Oda didn't strike immediately after readying himself, because his mind was running at full speed, analyzing the situation before him with the precision of a machine.
He frowned, his gaze locked tightly on the young man who had just appeared. The youth exuded an unnerving aura of danger, like a beast lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce at any moment.
Oda narrowed his eyes slightly, replaying everything that had happened just moments ago in his mind. That young man clearly had a chance to pursue him, but instead, it was as if some invisible force had held him back. He stayed in place, his eyes occasionally flicking toward the cyber-dog, as if checking on its safety.
Oda was puzzled. Was that cyber-dog really that important?
However, he didn't dwell on the question. As a seasoned bodyguard, he knew full well that on the battlefield, it didn't matter why something was important to your opponent—only that it was.
Oda leaned forward slightly, adopting a stance ready to strike at any moment. His breathing was even and deep, and his heartbeat pounded steadily in his chest like a war drum heralding the coming fight.
"Whatever his reason," Oda thought to himself, "if he cares that much about the dog, then it's the perfect opening."
With a single thought, Oda's figure flickered and merged into the light spilling in from outside the building.
Against a high-threat opponent, a trained ninja like Oda would never engage head-on. With his optical camo, hiding within the environment and waiting for the perfect moment to strike was far smarter.
Watching Oda vanish before him, Karl didn't move. He simply spoke into the squad channel:
"All good, Johnny? Hope your brain isn't fried yet."
"This guy? I could go a whole day toe-to-toe with him."
"Something about that sounds familiar... anyway, as long as you're fine."
Karl's gaze swept across the surroundings. He didn't have the ability to directly see through optical camouflage, but he was acutely attuned to every environmental detail. All he needed was a hint—a rolling bit of rubble on the concrete, a ripple of distorted light—and he could pinpoint Oda's position.
Suddenly, Karl looked to a spot just under seven meters to his left—a pile of discarded materials. And right beside it, Oda was there.
"Found you."
Karl raised his hand and drew the Yoru-no-Tō, firing four shots directly at the spot.
The gunshots exploded in the empty space, bullets slicing through the air with sharp howls. All four hit nearly simultaneously, followed by the crisp metallic clang of bullets striking hard armor—yet Karl's expression shifted slightly.
Something was off.
There wasn't the usual dull thud of bullets punching through armor into flesh.
Shell game. Classic ninja trick. Effective as hell—even Karl hadn't caught it right away.
Oda had used his optical camo armor as a decoy. He had removed it, leaving the active camo plating in place to mislead Karl. While Karl's attention was on the visible camouflage, Oda had already slipped behind the pile of materials.
And at the exact moment Karl opened fire at the decoy, Oda activated Sandevistan again.
The moment Karl realized it had been a trick, he heightened his senses, listening for the faintest sound in the air. But Oda moved faster than he'd expected—Sandevistan combined with Lynx-paw leg implants made his steps virtually silent.
A flash of searing heat burst from Karl's flank.
Like a phantom, Oda appeared beside the cyber-dog version of Johnny Silverhand. The heated Mantis Blade in his hand traced a blazing orange arc through the air, warping the atmosphere around it with its sheer temperature, as if slicing through space itself. The strike was precise, direct—aimed squarely at Johnny's neck.
Oda knew full well that even in a surprise attack, an expert like Karl would instinctively react to danger. This was a test of Oda's theory.
"His true target... is me!"
Johnny had already sensed the danger. Maybe it was his experience dancing on the edge of death, but he reacted with a speed that rivaled Sandevistan.
Some say that just before death, time slows down. Watching the heated Mantis Blade coming at him, Johnny definitely felt that slow-motion effect.
But knowing wasn't the same as dodging.
His body simply couldn't move. His physical reactions couldn't keep up with his mind. All he could do was stare as the blade closed in.
But just because Johnny couldn't react didn't mean Karl couldn't.
"Shell game again? Ugh... Ninjas really love this trick, huh."
It worked. Even though Karl had seen Chidoya and Kenichiro pull this stunt before, the moment of confusion was inevitable. But reacting a split second late didn't mean Karl couldn't handle Oda's strike.
"If you were still wearing that optical camo, I might've had to rely on the environment to track you. But now that you've shed it..."
Karl moved—and his speed made Oda's pupils shrink in disbelief.
Even though Oda had already activated Sandevistan, Karl—who reacted after him—was faster.
Faster than Oda with Sandevistan already active!
Overclocked. Or, as Karl preferred to call it, Absolute Control. A technique he had used only once before—against Adam Smasher. And now he unleashed it again.
Karl wasn't just moving his cyberware; he was completely overriding his body and cybernetics with pure consciousness. He could wield his entire being with perfect, lethal efficiency. Compared to that, someone merely piloting cyberware like Oda was bound to fall behind.
"You're too obvious now."
Karl extended a hand—gracefully, almost gently. In it, he held a small knife.
Smoothly, Karl thrust the knife into Oda's chest. Then he pushed forward with both arms.
BOOM—
It was as if Oda had been hit by a cannonball. Just as he raised his Mantis Blade to strike down, Karl's force sent him flying backward, smashing through a wall and crashing into a room on the other side of the floor.
The sheer strength under Absolute Control seemed to exceed even Karl's expectations.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔥 CYBERPUNK: THE RELENTLESS
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔥 THE STORY DOESN'T STOP HERE. NEITHER DOES HE.
Night City breaks people every day.
Some crawl away.
Some disappear.
And some simply refuse to stop.
Cyberpunk: The Relentless has 500+ chapters ahead available for readers who want to keep going.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
⚡ NO BRAKES. NO MERCY. NO TURNING BACK.
🔫 High-intensity combat
🌃 Night City
🤖 Cyberware & chrome
💀 Deadly enemies
🏢 Corporate warfare
🔥 Escalating conflicts
⚔️ One relentless road forward
Every victory creates another enemy.
Every enemy leads to something bigger.
And Night City always wants another body.
🔥 500+ CHAPTERS AHEAD.
👉 Why stop now?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🌐 SrMagnusCorp: https://srmagnuscorp.com/
🔥 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MrMagnus
🐦 X / Twitter: https://x.com/SrMagnuscorp
⚠️ Drop your Power Stones if you want even more Cyberpunk releases!
🔥 Keep moving. Night City doesn't wait.