244 Climactic Turn
[100% | Complete: [Bloodshed Shift] engaged.]
Instead of just the single katana, now two were wielded, but not in his hands, instead protruding from his elbows, curved and shining red.
“Going all-out?” Ajax asked.
No answer came from the fully-augmented man, who had grown in height a few inches from the transformation before he sprang forward.
“–!”
Even Ajax was taken by surprise by the heightened agility presented by the cyborg; Yakeru vanished from his eyesight before the sound of those steel heels running across the resounding walls was heard.
As the silver-eyed adolescent looked up, he found Yakeru sprinting along the walls, encircling swiftly before dashing straight towards him.
Ajax barely managed to dodge as he watched the vibrating, all-cutting blade move right past his goggles, swinging from the cyborg’s elbow.
This isn’t anything I can’t match! Ajax thought.
That skyrocket in internal energy came again as the golden-haired young man bolstered his own body with his complexion shifting to a red as his hair stood up; he moved with tremendous speed himself, possessing even greater raw strength in the barrage of blows he unleashed.
Despite this, he couldn’t touch the cybernetic warrior, who weaved through every blow and expulsion of nuclear energy that came his way.
“Grrh…!” Ajax growled in anger.
Why can’t I hit him…!? I should be faster! Ajax questioned.
What the figure, too lost in his own boundless gifts, didn’t realize was that Yakeru wasn’t operating solely on his own physical merit.
They were all around the arena now, spread out and planted on every possible angle, watching closely and focused constantly on Ajax himself: the minuscule drones constructed by Yakeru.
It was his “Omni-Sight”; his own sight was directly linked with the hundreds of drones that could see every inch of Ajax’s body, from every angle, studying every mannerism he made.
This led to infallible predictions before an action was made, allowing Yakeru to act with pre-initiative, able to counter blows as he began to slash at Ajax, managing to bypass his natural barrier.
“Ghh…!” Ajax winced.
Though they were superficial cuts at first, the more they broke through, the deeper they came, slowly but surely as the clash continued, Ajax was on the losing side.
The vibrating blades; they specialized in weakening the atomic bond of whatever they cut. This led to even the sublime barrier that Ajax crafted to be subject to the breakdown.
–And yet, it wasn’t quite enough.
In the face of being completely read like a book and defeated in finesse, Ajax yelled out as he ushered in the equivalent of a toddler’s tantrum: from his body, he emitted a nuclear wave, which pressured the barriers and blew the cyborg back harshly.
The entire time, the Great Emperor and his entourage were silent in witnessing the bout between the candidates.
[All drones destroyed.]
Despite facing such a devastating blow, he launched back up, using the strength in his legs to spring like a grasshopper back into the fight.
THUD.
Ajax’s fist slammed into him with enough force of a ballistic missile itself, sending the thundering impact throughout his tough exterior.
“–!” Yakeru held himself together. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
Destroying the drones got rid of “Omni-Sight”–without that, this guy is way too fast! Yakeru thought.
Able to manipulate his own internal and kinetic energy, Ajax moved as if not restricted by his own physical matter, unleashing another devastating haymaker onto the cyborg.
The only reason he wasn’t destroyed right away were his nanomachines that acted as a normally impenetrable hide. But, as more blows came, not even those could withstand the strain.
Now…! He thought.
As he used jet propellers on his legs to spin around at super speeds, using the momentum to whirl around with his vibrating blades–he missed.
Through his goggles, those silver eyes belonging to Ajax smiled before another blow came, packed with an explosive secondary force that blew him back harshly.
…Shit, Yakeru thought, I was hoping to get more firsthand information on Yinlong, but it looks like I met a pretty ridiculous obstacle.
Ajax smiled, holding his hand pointed towards the cyborg, whose frame was dysfunctional and shattered from the point blank explosion, “…That was entertaining, but I think it’s time to put an end to this.”
If it wasn’t enough, all of the cuts that did manage to land on the golden-haired, smiling adolescent’s body had closed up, though a glimpse of what was beneath his skin was seen by the cyborg.
Simply, Ajax wasn’t human–at least, he wasn’t built like a normal human. Beneath his layer of pale hide was that internal energy, swirling like an unending reservoir of destruction.
The Great Emperor stood from his seat on the illustrious balcony, hardly seen as more than a silhouette past the velvet curtains.
Slowly, the revered royal raised his hand, “Finish him.”
Ajax acknowledged this with a smile, though it never seemed to be a question to him as he nodded, “Ya got it, boss!”
Unable to move, the cybernetic man simply watched as the all-encompassing flash of light came with a shock wave, shooting out in an unstable beam that crashed against his form.
The resulting explosion of destructive atoms left nothing more than a shadow of the cybernetic figure burned into the flooring as ash danced in the air. Such was the nature of such an ability; the man that was there just a moment ago no longer existed.
Ajax held his hand up proudly with a smile, celebrating his triumph as the Great Emperor clapped alongside his group of advisors and other highly-powerful political figures.
“Splendid job, Ajax,” Emperor Jiao-Long said, “Henceforth…You’re the Twelfth Winged General: ‘Ajax, The Annihilation Factor.'”
With the twelfth spot replaced, the arena was cleared with the victory decided, however, unnoticed by any were the few, miniature drones that still clung to the walls.
–
[Outside of the Yinlong Capital]
[Yakeru C.L.O.N.E | Destroyed]
“Yeah, I was watching,” the silver-haired, techno-enhanced man muttered.
Tapping the digital screen on his wrist, the cybernetic man somehow stood on a cliff, overlooking the city while sitting beneath the cover of a tree.
It took a lot of resources to build that clone of myself to reach that level. That ‘Ajax’ is a monster–still, I got the information I wanted, Yakeru thought, and I did manage to snag some drones inside that building.
“Alright. Now just to wait and let them exploit themselves,” Yakeru said to himself, “…I should probably take this information back to the acting emperor–what was his name again?”
[Zhuge.]
“Right…Zhuge,” he mumbled, “I wonder…”
[What is it?]
The silver-haired cyborg looked off towards the distance, “Nothing. Just curious if those brats made it here–the Tower is an interesting place, so far.”