Loser to Legend: Gathering Wives with My Unlimited Money System-Chapter 507: The Strongest Mercenary

"Push!" someone shouted from Jareth's side.

And they did. Grenades arced in from three angles. A net of energy fire crossed his path. Kylus took the hit head-on, armor flaring, systems compensating as he drove forward anyway. He grabbed a mercenary mid-reload, used the man as a shield for half a second, then threw what was left of him into a turret hard enough to snap the mount clean off.

His assistant stayed glued to his flank.

She dropped into a slide as incoming fire stitched the ground above her, came up firing with a compact launcher that spat micro-missiles into clustered targets. The explosions were precise, ripping apart equipment and bodies without wasting blast radius.

When Kylus surged ahead, she shifted lanes, snapping orders into open comms, rerouting drones, calling out threats before they materialized.

They were a perfect duo, and both of them were ruthless.

Jareth watched it all from behind a shattered bulk of stone, jaw set, mind working faster than his hands.

"Collapse the east flank," he shouted. "Force him into the center!"

His crew obeyed. Charges went off in sequence, bringing down chunks of old infrastructure and funneling the fight inward. For a moment, it worked. Dust swallowed Kylus' position. Fire slackened. Someone cheered too early.

Kylus burst out of the cloud like he'd been waiting for it.

He hit the ground running, blade in one hand now, weapon discarded somewhere behind him. The blade moved faster than their eyes could follow, cutting through shields and armor with brutal efficiency.

A squad rushed him together, trying to overwhelm by numbers. Three went down before they even closed distance. The fourth landed a solid hit that cracked against Kylus' shoulder and did nothing but draw his attention.

Kylus answered with a headbutt that dropped the man instantly.

The assistant vaulted over a burning wreck, landed near him, and tossed a device at his feet. It detonated into a localized gravity well that dragged debris, bodies, and cover inward, tearing Jareth's formation apart and leaving them exposed.

"Fall back!" Jareth yelled.

Alas, it was too late.

Kylus waded into the opening, fire and steel working in tandem as his crew pressed in behind him, shouting, laughing, screaming war cries that echoed off the basin walls. Jareth's people fought back just as fiercely, firing until barrels glowed, throwing everything they had to slow the advance.

The ground gave way under the strain.

Old support pylons collapsed. The basin floor split open in places, swallowing wreckage and men alike. Fire climbed the broken structures, lighting the battlefield in harsh, flickering bursts.

Through it all, Jareth moved forward.

He didn't rush or hide. He advanced step by step, firing when he had clear shots, deploying countermeasures when he didn't. A wrist-mounted emitter flared as Kylus' assistant fired on him, the blast deflecting just enough to keep him moving.

They saw each other at the same time.

Kylus slowed, boots crunching over shattered stone, blade hanging loose at his side. His armor was scorched and dented, but he moved like nothing had touched him. Smoke curled off his shoulders as he stepped into open ground.

Jareth stopped across from him, weapon lowered but ready, breath steady despite the chaos around them.

"So," Kylus said, voice carrying easily over the noise. "You're the one."

Jareth met his gaze. "Long time no see. You were a little runt when I saw you. Always crying and clinging to Bull."

Kylus laughed, a harsh sound that cut through the din. "Well, you would be the one crying in a few minutes… no, seconds."

They moved at the same time.

Jareth fired first, switching modes mid-burst, energy rounds turning into concussive impacts meant to stagger rather than kill. Kylus twisted through the fire, blade coming up, deflecting one shot and taking another straight to the chest without slowing.

He closed the distance fast.

Jareth brought up a collapsible shield, the impact shuddering through his arms. Kylus followed with a kick that sent Jareth skidding backward through debris. Jareth rolled, came up firing again, then triggered a line of charges that detonated between them, throwing fire and stone into the air.

Kylus came through it anyway.

The basin shook as they collided again, the fight between them tearing a path through the wreckage. Around them, their crews clashed just as violently, shouting, bleeding, and refusing to give ground.

Rin had been watching the clash unfold through gaps in the wreckage, breath coming hard, eyes locked on the space where Kylus and Jareth kept crashing into each other like colliding machines.

"That's insane," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

Reva shot him a look. "Focus."

"I am," Rin said, already shifting his weight. His grip tightened on the sword, knuckles whitening. "I'm focused on the part where two monsters tear the basin apart and we sit here pretending we're not fighters."

Viola didn't turn. "You step out there, you don't become the deciding factor. You become another variable they swat away."

Rin's mouth pulled into a grin that didn't match the exhaustion on his face. "Maybe. Or maybe I land one hit. That's all it takes sometimes."

Before anyone could stop him, he pushed up from cover.

Reva rose with him.

Arlen's head snapped around. "Reva—"

"I'm not hiding anymore," Reva said. Her voice carrying more than anger. "Not while people bleed out there and call it a war. If I'm going to die, it won't be crouched behind stone."

Requiem stepped into her path, not blocking her completely, but close enough to force her to look at him. "Lyra stays alive because we don't get emotional."

Reva held his gaze. "Lyra stays alive because I end this faster."

For a moment, no one moved.

Then Requiem nodded, once. "Clear a path. Don't chase glory."

"There is no way I can stay put when there are people to kill. We are going to die here anyway, and I will never get such a chance again, so I would rather die fighting. That's what I am best at."

Rin laughed under his breath and launched forward.