At this moment, both sides burst into astonishing speed.
The Katana and Mantis Blades moved so fast that only blurred afterimages could be seen.
The flashes of steel surged like waves, each wave higher than the last, rolling on without end.
The blades tore through the air, unleashing ear-piercing shrieks.
Clang—!!
Muramasa and the Mantis Blades collided again with tremendous force.
This time, neither side gave way.
Through the two weapons between them, Su Xiao could smell the stench emanating from his opponent.
At the same time, the corner of his eye caught sight of another Mantis Blade slashing in from the side.
He hurriedly lowered his head.
The Mantis Blade, reflecting a cold gleam, swept perilously close over the top of his head.
It carried away a few strands of hair.
Before the Mantis Blade that had just swung past could slash back, Su Xiao gripped Muramasa's hilt tightly with his right hand, maintaining the struggle of strength with the man.
His left hand swiftly drew the Kinetic Handgun from his waist.
He aimed it forward.
He did not deliberately aim for the head. This was not a video game. Instead, he aimed at the torso, which presented the largest target, and repeatedly pulled the trigger.
At such close range, the man finally could not evade.
His chest and abdomen were struck, and clusters of blood blossomed outward.
However, the Mantis Blade that had swung back also cut into Su Xiao's gun-wielding arm.
If he had not pulled his arm back quickly enough, he would have lost his entire left hand.
Seeing the Mantis Blade slash toward him once more, this time in a sweeping strike with a wide attack range,
Su Xiao rotated the Kinetic Handgun in his left hand ninety degrees and wedged the gun body into the Mantis Blade's joint.
Two men, four weapons, locked together as they struggled against each other.
The outcome of the battle depended on who became exhausted first.
Clearly, the man thought so too.
He exerted all his strength, causing veins to bulge across his face.
The man was loaded with a large number of combat-oriented Military Cyberware, whereas Su Xiao was an ordinary human.
In a pure contest of strength, Su Xiao clearly had no advantage.
But he had never intended to win through strength alone.
When he used the Kinetic Handgun to jam the Mantis Blade, he had deliberately rotated the gun body ninety degrees.
That was not to show off. It was to make the muzzle point downward.
Bang! Bang bang bang!
Su Xiao fired all the remaining bullets in the magazine.
Dust sprayed up from the ground.
The man's instep was hit as well.
He could not help letting out a muffled groan.
His footing became unstable, and he lost his balance.
The pressure transmitted through the blade suddenly eased.
Su Xiao seized the opportunity to dodge to the side.
Then he slid the crimson blade into its sheath and assumed an Iaido stance.
However, his stance differed somewhat from ordinary Iaido.
Normally, Iaido practitioners supported the sheath with their left hand and gripped the hilt with their right, or held their right hand close to the hilt.
But Su Xiao's right hand was a full shoulder's width away from the hilt.
"Go to hell!"
The pain drove the man to lose his reason.
Knowing that even if he won, his chances of surviving were slim, the man simply abandoned defense.
Like an injured beast, he charged forward ferociously, bringing a gust of bloody wind with him.
Even if he died, he would drag Su Xiao down with him.
Su Xiao's expression did not change.
With his left hand supporting the sheath, he used his index finger to pull the trigger on the sheath.
McCoy's family heirloom blade had one very obvious difference from other Katana: a launching mechanism had been installed on its sheath.
Muramasa shot out from within the sheath!
The fingers of his right hand closed together and caught the flying hilt at just the right moment. Borrowing the force of the launch, he struck after his opponent but arrived first, unleashing a slash too fast for the naked eye to discern.
The slash entered through the right side of the man's abdomen. Like a hot knife cutting through butter, it easily carved upward at an angle.
The crimson blade finally emerged from the man's left shoulder.
It split the man in two.
Watching the fallen man's eyes gradually dim, Su Xiao finally relaxed and let out a long breath.
A fine layer of sweat had already formed on his forehead.
His back was soaked through as well.
Now he understood why the lawman had found someone to deal with this Cyberpsychosis instead of handling it personally.
After all, even if the town had only one lawman, America's Second Amendment guaranteed every citizen the right to bear arms.
In other words, whenever necessary, every civilian in town could be used as a militiaman.
When facing a criminal endangering the town, the lawman could simply gather a group of people and fire a volley.
Whether it was Miyamoto Musashi or Sasaki Kojiro, they would meet the same fate of dying with regret.
But the lawman had not done so.
That was because this Cyberpsychosis was equipped with a pile of Military-grade cyberware designed for combat.
Sending a group of civilians without combat cyberware to kill him would have been no different from throwing eggs at a rock.
It would only become a massacre.
What Su Xiao did not know was how much he had been favored by the goddess of luck.
Anyone equipped with Military-grade cyberware would never overlook a piece of cyberware known as the Sandevistan.
The Sandevistan could greatly increase one's neural reaction speed.
How great was the increase?
Great enough to make time feel as though it had slowed down.
Fortunately, the Sandevistan implanted in the man's body had broken down long ago.
That was why the man had never activated the Sandevistan during the battle.
Although the fight had been extremely dangerous and he had nearly died himself,
he had at least survived.
That meant the two thousand euros in payment would make it into his pocket.
Not only that.
After relaxing his taut nerves, Su Xiao discovered an unexpected surprise while checking the information.
"You killed an enemy and obtained 2 Potential Points."
Chapter Eight — Lawman: Listen to Me Say Thank You, You Warmed All Four Seasons
A single Cyberpsychosis had actually contributed as many Potential Points as twenty ordinary soldiers?!
Su Xiao could not suppress his excitement. His entire face was filled with delight.
Damn, all that hard work had not been in vain after all.
After panting for quite a while and resting sufficiently, Su Xiao finally rose from the ground.
He first returned to his car and saw the town resident sitting inside with a look of shock.
He then tapped on the window.
The noise startled the town resident.
"You... You actually killed that Cyberpsychosis?"
"It's only a mere Cyberpsychosis. Look at how cowardly you are... Since you saw everything, you need to testify properly for me when we go back later."
At first, Su Xiao had planned to take something that could serve as proof.
For example, the Cyberpsychosis's cyber-eye or Mantis Blades.
But...
They just felt too disgusting.
In any case, the town resident had watched from beginning to end.
This witness should probably be enough.
Before leaving, he thought about it and still entered the shack.
As he had expected, the place was a mess, and there was not even a light.
Everywhere he looked, there was nothing but trash.
There was nothing worth scavenging.
He shook his head in disappointment.
He was just about to leave.
But the corner of his eye caught sight of a laptop sitting in an inconspicuous corner of the room.
It was covered by garbage, and with no lighting inside, it would have been easy to miss without a careful look.
He took out the computer.
By reading the information on it, Su Xiao finally learned the identity of that Cyberpsychosis.
This person was the executioner of Arasaka's secret unit, "Troy."
His codename was "Zank the Decapitator."
Arasaka Corporation was the world's longest-operating megacorporation, with its founding dating back to the middle of the twentieth century.
Today, Arasaka Corporation had become a giant in arms manufacturing, and its presence could be seen in military conflicts across every continent.
"Troy" was Arasaka's secret unit, specifically used to eliminate traitors who betrayed Arasaka.
Because Zank eliminated internal traitors day after day, he developed a habit and gradually stopped being satisfied with killing only when he was on a mission.
Because he had killed too many people, or perhaps because of his implants, he could hear the cries of those he had killed echoing in his ears from time to time.
Only when he was killing could he temporarily feel at peace.
When he defected from Arasaka, he was hunted by his former comrades and only barely escaped with his life.
But he was very clever.
Before you continue