"He’s very powerful, most likely a Seedian Nexian, and he also has a Techno Weapon. It’s some kind of destructive energy bomb."
"Sounds like trouble," she replied as Declan pushed away the chunk of rock that had collapsed onto him.
He glanced down at his stomach, which was completely bloodied, though thankfully, the wound had not penetrated deep enough to expose his organs.
"It’s a big problem!" he replied, immediately running away from the spot and branching down the stairs.
"Just stay inside a building."
"He wouldn’t try to blow an entire building to dust... Civilian protocols. I’ll be out with the serum in about a minute."
She said this before the connection was severed.
"A minute, huh? I can last that long,"
Declan thought confidently to himself, only to pause when he reached a window halfway down the stairs.
His gaze immediately shifted outside, and his jaw dropped.
Shockwaves were rippling forward with incredible speed, heading directly toward the building he was currently inside. Judging from their trajectory, they were coming from another bomb that had been fired toward the structure.
SHATTTERRR!
The window shattered instantly as Declan punched through it and jumped out of the building without hesitation.
KAAAAABOOOOOM!
A terrifying explosion erupted behind him as the entire building was blown apart, its structure collapsing into countless pieces that came crashing down toward the streets.
"He... he blew up a building... But that’s against civilian code!?"
"Who the fuck is this guy!?" Declan screamed in horror as he ran across the streets.
BAAAANG!
BAAAANG!
BAAAANG!
The sounds of buildings being blown to dust rang out one after another as a figure flashed forward with unnatural speed, blasting through entire walls in pursuit of him.
In the next moment, Mortimer blasted through another wall and found himself out in the open air.
His neck made a faint whirring sound as his purple eyes locked onto his target, finding Declan racing across the streets below.
"BINGO!"
THROOOOOOOOOM!
The bazooka fired, and the tremendous force of the shot sent Mortimer flying backward by three meters.
His body crashed into a building at the side, yet his gaze remained fixed upon Declan as he watched the bomb rapidly closing in on him.
Declan’s shirt began burning to ashes from the approaching heat, while even his back radiated with a sharp, stinging pain.
[You really need to dodge, you know,] the system panel flashed before him, and at the final moment, Declan jumped toward the left.
The bomb crashed directly into the spot where he had been standing, and the force of the resulting explosion sent him flying into the sky once more.
The world revolved hundreds of times within the span of a second, and when Declan finally managed to regain his balance, he found himself hanging upside down in the air, his legs pointing toward the sky while his head faced the ground.
WHIISSTLLE!
The sound of something cutting through the air rang out, and Declan turned his eyes upward, only to find Mortimer standing in the air above him, the muzzle of his bazooka positioned directly before Declan’s face.
"It’s over," Mortimer said with a wicked grin.
Declan’s eyes widened as he watched the dark edge of the bazooka point directly at his face, barely ten centimeters away.
The weapon lit up brilliantly as Mortimer pulled the trigger.
Declan’s eyes couldn’t even close.
"I’m dying... again... so soon!? Fuck!"
Yet even after five seconds passed, nothing happened. The only movement was the two of them continuing to descend toward the ground.
"Oh."
Mortimer turned his head toward his own bazooka and pressed the trigger once more, but nothing happened.
"I ran out of bombs?"
Mortimer mused with a raised eyebrow, but when he turned his head back, he found a kick already coming directly toward his face.
His palm shot out with terrifying speed, catching Declan by the legs before he could connect, and Mortimer immediately flung him to the side.
VROOOOOOM!
BAAAAAAM!
The air whipped roughly past Declan’s face before his back smashed against the wall of a nearby building, a metallic taste filling his mouth as the impact rattled his entire body.
Yet in the next moment, he pushed himself out of the wall he had crashed into and shot toward Mortimer.
BOOOOM!
BOOOOM!
BOOOOM!
Three shockwaves erupted as Declan threw three consecutive punches, but Mortimer dodged every one of them with incredible speed.
Declan’s legs then shot forward, smashing toward Mortimer’s head, but the man lowered himself and avoided the attack, only for Declan’s other leg to swing upward from below and slam into the bazooka, kicking the weapon away to the side.
Spinning through the air, Declan gathered momentum with his legs before slamming down toward Mortimer, who crossed both arms over his head and endured the impact, though the force still drove him down onto one knee.
"Damn, you’re pretty good."
Mortimer said with a mocking grin, and in the next moment, he slipped one hand beneath Declan’s incoming kick and blocked it before throwing a punch directly toward his face.
Declan shifted his head to the side, but that only happened in his mind.
BAAAAAANG!
CRAAACCCCK!
The sharp sound of bones cracking resounded through the area as Declan’s face was smashed by the punch.
Blood and teeth flew through the air, and his body was roughly blown backward for twenty meters before finally crashing into the wall of a building for the second time.
The world rapidly turned blurry, but Declan gritted his teeth and forced himself away from the wall, landing on one knee.
STEP
STEP
STEP
The sound of footsteps echoed through the area, and Declan slowly raised his head, finding the purple-haired man walking toward him with that same devilish grin.
He forced himself back onto his feet, both hands clenched into fists and raised close to the sides of his face.
Rushing forward with all the momentum he could gather, he threw himself toward Mortimer, only for the man to effortlessly dodge to the side before—
BOOOOM!
An uppercut from below crashed into Declan’s jaw, lifting him half a meter into the air.
BAAAAAANG!
His chest caved inward as Mortimer’s kick smashed directly into it, sending Declan crashing back into the wall he had just left.
He’s far beyond my league...
The realization struck Declan as he felt several of his ribs crack from the kick, with one of them bending out of its proper position and piercing through his back, effectively nailing him to the wall from within.
The pain was horrifying, but the thought of his approaching death somehow kept it from overwhelming him.
He gritted his teeth and forced himself out of the wall, only for a hand to suddenly seize him by the neck before he could even collapse onto his knees.
Mortimer lifted the boy into the air with one hand while his other hand slowly formed into a fist.
BOOOOOOM!
BLEEERRRRGH!
Blood splashed across Mortimer’s face as his punch slammed into Declan’s stomach, causing him to violently cough out blood.
"Still not in tears, huh?" Mortimer mused with a sadistic expression as he stared at Declan, whose teeth remained clenched tightly together.
That expression shattered in the next moment when—
BOOOOOM!
BOOOOOM!
BOOOOOM!
Three more shockwaves erupted from Mortimer’s fist and slammed into Declan’s stomach almost simultaneously, causing even more blood, along with pieces of damaged organs, to burst from his lips as the world around him rapidly darkened.
"I want to hear you beg for your life..." The whisper crawled into Declan’s ears.
"Beg... and I might just show you pity."
’Hey, system,’
Declan thought internally as the panel blinked before him.
[Yes.]
"Has a minute already passed?"
{49 seconds.}
The answer flashed before Declan, who forced his gaze open and looked toward Mortimer, his lips moving weakly.
"Oh, finally at the limit."
"I can’t hear the begging. Say it louder."
"I..."
The word escaped Declan’s mouth before he immediately fell into a coughing fit that lasted for eight seconds.
"I..."
Mortimer leaned closer, apparently trying to hear him, and that sudden movement seemed to return a bit of energy to Declan, who finally spoke in a clear and fluid voice.
"I wouldn’t say sorry even if I fucked your mama, you bitch!"
[1 minute is up!]
Those words immediately set Mortimer off, his eyes twitching violently in anger.
In the next instant, his hand jerked backward as veins of energy surged through his arm, releasing a ripple of power that caused the air around his fist to distort as though it had been set ablaze.
"Then DIEEEE!"
He screamed as his fist shot directly toward Declan’s face.
It was immediately clear to Declan that if that punch connected with his already fractured skull, it would blow his head apart like a balloon.
Yet before the fist could touch him at all—
SHRIIIIIIIINGGGGG!
A spine-chilling sound echoed through the area, and in the next moment—
SOOAAAR!
A hand soared into the air as blood splashed across Declan’s face, his eyes remaining wide open as he watched an entire arm fly through the sky.
Mortimer’s eyes widened as he stared at his own severed arm.
"Wh..."
SHRIIIIIIING!
Another chilling sound rang out as a katana was unsheathed, and Declan dropped onto his knees, the hand that had been holding his neck falling to the ground as blood rapidly pooled beneath him.
Mortimer stumbled backward, both of his arms having been severed cleanly from his body.
"How!?" he screamed as Declan coughed violently, his lungs seemingly threatening to come out of his mouth.
He turned his head upward toward Mortimer, only to witness a scene that would forever remain scarred into his mind.
A dark shadow loomed behind the horrified Mortimer, and in the next moment,
SHHRRRIIIING!