Chapter 86: Enhancement.
Chapter 86: 86: Enhancement.
Time seemed to stop as the crimson liquid reached the assassin’s lips.
Silver moved first, he had already decided what had to happen and he knew he couldn’t wait for the results of the unfamiliar drug.
"Ravenna!"
Without waiting for a response, he drew his pistol.
[Phantom Draw Lv3]
{Target Lock Assisted.}
His arm became a blur. The pistol cleared its holster almost before the assassin realized Silver had moved.
BANG!
The shot cracked across the riverbed. The assassin jerked his head sideways on instinct and the bullet missed his skull by centimeters, but it struck the vial instead.
CRACK!
Red liquid exploded into the air like crimson rain. Most of it splashed harmlessly across the ground, only a few drops entered the assassin’s mouth as he tried to catch it with his mouth.
His smile vanished.
"...No!"
He lunged forward in desperation, trying to catch the remaining liquid with his hands, but, it was too late. The precious enhancer seeped into the dry earth.
The strength contractor roared in anger.
"You mother fucker! It was our last one!"
The assassin’s expression twisted with frustration. Still, only a fraction of the medicine had taken effect, his muscles swelled slightly as blue veins bulged across his neck.
His speed increased, but nowhere near what he had expected.
Silver quietly lowered the pistol.
’...Better than everything.’
He could deal with this but the full dose... Probably not. The contractor would probably have been pushed up a rank or two. From the way they both mourned, it seemed precious.
When the strength contractor shouted, Ravenna seized the opening immediately, flames erupted beneath her boots. Power surged through every muscle in her body.
She had no elegant control over fire yet, she simply poured everything into speed and became a streak of crimson. The strength contractor barely managed to raise his sword.
BOOM!
Their blades collided and fire exploded outward. The giant slid backward for the first time since the battle had begun, his boots carving two deep trenches through the dirt.
"...You’re stronger than before."
Ravenna didn’t answer. She attacked again and slashed relentlessly. Every swing carried blazing flames.
The giant found himself slightly giving ground, but it was still enough.
With the Assassin mourning his loss, Silver didn’t waste the opportunity, his Spatial Sense expanded once more. Pain stabbed through his skull but he ignored it.
The assassin had changed, his movements were faster but less controlled. The incomplete enhancement had disrupted his rhythm.
Silver saw it immediately.
’It seems he lost his timing...’
The assassin disappeared. Silver didn’t chase him with his eyes, instead, he watched the distortions. They were tiny ripples as space bent wherever the assassin moved; left, then behind, and... Above.
’There.’
Silver instantly pivoted and his sword met the knife.
CLANG!
The assassin’s eyes widened.
"What the fuck!...Again?"
Silver answered with his shoulder, he drove it into the assassin’s chest. The man slightly stumbled backward.
Silver fired twice.
BANG!
One round struck the assassin’s thigh while the second tore through his left shoulder. His blood sprayed across the concrete slabs.
The assassin hit the ground hard, his knife skidding several meters away. He tried to rise but his injured leg buckled.
"...Damn it!"
Silver’s breathing grew heavier and his vision blurred again. The system calmly spoke.
[Mental Energy: 18%]
{Recommendation: Terminate the battle immediately.}
’I know that’
Silver walked forward, sword in hand. The assassin glared at him.
"...You think you’ve won, huh?" He cruelly smiled.
Silver stopped five meters away.
"No but I think you’re losing."
Behind them, Ravenna and the strength contractor exchanged another earth-shaking clash. Mid-battle, the giant roared, abandoning his sword entirely and punching with everything.
Ravenna narrowly leaned aside.
The fist shattered an entire concrete pillar. The collapsing debris forced Ravenna backward. She landed awkwardly, her injured side screaming in pain.
The giant smiled.
"There you are."
He lunged straight at her. Ravenna crossed her sword but it was too late. The punch connected with her shoulder.
BOOM!
She was thrown across the riverbed. Her body bounced twice before rolling to a stop beside an overturned truck.
"...Ravenna!"
Silver instinctively turned, exactly what the assassin had been waiting for. A second knife appeared from inside his sleeve, hidden all along.
He threw it at Ravenna. Silver’s blood ran cold, she couldn’t move. Her shoulder had clearly dislocated from the impact. The knife spun straight toward her throat.
Silver moved faster than before, his strength boosted his speed faster than he imagined possible.
His shoulder exploded with pain. The knife punched clean through the reinforced fabric of his jacket, burying itself several centimeters into the muscle beneath his collarbone before its momentum died.
For a heartbeat, the battlefield became eerily quiet. The assassin blinked, his hands trembling harder.
"...He... What is wrong with you! Can you stay still for once!"
He had expected the knife to sink into Ravenna’s throat, instead, Silver had thrown himself between them.
Simply with the instincts of someone who had spent years reacting before his mind had time to think.
Warm and Sticky blood immediately soaked through his sleeve. Silver staggered one step before forcing himself upright.
His fingers wrapped around the handle of the knife but he didn’t pull it out. His old military memories screamed at him not to.
’Leave it, it’ll slow the bleeding’
Ravenna caught him before he could lose his balance.
"Silver!"
"I’m fine."
"No, you’re not!"
"I will be after we’ve killed these two, so chin up."
His voice remained calm despite the pain twisting through his shoulder.
His grey eyes lifted toward the assassin.
"You missed," he said, almost sardonically
The assassin’s expression darkened. Everyone knew he hadn’t missed but had been blocked by a rookie, again.
He spat onto the ground.
"...You’re becoming fucking annoying."
Silver smiled faintly.
"I’ve heard that before."
A deafening roar interrupted them. The strength contractor had seen everything. His furious gaze shifted between the three before staying on his partners.
"You fucking fool!" He shouted at his partner. "Finish the boy!"
"I was trying to help you in the first place!" he shouted back.