Published at 20th of September 2024 7:22 am

Chapter 173: Ares

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Kyle did not try to hang around, instead immediately leaving the area. I can’t fight in an area she has seeded – she has too much of an advantage there.

However, the lady was cognizant of what Kyle was trying to do, immediately summoning a wall of vines to block off his escape. “You’re not leaving until I say so.”

“Fine. Have it your way.” Kyle immediately turned around, charging right at the lady while fending off the incoming vines. They came in from all directions, forcing Kyle to stay vigilant of even the ones creeping on the floor or those climbing on the walls.

The place began to transform into something like an overgrowth, with roots and vines erupting everything and aiming for Kyle in a never-ending cycle of growth. The vines soaked up the blood from the corpses of fallen Cretin soldiers, enhancing their strength even further.

Kyle parried an incoming hit with the shaft of his spear, nearly knocked backwards as a vine grappled his feet. Impulse! With a burst of momentum, he spun out of the grip, the vine torn apart by the rotation as he jabbed relentlessly all around him.

This is endless! He could tell the lady was waiting for him to tire out, and Kyle could not reach the lady without fighting his way through the vines. He was now out of Detonation Spears, and even then he believed he might not be able to break through the dense defences.

“Give up, idiot! Even if you break out, Sebastian’s elites are still waiting in the wings. I’m just the starter.” The lady grinned, taunting Kyle to lower his morale.

No choice, then. Kyle lifted up his Spear of Defiance before plunging it right into the ground through a few roots, to seemingly no effect.

The vines immediately wrapped around Kyle, strangling him on all limbs and attempting to force his arms away from the spear. However, he held on tightly, waiting until he could feel a sudden rumble appear from beneath the ground.

The lady could also feel the tremble, immediately ordering a vine to protect her in the event of another explosion. Unbeknownst to her, the ground began to crack apart as an even bigger explosion occurred underground, churning what was left of the sewers into a whirlpool that exploded upwards in a fury around Kyle like a cataclysmic event. A drained arcia crystal popped off the Spear of Defiance’s shaft, spent as all its energy was now shown all around Kyle.

Vines and roots were dug up from the ground, the lady tumbling from the mini-earthquake and losing all control of the vines. With the arcia energy connection broken, the vines quickly withered and dried up, becoming a former husk of itself that could be easily broken apart by Kyle even with his bare hands.

Before Kyle could pounce on the incapacitated lady, three bolas were flung to Kyle from all angles at high speed, catching him off guard. Unable to activate the impulse engravings in time, the bolas looped around him and sent a high voltage shock through each of them, tasering him through the exosuit.

Kyle felt sharp pain arc through his body as his muscles contracted violently, unable to control his nerves any more as the bolas continuously emitted high voltage like a taser. Galactic Era relics again! While he was not surprised at Sebastian having such weapons, he was still taken aback by the amount that was prepared just for him.

As his convulsing body collapsed to the floor, the voltage nearly making him unable to think, ten black armoured arctech knights approached Kyle, immediately restraining him in tight engraving ropes, preventing him from even moving a single inch. “Seven Snakes leader successfully captured.”

[Good work. Please bring Kyle to his new accommodations.] Sebastian’s taunting voice rang clear over the arctech radio.

“Good, bring me closer to you.” Kyle shot back in response, knowing Sebastian could hear him.

[No need for false bravado. I knew you would rush in head first – that has always been your style. It was simple enough to devise a trap for you and get some outside help.]

“The mage hunters, I assume?”

[Oh yes, they specialise in taking down people like you, overconfident in their own strength.]

“Then I guess you never expected this.”

[Boss! We’re here!] Sasha’s voice rang clear through the telepathic channel as she sprinted across the rooftops with the Aero Shoes equipped and a bag of spears slung behind her back, leaping down onto the ten arctech knights. With a brandish of the Thunder Blade in her right hand, the lightning arc sliced cleanly through the shoulder gaps of one of the knights, causing him to yell in pain.

Before the knights could fight back, a hailstorm of pellet fire erupted from the two elite squads following Sasha from behind, forcing the knights to leave Kyle on the ground and take cover. More Cretin soldiers poured out from a distance, but on Kyle’s side, the three hundred men previously assigned to defend the breach were pushing up as well, the main force had finally joined them.

“Save the boss!” Alex roared as they charged into the fray, fighting through the streets as gunfire dominated.

Kyle himself was caught off-guard, only expecting Sasha and her two elite squads to be the backup. “Are you guys crazy?! What happened to defending the frontlines?” Kyle roared at Slavin, who ducked behind a corner nearby.

“If the boss dies, we all die. What does the mall fucking matter to us? We can always rebuild again with you! Without you, we would still have been slumming in the gutter!” Slavin grinned, firing back blindly over the corner. The remainder of the Seven Snakes did not disagree, all fighting tooth and nail with the Ardent Cretins.

[Don’t worry boss, I can handle this! Take down that damn Sebastian!] Damian roared over the arctech radio, fighting hard with Niko on his end.

For many of the Seven Snakes, they had been recruited through the soup kitchens when they were down and out, unemployed with nothing left to lose. It was the Seven Snakes that gave them purpose, the friends and relationship they had formed over time. While Kyle himself did not interact much with the members, he still held the position of the undefeatable boss. Without him, the gang would crumble in an instant, unable to regroup nor achieve the same level of technological prowess Kyle had spearheaded.

Sasha quickly ran over to Kyle, slashing the nets and bola restraints apart with the Thunder Blade, sending another high voltage current through the conductive armour and causing Kyle to yelp. He was dragged to safety, as Sasha passed him a health potion, forcing him to drink.

For a brief moment in time, Kyle wondered what had happened to his criminal organization after he had died in his former life. Did they splinter apart? Did Xanius take over everything? Or did everything continue as per usual, like normal? It wasn’t the first time Kyle had experienced loyalty from the men beneath him – when he was a General in the Loeric Empire, he too had loyal admirals and men willing to die at his command.

Back then, I treated my men like simple numbers. Kyle took a good look again at the men willing to give up their lives for him. Sure, he had done ceremonies and given benefits all in the idea of instilling loyalty. It was a deliberate move from him, but yet, he couldn’t help feel something different in his heart. Something he hasn’t felt since he had his emotions and dreams neutered.

This time, I’ll do right by them. He waved Sasha away, regaining his stance and cracking his limbs. “Time to end this.”

Grabbing his Spear of Defiance, he marched out onto the street without a care for the gunfire, the Cretins all locked onto him.

Intimidation Aura!

The surge of fear washed over the Cretins, none of them able to tear their gazes away from him as they watched him somehow become larger than life, a predator aimed at taking their lives.

“Stay strong! They are not even a major gang!” One of the more tenacious knights roared, shaking some of the Cretins out of their stupor.

“SEVEN SNAKES!” Kyle roared as he raised his spear, aimed right at the enemy line in front “ATTACK!”

Before all of the Cretins could regain their stance, Kyle was already charging towards them with Sasha and the elite soldiers. One of the elite soldiers held Kyle’s old railgun, firing it at close range and tearing through any machine guns that tried to open up fire.

The street devolved into a fierce melee brawl, with guns firing wildly into the sky and air as soldiers wrestled each other, the fighting spreading even further into the various districts. “Aim for their headquarters!” Kyle ordered, him and Sasha forming a spearhead through enemy lines.

[Stop him here, hold him for five minutes!] Sebastian’s urgent voice came over the radio, prompting two dozen elite Cretin knights to charge at Kyle, brandishing heavy melee weapons and shields.

Kyle and Sasha fought with vigour, slicing and dashing through the groups of enemies. He slammed the spearhead into a knight's armour with a single jab of the Spear of Defiance, expecting it to implode. However, instead a thick energy shield erupted, absorbing the implosion energy and preventing the spear’s effect from going past the armour. Galactic Era energy shields? Really?

His instincts screamed as he spun to block a heavy vibration axe, the arctech engraving causing the spear to shake violently as sparks flew. Instead of holding on, Kyle let the spear fall to the side, making the axe wielder stumble forward before slamming his armoured palm into the wielder’s chin.

Shoving the wielder of the axe back into his allies, he ducked as a glowing red hot sword sliced across, yet another arctech weapon threatening to cut through his exosuit like hot butter. The elite knights were no pushovers, armed to the teeth with both arctech and Galactic Era relics. Sebastian must be loaded.

As high as their morale was, the Seven Snakes soldiers began to feel the discrepancy in their equipment and numbers, outstripped in both areas by the Ardent Cretins. Slowly, Kyle began to lose men as they fought non-stop, the casualties mounting significantly on both sides.

“Sasha! Spears!”

Sasha undid the strap of the bag, tossing it to Kyle, who immediately retreated and armed all of the five spears in the Bag. Triple Impulse!

Before the knights could catch onto him, his exosuit launched up into the air twenty storeys high, allowing him a clear view of the battlefield.

Penchant for Violence! His arm swelled as he gripped the spears one by one, charging the impulse engravings on the spears before launching them towards the largest concentration of Cretins. The resulting devastation was immediately apparent, as blue arcia flames mixed with the death throes of engulfed Cretins became the main sound of the battlefield.

He threw all five within ten seconds as he began to fall. Just before he hit the ground, he activated the exosuit’s impulse engravings again, slowing his velocity at landing. The kill notifications surged across his screen en masse, though a level-up was still not given.

However, he noticed one of the Detonation Spears had not gone off. Instead, he noticed the spear thrown high in the air, falling back towards him and his men. What?!

Impulse! In a panic, Kyle leapt upwards, knocking the incoming spear to the wayside towards the Cretins again. I don’t recall throwing the spear upwards – who threw the spear?!

As the spear was about to hit the ground, a burly hand caught it in midair before a bellowing laughter erupted from the other side of the battlefield, Kyle could hear it clearly even as he landed back on the ground. I know that voice. Kyle gripped his Spear of Defiance tightly, preparing himself for what could be the turning point of the fight.

But when he squinted his eyes to try and spot where the man who caught the spear was, he was already gone. Instead, he could feel a presence dropping above him, forcing him to leap out of the way as the area where he was previously standing was instantly cratered.

Ares cracked his neck as he recovered to his full standing height, only wearing a regular button shirt and pants, though it could barely hold in his muscular figure, each muscle on his arms clearly defined. If anything, Kyle was far more impressed at the ability of the clothes to fit such a body size, with Ares towering two heads above him, even with him in the exosuit. Is he a half-giant?

“So you’re the runt who took over Ulon. Did he ever tell you who dethroned him as the champion of the South Sector?”

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