Battle Alien Creatures

The rubble and dust slowly settled. After the explosives had gone off, a charred, damaged hole had appeared in the outer wall of the underground passage, which reeked of acrid gunpowder. Cracks spread across the surrounding wall as well.

"Looks like it worked." Kyle stepped forward again and shrugged.

"Yes. As long as we stack three bombs of that power, we can break through the outer wall of this passageway." Weiss agreed.

"That makes things easier." Kyle clapped his hands lightly and was about to draw another card when a sharp whistle of air suddenly came from the passage behind him. An overwhelming sense of danger rose in his heart, even sending a chill down the back of his neck.

Almost instinctively, Kyle ducked his head. The moment he made that reflexive movement, a silver-white blade flashed dangerously over his head, cutting off several strands of hair.

As Kyle evaded the lethal strike, his face turned cold. He counterattacked with a backward elbow strike, but his elbow only plunged into empty air.

His opponent had actually delivered the slash at the speed of sound and, without even a pause from the follow-through, effortlessly evaded his precise close-range counterattack!

Everything had happened in a flash. To ordinary eyes, it would have needed to be slowed down more than three times to make out that, in that brief instant, the two had already completed a probing exchange.

What incredible speed! Kyle was shocked inwardly. Every muscle in his body tensed as if facing a mortal enemy. He turned around, his eyes gleaming coldly as he swept his gaze behind him.

It was the Scythe Form man who had advanced into the final four. Staring directly at Kyle as though he had found prime prey, he said with great interest, "Not bad. You avoided my quick slash. Good reflexes. You really are formidable."

"Why did you attack me?" Kyle asked coldly. Someone had suddenly jumped out and slashed at him for no reason. Under normal circumstances, he would have exploded long ago, but escaping was the priority now. He did not want to be tangled up here by some inexplicable challenger.

"Why? The weak are prey to the strong, and the strong rule. That is the eternal law of the universe. Why ask so many questions?"

The Scythe Man chuckled, his narrow eyes revealing a cruel, inhuman glint. Raising his scythes, he said, "I am from the Blade Clan of the Z-System Planet. Our race was born to fight and behead. The moment I arrived on Planet Sakaar, I beheaded every living creature I saw!"

He licked his lips and continued, "That ruler called the Grandmaster said that if I won the Champion’s Match, he would pardon my crimes. But who needs his pardon? As long as I can fight powerful creatures, cut off the heads of the strong, and taste their blood, that is enough!"

"Master, without a doubt, this is a deranged lifeform driven by slaughter. It attacks other lives without purpose, purely for its own pleasure," Weiss whispered into Kyle’s ear.

"You don’t need to tell me that." Kyle’s face remained expressionless as he stayed on high alert against the Scythe Man.

Things had become troublesome.

"If I can cut off your head, that should make for quite a memorable occasion."

The Scythe Man suddenly stepped forward into a lunge, bringing both scythes down in a fierce gale. Kyle had already been prepared. He nimbly stepped aside, barely avoiding the blow. The scythes struck the wall behind him, slicing through it like tofu and leaving smooth slash marks.

An ordinary person would either die or be crippled from a single hit. Even a Super Soldier’s extraordinary physique would have a chunk of flesh cut clean off.

Kyle was not mild or weak by nature. After being provoked and attacked repeatedly by this alien creature, the anger he had been holding back surged up again.

"If you want a fight, then fight!"

Cold light flashed in Kyle’s eyes as he stomped hard on one of the opponent’s blade-like arms. The Scythe Man tried to yank it back, but he had underestimated Kyle’s strength. His arm only trembled and loosened slightly, failing to pull free in time.

Seizing the chance, Kyle twisted his body and launched a flying kick, sending the Scythe Man crashing away. He bounced off the passage wall and floor several times, kicking up rolling clouds of dust.

But very quickly, under Kyle’s icy gaze, the Scythe Man pushed himself up with his blade-like arms. A few bright-red drops of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, yet he bared his teeth in a savage laugh. "I knew I hadn’t misjudged you! That’s more like it. Fight me!"

Kyle ignored him. Reaching behind himself, he rapidly materialized cards and threw two black, round objects toward the Scythe Man, while quickly retreating several steps.

"What are these?" The Scythe Man looked up and instinctively swung both scythes, cutting the thrown objects in half. The next moment, two bursts of fire and explosive shockwaves erupted before him.

"Bastard! Fight me head-on!" The Scythe Man’s shriek rang out from within, making the skin crawl.

"Who said I was going to fight a monster born with dual blades in close combat? Aren’t you fast? Come chase me."

Kyle’s lips curled in mockery. Without the protection of the Venom Suit and Vibranium Bracer, and without the Venom Suit Form or the Sodium-Carbon Steel Sword for offense, only someone with a damaged brain would fight barehanded against a monstrous race born for battle.

Once he understood the gap between their strengths, he could simply make up for it with tools.

With a thought, he rapidly drew cards. High-Explosive Grenades, fragmentation grenades, and more were thrown forward in a relentless stream, sealing off the passage.

For a time, explosions of all sizes continuously echoed through the underground passage, mixed with the Scythe Man’s enraged and pained cries.

The narrow underground passage already greatly restricted his speed. Grenades could produce extraordinary effects inside it; there was nowhere he could dodge without making the wrong choice.

After being repeatedly bombarded by grenades and explosives, the Scythe Man managed to evade the most dangerous central blast zone each time with his speed. Even so, his hair had been scorched black, and he was left in a miserable state, covered in blood and reeking of gunpowder.

"I refuse to believe… that you have that much ammunition on you…" The Scythe Man gritted his teeth and raised his no-longer-smooth scythes again. In a furious rush, he accelerated, his body breaking past supersonic speed and whipping up a gale that scattered the thick smoke around him.

Charging out of the explosion-filled area of the passage, the Scythe Man saw Kyle standing ahead. Joy had just risen on his face as he raised both scythes to strike, but when he saw the weapon in Kyle’s hands, his expression abruptly changed.

"Don’t mess with me!" Kyle snorted coldly. Holding the Laser Mechanism in both hands, he pulled the trigger, sending several dazzling blue-white laser beams shooting from the barrel.

The Scythe Man accelerated to evade them. His body blurred into a black shadow, bouncing up, down, left, and right through the passage. Even the precisely aimed and predictive lasers all grazed past him and missed.

Once speed surpassed the speed of sound, it truly seemed capable of countering nearly every attack.

"Try this." Kyle’s expression remained blank as he kept firing one-handed, forcing his opponent to stay away.

His other hand slipped into his pocket to draw a card. His shirt pocket was almost like a treasure pouch as he pulled out another black disc-like object.