The ones coming up weren't Doom cultists; they were the police. Noid recognized their uniforms and gradually relaxed.
The twenty-man police squad crowded the staircase, mouths agape as they looked at Noid standing amid a pile of defeated cultists.
"Incredible... this is incredible."
Someone in the squad blurted out. They had checked the entire first floor and saw each guard post had been taken down. They knew the man in black was strong, but this was still within their realm of acceptance because the man in black had eliminated them in small groups.
But the scene before them was a full-on brawl. Bodies were sprawled across the hallway and inside the rooms. Didn't this mean that the man in black had single-handedly defeated dozens of cultists head-on?
The younger members of the squad looked at Noid with admiration and awe, while the captain and the older members signaled them not to just stand there. They began to move up and inspect the scene.
The captain had already reported the situation directly to the chief of police in District 9 and received the order to tighten the cordon and fully cooperate with the man in black.
There were 100 police officers outside forming an encirclement, with a twenty-man elite team assisting the man in black. This ensured that the cultists couldn't escape.
Noid didn't know what to say in this situation, but thankfully, the police officers didn't get close or try to talk to him. They instinctively gave him space. He started to fully recover his stamina. The remaining cultists on the third floor and the rooftop were now trapped prey, and there was no need to rush to collect them.
The police checked the fallen cultists, but it was a halfhearted check. They knew the man in black had never killed a single cultist.
It wasn't that Noid didn't want to kill them, especially the fanatical ones; his murderous intent toward them was the strongest. But people like that shouldn't die so easily at his hands. They should be judged by the very people they considered sacrifices and die the most humiliating death in a courtroom. Only then could it console the beings these fanatics had brutally killed, and also... Jack.
But barely a minute after the police went upstairs, heavy footsteps echoed from the first floor. A team member asked the captain with a puzzled expression, "Captain, did we call for backup?"
The captain's expression grew serious. He suddenly shouted, "It's not our people! Galvin, get away from the stairs!!!"
The young police officer named Galvin had only just heard his captain's shout and hadn't had time to react before a great force pushed him away. Noid had somehow sensed the danger and rescued the young officer.
At that moment, a figure burst up from the stairs, moving so fast it was just a blur rushing toward where Galvin had been standing, a spot now occupied by Noid. He only had time to cross his arms in front of his chest to block.
Bang!!!!
A terrifying impact sound, and Noid, still in his crossed-arm stance, was slammed into the wall, leaving a dent and cracked bricks behind him. If it had been the police officer, the outcome would have definitely been a mangled mess of flesh and bone.
"Go to the third floor, the leaders are on the third floor!"
In front of him was a ragged creature with tattered clothes, its entire body exuding the foul odor of Doom. Most notably, many bone spikes protruded from its skin, with its arms and legs growing into deformed bone thorns.
Seeing the horrific being before him, a name flashed in Noid's mind: a modified fanatic. The modified fanatics were different from modified humans. The modified fanatics were just a group of people who fantastically wanted the power of Doom. They had grafted themselves into a chaotic mess, neither human nor Doom.
The captain understood the meaning of Noid's words and urged his team members on. With their current equipment, they could handle normal cultists, but against a modified fanatic, they would be massacred. Only the man in black before them could fight it.
Before leaving, the captain bowed toward Noid. "Thank you... for everything you've done, man in black. I hope we meet again."
Noid wasn't free to care about the captain. All of his muscles were tense, adrenaline boiling, as he faced the dangerous opponent before him.
Modified Fanatic (Incompletely Modified) with a stat value of 1.2. That was the information his reconnaissance device provided.
"Sacrifice... sacrifice... Lord Doom... honor... able..."
There was nothing human left in the fanatic's eyes. If anything, it was just the madness and frenzy born from the power of Doom.
The fanatic charged at Noid. He dodged to the side, and his paralyzing gun began to fire. The fanatic used its extreme speed to evade. It continuously moved in a zig-zag pattern, dodging the paralyzing bullets. This was where the terror of a modified fanatic was shown.
Although an Incompletely Modified Fanatic was far weaker than a fully mature Doom, both gave a similar number of bonus accumulation points. This was because, unlike the Doom, which only operated on pure destruction, the fanatic retained the judgment and combat thinking of a normal human. It was just that its personality had been eroded into a monster.
The two continued to fight. Noid had discarded his dark windbreaker, revealing his full black armor. The fight had not even lasted a minute, and even though his armor was undamaged, his entire body ached. Fortunately, more than 10 paralyzing bullets had hit the opponent, slowing the fanatic's speed to a point where Noid could keep up.
Pity the cultists on the floor. Because they were in the middle of Noid and the fanatic's battlefield, more than a few were killed. They were trampled underfoot by the high-speed fanatic, or worse, on the head.
The fanatic also realized it was slowing down, but driven by the madness in its head, it no longer paid attention. The second round of fighting began.
The paralyzing gun was completely out of its remaining 30 shots. Noid switched to his paralyzing baton, which he had been saving for this moment. To be honest, if he had known this stronghold had a modified fanatic, he would have definitely saved 80% of its power. Now the baton was only at roughly 50%.
Using his mechanical arm to block an extremely powerful stab from the fanatic, he successfully hit its arm with the baton. The electric shock began to spread, causing it to freeze for a moment before Noid's punch dislocated its jaw.
The paralyzing baton and paralyzing gun had the same effect, but the baton's stats went up to 1.2. Its ability to slow and paralyze was much better than the gun's. That's why the fanatic couldn't dodge his punch just now.
But the paralyzing baton had a special feature: the higher the stat value of the creature it hit, the more power it consumed. With just one strike, it dropped from 49% to 43%.
The fanatic wanted to repeat its old trick, using high speed to suppress Noid, but its speed was now much slower than before. Noid continuously defended, while also accepting to trade blows to land another strike with his baton.
As the electric shocks and hindrances grew stronger, the fanatic went berserk, clawing at his chest. Noid's chest, shoulders, legs, and arms were all bruised. But his adrenaline also reached its peak, and his fighting blood was stimulated. The tip of his baton plunged into the fanatic's left eye.
He didn't just leave it there. Gritting his teeth, he stabbed it deeper, piercing through the eye socket to the skull and brain. Blood and fluids poured out from within. The electric sparks flashed continuously, making the fanatic scream in agony. Noid only now realized that plugging the baton into the opponent's brain would continuously trigger an electric shock. It was no longer just paralyzing; it was frying the brain.
However, this hidden feature was only suitable for 1-on-1 combat because when it "fried" continuously, the power in the baton would decrease at a rocket's pace. Furthermore, because it was too brutal, he would not use it on normal people unless absolutely necessary.
All the power in the baton was gone. Noid dragged himself over to the fanatic, who was still twitching slightly. It had to be said that this was indeed a modification. It was still alive even though its skull had been cooked into a liquid.
He took a gun from a cultist lying nearby and emptied two magazines into the modified fanatic. Only then did the fanatic finally die.