BZZZ!

The moment the Zerphyr-7 Stealth Reconnaissance UAV came for them, still on top the hill where they hid since, Daren and Talia didn’t leave immediately as they looked at the distant Exodus of terrorists that were coming for them.

Every single one of these terrorists were heavily armed, and their trucks were even more heavily armed.

Talia was sure that there were multiple E Rank Ascended among them.

’This...’

Then she looked at the distant battle of grayish white and violet where the world seemed to be slowly fragmenting around them.

"We need to escape..." she murmured in a daze.

Daren quickly dragged her into the Zerphyr-7, and the stealth aircraft took off.

...

Riding on top the Sentry-IV Autocannon Drone, Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq saw the full scale of what was coming for them and within less than a minute, he saw it grow rapidly from below 200 trucks to over 500 trucks with more than 3000 terrorists!

Even for a mercenary with his type of combat experience, an event like this was still shocking. His brain whirred as he thought rapidly, then he changed his mind.

’We can kill Dhruv another time!’

The sheer numbers of the enemies made him change his mind. Unlike Leon, he knew the true depths of the Extremist Movement, including what they can do and how far they could go to achieve their goals.

Ring... Ring...

He rang Leon’s contact immediately.

Click!

Unlike what Umar feared, the D Rank Mechanist picked the call and instantly, he saw him seated comfortably inside the cockpit of his mech suit.

He didn’t look like a man that was intimidated by the Exodus at all, and he didn’t look like a man who was fighting an extremely intense battle.

"What are you doing?!" Umar bellowed, feeling slightly angry at his ally’s nonchalance. "We can’t take on so many terrorists at once, their numbers is only going to get more and more with time!"

"This is their territory!"

"I don’t even know how many hidden weapons they have here! We’re vulnerable and exposed!"

"We have to escape, NOW!"

Boom... Boom... Boom...

Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq could hear the background sounds of the devastating battle between Leon and Dhruv Laden.

He was anxious.

Leon finally answered and he didn’t even look at him. "The mission is not completed yet, Dhruv must die".

Umar was stunned, then he became angry. "What the f*ck?! We’re in danger!"

Leon unleashed another salvo, then he calmly answered. "If we can’t even kill Dhruv, then there’s no need aiming for Bill Zefyr, don’t’ you think?"

"..." Umar was stunned.

He opened and closed his mouth, he was tongue-tied.

For the first time, he finally realized the type of psychopath that he decided to ally with. ’So f*cking stubborn... and annoying!’

The Lt. Colonel wanted to escape, but at the same time his morals simply wouldn’t let him abandon an ally deep within enemy territory. So he stood his ground, riding the Sentry-IV Autocannon Drone towards the battlefield.

...

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The bombardment continued.

At first after sending out the signal flare to call for reinforcements, Dhruv was no longer anxious and afraid as for the first time, he regained his confidence and fully focused on defense, locked in.

When he felt the ground quake with the sound of his subordinates coming for him in waves, he smirked and grinned inside his slowly dying Knight Exosuit.

He glared at the mech suit. ’Fight now, bastard!’

’Stay and fight if you have the guts!’

That was almost 2 minutes ago, and yet despite everything that he thought, expecting the Mechanist to have retreated long ago already, the Mechanist was still right in front of him, bombarding him.

Dhruv estimated that his Knight Exosuit wouldn’t last another minute.

And finally, he became anxious again. ’What the hell!’

’How stubborn is he?!’ He felt angry again. ’Ah, I want to strangle him!’

’Why can’t you just let me live???!’ He was so angry that he couldn’t think straight

By now, the reinforcement were no longer distant as the first wave finally broke over the battlefield.

They recklessly barged into the battlefield of D Rank Ascended!

Bikes launched off dunes, trucks smashed through debris, figures howled, and the sound of gunfire echoed in the background like thunder, colliding without hesitation as the world became a canvas for violence.

Behind them, more kept coming. And more. And more. And more...

An entire army, summoned in what felt like a heartbeat.

The wasteland had answered, and it came hungry, yet Leon showed no fear, standing his ground with a reckless stubbornness as more crates descended from the sky around him.

There were now 20 Doom Rover v0.2s surrounding him!

Command Link Network!

Leon went all out for the first time since becoming a D Rank Warmachine Specialist as he put all his war machines to use!

The world groaned around him and the enemy Knight Exosuit.

Seeing him stand his ground despite being surrounded by so many terrorists, causing even more damage per second to his Knight Exosuit as the number of war machines increased, Dhruv despaired. ’DAMN YOU...!’

Then he saw a familiar war machine finally arrive, the Sentry-IV Autocannon Drone! And he saw Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq on top it.

Seeing the black mercenary again and recalling the obliterating firepower of the Gun Drone, Dhruv realized for the first time. ’I’m going to die...’

The realization hit like a drop of cold water on his head, drowning him in the sober reality of impending death.

Organic Weaponry!

Blood Manipulation!

BZZZZZZ!

Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq joined the fray!

Seeing this, the realization hit even harder but instead of crying in fear or screaming in despair, Dhruv laughed inside his Knight Exosuit in a deranged and unhinged manner.

By now, the massive Exosuit was just bones and skeletons.

Leon had stripped it of its armor!

"Hahahahahahahaha...!" He laughed till he wheezed while still defending for his life.

"Muahahahahahahahahahaha...!"

He looked around him. "To think one day I’ll be surrounded by so many allies, and yet I can’t even survive".

He focused on the mech suit again. "What a stubborn enemy".

He no longer felt frustration, he no longer felt angry, all he felt was respect and a deranged desire to go out in a blaze.

He laughed again. "Hehe... the Great Dhruv Laden is not going to go out defending like a b*tch!"

He grinned within his dying Exosuit as his eyes ignited with burning violet flames. "The Great Dhruv Laden is going to go in a blaze!"

He laughed, then he roared at the sky. "ACTIVATE WORLD-EATER!"

After that, Dhruv struggled to raise the claws of his battered Ratel Knight Exosuit, then he took a step towards Leon and called at him. "Come Mechanist, let’s go in a blaze!"

"Let’s make it wondrous," he grinned like a mad man. "Let’s make it f*cking unforgettable!"

Inside the Bulwark MK.II Titan Frame, Leon didn’t focus on Dhruv’s immediate words as his brain whirred. ’World-Eater? What’s that?’

He was curious, but he didn’t pay too much attention to it. Instead, he accepted Dhruv’s invitation for a final clash to destroy him in a final blaze.

This was an opportunity that he had no intention of missing.

The Cannons on the Bulwark MK.II Titan Frame’s forearms retracted, and then Leon unsheathed the Great Plasma Blade again as he stepped towards the Ratel Knight Exosuit with big powerful strides.

He raised the Great Sword, then he swung it at the enemy.

His blade cut, the Ratel’s claws cut, and the sky screamed.

CLANGGGGGGG!

The impact of the clash echoed like a clap of thunder!

This time, Leon overpowered the Ratel Knight Exosuit easily as the Plasma Great Sword cut through the Ratel’s claws, then its hands, and then through its entire torso and its pilot like a hot knife through butter!

In the process, the Great Plasma Blade evaporated Dhruv completely, leaving no remains of the once mighty terrorist!

Dhruv Laden died surrounded by thousands of his subordinates!

DING!

~----~

[Congratulations! You have killed a D Rank Cyber Gladiator of the Exo Knight Class Specialization!]

[You have gained +313 Ascended Essence!]

[You have gained +500 Data Points!]

...

[Ascended Counter: 753/4000]

~----~

For a brief moment, the world became still in stunned silence as Leon finally exhaled, but then, the world suddenly became bright from the horizon.

DING!

The Zerphyr-7 lit up with an emergency notification in a bright red font and on CAPSLOCK.

[WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!]

[INCOMING! NUCLEAR BOMB!]

"...!"

...

[Special Appreciation to r03n, ImperialJadeDragon, Shadesworn, MachaMarvelous, Yametekudastop, and Otaku_Daoist for the Golden Tickets, thanks for the support!]