Chapter 116

Ruth was being charged by Night Coon on the ship's deck. Ruth was nearly pushed off the ship and into the lake as he slammed into her with such force, abandoning any pretense of exercising even the slightest caution. He hit Ruth with his curved sword as if his own safety didn't matter, engrossed in the struggle, focused only on winning and avoiding failure. Night Coon was feeling a rush of exhilaration.

The other's ferocious assault initially caught Ruth off surprise, and she was pushed all the way back to the ship's far wall. She fought valiantly to keep the young X Warrior at a distance while attempting to create enough room for a defense. The ship echoed as swords grated and scraped against one another.

The primary control room's entrance was opened by a barricade on top of the cargo ship. Gunshots were fired when the door suddenly burst open. Barricade stretched out her hands and created an atomic barrier. Bullets fell to the ground when Barricade let go of the barrier. Dayne lowered the firearm.

"I'm astonished. Dayne remarked, "You don't seem to be a Celestial Wielder.

Barricade declared as he prepared to engage in combat, "Even if I'm not, I'm coming to take you down.

Dayne muttered, "Good luck with that," as he depressed a button on the ship's main panel to unlock a box.

What did you just do? asked Barricade, who was now looking alarmed.

Dayne remarked, "Just something to help kill your pals and put an end to this little propaganda onslaught."

Dayne shot at Barricade, who grabbed the gun. Barricade was being charged by Dayne. In order to employ more of her atoms to hold Dayne in place, Barricade used her free hand to activate her Data Chip. Dayne found himself unable to move and was shocked.

Dayne remained motionless and asked, "What's happening?"

You are imprisoned by my Data Atoms. Dayne is completely still thanks to these tiny atoms, which will follow my instructions, stated Barricade.

Dayne attempted to move but was unable to. When Barricade approached the panel, he noticed that the second crate on the ship had been opened. When she heard a minor explosion outside, Barricade turned around.

Reinhorn threw his hammer once more, knocking two drones out of the air. Now that Dayne had unleashed drones to attack the main deck, Barricade was aware of it. Barricade muttered softly to herself, "They must have had these for other reasons.

Reinhorn whirled his body once more before hurling his Horn Ax to slay more of the soaring drones. Reinhorn was hit by more shots from the Iset drones as he used his Tier 2 Harden Skin to deflect them off of his body. resulting in the bullets hitting the ground. Reinhorn thought as he grabbed his Horn Ax to fling it once more at these Iset drones, "I'm surprised these aren't upgraded by Alienware like everything else Iset has manufactured for this trip."

in their rage. Ruth reclaimed the initiative, counterattacked, and used both of her swords to try to chop Night Coon's legs out from under him. Even though he wasn't as skilled as his elders or Microsoft X, Night Coon was quicker. He was able to avoid his antagonist's attempts to knock him down by anticipating each blow.

They were forced by the struggle around the edge of the ship, into the kitchen, and later into the ship's pipes, oil drums, and shadowy crevices. Night Coon twice fell to the ground after losing his balance on the water and oil puddles' smooth, slick flooring.

Ruth once hit him so hard that she cut through the Night Coon's long hood from shoulder to waist. Night Coon was only able to escape by responding with an upthrust attack to the other's midriff and by rolling fast away and back to his feet.

They fought their way through a maze of vent tubes and circuits back toward the dining room corridor. Pipes exploded into steam, and the air was thick with the burning odor of charred wiring. In an effort to knock Night Coon off balance, render him helpless, and stop the momentum of his assault, Ruth started to throw heavy things at him. The minor explosions from the arrows caused Night Coon to reply in kind and shoot arrows from his summoned bow to destroy the objects hurled. Night Coon attempted to flee so he could come up with new schemes, but Ruth stopped him.

Barricade pressed buttons on the ship to keep it moving in the direction of the other pier where these supplies were to be dropped off.

Dayne continued to try to move when she said, "You don't know what you're doing little girl, you're messing with the wrong people.

What you have to say doesn't matter to me. The only important thing is to put an end to these idiotic projects that the Iset Corporation has sparked by betraying the American Government, stated Barricade as he made sure the ship was headed towards the second pier.

Then you'll pass away when you meet up with my friends, Dayne added, glaring angrily at Barricade.

"That's what you believe, but I believe in my buddies," stated Barricade as he approached Dayne and pistol-whipped him in the head to put him to sleep with his pistol on the floor.

In order to steer the ship steadily to the next position, Barricade swiftly stepped away from the weapon and moved over to the wheel. Barricade peered out the window to see where she was going and catch a glimpse of Reinhorn taking down the final drones. However, she was unable to locate Night Coon.

Ruth and Night Coon continued to fight, and for a while it seemed like an even fight. Ruth, however, was the more powerful of the two and was motivated by a fervor that outstripped that of Night Coon's ferocious determination. The Iset Commander eventually wore the young warrior down. She carried the attack on him and gradually pushed him back in an effort to surprise him. As Night Coon's body started to deteriorate, his anxiety of what it would entail if he too fell grew.