The moment Karl saw the bloodstain distort, he immediately tracked the disturbance. Judging by the traces, someone had stepped in the blood
The moment Karl saw the bloodstain distort, he immediately tracked the disturbance.
Judging by the traces, someone had stepped in the blood and was now charging straight at him.
Yet he saw no one.
Which meant—
He raised his hand and caught a descending mantis blade, the weapon half-visible as it came down beside him.
"Optical camouflage, huh?"
Karl tilted his head slightly, watching the semi-transparent figure slowly materialize at his side. Calmly, he flicked his left hand, launching a neurotoxin-coated knife.
The attacker, still partially cloaked, instinctively tried to retreat. But his mantis blade was gripped tightly in Karl's hand—he couldn't move his wrist at all.
That was the flaw of mantis blades. Unlike a katana or pistol, they were integrated into cybernetic arms—there was no dropping them in a pinch.
What was an advantage in ambush situations turned into a liability when restrained.
One arm down.
'Cut off your own arm to escape? Or try to brute-force it back?'
V and the others made no move—only shielding Sesen behind them.
They were bodyguards. Their job was to protect the client. And in a one-on-one? None of them thought Karl was in danger.
Even Adam Smasher wouldn't be able to take Karl down before they could react.
Under their watchful eyes, the attacker performed a move that caught everyone off guard.
Instead of dodging the incoming knife—which was too difficult due to the angle—he pushed off the floor and spun his body completely around, using the trapped arm as a pivot.
Even Karl's expression shifted slightly. His grip hadn't budged, and yet the attacker spun around his arm like it was an axle.
No blood. No dislocation. No torn ligaments.
A modified shoulder joint?
Realizing this, Karl stepped back—just in time to evade a slash from the attacker's other mantis blade.
The blade sliced downward. Karl countered. Using the arm he held as leverage, he yanked the attacker toward him while simultaneously driving his right knee up—aiming for the midsection.
If it landed, the strike would have obliterated the attacker's internal organs.
But as Karl pulled, he felt no resistance.
No weight.
He'd pulled off the attacker's arm.
'So that spin was a joint-disengagement maneuver? Like unscrewing a bolt?'
This guy's cyberware was bizarre.
Karl watched the retreating attacker—still semi-transparent—and stepped forward.
Then he felt heat in his right hand.
Karl's cyberarm was so finely tuned it could register temperature. And now it was heating up.
Not good.
He hurled the arm toward the retreating figure and immediately stepped back.
Half a second later, the arm detonated.
BOOM—
The blast rocked the corridor.
Karl didn't flinch. Amid the flash and pressure, he calmly raised his hand and caught several flying mantis blade fragments between his fingers.
Smoke and flame cleared. The air trembled. As visibility returned, Karl spotted the attacker stumbling, cloak flickering.
He didn't hesitate.
He flicked the blade shards between his fingers.
Clink. Clink. Clink. Clink.
The fragments hit—but bounced off.
Only the clink of metal on metal.
Everyone stared in disbelief.
To wear subdermal armor that could deflect Karl's shards while cloaked in optical camo—what kind of monster was this?
Even Chiyome, Kenichiro's prized student, hadn't run dual-enhancement like this.
'Impressive durability,' Karl thought. 'Time to get serious.'
He'd planned to hold back—to maybe capture this one alive.
Not anymore.
'This one's going to take some work.'
Just as everyone braced for a drawn-out fight—
The attacker collapsed.
Flat on his face.
Everyone blinked.
Taken out… already?
They instinctively turned to Karl.
One second KO?
"Huh?"
Karl blinked, confused.
Not because he didn't land the blow—he did. Even from a distance.
But he'd only meant to freeze the guy in place.
He'd tried a simple remote injection to stall movement, but when he accessed the attacker's system, something felt off.
So he tweaked it.
And…
"This guy…"
Karl stared as the attacker's body flickered, revealing cold, metallic plating.
No wonder the cyberware was so strange.
"He's a robot."
-
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