Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 572: Black Skull. (Part Four)
The glowing blade went through the obsidian cyborg's skull and came out of his neck, piercing the cracked asphalt next and pinning him to it. The cyborg himself went still like a statue. Though its power source had been severed, the blade was still hot enough to cut through most alloys, meaning it only needed a couple of seconds to cook his brain. By the time that was done, the cyborg suddenly went limp, falling to his knees, then to his face.
'He… won't suddenly explode, right?'
[It appears the safety systems have been engaged.] Volcan said. [His reactor has gone dormant, so there is no need to be concerned.]
A click reached Dante's perception before his ears could pick it up. He disappeared the next instant, and the ground he had been standing on exploded. He had been aware of his remaining opponents this entire time and found it weird that they left him alone for several seconds. The sudden death of their comrade must have been quite the shock, but one of the gunners was quick to recover, and the three heads of his machinegun started rotating right after.
Evading the salvo, Dante locked onto the second melee fighter, intending to use the same trick to take him out. The cyborg must have realized it as he switched off the blades and reassembled his arms, sliding all the components back into their place until he had hands once again.
Jumping back to put some distance between him and Dante, the second vanguard raised his arm in the air. Something blew up a short distance away. Dante noticed it was one of the trucks parked near his club and saw something fly out of its back. It landed in the vanguard's right hand, and right after, it split open and surrounded his forearm.
Before Dante could discern what it was, the vanguard suddenly cast aside his caution and lunged at him. His speed must have been boosted somehow, allowing him to cross the distance between them faster than a thought. The contraption that had enveloped his arm snapped, and he swung down with everything he had. Dante reaction almost came too late, and soon enough, he felt glad that he chose to retreat instead of parrying or docking.
KRA-BOOOM!!!
The vanguard struck the road, and his fist blasted a hole through it. That hole expanded an instant later, turning into a crater. A shockwave spread out from the point of impact, turning the shattered asphalt into a destructive rain no different from the bullets the cyborgs fired from their shotguns.
"Tsk…"
Dante felt a spark of pain shoot up his nerves and realized that he had been injured. A sharp pebble barely larger than his fingertip had pierced his right leg, making him regret not investing in subdermal armor for his lower half. With a mental command, he shut down his pain receptors and immediately went after the bastard who caused his injury.
The vanguard raised his head and saw a hand reaching for his face. It clutched onto him before he could evade, so he quickly reached up to pry it off, only for everything to go dark before he could. According to Volcan, Type 8's spatial abilities didn't work inside the bodies of living beings because of the unique magnetic field each one has. That meant Dante couldn't use Spatial Distortion to scramble someones brain by bending the space inside their head or Spatial Severance to cut them from the inside.
An easy workaround was to manipulate several points in the space outside people's bodies, which would cause the effect to spread between them. Dante twisted the space around four points, and as they pulled onto the small area between them, everything that happened to be in that area was sliced off.
Dante pulled the vanguard's face, revealing a cross-section of the only part that is still human about him. With a grimace, Dante tossed it aside, then looked at the weapon the obsidian cyborg had just used.
'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?'
[Way ahead of you.]
Realizing that the second melee fighter was down, the gunners saw no reason to hold back anymore and started raining bullets. Dante hid behind his latest victim and opened his Storage, taking out an item and pretending to pull it out of his pocket. It was a single cable from the bundle he sometimes uses to make direct connections to devices without a wireless option.
Ripping off one of the plates on the dead cyborg's gauntlet exposed the connection ports underneath. Connecting one end of his cable into one of the ports, he then inserted the other end into his MLP.
As Volcan worked his magic, Dante wondered how the bastards shooting at him had yet to run out of ammo. It was then that he noticed a few boxes flying toward them, which made him feel stupid for not realizing it sooner.
The gauntlet the vanguard had used came flying toward him, and with that being the case, why wouldn't the others have something that delivers ammo toward them?
'Fucking drones…'
Dante guessed that each one came equipped with its own AI, allowing them to complete their job without the risk of Divers taking over them.
[It is complete.]
No sooner had Volcan said the words than the gauntlet split open, allowing Dante to remove the cyborg's arm and equip the weapon. The thing was much heavier than expected, which messed with his balance a little. Attached to it was something that appeared like a cannon, and seeing the round loaded into it confirmed Dante's suspicion.
As a new command appeared in his mind, Dante noticed that the bullets had stopped training. The vibrations traveling through the ground told him that at least one of the gunners had decided to take to the front and engage him.
Taking a deep breath, Dante enhanced his perception and reflexes and jumped out, immediately putting himself on a direct path to his opponent. A single step eliminated the distance between them, and as the obsidian cyborg brought down both of his incandescent blades, Dante planted his feet into the ground and twisted his body, throwing a punch with all his might behind it. The gauntlet encasing his fist hit the target, and the cannon on its back fired, driving a massive metal spike into his opponent. Even with his upper body no longer human and his pain receptors shut, Dante still felt the recoil as it shook his brain. The pile bunker blasted a hole straight through the obsidian cyborg, and as his innards shattered from the blow, the shock spread to the rest of his body, which blasted off the next instant, flying hundreds of meters down the road.
