“Huh? The plants are leaving?” Perplexed by this reality, the super soldiers observed the fleeing fauna. “Are you giving up? Or are you reaching your limit–”
Their confused remarks were interrupted as a faint rumbling shivered beneath their feet. As the vibrations increased in intensity with every passing second, the concrete swelled upwards with a deep groan into a bulging mound.
“W-What the!?” Quickly losing their balance, the super soldiers became more confused. Even Mohawk, who proved his superiority over Zack and continued pummeling him, had his attention drifted to the ever increasing tremors that resonated throughout the complex. “What the hell’s going on over–”
“DIE! ALL OF YOU!” As the bulging earth swelled to the point of the soil cracking and giving way, Rose uttered those four words.
BOOOM!!!
With those words Rose uttered, the bulging ground erupted with a deafening roar and ejecting a geyser of dirt, rocks and soil hundreds of meters in the air. That wasn’t all, as what had borne from the eruption was countless giant wooden branches, crooked and warped, which touched the skies even higher than skyscrapers.
This all happened in a heartbeat, and the destructive tremors cracked, tore through and annihilated land infrastructure, reducing the city block-sized area to shattered ruin. The buildings farther out weren’t completely destroyed, but instead cracked and buckled, walls caving in and glass shattered.
“AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!” The sheer force of the eruption even launched several super soldiers straight out of the battlefield, with their screams being audible in the distance.
For the less fortunate soldiers in the center of the eruption…well, the wooden branches showed no mercy or compassion, as they tore through and impaled the bodies of nearly two dozen enemies.
Mohawk was one of the more fortunate, as he only was blasted away from his close proximity to Zack.
“W-What…What in the world was that!?” Witnessing the massive and widespread terrain damage, Mohawk uttered with a jaw dropped expression. “Did a nuke go off!?”
The groans and cries of both super and regular soldiers, maimed and injured from the eruption filled the air, as if it was a funeral.
“Y-You were that strong!?” Octavius, who stood beside Rose, questioned. “How did you do that?”
“Shut up.” Rose muttered as her bloodlusted gaze stood affixed on Mohawk.
“I-I’ll kill you!” With a bit of fear dripping from his voice, an enraged super soldier lunged at Rose. While the clenched fists screamed an incoming assault, the fear in his expression showed insecurity in his actions.
“You’re in my way, fodder,” Without warning, the super soldier attempted a jab, but Rose snatched his wrist mid air. His perception of the world suddenly inverted as Rose exploited his momentum, flipping her attacker and forcing him to meet the shattered ground.
“Ugh!”
Keeping her gaze on Mohawk, Rose raised her boot high. All the grounded super soldier saw was a shadow looming over their head as Rose brought her feet down with brutal finality. The wet, repugnant sound of bone and brain matter spilling out as Rose delivered a devious stomp to the super soldier’s skull.
W-What? When did she have such physical strength!? Octavius questioned. I thought…her body was on the frail side.
“W-Who the hell is that bitch…and why is she glaring at me!?” Mohawk questioned. “Wait…why aren’t the regular soldiers providing suppressive fire? What happened to them!?”
His gaze twisted to the smoke and flames which filled a part of the battlefield far more than the rest of the ruined complex. Dozens of bodies and the smouldering wrecks of vehicles were strewn across the area, the once coordinated army of supporting soldiers now struggling to reform.
T-The hell…they were over a hundred meters away! Mohawk questioned. Why the hell do they look like that–
“D-Dammit! Get up! The fight isn’t over yet!” It wasn’t totally over for their support, as injured but surviving soldiers who barked out frantic orders to rally what was left of their troops. “Keep fighting–”
Without warning or expectations, non-wrecked armored military vehicles flushed with a deep orange glow around the soldiers. The popping sparks frantically danced from the metal, warning Mohawk of yet another impending disaster.
“GET AWAY–”
BOOM!
With a great roar, the vehicles went up into a massive ball of flames and tore through what remained of the complex with its destructive shockwaves. Reflexively shielding themselves, Rose, Mohawk and Octavius all raised their hands over their heads and took cover from the blast and the metal shrapnel which flew around.
Ugh…the complex! It’s been reduced to rubble by these two! Octavius thought as he looked around. Pops is gonna hate this!
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No sooner had the blast disappeared into the atmosphere than Mohawk twisted his attention to Zack.
Though his broken body was riddled with injuries and blood covered him from head to toe, his only good arm trembled as he slowly lifted it – he still had something to say.
“Hehe…s-screw…you,” With a smug smile and exposing his middle finger towards Mohawk, Zack muttered.
Zack! You’re still alive! With eyes glittering with hope, Rose pondered.
A slow, bitter smile was drawn on Mohawk’s face, but his gaze kept cold – fury and rage was clearly behind that mask of a smile he directed at Zack. This damn bastard! I’m going to–
“Ge…get out…of here!” A super soldier muttered as he desperately crawled to Mohawk. This suggestion induced a furrowed eyed expression on Mohawk, but the splintering wood which flew through the area interrupted any attempt of voicing his rage.
Retreat…? Me, of all people!? As he narrowly avoided the wooden projectiles, Mohawk pondered. The crawling super soldier wasn’t as fortunate as his misery ended with his impalement. S-Shit!
While she dominated the area with projectiles, a wet cough spilled from Rose’s mouth. Blood spilled from their lips with a concerning amount, splattering on the ground as she staggered.
Ugh…the surge of life energy is already affecting my body. Rose pondered as she wiped the blood from her lips. All because of my ancestor cursing me! But this isn’t enough to stop me–
“Screw this…you win,” Much to the Blueblood chiefs’ surprise, Mohawk reluctantly surrendered. He glanced at the passed out Zack. “But this isn’t over!”
“You think you’re making it out alive!?” Rose yelled.
“You must be an idiot if you’ll prioritize fighting me over saving that bastard S-Class criminal’s life!” Mohawk retorted as he pointed at Zack. “Either way…I’m not sticking around to fight you guys two on one.”
“FUCK YOU–”
Her swears fell on disappeared as the super soldier vanished from the area.
“Tsk…Zack!” Though the sudden turn of events brought frustration in Rose, she wasted no time and rushed to Zack’s side. “S-Stay with me…Zack!”
Dammit! How the hell did everything switch up so fast in this damned raid! We were dominating those bastards! As he escaped through the city at high hypersonic speeds, the irritated Mohawk thought. How the hell am I retreating!? Dammit!!!
Though leaving in a disgraceful and humiliating manner, neither side could really claim victory – groans and cries of the few surviving Blueblood gang members filled the destroyed environment. As the flames danced throughout the area, Rose desperately held Zack’s body, muttering pleas for his survival.
Dumbfounded at everything that unfolded, Octavius simply stood around – just in time for the director to make his return.
“W-What the hell…? What…in the world…happened here!?” As he stood by and observed everything, the wide eyed director muttered. “How could this happen to my organization!?”
- * * *
The entire battle was granted the audience of the NPC and developer, and they watched the chaos right up until the end.
“...Zack’s injuries are quite severe. He may die at this rate,” The NPC remarked. “Do you really not want me to intervene?”
“Heh, don’t you know how valuable Zack is to the director and the Bluebloods? They’ll try their best to save him,” As he sat at the edge of the building they stood on, the developer responded with a smirk. “I’m not going to babysit him and send the doctor to his aid at all times.”
“That’s not–”
“Even if Zack were to die here, it would be fine anyways. In the long run…Zack isn’t a core character for my plans,” The developer continued, not giving the NPC time to speak. “But him surviving could be useful.”
“...I understand, developer,” The NPC muttered. He's not a core character...? What are your plans, developer?
“Anyways, that Rose woman…she’s really such an anomaly, huh? To think a non-enlightened individual could use divine energy…and it seems she feeds it to the plants she controls and strengthens them,” The developer remarked. “Whether it’s intentional or not, I don’t know. Heh, Cain really is a twisted guy for that, huh?”
“Yes, he is.”
“Now that the fight is over…let’s take our leave.”
- * * *
With his self-perceived humiliating retreat, Mohawk had returned to his military camp. Eyes of super soldiers were plastered on him as the frustrated Mohawk marched in the base.
“Huh? Mohawk, where’s everyone else–”
“Shut it!” Rejecting the concerns of his fellow super soldier, Mohawk bluntly ordered. Shit! This freaking sucks!
“Mohawk…you are back,” The cold voice of the Queen Deathbringer attracted Mohawk’s gaze. With her was the president, Ada. Ada’s cold gaze repulsed all irritation and rage Mohawk once felt, instantly replacing it with shock…and a hint of fear.
“...You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Ada remarked. “Let’s talk inside, shall we?”
- * * *
Inside the office of the military base, the three entered. Ada didn’t hesitate to take the seat behind the office desk, placing her feet up to get comfortable.
“...Here I was waiting on your return to hear the great news that you wiped out that criminal organization,” Rubbing her forehead in frustration, Ada remarked. “But you’re telling me that it ended in a failure?”
“...”
“Are you just going to sit there in silence?” Ada questioned. “Do you not have anything to say for yourself!?”
“...I-I apologize. Though there have been many casualties, their organization has suffered significant damage. In fact, the whole complex has been reduced to a smoldering ruin,” Mohawk explained. “I personally fought Zack Isaac too. There’s a high chance he won’t survive the beating I gave–”
“You mean to tell me you never ensured that worm’s death!?” Ada interjected as she sat up in her seat, taking her legs off the desk in surprise. “I believe I heard the raid would have been successful, and would have been overkill with your participation. Were you just overselling yourself!?”
“...I-I’m sorry.”
“Damn it! Why are you super soldiers proving to be so useless!” Ada yelled as she slammed her fist on the desk. “I don’t need useless people…I think they should be disposed of!”
“...I apologize, madam president.”
“Tsk, get out of my sight.”
With her voice of dismissal, Mohawk wasted no time and departed the office. The poker face which he kept throughout slowly peeled off, as blood dripped down his lips – out of his sheer anger, Mohawk bit his lip.
What replayed in his head was the middle finger Zack taunted him with.
I hope to god you survive, Zack! I’m going to rip you to shreds the next time we meet! Mohawk internally declared. Then I’ll eliminate the remains of your sorry ass organization!