of relief as he realized it was clean.

[Dante, I believe I have figured it out.]

'Huh? Wha-'

Not waiting for him to regain his bearings, Volcan went ahead and informed him of his findings.

[The ability this man has is Break.]