Bzzzt!

The atmosphere in the grand square turned tense, crackling with static electricity as 5 pairs of eyes focused on the inky black eyes of the Mechanist.

They focused on his arms where he already wore 2 thick gauntlets.

Seated on top the shoulder of the towering robot, Thomas Riley looked unfazed as he nonchalantly maintained eye contact with them as if daring them to take action.

Lucian exhaled and sighed. "I wished you could see the light".

That was the signal.

Neural Projection!

Neon green ADE flared around Xena Rousey as understanding Lucian's signal perfectly, she attacked first.

She didn't attack Thomas Riley though.

After the events underground during the execution video where the robot burst into the scene, giving all of them PTSD, before coming to the surface, they all discussed what to do in the eventual meeting of the robot again.

They all agreed that Leon was just the support, and the priority should be in immobilizing the robot as fast as possible to break it down.

And what better class to immobilize a digital electronic machine than a NetRunner? The digital world was their home ground.

BZZZ!

With Neural Projection, Xena instantly dove into the digital world of the robot where Davis operated, where with Firewall Bypass she could deal devastating damage to the A.I and scramble the electronic digital workings of the robot.

From Lucian's signal to her activating Neural Projection to disappearing, not even a millisecond already passed and yet the robot reacted.

This meant one thing.

'He was prepared!' Xena realized but it was too late.

She couldn't attack in time.

The moment she entered the digital world of the robot, the A.I automatically ejected out of the robot's digital server, exiting entirely even as the digital components of the robot instantly shut down!

To a NetRunner, this was like sneaking into a house only to be kicked out the next moment by the owner because the owner just set his house ablaze!

In the context of the Doom Rover v0.1, the robot wasn't exactly set ablaze but by shutting down, it became useless and defenseless!

But that is where Leon comes into play.

Just like the terrorists, he was someone who was fond of thinking, he loved thinking outside the box.

Before today, Leon already thought. 'What will I do if I ever have to fight against a NetRunner to the death someday with the Doom Rover v0.1?'

In front of a NetRunner, Leon was not confident in his cybersecurity skills at all. No matter how good a programmer he was, a NetRunner could simply brute-force through his digital security with their Ascended abilities.

This was not a matter of knowledge or skill, but a matter of mystical ability.

This was the reason why during the creation phase of the robot, he took his time to create it in two forms- a digital electronic form and an analog form.

The analog form was impractical, that form meant the Doom Rover v0.1 robot was just a clinkering metallic behemoth that was sluggish and slow, moving like a snail.

In a battle of Ascended, reacting that slow is suicide. But this is if the robot is in the hands of a normal person, not a Mechanist.

Mechanists and their powers are built with a focus around their constructs, and they developed abilities to bring out the power of their constructs, not just constructing them.

When Leon came up with the idea, he realized that by switching the robot to its analog form, it would be able to completely evade the insidious powers of a NetRunner but at the same time with Drone Control Matrix, he could personally become the controller of the robot.

When these conditions were met, it made him the bane of a NetRunner.

With Drone Control Matrix, Leon didn't need Davis to control the Doom Rover because he could give all the instructions himself.

This was his counter to the NetRunner Class.

Barely a millisecond passed after Xena's sudden movement to attack when with a startled expression on her face, she found herself ejected outside the robot, floating just in front of it as she was forced back to her physical form.

'What?!' She was alarmed and confused. 'What happened?'

Though she didn't understand exactly what happened inside the digital world of the robot, instinctively, she knew to take cover. She knew that staying this exposed just in front of the robot was suicide.

She activated Neural Projection again.

But in the process of transitioning to a psionic ghost state, she suddenly felt what seemed like talons gripping into her ghostly form!

She felt like a rabbit being preyed on by a Hawk!

Xena remembered that Leon was on the shoulder of the robot when she attacked; she was alarmed. 'How can he hold me?'

Arc Clutch!

BZZZ!

Leon's grayish white ADE flared.

Arc Clutch- an embedded weapon skill of the VX-09 Emberfist gauntlets that generates a micro-magnetic grip for climbing or holding energized surfaces.

A NetRunner's Neural Projection form can be seen as a type of energy form, it was only natural that the VX-09 Emberfist gauntlet's Arc Clutch can grab her.

Before coming here and before the terrorists attacked, Leon already planned for this exact confrontation for a long time. He spent hours doing his homework.

He already predicted countless possible scenarios for the terrorists to attack him and he had counters prepared for every single one of them.

This was a type of adaptability that only an E Rank Mechanist could embody.

Of the 5 Classes in Neo-Tokara, in terms of raw speed and physicality, Cyber Gladiators are the fastest but in the right circumstances, NetRunners are far more mobile than even Cyber Gladiators- circumstances like now.

After the first encounter between the terrorists and his Doom Rover robot, Leon expected them to devise a strategy against the robot and they didn't disappoint him. He counter-planned their plan.

They were not dumb, but still, they played right into his plan.

The moment Lucian gave the signal to attack, through the invisible C-5 drones hidden in the sky, Leon saw all 5 terrorists move.

He may seem nonchalant and confident, but Leon was in a state of high alert from the moment that he entered this grand square.

Ramirez and Lucian turned around, charging away from the grand square and away from Leon while Blake and Jake moved at the same time to intercept the Mechanist as they activated their abilities.

Leon was not surprised. 'Divide and conquer'. He thought.

He read Lucian's strategy like a book.

The moment he lost his medication and wasted so long speaking with Leon, Lucian already lost the initiative in the battle.

And though he was a 19-year-old teenage religious fanatic, Lucian was smart. Together with his Holy Champions, they were extremely powerful but Lucian's power and weakness relied on his 10 racial DNAs.

Without his medication, he would not be able to function properly so Lucian's strategy the moment he realized Leon's plan was to escape this grand square and locate a clinic to get more Ozempic.

Getting his medication was the priority, after that he would fight Leon to the death.

This was why the fastest Ascended among the terrorists, Xena Rousey, Blake, and Jake went after him to slow him down while the Quantum Shaper and Gene Augur escaped.

This way, even if Leon dominated them, they would still be able to escape.

Pulse Dash!

Servo Reflex!

BZZZ!

Purple ADE flared violently around the duo of Cyber Gladiators as they dashed forward towards the Mechanist.

As they dashed forward, Blake and Jake unsheathed their weapons at the same time, eager to catch Leon off-guard.

While they focused on him, Xena's job was to focus on destabilizing the robot but Leon outsmarted them. Even before they could arrive despite their speed, Leon already reacted having been waiting for them since.

He moved like a robot.

Arc Clutch!

With the micro-magnetic grip grabbing and holding the NetRunner in place, forcing her back into a semi-solid state, Leon moved.

Jumping down from the Doom Rover's right shoulder, he twisted his waist as his right fist surged forward in a devastating right hook!

Overheat Drive!

The strength in his right fist doubled.

Ember Burst!

A directional flame-shock punch with a 2.5m cone range erupted from the gauntlet, engulfing the NetRunner completely as Xena burned!

Just like Mechanists, NetRunners are paper Classes once caught.

That single punch dealt devastating damage!

Pain, shock, and alarm conflagrated inside the mind of the E Rank NetRunner as they made her shriek loudly in pain.

She squirmed in agony.

Seeing this, Blake and Jake were alarmed.

Yet Leon didn't stop at that as his grayish white ADE erupted even more, engulfing the Doom Rover v0.1 completely.

Drone Control Matrix!

The square head of the robot suddenly unfurled as a muzzle emerged from inside, aimed right at the semi-solid NetRunner who was still held in place by the micro-magnetic grip of the VX-09 Emberfist gauntlet.

"…!" Xena's eyes widened in horror as she stared straight at the muzzle facing her head.

She recognized this weapon, she had suffered due to it before and she knew that NetRunners in the psionic state are extremely weak to EMP attacks!

She wanted to run, she wanted to escape but she couldn't.

'No, no, no!'

The muzzle of the Terra Nova 71 Rifle pulsed with grayish white energy, then it unleashed a bluish white electromagnetic pulse that swept through the psionic form of the NetRunner!

BZZZZZT!

The NetRunner's body shuddered violently!

For a brief moment, Xena Rousey lost consciousness due to the pain and agony coursing through her as in that split second, she suffered devastating damage that left her in an extremely injured state!

A second passed, and the Cyber Gladiators finally arrived.

Wielding a Katana and a pair of Kukri knives respectively, violet ADE flared around the brother pair as Blake and Jake flanked Leon from 2 sides, desperate to help Xena escape.

They were so fast that Leon's eyes couldn't follow them but it didn't matter, he had alternative eyes in place.

Tracking their movements with his hidden drones and with Drone Control Matrix still active, Leon controlled the Doom Rover v0.1 as hidden compartments opened in the ribs and on the back of the robot, revealing the muzzle of kinetic postils and automatic machine guns.

Tututututututututu!

The Doom Rover v0.1 unleashed fire!

The robot attacked at point-blank range, but the Cyber Gladiators still managed to react.

Servo Reflex!

They moved at unreal speeds, dodging the attacks and mid-dodge, they reoriented their stance and their grip on their weapons as Jake slashed his Katana at the micro-magnetic grip holding Xena hostage!

At the same time, Blake progressed with a ruthless light in his eyes as his Kukri knives stabbed towards Lucian's head!

Auto-Recoil Compensation!

Impact Surge!

Their aim was uncanny despite the crazy speeds that they were moving at, and with both of them activating the same abilities, the impact of their next attack gained +40% damage!

Whoosh!

Jake's Katana sliced through the micro-magnetic grip of the VX-09 Emberfist gauntlet like a hot knife slicing through butter!

BAM!

Blake's attack was blocked by Leon's R9 energy shield!

Despite her whole body being filled with agony and a hot pepperish sensation, the moment the micro-magnetic grip of the gauntlets let go of her, the heavily injured Xena Rousey escaped with through Projection.

But even with Xena gone Leon didn't let up, he took it a step further while surrounded by the 2 Cyber Gladiators.

Heat Vent Modulator!

With Overheat Drive ramping up the heat inside the gauntlet, pushing it closer to overheating, Leon used the vent to let the pressure out.

The excess heat inside the gauntlet came out as thermal plasma between the knuckles, generating a 3000C field for 5 seconds with a visible orange effect.

E Rank Gene Augurs could easily shrug off such heat with their unprotected skin, but not Cyber Gladiators.

And from the beginning, their intent was never to attack and injure him immediately, the goal was to distract him.

With him distracted and with the slowest Ascended in their crew, Lucian and Ramirez already at the edge of the grand square and with Xena gone to join them, the 2 Cyber Gladiators instantly turned on their heels to run.

Pulse Dash!

They turned into a purple blur before Leon could react.

But Leon didn't even bother to pursue them. Instead, he stared at them run towards the edge of the square with a smirk on his face, and then he felt it.

ZZZZZZINGGG!

Lucian was taken aback as he came to a halt; that was his danger premonition!

He stopped but Ramirez didn't stop immediately, charging right ahead.

Lucian's eyes widened as he looked at his friend. "STOP!"

But it was too late.

KABOOM!

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