With that relief flowing through his body, now a weight was flung from his shoulders as he turned around, breaking off into a sprint, but–
The gunfire nearly swallowed him up as he dashed to the side, rolling across the ground and flipping to his feet.
I can't…! He thought.
It was in his face already, attempting to blast his head into kingdom come with that shotgun arm again as he ducked down, though it was more of a fall onto his rear than a proper dodge as the gun blasted past him, carving through the wall behind.
I can't shake this guy…! He thought.
As he used his hands to lift his lower body, he flipped around as if going into a breakdance with a gathering of energy around his leg.
"King Kick!"
[Spirit: -300 | 3150/3900]
Power swelled around his left leg as he used his taekwondo mastery to slam it into the side of the bulky Defect, unleashing a ground-trembling impact.
For the first time, an attack of his worked as it caused the Exterminator to be stunned for a moment with its pure-white flesh bruising at the point of impact.
Yes…! He thought.
As he jumped to his feet, he immediately began running, dipping into the alleyway for further coverage and slamming his shoulder through the first door he found, nearly stumbling over the trash bags on the other side.
It was a book store of some sorts, dark and moldy from the neglect of the apocalypse.
"...Huff…"
He ran forward, using the store as a cover as he ran towards the direction of the radiant Tower in the distance.
CRASH.
The wall to his right was blown away as the harrowing sight of the fish-headed, mutated divinity showed itself, having crashed through the wall as if it were simply cardboard.
Shit…! He thought.
He used the bookshelves as cover, though the hellfire of bullets began once more, carving through the wooden shelves with impunity as books fell all over, dropping onto his head and shoulders as he tried his best to hide.
…I'm an idiot! Did I really think I could do this?! I got cocky just because I held my own against Dae-Mon, but I only managed against him because he was insane! He played the whole time and basically let me damage him!--This thing is the total opposite! It's all work and no play! It wants me dead–no ifs, ands, or buts! He thought.
It was clear that his makeshift barricade wasn't going to hold but a mere few seconds as the gunfire spread across the library, decimating the archive of books.
I have to do something! He told himself.
Out of pure desperation and perhaps just an ounce of tactical knowledge, he used a powerful front kick to send the shelf in front of him flying forward, propelling it directly towards the gatling-gun toting Defect.
As it turned the malice of its spinning gun to the shelf that launched in its direction, filling it with holes and blowing it away, he had already made his move.
He used the distraction to jump up, running along the wall as the interior of the store was filled with fluttering papers that rained down like snow in a winter storm.
As light as a feather, he used the papers that glided in the air as footholds for his blinks, traversing the distance across the desolated bookstore as bullets chased him in the air.
Again! Dark Edge, Light Blade, and Ripper! He thought.
As he drew within range of one more blink from the Exterminator, looking down at it amidst the bridge of fluttering papers, his left dagger bore the radiance of heaven, and his right manifested the darkness of hell.
"Purgatory Ripper!"
[Spirit: -275 | 2975/3900]
With one last blink downward, he landed on the gatling arm of the fiend and executed the flurry of instantaneous strikes that glided into an array of divine and hellish cascades, bestowing their burning impunity onto the flesh of the entity forged only of violence.
The mixture of the elements of light and darkness interlaced with such potent slashes etched themselves in tangible cuts across the burly body of the Exterminator.
It was only for a moment, but after the successive slashes finished, the floors, walls, and ceiling near the target were cleaved by the radiance and darkness.
"--"
The Exterminator was as silent as always with its fish mouth always agape and its eyes lifeless, simply standing there as a dozen eviscerations were left on its body.
"..."
He exhaled slowly, looking up at it after landing on the ground. The wounds on its body were hardly deep; it was certainly not enough to put it down.
Not even that…? I know it's a high level, but my skills as an assassin are meant for extreme damage, exploiting weaknesses, and my combined skills amplify that! This thing is a mountain of steel! He thought.
There wasn't even enough time to make a run for it again as the Exterminator went back into fight-mode after just a few seconds, still inhabiting the steam on its body from the powerful slashes.
As it rushed him with another shotgun-bayonet combo, he blinked past it, crashing through the front window of the store as he strived to escape from the seemingly unbeatable foe, but it was once again proven futile–
SWOOOOSH.
He felt the air above his head shift as a shadow passed over him, but he fully realized what it was as it crashed down in front of him in the street, coming down like a meteor.
"--"
The Exterminator had leapt the distance of the block, intercepting his escape and staring him down with its lifeless, glazed-over eyes.
"...You're persistent, I'll give you that," he mumbled.
As he was thinking about, and simultaneously dreading, its defensive capabilities, something sprouted in his mind.
…If physical attacks aren't doing the job, then let's try something else, he thought.
This time he waited for it to charge him before as it once again attempted its seemingly favorite attack.
Left hand forward, you'll go for a shotgun-jab! He predicted.
As it did just that, he hopped straight up, standing over its head as he pointed his hand downward to it:
"Cast: Poison Cloud!"
[Spirit: -300 | 2675/3900]
The green mist of deadly fumes quickly expanded in the air, engulfing the space in which the Exterminator stood, though he still had to maneuver out of the way of a few bayonet swings and bullets being shot in his direction.
…There we go. How's that feel? He thought.
He watched anxiously with high hopes that were swiftly dashed as the Defect didn't fall. Though it momentarily thrashed and lashed out as the toxic particles that swirled in the air around it, replacing the oxygen with deadly fumes, it began to leave the cloud of poison.
It wasn't as though he believed the ability to be some sort of end-all-be-all, guaranteed-win, but it certainly had always had more of an effect than what he witnessed.
Seriously?! It's not going down…?! He thought.
There was clearly some damage down as it was breathing heavier and more ragged, but the utter drive to kill wasn't dwindled in the slightest as it launched towards him again.
Its gatling-turned arm began to morph as it rushed him, shifting into a new, unfamiliar shape as he kept himself ready for whatever was coming.
"--!"
Before he could get a look at what that right arm had morphed into, the left was jutted forward with a shotgun blast coming his way again.
He used a blink, rolling along the floor with the momentum as he managed to evade the burst of high-speed pellets without being nicked this time.
As he lifted his gaze again, he saw what shape the right arm of the Exterminator had chosen to take: a large formation of white steel, separated down the middle as strands of lightning coiled around the interior.
While he looked at it to try and decipher what it was, he began to figure it out as a golden energy gathered within it:
A railgun?! He realized.
Just as he came to this realization–it fired.
Any standing windows were pulverized by the shock wave that emitted; the ground vibrated just as the air, trembling at the might of the condensed, radiant beam of light shot directly towards him.
In the face of such power; a force that sizzled the air, cooking it and eradicating impurities in its path, he felt his blood shift between an icy cold and a burning heat before he managed to blink out of the way at the last moment.
Jesus fucking christ…! He thought.
That was the one thought that ran in his mind as he was standing there with his mouth agape, looking behind him at the devastation left in the path of the railgun's firing.
In a straight line down the street, the street itself had been carved up and melted, with a tunnel of steam swirling in a perfect shape. Strands of golden electricity hissed out from the steaming sediment left in the carved path of the blast.
His ears were still ringing; looking on as glass had coated the entire block from the desolation that had occurred over the course of a single moment.
What kind of ungodly power is that…? How is anybody supposed to survive something like that?! He questioned.
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