Chapter 38.4

Fenrir narrowed his eyes as he went into a combat stance while activating his wrist-mounted flamethrower and freezesprayer. The two rushed at each other and began trading blows. Yu deflected a punch from Fenrir when the latter activated his freezesprayer, freezing Yu's left hand. Yu responded by smashing his frozen hand over Fenrir's head. The ice shattered, freeing his numb hand while Fenrir aimed at his head with his other hand, the flamethrower ready to ignite. Yu grabbed Fenrir's arm and crushed the flamethrower's canister, causing it to explode on Jason.

"Weak," Yu said as he continuously punched Fenrir in the face, each punch sent him reeling downwards until he fell to the ground.

"Pathetic," Yu punched again and again as Fenrir tried to balance himself.

Coughing and sputtering, half of Fenrir's upper helmet shattered, revealing a swollen eye and blood that dripped from his wound on the head; Yu's punch was so strong, it shattered Fenrir's helmet and the fragments cut his head. Fenrir who managed to get up fell back to his knees, his hands on the ground supporting his weight while Yu looked down at him from above.

"You are finished." Yu sneered before raising a first again, this time he placed all his strength into the punch; he was intent on crushing this insect in front of him. As his fist came barreling down, it broke the sound barrier and could barely be seen by the naked eye when a palm intercepted it in midair. A shockwave of force erupted when the two collided, sending all the Practitioners stumbling backward.

Yu's eyes widened as he expressed surprise for the first time tonight. The raised hand that stopped him was Fenrir's. His head, which was lowered, now raised itself upwards to glare at him. Before he could react, Fenrir sent an uppercut at him, sending him flying away. A series of immaterial chains appeared around Fenrir, each of them chaining him down like a criminal. He flexed his arms and his right hand shot out and grabbed a chain shattering it. Had Yu or any of the other Practitioners seen this, they would've fled without a second thought.

Dammit, Fenrir thought as he clenched his fist. At the same time, before anyone could recover, Fenrir threw a small device at the cabin where the control room was. The small device lit up a small green light when it struck a wall and Fenrir looked down at his hand before swearing internally again.

When his life was at risk, he unintentionally used his Practitioner's power, releasing the limit, which appeared as chains, that he placed on himself and this resulted in an increase of his strength; he had regained a little under twenty percent of his powers. Immediately though, he could feel the laws of this world pressing down on him, crushing him since his power was more than this world would allow.

Damn curse, Fenrir thought as his heart clenched from the pressure surrounding him.

The Practitioners around Fenrir had recovered by this time and pulled their weapons out and prepared to charge at him when a ball of concentrated flames slammed down on the deck, exploding and injuring a few nearby Practitioners while killing a handful.

"Hey there, big guy," a voice above Fenrir said. Looking up, he saw an armored individual surrounded by flames. Her sleek and slim archaic armor covered her body while her face was hidden in a bird-shaped mask. She hovered downwards as her wings of flames slowly faded. "Need a hand?"

The flaming figure landed next to Fenrir and the two stared at each other silently; both recognized each other instantaneously.

Katherine Rogue, Fenrir thought as he felt that familiar flaming energy that shielded her. I see … flames and a bird. So, she's a Vermillion Bird? No ... it's more like a Phoenix … how intriguing.

Jason … damn, you look like shit, Katherine thought as she gave Fenrir a complicated gaze from underneath her mask.

After some pushing, Selena admitted the truth about Jason's interference in RogueTech earlier tonight and Katherine quickly deduced that he was behind the multiple attacks around the city that were targeting abandoned areas. Without even thinking, she rushed after him but only just caught up to him at this moment since he would always leave as quickly as he arrived.

"Let's talk it out later?" Katherine said as she raised her arm cannon and started firing at the Practitioners who were still surprised.

Fenrir didn't reply and instead brought out his black Tang sword. He began fighting with those that approached them while Katherine thinned the herd. Most Practitioners were Adepts and Fenrir only needed to block and slash once to kill them; he didn't withdraw the strength he accessed after loosening the limit. Instead, he reveled in it, using his increased strength, vitality, and speed to butcher his enemies.

Katherine created a flaming talon on her right hand while firing with her left arm's cannon. She used her talon to disarm a Practitioner before aiming and firing at the Practitioner's chest. The ball of flame pierced his chest and flew out, imploding on another Practitioner behind him.

Another Practitioner came from Katherine's side, intent on flanking her when Fenrir slashed him in two. Katherine vaulted over Fenrir's back and kicked a Practitioner approaching him before moving back while he spun and slashed at another opponent who was aiming for her. Fenrir and Katherine's back touched and they turned to look at each other; Fenrir was impressed at how seamless his teamwork with Katherine was and Katherine smiled underneath her mask, feeling joy at fighting alongside with Jason. To her, it was just like the old times.

The two continued coordinating their battle, both fought so well it was as though they had practiced together for a very long time. Katherine trusted her back to Fenrir and the latter noticed how she would always back him up. It was like she knew what he was thinking and vice versa. Fenrir used his free hand to throw several bolas at Practitioners, aiming at crowds so that he could unbalance the opponents' teamwork by having them trip over themselves. Katherine followed up on his plan by raining fire down at them like a living artillery unit. Her fireballs exploded in contact and several Practitioners screamed as they burned to cinders.

"Hey!" Katherine pointed out at Yu who emerged from a bundle of crushed shipping containers.

Fenrir and Katherine looked at each other and nodded before running to the edge of the ship. As they ran, they cut, sliced, shot, punched, and kicked any opponent that blocked their way. Flames erupted from Katherine's back and they slowly turned into wings as she flew off into the air. Fenrir used his gauntlets to summon his flying hoverbike and jumped off the ship as it approached, landing on his hoverbike just a few inches above the sea. The bike's fifth engine, which was an auxiliary engine located at the back, roared to life and the bike blasted away quickly while Fenrir stood on it. The two flew off while Yu looked on, his glaring eyes watching Fenrir with bottomless rage while the latter turned to look at him even as he flew away.

"Argh!" Yu roared in anger as he kicked a nearby shipping container when he noticed Fenrir giving him the finger. It flew out like a soccer ball but did little to appease his dissatisfaction. Looking around, he felt his heart bleed when he saw how many men he lost; nearly two-thirds of his force were wiped out in the battle, crippling his army.

"I swear, I will return this humiliation to you by two-folds!" Yu bellowed in Mandarin.

The surviving Practitioners said nothing, they were afraid that they would draw Yu's ire.

"Inform our collaborator that he escaped," Yu turned to a Master level Practitioner and instructed him before looking out at the sea. "And tell him to arrange a meeting. I want an explanation as to why I was deceived."