Chapter 54: Shadow sword vs Metal Control (Part 1)
A large fist metal fist.
I never thought I would see the day when I actually witnessed something as fiction and ridiculous as this and yet here it was right in front of me.
The fist made of metal looked to be a mix of various shades of black, gold and blue.
It stretched out for about 0.6 meters. It descended with a violent torrent of wind rushing after it and a pressure that would have killed me had I been a normal unevolved human.
My instincts roared. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Without a second thought I stomped my right foot in the ground forming a depression in the ground the shape of my foot. I pushed myself to the side.
BOOM!
The ground shook and the wind pressure sent me tumbling and rolling away. The large metal fist smashed into the ground breaking and forming a crater one meter deep.
Dust rose up. Shards of rock fired off in all directions at speeds that wanted to compete with bullet but just coming up short.
I rolled on the ground twice before I stabbed my sword in the earth and dug my heels in the ground. A slight bluish hue shone across my skin before it faded. I had been forced to use
As the dust cleared I was able to finally make out a large silhouette straightening its posture. It stood at a height of nearly 3 meters with wide shoulders and arms as large as two gorillas combined. Its legs were almost as wide as a tree trunk.
Its large body was composed of metal stacked on top of one and joined like slightly misshaped lego pieces held together by constant streams of mana. On its chest looked what appeared to be to windshields making up its chest. Looking at the large metal giant, if I hadn't known better I would have assumed what was standing before me right now was a real life 'Transformer'. However the head of the metal giant threw such thoughts out the window immediately.
At the head of this metal giant was a human head whose size appeared to be disproportionate with the rest of its body.
It appeared to be a man in his late thirties, he had no wrinkles on his face, a slight beard and a white patch of bandages wrapped around his right eye. It seemed like it was a fresh wound as well.
I didn't need to ask who this man was. I already knew because Nale had given me more than enough information about this man.
Jace Norman, leader of the Tiger Gang.
Jace had a dark smile on his face as he eyed me.
"Pretty fast for a rat" he said. A sneer forming at the corner of his lips.
I said nothing. Fully focused on what was in front of me. The metal giant was constantly radiating mana which meant that there was a constant flow of mana within it and it was clearly coming from the Tiger Gang leader.
"Not gonna say anything? What too scared to even respond when spoken to? That it?" Jace continued to probe. But I continued to say nothing and kept scanning the man before me. Jace clearly had a feel for how he used his ability and likewise he must have been flexible with it considering what I was seeing right now. It was also very difficult to know whether Jace also had other skills or if he was like the others I had met before who only had one skill each.
"I've heard a lot about you?" I finally spoke.
"Oh?" Jace sounded genuinely surprised. "And who told you about me?"
"A little birdie named Nale" I said. Jace's smile froze for a moment.
"Don't know him" he said in a low rumbling voice.
"Oh? Then what about a certain Damien then?" I placed a finger to my chin as though I was truly trying to consider whether Damien was really related to Jace or not.
At that point Jace face darkened, a frown painting his features.
"What did you do to him?" he practically growled.
"Oh nothing much just you know…I killed him?"
BOOM!
Jace launched an attack as he threw out a large blow with his left metal arm. I rolled to the side just in time to see the fist blast past my previous position causing the air to be torn apart.
"Don't tell me that you angry with just this" I taunted. "After all haven't you done worse things?"
Jace paused for a moment before he suddenly burst laughing. It wasn't the kind that was carefree but one that had a dark undertone beneath it.
"Who are you really?" he asked after what felt like an hour.
"A concerned citizen" I simply said.
"A concerned citizen?" Jace blinked for a moment before he laughed once more. "A concerned citizen? Who gives a shit? The world has gone to shit and you here spewing nonsense about being a concerned citizen?
"Do you really think any of that matters. I don't give a damn what you think. This is a new world order one that strives off of power. Power that I have and that I will use to do what I want whenever I want. I can kill, I can fuck. Hell I can even play with a bitch to death and nobody would even be able to do anything about it!"
His words struck a nerve inside. It sparked a dark and dangerous feeling within my chest that it felt like if I didn't find a way to release it soon I would suffocate beneath its pressure.
Jace continued to list off one thing after the next. Each more sickening than the last and dangerous and suffocating feeling I was feeling within me continued to grow.
How could anyone be so cruel, so coldhearted, so disgusting?
As I looked at him I couldn't help but wonder. How many?
How many had suffered at this man's hands before? How many were still suffering at his hands?
At that moment I made my decision.
This man…
Had to die.
"You…" my voice came out lower than I intended. Not out of fear but out of anger. I could feel my murderous intent growing with every word that came out of this man's mouth. "…I'm going to kill you!"
[Your killing intent has surpassed a certain threshold.
Second Star Order Active skill
[
The oppressive aura emanated from every fiber of my being and though I could not see it, Jace definitely could.
The color of my eyes had taken a slight reddish tint.
Jace frowned as he felt a shiver down his spine and the goosebumps crawling up his arms. The system message that flashed in his eyes a moment later didn't help his mood at all.
[You mental state is partially affected. All stats -15]
"I originally came to get some payback for a friend of mine who recently gave you that wound" I said while raising a finger to my eye. It was now my turn to have a dark grin on my face. "…but given what you just said…if I didn't kill you today then I would have killed you later anyway"
"You kill me?!" Jace's voice was loud and filled with rage. "Your just a brat who hasn't even grown any hairs on his balls yet you dare to speak that shit in my face!"
"Don't you dare say anything to me you piece of shit!"
I charged at him with my explosive speed, leaving the ground broken behind me.
"I'm going to crush you!" Jace yelled as he swung the right large and heavy fist towards me.
However unlike before, this time I was ready.
"Ahh!" an involuntary war cry erupted from my lips. I faced the attack head on swinging my sword with all my strength. Clashing with the large metal fist. A shockwave surged outwards. I felt my arm tremble from the impact force. It almost felt as though my shoulder would dislodge from its socket.
'Shit not good…' I barely had the thought before I was sent flying across the floor. I felt like a weightless feather as I zoomed and towards the wall. '
BOOM!
My back crashed into the wall and despite the fact that I had activated the defensive skill I felt my internal organs tremble and agitate. The taste of iron flood my tongue.
COUGH!
Blood flew from my lips as my organs settled. It felt as though my entire body was on fire as I dislodged myself from the wall. My shirt was now completely torn off. No way a normal piece of clothing would have survived that and my jeans almost resembled rags though they still covered the essentials.