"You sent a poor old man to the other side."
The voice echoed from behind him, and Zignu immediately spun around and fired.
THRUUM!
Once again, the shot met nothing, burrowing into a nearby tree.
He rapidly turned to the side, only to watch in stupefaction as the young man flashed between the trees.
His speed was so fast that his eyes couldn’t even pick up his true form.
All he could do was turn his head, following the gusts of wind left in Declan’s wake.
"What the hell!? How’s he so fast!?"
"Wait...A Nexian!?"
"You’re quite slow."
The words whispered directly beside his ear and Zignu reflexively slapped his hand toward the side.
SLAAPPP!
The resulting sound was even louder as a palm collided with the back of his hand.
A sudden tug followed, and Zignu was sent stumbling forward, only to find a knee rapidly rising into his vision.
BANG!
CRACK!
It connected sharply, and the sound of bones creaking ringing out.
Zignu staggered backward, teeth clenched against the pain as he hurriedly raised his weapon and fired.
THRUUUM!
THRUUUM!
Two shots tore through the air, but once again, they missed, as Declan appeared directly beneath him.
His fist slammed into Wyatt’s shoulder, sending the weapon flying from his grasp.
He leapt into the air, and Zignu recovered just in time to see a knee flying towards his face for the second time.
BOOM!
Two teeth flew from his mouth, and his face rippled from the impact before his entire body was sent flying like a rag doll, crashing hard against a nearby tree.
Declan landed gently on both feet, his eyes shifted toward the weapon lying on the ground.
He picked it up, but the instant he did, his expression changed, and he hurriedly threw it away.
KABOOM!
A powerful explosion erupted several meters away, smoke billowing outward and quickly swallowing Declan.
COUGH!
COUGH!
Turbid coughing came from within the smoke as Declan stumbled out, waving his hand through the air to clear his vision.
"Damn Self-IDs!" he cursed beneath his breath.
The model of pistol they were using was equipped with a special chip known as a Self-ID chip.
Once configured, if anyone other than the registered user held the weapon, it would automatically explode, with enough force to blow the user’s hands apart in a shower of blood.
It was a simple security protocol designed to prevent enemies from turning their own weapons against them.
However, the feature was usually deactivated in most cases because allies could also end up using the same weapons.
Nobody wanted their own allies losing their hands just because they picked up the wrong gun.
But who would have guessed this freak had his activated?
Thankfully, Declan had realized what was happening and thrown the weapon away before it could explode in his hands.
WHEEZE...
A faint wheezing sound reached his ears, and Declan turned toward the nearby tree.
Zignu was still there, repeatedly coughing up droplets of blood, he raised his head and flashed Declan a sick grin.
"You’re quite strong, I’ll give you that...Kid!"
He coughed again, blood staining his lips.
"To think someone like you could already be such a powerful Corer..."
He forced himself to chuckle.
"Come on. You still have your spear, don’t you? Come end me."
His grin widened into a taunt.
"Don’t tell me you’re a scared little doggy."
Declan ignored him completely walking over to one of the severed hands lying on the ground and picked up the pistol it was still gripping.
Thankfully, the Self-IDs hadn’t been activated on these weapons.
Declan took the rest of the pistols and carrying the hands, walked towards one of the flying pods.
He pressed the five fingers against the glass of the first pod.
BEEP!
"Welcome, Sumo. Permission to fly granted."
The AI’s voice rang out as the hatch opened, and Declan tossed the weapons inside, but he didn’t enter immediately.
Instead, he walked toward the second pod, opening it with the severed hands.
He quickly tapped several buttons on the control panel.
"Self-destruction code has been implanted."
"The ship will now self-destruct in thirty seconds."
Declan nodded in satisfaction before entering the other pod.
VROOM!
The engine roared to life, and the pod began to rise from the ground.
Declan gave Zignu one final glance, trying to keep a cool face, but in the end, he couldn’t help it, as he burst out laughing like a madman.
Then he accelerated away from the scene.
"He...He didn’t kill me?"
Sumo stared in shock as Declan’s pod disappeared into the distance, but then the realization struck him.
"No, no, no..."
He cursed and struggled to rise, but he only managed to get halfway upright when the remaining pod suddenly erupted.
BANG!
The explosion didn’t spread far.
Instead, the pod simply collapsed onto the ground, reduced to a heap of useless metal.
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
______________
[You decided to spare him?]
The system panel flashed as Declan sat behind the flying pod’s controls, guiding it forward.
A faint smirk appeared at the corner of his lips.
"I didn’t kill any of them."
He claimed innocently.
"The only one who died was that old man, and Sumo was the one who shot him."
"The other two in the pit are still very much alive."
[Why did you keep them alive?]
[Aren’t they better off dead since their existence still poses a threat? They could report your existence to the organization.]
Declan shrugged.
"While I did keep them alive, their last pod has been destroyed and I’ve taken their weapons."
He glanced toward the distance.
"It’ll be a miracle if they survive the night against those crazy beasts. So..."
He shrugged indifferently.
"They’re as good as dead anyway."
The System fell silent for a moment, processing the facts after which the message flashed.
[Poor souls.]
"Nah, it’s fine. All jobs have their bad days..."
Declan turned his attention toward the beeping map displayed on the front console.
"Now, let’s get out of here."