Chapter 219
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 219
Mushir Al-Kashura was clad in a full-body exoskeleton combat suit.
The suit had been so heavily modified over the years that its original model was unrecognizable. Kashura himself was likely a brilliant engineer.
Even if it’s not on par with a full prosthetic body, an exoskeleton is still an advanced piece of combat gear.
It augmented his strength and reflexes, making it an all-weather combat weapon. Its metal frame also offered a baseline of protection.
With modern technology, an exoskeleton linked directly to the nervous system can achieve a responsiveness that rivals a prosthetic body.
Someone of Kashura’s caliber wouldn’t be using an off-the-shelf model. He had undoubtedly packed that bulky frame with countless hidden weapons.
The tubes and cables connected to the back of his head are his weak points. If I sever those, the suit will shut down.
I quickly identified Kashura’s vitals: his head, heart, neck, the connecting tubes and cables, and the metal box strapped to his back.
Whirrrr!
Kashura advanced, spinning his Hwagwang Magnetic Sword—or perhaps I should call it a Hwagwang Magnetic Spear. He closed the distance, the plasma spearhead a whirling vortex of light.
A heat haze shimmered around the thermal glow, making it seem as if the very air was cooking.
Sssssss.
I walked toward him, dragging my Hwagwang Yedo along the ground.
The asphalt sizzled and charred where the blade’s tip made contact. A black scar burned into the road, marking my path.
Hwagwang weapons must never clash.
When both combatants wielded Hwagwang weapons, the fight became bizarre. It demanded a display of extreme finesse, a clash of movements that defied all common sense.
I recalled my fight with Valek, a battle I had replayed in my mind countless times in anticipation of our reunion.
Mushir Al-Kashura is massive in that bulky exoskeleton.
Physical limitations were a constant.
A larger frame meant larger movements, and the design of Kashura’s exoskeleton was crude.
That suit is built for heavy firepower, not the rapid exchanges of close-quarters combat.
I kicked off the ground, raising the Hwagwang Yedo from where I’d been dragging it.
Shring!
The Hwagwang Yedo sliced through the air.
Kashura slid backward without lifting his feet. Motorized wheels built into his boots allowed him to glide across the ground. Feet and wheels—he had two modes of movement.
I have to press him now.
I knew he wasn't giving this his all.
It was a blow to my pride, but all that mattered was taking his head. Dying because you held back would be truly pathetic.
I bent my knees and lowered my waist into a deep stance.
Whoosh!
Kashura’s spearhead grazed the back of my neck. The plasma’s heat singed the hem of my clothes, causing it to smolder.
Closer.
I closed the distance until I was right up against him. Two pairs of optical lenses stared down at me.
The wheels on his boots spun violently in reverse as he prepared to back away again.
Aiming for his torso is a mistake. He’ll slip away before I can land a hit.
Despite his bulk, Kashura’s mobility was exceptional. His movements were large, yet he always stayed just out of my reach. In a word, he was experienced. He hadn’t engaged me in close combat for no reason.
He was compensating for his frame’s disadvantages with sheer skill.
But Kashura has never used a spear before.
His technique was clumsy. Worse, his inexperience in a Hwagwang-on-Hwagwang fight was making him hesitate.
Sizzle!
I cleanly severed the shaft of his spear. Half of the Hwagwang Magnetic Spear slipped from his grasp.
With only the hilt remaining, the ‘Hwagwang Magnetic Spear’ was once again a ‘Hwagwang Magnetic Sword.’
Swish!
As the weapon fell, I flicked the hilt with the tip of my foot, redirecting its blade toward Kashura.
Thump!
With a spring-like twist of my body, I lashed out with a powerful kick, launching the hilt straight at him.
Let's see you dodge this, even if you run to the ends of the earth.
The Hwagwang Magnetic Sword shot toward the retreating Kashura’s chest. Since he was moving on wheels, a sudden lateral evasion would be difficult.
Even with my Akies Victima, I couldn't see a future where that bulky frame dodged the flying sword.
He only has one option left.
And Kashura chose the exact one I’d anticipated.
Ssssss!
He thrust his left hand forward, letting the blade of the Hwagwang Magnetic Sword bite deep into his palm.
He’ll deflect it to the side before his palm melts completely.
Kashura moved precisely as I predicted, sacrificing a hand to block the attack.
Clatter! Ssssss!
The deflected Hwagwang Magnetic Sword clattered to the road, melting the asphalt and sinking into a pool of liquefied concrete and metal.
Drip, drip.
Kashura’s left hand was in the same state. A brief moment of contact with the plasma was all it took to turn it into a gooey, melting mess.
“Impressive. Impressive. Impressive!”
Kashura repeated the word with a bizarre, rhythmic cadence. He tapped his melting left wrist with his right hand in a mock applause.
“Splendid, Luka. As expected, it was sheer arrogance to challenge you in your own element.”
Kashura widened the distance between us, not sparing a single glance for the discarded Hwagwang Magnetic Sword.
Damn it. I failed to land a fatal blow while his guard was down.
I cursed inwardly, but a part of me surged with anticipation.
Finally, Kashura was about to show his true specialty.
“And now I see why the Hwagwang series is considered a failure. I doubt there are many on Planet Novas who can wield these things with any practical efficiency. Even the exceptional Valek never truly mastered it.”
Kashura drove his remaining Hwagwang Magnetic Spear into the ground, discarding it. The spear melted through the asphalt, sinking deep into the road.
Kashura is completely detached from material greed.
Even if the Hwagwang series were failures as weapons, they still commanded an exorbitant price. That didn't even account for the value of Ignium, their primary material.
Yet Kashura abandoned both weapons without a shred of regret.
“I shall give you Valek’s position, Luka. It’s clear now that you are the one I need—not Valek, not Kinuan.”
It was a strange thing to say.
Clack, clack.
A mechanical noise echoed from the metal box on his back.
Two additional pairs of folded auxiliary arms deployed. They gripped four different firearms, ranging from conventional ballistics to energy weapons.
Kashura’s specialty is firepower projection.
I had expected as much.
There was no reason for a personal exoskeleton to be so massive. It was heavy armor designed for overwhelming firepower.
His moniker, ‘One-Man Army,’ had also been bothering me.
No matter how skilled a swordsman like me was, they would rarely be called a ‘One-Man Army.’
Kashura possessed the firepower to single-handedly take on an entire army.
Clank, clack.
The two pairs of auxiliary arms on his back moved, loading and aiming the weapons. The movements were far too natural to be driven by simple AI or programming.
Machines could be precise, but they were rarely natural. Natural movement implied the occasional delays and errors unique to living organisms.
Are those auxiliary arms cybernetic prosthetics?
A chill ran down my spine. Perhaps I had misjudged him completely.
Maybe Mushir Al-Kashura isn't wearing an exoskeleton… but is a full-body prosthetic.
I never imagined a full-armor combat prosthetic of this class existed outside the Empire.
It was no coincidence he reminded me of a ‘Legion.’
An individual owning a Legion-class full-armor prosthetic.
I couldn't help but wonder about his background and identity. A full-armor prosthetic was a special-purpose body that went far beyond the concept of an everyday replacement. It wasn't a weapon meant for an individual to own and operate.
And we’re outside the Empire, on top of everything else.
I stared at Kashura’s two pairs of auxiliary arms.
Including his original arms, he's using three pairs.
It was an incredibly complex and inefficient configuration.
The more a prosthetic body deviated from the human form, the greater the strain on the brain. To control nonexistent limbs through the nervous system, the brain had to fundamentally restructure itself. The resulting loss of humanity was an inevitable side effect.
Whir.
Kashura had two pairs of optical lenses, a total of four.
Whir, whir.
The four lenses now moved in different directions. Unlike before, they weren't focused on a single point.
The same was true for the auxiliary arms. Each arm aimed in a different direction, tracking its corresponding lens as if it were an independent entity.
What the hell is his brain structured like?
The question almost burst from my throat. I was capable of dual-thought processing, but this level of multi-threaded division was impossible.
I couldn't even begin to fathom the kind of modifications and enhancements Kashura’s brain must have undergone.
Click.
Soon, I no longer had the luxury of wondering.
Boom!
Kashura’s firepower projection began. Four arms relentlessly pulled their triggers, saturating my path.
It’s like facing four elite marksmen at once.
…It was horrifying.
My current position, my intended direction, my backup routes, and even a third, unpredictable vector—
Kashura’s barrage was suffocating, cutting off every single path.
Bang!
I deflected live rounds with the flat of the Hwagwang Yedo’s blade and dodged the energy beams.
Boom!
A shock round exploded right where I was about to step. I suddenly missed my Ruina.
Just dodging took everything I had. I couldn't see any way to close the distance.
Kashura maintained a perfect range, pouring on the firepower while using his free right arm to reload guns and pass them to his auxiliary limbs.
He didn't give me a single moment to breathe.
If this keeps up, my concentration will break first.
It was a miracle I was even holding on, a feat only possible thanks to the bullet-dodging training I’d done with Ragnata to prepare for Ilay.
Kashura’s thought processing is as fast as mine. And… he’s using Akies Victima.
I felt it instinctively. He wasn't just reacting to my movements; he was thinking on my level.
Kashura anticipated and countered every erratic move I attempted, matching my thought speed step for step.
An ex-Imperial Guardsman? If he’s an Akies Victima user, what’s his connection to Kinuan?
My mind was crystal clear, a peak state of concentration driving my body.
…Yet, it was suffocating. Even with Akies Victima, I couldn't find a breakthrough. Every time a variable or a solution flashed in my mind, Kashura shut it down in the same instant.
Being on the receiving end of this is incredibly annoying.
I leaped to the side, trying to get off the road. If I could make it into the urban area, it would be harder for him to get a clean shot.
Bam! Bam!
Shock rounds exploded to block my escape, herding me back onto the road time and time again.
Ha, this bastard!
The curse slipped out.
I just need a moment. A split second!
I had one option left. I sprinted across the road toward a half-destroyed cargo truck.
Screeech!
I slid under the truck mid-stride.
Akies Victima isn't a technique that creates something from nothing.
No matter how brilliant Mushir Al-Kashura was, he didn’t know all of F.A.I's functions.
F.A.I didn’t just have a preheating function; it was also equipped with a cooling system.
Sssssssss!
As I slid out from under the truck, I plunged the blade into F.A.I's cooling port and immediately pulled it back out. A thick shroud of steam, generated by the coolant cartridge, enveloped me.
Ping!
The spent coolant cartridge, having absorbed the blade’s heat and hardened, was forcibly ejected.
Sssss!
The scorching-hot cartridge melted the asphalt the moment it landed.
I emerged from beneath the truck shrouded in steam. The blade’s thermal glow had subsided to a faint, subdued light.
Sssss—!
Clad in vapor, I dashed in a straight line toward Kashura. One of his optical lenses locked onto my blade, freezing in place.
You didn’t expect a cooling function, did you? Long live Lapis Lazuli, you bastard!
I only had one shot.
From this moment on, I would deflect every single round he fired and charge straight ahead. I could guarantee one thing: there wouldn't be a second chance.