Just as Karl finished speaking with a note of exasperation, Melissa Rory's body flickered—her form stretched and distorted into a blur as sh
Just as Karl finished speaking with a note of exasperation, Melissa Rory's body flickered—her form stretched and distorted into a blur as she lunged forward.
She'd activated her Sandevistan.
It gave her a burst of overwhelming speed.
But Karl could still keep up.
In the slowed perception of time, he stepped back casually, mildly annoyed.
"Sandevistan, Mantis Blades, Kerenzikov... the cyberpsycho holy trinity. Seriously, can't any of you mix it up? Every damn one of you feels like you rolled off the same assembly line."
Shhk—!
As Karl moved, a gleaming arc of steel tore through where he had just stood. Melissa's Mantis Blades gouged deep trenches into the alley walls on either side.
"Slicing through stone like it's tofu... Sunset Mantis Blades really are the real deal. Put the side effects aside, and they're practically artisan-grade. Shame about the side effects, though."
Compared to Melissa's desperate, relentless attacks, Karl's movements were absurdly relaxed. Even under assault by weapons that could kill in a single hit, he remained calm—so calm he had room to analyze her in real time.
That ease unsettled Melissa.
Cyberpsychos weren't stupid. If anything, their instincts were heightened in that state. When your body runs on pure reaction, it knows when something's wrong. And right now, Melissa's every nerve was screaming at her.
It was like seeing the tip of an iceberg in the open sea—no idea what lay beneath, but enough visible mass to know it was deadly.
Melissa's body responded before her brain could. Some part of her understood: this man was a threat. A real one. If she didn't give it everything, she would die.
Her strikes got faster, angles sharper. And Karl? Still retreating, still studying.
His eyes flicked to the ruined walls behind her, noting the wild slashes left in her wake.
"No formal training with Mantis Blades... but the angles and power are decent. She's clearly aiming for kill shots—head, throat, chest. Street-learned, then. Kill-or-be-killed kind of experience."
Assessment: Could be neutralized by a Riot Suppression lieutenant with effort. Weaker than Andy. Shows potential—trainable.
The thought amused him.
Damn. Guess Kenichiro really rubbed off on me. Analyzing opponents mid-fight like I'm some evaluation officer. I'm not here to run diagnostics...
Still, he couldn't even work up a sweat.
Disappointed, Karl raised a hand.
A small knife slid into his palm from his sleeve.
Neurotoxin Blade.
One of two he kept on him—a melee weapon blueprint he'd once selected for practicality.
Just a graze would drop someone. A stab to the abdomen? Two, maybe three seconds to collapse. Even an Animals bruiser would go down.
As Karl gripped the hilt, Melissa Rory's body shuddered.
The danger she'd sensed earlier suddenly ballooned into raw panic. Before, her instincts told her to fight with everything she had. Now, her instincts screamed run.
Every nerve was blaring a single message: you're going to die.
She growled low, like a cornered animal, throat rumbling with a sound somewhere between fury and fear. The beast within her mind stirred—but even in madness, clarity crept in.
Her overloaded nervous system knew the truth. This man was death.
At the very last moment before launching another strike, Melissa stopped.
Dead stop.
Karl raised a brow.
"Trying to stabilize and counter instead of charging in blindly? Smart. Way better than flailing at air."
He actually approved—until she suddenly turned and bolted.
"…Huh?"
He blinked.
The woman who, seconds ago, was hell-bent on gutting him, had turned and run?
Wait… she's actually running away?
Karl stepped forward to pursue—and that was all it took.
Melissa's body exploded into motion again, triggered by a final burst of instinctual terror.
BOOM!
Cybernetic legs slammed into the pavement, the sound rippling through the alley alongside a crackle of discharging electricity.
Melissa Rory leapt.
Five meters into the air.
Thunk!
Her Mantis Blades punched into the walls, anchoring her as she scaled upward with a blur of speed and practiced motion.
In the blink of an eye, she vaulted onto the rooftop, vanishing from sight.
Karl looked up.
Electro-jump augments in the legs? Reinforced joints paired with high-powered muscle fiber… Not bad.
Still—
"You pick a fight, and then you run the second I start taking it seriously? Nah. Not that easy."
Karl tapped his ring, middle, and index fingers together, slipping the knife back into his sleeve.
Then he sprinted toward the wall.
Wall-running?
Please.
Child's play.
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