The second round of the battle began. As before, the Liuguang Armored Warriors used their numerical advantage to charge the four mercenaries' formation.
"Get out of my way!" Ed roared. He pressed himself fully behind the Great Shield and used his Exoskeleton Armor to drive forward. With the burst of the Cell Activator, he moved far faster than usual.
The two Liuguang Armored Warriors directly in front of him barely paused before bringing their War Hammers down on the Great Shield.
Cracks appeared across the shield's surface, but it did nothing to stop Ed's charge.
This time, the two Liuguang Armored Warriors gained no advantage. Their bodies shuddered in unison, and the recoil forced them to stop where they stood.
A wild gleam flashed in Ed's eyes. He could have stopped and deflected the two attacks, but instead he forced himself to take the full impact. Even with the Great Shield blocking the blows, blood sprayed from his mouth.
But having lost his sense of pain, he no longer cared about his injuries.
He charged straight at the two Liuguang Armored Warriors. Spurred on by his assault, the other mercenaries charged in the same direction.
Crock's Spear had the longest reach. The faintly glowing spearhead struck the two Liuguang Armored Warriors' chests in rapid succession, one after the other, the moment they came to a halt.
The Level 1 Material Defensive Armor protecting the chest plates of their Liuguang Exoskeleton Armor saved them. Though the blows sent them flying backward and blood welled from their mouths, neither had suffered a fatal injury.
Most of the force from the two thrusts had been transferred into their Exoskeleton Armor.
The Exoskeleton Armor itself could disperse and lessen the impact, and with the protection of the Level 1 Material Defensive Armor, the two Liuguang Armored Warriors had suffered only cracked ribs and churning blood.
After being knocked back, they immediately activated their Healing Potions. The cold medicine entered their bodies, quickly mending their cracked ribs and settling their blood.
However, they had also lost their encirclement of the mercenaries. The three Liuguang Armored Warriors coming from the other directions tried to pursue them, but Fisher single-handedly held them off in a frenzy.
At the first clash, a Level 2 War Hammer shattered the blade of Fisher's great axe. At the same time, he was struck several times in the shoulder and back.
His own attack grazed one Liuguang Armored Warrior, leaving him lightly injured, while Fisher managed to hold off the other two.
The Black Diamond Exoskeleton Armor covering Fisher from shoulder to back was shattered. Beneath it, his wounds were split open and drenched in blood, with fragments of white bone clearly visible.
In that instant, Fisher was gravely wounded, yet he kept laughing maniacally. He continued swinging the blade-less axe in his hands as if he were uninjured.
The two Liuguang Armored Warriors were momentarily intimidated by his state. With injuries like his, he should have collapsed to the ground, unable to move.
Fisher and Ed's desperate fight, along with Crock's attacks, had not been in vain. Captain Froman darted toward Gallen and David like a ghost. No Armored Warrior stood in his way anymore.
"Uncle Gallen, let's get out of here!" David shouted when he saw Captain Froman charging toward them.
He hadn't expected the battle to change so suddenly. The Liuguang Armored Warriors had held the advantage moments ago, but the mercenaries had broken through their encirclement in the blink of an eye and were now charging toward them instead.
Gallen simply pulled David behind him and extended his right hand.
At that moment, his right hand was already covered in dark blue metal.
As Captain Froman watched Gallen draw closer, hope of victory filled his heart. His opponent wasn't wearing Exoskeleton Armor.
With five Liuguang Armored Warriors at his command, Gallen had to be an important figure. If he took him hostage, along with David, he would have the leverage to leave Panshi Planet—and even demand a large ransom.
His hopes of rising in the world had appeared once more, and he couldn't help but speed up.
In his eyes, Gallen and David were a huge pile of Credit Points, there for the taking.
But as he drew closer, he saw the contempt on Gallen's face, the look of someone looking down on a lesser being.
Captain Froman knew that expression well. He himself often wore it.
As a top-tier Armored Warrior, he was among the strongest of his kind. With two Level 2 Longswords, he had every reason to look down on other Armored Warriors.
But why did Gallen, who wasn't wearing Exoskeleton Armor, have that same expression? Could they still have another trump card?
At this distance, though, even a trump card couldn't help them.
Just as Captain Froman reached Gallen, he turned his Longsword around and reached out with three fingers to grab him. Gallen moved.
Captain Froman was being careful, but not because he feared an attack. He simply didn't want Gallen and David hurt. They were hostages who could help them escape, and they were worth a fortune in Credit Points.
Gallen's arm disappeared from David's sight. Or rather, Gallen had moved so fast that even with David's current physique of 3.0, he couldn't see his arm move.
"Captain, watch out!" Behind Captain Froman, Crock suddenly felt a chill run down his spine and shouted a warning.
But it was already too late. Captain Froman was still reaching for Gallen, while a hand had punched straight through the Level 1 armor on his chest.
The dark blue glow on that arm showed it was Level 2 material. But how could a piece of close-fitting armor unleash such power?
The reason Exoskeleton Armor was so powerful was its Enhancement Converter, powered by Krypton Crystals. That device took up a large portion of the armor.
Of course, David was the only one here who didn't understand. The horror in Captain Froman's eyes showed that he did.
Captain Froman stared at the hole in his chest and the hand inside it, gripping his heart. He knew it was over.
"You're an extraordinary—" Before he could finish, Gallen crushed his heart in one squeeze.
The light faded from Captain Froman's eyes. Without its Armored Warrior to control it, the Exoskeleton Armor immediately lost power.
Gallen tossed Captain Froman's corpse aside. Without using his other hand, he caught the Spear that had already thrust toward him.
Crock had thrown that thrust, but it was also the final strike of his life.
Gallen caught the Spear and gave it a light shake. Crock's armored hands, along with the hands protected inside them, jolted violently, and the bones in both hands snapped into several pieces.
As Crock let go of the Spear, Gallen turned it around and drove its shaft into his chest. The tremendous force punched through his Level 1 armor as easily as paper.
The Spear's shaft pierced Crock's heart. With hands that no longer worked, he clung desperately to the shaft lodged in his chest. His eyes held both a longing for life and a sense of release from the world. His story vanished from the world with his death.
"Argh!" Ed howled like a wounded wolf. Under the Cell Activator's effects, he feared neither death nor pain as he charged at Gallen with the Great Shield raised.
Gallen's expression didn't change. He extended his hand again. His dark blue right hand was like the sharpest weapon in the world, piercing through the Great Shield and then Ed's heart.
Fisher's attention had been drawn to Gallen's slaughter, and for a moment he forgot about his enemies. A War Hammer struck him squarely in the head.
Even the Cell Activator and his Level 1 helmet couldn't prevent the daze caused by a blow to the head. The Liuguang Armored Warriors struck him again and again, smashing his head into a broken watermelon.
David wasn't stunned by the brutal battle before him. He sensed the Shadow Servant absorbing four souls, and felt the Shadow Servant's satisfaction through their connection.
"Collect the spoils. Then have the local police clean up this area!" Gallen ordered the five Liuguang Armored Warriors in a low voice.
"Yes, my lord!" the five Liuguang Armored Warriors replied with a bow.
"Go back and increase your training on your own. You've disappointed me!" Gallen said, waving them away.
The five Liuguang Armored Warriors were filled with shame. They had somehow botched a battle in which they held every advantage. Despite having superior equipment and numbers, they had suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of four mercenaries.
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