Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 602: Black Skull. (Part Thirty Four)

Strong wind blew by, tousling the purple strands of Rose's hair. She dragged her body with the one healthy arm she still had, cursing the weakness that took hold of her at such a critical time. Her injuries were far from completely healed, but her life was no longer in danger. Despite that, she found herself unable to stand with all the tension having drained from her body.

Arriving at the edge and looking down, she realized that being unable to stand might not have been such a bad thing in her current state.

She understood the youth's desire to keep her safe, but did he really have to leave her on a ledge more than two hundred meters high?

"Damn it, Dante…"

Guessing it was his way of telling her to stay put, she resigned herself and searched for the warehouse she had been in seconds ago. There was only one with a massive hole in its roof. Hearing nothing but the city noise, she bit her lips until blood flowed from them once more. Her frustration couldn't be measured. She had never believed in a higher power before, but in this moment, she found herself praying. Not for the downfall of those who harmed her, but for the safety of the young man she couldn't stop relying on.

~[ ]~

"There you go again, disappearing on me like that! Don't tell me you got spooked that easily!"

Jason turned his head left and right, yelling while slowly looking around the warehouse. With him in Silent Ghost Mode, there was no way to tell if Dante was in the vicinity or if he had already escaped. The Black Skull Lieutenant wasn't foolish enough to believe the latter, however. It was for that reason that he didn't let his guard down, using his ability to create an entire box around himself, leaving only one side open as a trap.

'What do you mean Break?'

Not staying in the same spot, Dante leaped several meters in the air, grabbing onto one of the steel beams, then pulling himself up to sit on it.

[The ability to break,] Volcan replied. [That individual is capable of breaking anything that comes within his reach.]

'I don't think you are making much sense…'

What happened to his 4-3 Module gave that impression, but how does being able to break things translate to creating barriers and super speed?

[It is quite the fascinating ability…]

'You're admiring it now? How about you explain first?'

Dante wasn't prepared for how ridiculous the explanation would be, and the more he heard, the more he got the urge to just kill the bastard and end things quickly.

'So… how do we deal with it?'

[I suggest waiting for the effect of Catalyst to run out,] Volcan said.

'We don't have the time…'

For the time being, the heroes and police were staying out of the conflict, waiting until the dust settles before getting involved. However, that didn't mean they would sit idly by forever.

There were the Black Skull reinforcements to worry about as well. Though he had done a great job thinning out their numbers, Dante wasn't entirely sure how many they still had. The last thing he wanted right now was to deal with more pseudo-Genomes, so he had to end things quickly. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

Continuing to observe his opponent, Dante went over his abilities, forming strategies only to cross them out right away. His inaction was undoubtedly getting on Jason's nerves. He was being kept alive by Dante's reluctance to kill him, so it must have been quite frustrating not even see him.

"You want to stay invisible? Fine!" Reaching his limit, the skull-faced bastard raised his hands over his head. "Have it your way!"

He dropped down and slammed the floor with both hands. A mangled web of cracks spread from the point of impact, splitting not only the concrete under him but also the air around him. Everything warped before snapping, split by the lines that seemed to move through 3D space.

Absolute Awareness rang danger bells in Dante's mind, prompting him to activate every ability his 5-3 modules granted him as he took off running. The cracks spread to the edge of the warehouse, then branched out, crossing paths and changing direction. The gaps between them grew smaller and smaller until everything became a chaotic kaleidoscope.

The laws governing reality were absolute, so when enough damage was dealt to the fabric of space, it was forcibly straightened back into its original shape, every crack instantly mended. Things within the warped area weren't so lucky, however.

The destruction persisted, and the entire warehouse was left as a pile of rubble, half of it already turning to dust. The surrounding buildings weren't entirely safe. The surrounding warehouses were turned to dust as well, and the buildings surrounding them lost parts of their ground floor, leading to an unsteady state that could lead to them collapsing at any moment.

Those lucky enough to have been outside the range of the destruction approached the windows with caution, and the moment they laid eyes on what was left behind, each and every one of them had the same thought.

A gigantic crater was left in the logistical park at the edge of Red Hill, almost taking a bite out of the Red River. The area didn't see much traffic, but the red seeping from between the rubble said otherwise.

At the center of it all, a single man slowly rose. With a head like the skull of a charred corpse, he looked like a monster rising from its grave, a messenger of Death itself coming to bring the world down to its knees.

Though this feat would pale in comparison to the other disaster that struck Neo-Vatra that day, it was still an impressive display of world-shattering power, and the intoxication that came with it wasn't entirely unwarranted.

A puff of dust rose a short distance away, made visible by the disappearing veil. Deactivating his Silent Ghost Mode, Dante stood face to face with the Black Skull Lieutenant.

"Well, would you look at that…" Jason said, the teeth tattooed over his mouth bending into blood curdling smirk.