Chapter 34: Battle

Takemura Goro touched the blood seeping from the gash on his cheek. If he hadn't instinctively turned his head at the last second, that sniper shot would've ended him.

"Tch… annoying sixth sense," Ethan Cross muttered, clearly irritated.

As a sniper, there was nothing more frustrating than losing a perfect shot to a target's unconscious reflex. After all that prep, his expensive, optically invisible bullet missed.

"No more shots for now." Watching Takemura begin to move erratically, Ethan packed away his rifle. That bullet cost two thousand, and he hadn't brought many spares.

"Mike, it's your turn."

He crouched down, covering his ears as Mike Taylor took center stage. From his duffel bag, Mike casually tossed out several grenades, then flung a red tube no bigger than a lipstick.

"Hey! Be careful with that one!" Ethan shouted in alarm.

If a standard grenade had a damage level of five, then that red tube packed fifty.

Takemura ignored the smaller grenades. Their blast radius was easy to predict—just keep distance.

What he didn't realize, however, was how Mike's throws subtly manipulated his movement path. The grenade barrage forced him into a vulnerable position.

The red tube detonated mid-air with a brief, eerie orange-red glow. Takemura had barely enough time to raise his arms in front of his face before being blasted away.

"Yoho! That was beautiful!" Lily Cross cheered from the driver's seat, slapping the steering wheel excitedly after witnessing the explosion in the rearview mirror.

"Explosions are art," Mike replied calmly. It sounded pretentious—but he made it sound cool.

Damn it! Takemura cursed as he stumbled to his feet.

Enough running.

Now was the time to fight.

"If you want my life, come and take it!" he growled, kicking a ninja assassin away and rolling to dodge a slash. He reached over his shoulder and drew the long, wrapped package he had carried all along.

With a flick of his wrist, a sleek katana was revealed.

Black leather hilt. Gleaming blade. Lethal aura.

The legendary Odachi – Jinzong Maru.

Swish.

In one clean motion, he sliced a ninja cleanly in half. Despite the lethal force, the blade remained spotless.

Crafted from monofilament alloy with master-grade precision, Jinzong Maru was the perfect marriage of modern science and ancient art—a king among blades.

"What a beautiful sword," Lily murmured, keeping a close eye on the scene. "Do you think we can grab any scraps?"

"Not likely," Ethan shook his head. "Takemura's a beast. He's already taken down another one. Those ninjas are nothing to him."

In fact, Takemura had once trained some of these assassins himself.

"You're right," Lily agreed. She pulled the van over and turned to Ethan. "Park the car in our drop spot. I'll see if there's anything to loot."

Their aimless cruising wasn't entirely for fun. Night City had no shortage of thugs and shady deals. Picking up leftover gear—guns, ammo, cyberware blueprints—had become a side hustle.

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Relax. Mike's with me. He can cover me."

Ethan didn't argue. Neither he nor Mike were built for close-quarters combat. Going toe-to-toe with someone like Takemura would be suicide.

"Fine. Call me if something happens," Ethan said as he switched seats and drove off.

---

At the Research Institute.

"Sorry, Doctor Viktor. You're not going anywhere until Lena's surgery is complete," Leon Black said flatly, ignoring the doctor's growing anxiety.

"I have something urgent! I'll be right back!" Viktor pleaded. V was unconscious and still being hunted—how could he stay here?

"I'll go instead." Leon set his teacup down and rose. "I'm more useful than a surgeon in this situation, don't you think?"

"You know what's going on?" Viktor asked, stunned.

Leon tapped his temple with a smirk. "Doctor Viktor, this is my turf. Even the signals that enter here pass through my systems."

"V's being hunted by cyber-ninjas. I'll retrieve her."

By the time Leon arrived, the Ninja Assassins had already loaded V into a car. Likely to interrogate her back at HQ.

Leon stepped out, casually addressing them. "Excuse me. I'm taking her with me."

The ninjas didn't answer. They simply drew their blades and charged.

"That's why I say ninjas are all brain-dead." Leon opened his trunk and drew his own blade. "Let me show you what real swordsmanship looks like."

Two minutes later.

Leon kicked aside the twitching body of a ninja still trying to cling to his pants. He bent down to check on V, eyes scanning the bio-chip embedded in her neural slot.

"So, in the end… the fusion was inevitable, huh?"

He shook his head and carried her into his car. After giving her an adrenaline shot to stabilize her vitals, he set the nav system to return home. Then he closed his eyes and rested.

The real show was about to begin.

---

Back under the city overpass...

Takemura Goro leaned against Jinzong Maru to steady himself. His blood boiled, but his gaze remained sharp, scanning the area ahead.

He knew this wasn't over.

Lily Cross approached slowly, clapping her hands.

"Bravo, Mr. Takemura. That was brilliant. Absolutely stunning," she said with a polite smile, stopping about fifty meters away.

"If you're here to claim my head, don't waste words," Takemura replied, raising Jinzong Maru in a ready stance. "Come."

She didn't reply.

Instead, Mike Taylor calmly walked past her, stepping forward with a blank expression.

"Looks like my friend is impatient," Lily chuckled.

Mike activated his cybernetic leg boosters and vanished in a blur. He reappeared in front of Takemura in the blink of an eye, right arm cocked back for a devastating punch.

Even braced, Takemura barely raised his blade in time to parry the blow. The impact launched him backward.

Mike closed in again, throwing another punch mid-air. Takemura's eyes narrowed.

"Stealth."

A puff of smoke exploded from Takemura's body, masking his movements. Mike's second punch missed.

But he wasn't fazed. His eyes scanned frantically, then locked on something. Twisting his body mid-air, he struck out with his left palm in the opposite direction.

Screeech—

Jinzong Maru sliced through Mike's palm, embedding into bone. From the smoke, Takemura emerged.

Blood spurted. But there was no triumph on Takemura's face—nor any pain on Mike's.

Mike's right arm followed up, trying to grab him. Takemura wisely retreated, yanking his blade free and using Mike's momentum to launch himself backward.

Thud.

He landed in a crouch, eyes trained on Mike, who calmly stepped out from the smoke—his damaged hand already regenerating.

"True Skin," Takemura muttered.

Cyberware had evolved immensely. From early prosthetics to today's cutting-edge tech, the field had undergone radical transformation.

'True Skin' wasn't just a cybernetic covering—it was superior to real skin.

It could conceal weapons inside the body, compress entire systems, and heal rapidly. Essentially, it turned the user into a walking arsenal.

Installing it was a nightmare. Like a full-body skin transplant, the process had a 90% mortality rate. Only one in ten survived the rejection.

Even Jinzong Maru couldn't fully pierce Mike's 'True Skin'. That meant this wasn't a standard model—this was high-grade.

"You're strong," Takemura admitted. "You remind me of someone… Adam Smasher."

Both were brutal, fast, and built for close-range devastation.

But even so, Mike was clearly weaker than the full-conversion cyborg.

Adam Smasher's speed was so insane, not even Takemura's reflexes could keep up.

"I will defeat him," Mike said, pausing mid-advance to speak clearly.

Øóffer going on for diamond tier

pàtreøn (Gk31)