"Ugh… damn it…"
Axel staggered two steps, bending over and clutching his knees, gasping for air.
"The pain… indescribable. Yet I feel stronger than ever. Adrenaline, huh? Thanks to your Effort, I didn't die again—and I leveled up. I really fucking thank you."
He straightened, ripping off the tattered remnants of his clothes. Each tear tugged at his wounded skin, eliciting groans of pain. Especially when ripping at his crotch, the agony was so intense it nearly made him laugh.
Finally free of the shredded fabric, Axel stalked forward like a demon toward the last surviving soldier.
The soldier, half of his body skinned to reveal muscles and tendons, froze in utter terror.
"Ah ah ah ah ah!"
He fired instinctively. Bullets clinked harmlessly off Axel: one lodged in his tooth, another in his arm.
Unfazed, Axel watched expressionlessly as the soldier ran out of ammo. Then he placed his right hand on the soldier's head.
Crack! Splat!
The crisp sound of a skull breaking was followed by the muffled explosion of brain matter. White and yellow splattered across Axel's face, obscuring his vision slightly. He wiped his bloodied hand across his face, wincing at the stinging pain.
Even though the blood was smooth as lubricant, the sensation burned like needles, knives, and hammers all at once. Axel lowered his hand, inhaled deeply, and glanced up.
Above, the Master descended, free-falling from roughly two hundred meters without opening his parachute, locking eyes with Axel. More than half of Axel's scalp had been ripped away; his exposed muscle glistened grotesquely.
Gulp. The Master swallowed and nodded.
"An immortal should have the will to face hell itself," he thought. Axel reminded him of his younger self: fearless, relentless, cutting through guards to punish the deserving.
Yesterday, hearing Jonathan's report, he had feared disappointment. But now… satisfaction filled him. This Axel was another version of himself, with even greater potential.
Shifting in mid-air, the Master deployed a hollow wingsuit membrane between his outstretched arms and glided gracefully over Axel like a swallow.
Axel paused mid-step, slightly stunned.
"A third party dressed like this… the League of Assassins?"
He rubbed his scalp, chuckling despite the pain.
"Hiss! Walking hurts like hell. This isn't free at all."
He tossed the detached scalp aside. Flames erupted spontaneously, consuming him in a blaze, leaving only deformed bullets to hit the ground.
Near the Smallville coffee shop, General Lane clutched his face in frustration.
"The more this guy dies, the stronger he becomes. Whose lab created this monstrosity?! Another squad is gone. In forty minutes, he's killed thirty-five men! I've lost my daughter… my men… why do I even deal with metahumans? Damn it, I should've handed this over to Amanda Waller!"
His eyes reddened. But there was no time to dwell.
"Sir, an unknown third party is parachuting in—dozens of them!" his adjutant reported.
Lane's face darkened. From one hundred eighty meters above, the ninjas rained shurikens down. Bullets and shurikens collided midair in bloody arcs. Meanwhile, hundreds of other ninjas emerged from shadows across Smallville, infiltrating streets and corners.
Lane realized with a mix of fear and clarity—they were after LexCorp's cutting-edge equipment stored in his command vehicle.
"National Guard reinforcements arrive in under ten minutes. Hold the command vehicle. Axel's off-limits. Target the ninjas first!"
Relief washed over the remaining soldiers. Facing Axel was terrifying; facing ninjas was manageable.
Meanwhile, the Ninja Master glided in using his flight suit. At reduced speed, he shot a rope dart to a lamppost, climbed it, removed his equipment, and executed two flawless flips to land gracefully. Hand on the hilt of his straight sword, he listened to his earpiece.
"Master, your target has been reborn in fire, currently at the intersection less than four hundred meters ahead."
"Very good," he said, smiling. In less than half a minute, he closed the distance to Axel, moving faster than any Olympic sprinter.
Axel was in a clothing store, yanking on a pair of pants. He quickly incapacitated a female sales clerk and shoved her aside, finishing dressing as the Ninja Master approached.
Axel looked up and grinned.
"Buddy, nice outfit. What's your name?"
"Ra's al Ghul," the Master replied.
"The Head of the Ghouls?" Axel smirked.
"No. The Head of the Demon, young man."
____
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