Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 585: Black Skull. (Part Seventeen)
It was... different.
In recent months, the anger Dante experienced went beyond a simple emotion, manifesting into reality as a suffocating pressure. His allies had informed him about the terror he induced when he was in that state, and even asked if it was an ability of his. Volcan couldn’t confirm anything about this pressure, and all they knew was that it manifested when his anger reached irrational levels.
Right now, Dante was sure that his anger had surpassed anything he had experienced in his life, but that anger—that rage, it didn’t manifest into the world the way it usually does. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
Strings of flesh thinned out like rubber pulled from both ends, and drops of crimson sprayed from some parts as they reached the limit of their elasticity. The screaming got louder and louder, but it never registered in Dante’s mind. His perception wasn’t enhanced, and time flowed normally. He was moving slowly as well, as if to ensure the effects of his actions would last far longer than they normally would.
The lights were on, banishing the shadows, leaving no corner hidden. The intention was clear—everything had to be visible. Everything had to be seen.
Looking inside, one would think a child got their hands on a brush and decided to paint the walls red, spilling the paint bucket and ripping everything off in the process.
That included the people there. The place wasn’t small by any means, yet it had been turned to one giant blender. One would have to do a literal head count to learn the number of people who had been put inside it. Each had a look of absolute agony frozen on their faces. Later on, the investigation would reveal that they all had their ligaments torn, leaving them incapable of moving. The end they suffered after that was slow and gruesome, and as each one had their turn, the others were forced to watch knowing that theirs would follow soon.
As he ripped the last of them apart, Dante was entirely calm. Too calm, even. Barely any thoughts ran through his mind, and all his movements were automatic, as if he were a machine calibrated to perform a single task—eliminate the scourge known as Black Skull, and ensure they would suffer right until the very end.
The screaming halted, not because the man whose arm he had just ripped was dead, but because the bastard’s throat gave in and he couldn’t utter a sound anymore. Dante had to work a little faster from there, seeing as the bastard’s blood would soon dry out.
The process brought Dante no satisfaction. It was born from the desire to see his purpose fulfilled, and so he went about it, feeling nothing the entire time. His emotions were muted, all except for one. Hatred was the fuel that kept him going, but instead of his anger, it fed into the ever growing void inside him.
He hated the Black Skulls. He wanted them to suffer. He wanted to erase them, even if doing so was futile. Killing the monsters wouldn’t bring back their victims. No matter how many heads he severed, no matter how many spines he shattered and hearts he ripped, time would never turn, and he would never be able to undo his mistakes. But he was going to continue doing it.
When the life in his hand ended, Dante let go of the remains and stood up. Not bothering to check his surroundings, he gave a mental command, activating the Sorcerous Art integrated into the helmet he wore.
The red demon mask was the newest version of Suzuka’s invisibility cloak, though unlike the previous one, it could do a lot more than erase his presence. Though not on the level of the blue demon suit, it was still an impressive piece of tech.
Dante vanished from the site of the carnage and went looking for the next. Volcan has already informed him of the next closest hideout. Once he made it outside, Dante accelerated his perception a little, did the same for his reflexes, then jumped. With a few steps, he scaled the building, never using his hands in the process. The claws extending from his feet pierced the concrete, creating a foothold which he then used to propell himself upward.
Once on the roof, he took off running, jumping between. As he arched through the air, he looked down at his body, staring at the pair of lusterless dark gray plating of his new legs.
After three months, the second piece of his MBI set had finally been completed. The surgery had been rushed, and he didn’t give himself the chance to get used to them. Despite that, Dante faced little trouble while using his new bionic legs. To be more accurate, he forced himself to adapt to them on the go. He had considered delaying the surgery until he was done, but knowing what he was about to do, it was clear that he needed all the power he could use, since he didn’t plan on using any of his armors.
His next target appeared on the map, an Dante was quick to locate them. They were on the fifth floor of a parking lot, rushing to load something into a truck. They were a group of six, and going by their tattoos, they were barely above the level of foot soldiers.
Deactivating Silent Breath as he wanted, Dante bent his body as he landed, leaning forward while crouching. Locking in on one of the bastards, he activated another one of his abilities—Instant Acceleration.
Like a bullet fired from the rifle of a sniper, Dante pierced the wall behind his target. An arm went flying, slamming into the ceiling before hitting the floor with a metallic clang. A powerful blast of air followed, and with it came the loud boom of the sound barrier breaking.
Shielding their eyes from the wind as they swayed, the vermin whipped their heads backwards, the horror that fueled their rush reaching new levels.
Weapons flew out of their holsters, and bullets exploded. Getting off the piller he has crashed into, Dante slowly walked toward the Black Skull thugs. His steps were slow and measured, and with each one he took, the fear he induced into his opponents rose to new levels. To them, he appeared to be walking in a straight line, and no matter how many times they shot him, the bullets would just phase through. If they were a little less panicked, they would have noticed that his figure blurred every time they pulled the trigger.
Dante wasn’t turning intangible — he simply moved out of the way whenever a bullet was fired, allowing it to move past him before returning to the same position, but just like how most people can’t see a bullet flying through the air, they couldn’t see his subtle movements, either.
When it came to his new legs, the Type most suitable to be their Module was 5. 5-3 granted an exceptional boost to Agility as an armor, and that boost didn’t diminish as a Module, allowing Dante to finally reach a speed on par with his accelerated perception at its maximum.
Since they were out in an open space, the shooting was likely heard by all. If it goes on for too long, someone might come to check, and Dante wasn’t in the mood to deal with anyone who doesnt have a tattoo on the left side of his face.
A step brought him to the first bastard, and his hand shot out, hitting him in the throat. It was only a light tap, but it was more than enough to crush the man’s throat, leaving him unable to speak or scream. Dante turned to the others, and a second later, he was done doing the same to them.
Next, he ripped the ligaments in all of their limbs and left them lying on the ground. Unable to move or even scream, all they could do is watch as he grabbed the first guy, the same one whose bionic arm he ripped, and started working on him.
Dante started with the man’s normal hand. He twisted the wrist until it popped then let it simmer for a moment, listening to the silent scream the bastard let out. When the initial shock faded and the man calmed, Dante did the same with the elbow next, then the shoulder. He went through every joint in the man’s body until he passed out then took out a taser, zapping him a little to wake him up. From there, Dante went back to the wrist and began slowly pulling on the bastard’s hand until he ripped it off. No sharp tool was used in the process.
Dante did the same for the others, taking his time with each one. Same as before, he felt nothing till the very end. Standing up, he looked at the pile of dismembered bodies dipped into a pool of their own blood, like the half digested remains spilled from the guts of a beast.
’Next.’
A new target appeared on the miniature, and with a mental command, Dante vanished once more, leaving behind the scene of another carnage.
