"Jack, cover me."
After sending a message to Johnson, instructing him to order his men to cease fire, Karl advanced.
James's Sandevistan had already run its course.
The distance between them was now ten meters.
"Avoiding only the most dangerous grenades while keeping close, huh?"
Karl discarded his empty Kenshin, letting it fall to the ground. He slightly raised his hands, and two monowires extended from his wrists.
"As expected, I'll have to settle this up close with the monowires I spent a fortune upgrading."
Subdermal armor could reduce the impact of bullets, but against monowires, it was practically useless.
James still had one last firearm on his back, but it had been shattered by the suppressive fire. Now, as Karl slowly approached, James instinctively raised his left-arm projectile launcher. But when he attempted to fire, all he got was the hollow clicking of an empty chamber.
"Still trying to pull an 'era has changed' move, huh?"
Karl's steps remained steady; slipping on the wet pavement was not an option. "Come on, show me your Mantis Blades. I'd love to see what you can do in close combat."
James didn't need any more encouragement—his right arm extended, deploying the lethal, gleaming edge of the Mantis Blades as he lunged at Karl.
"Just as expected."
Karl's internal systems activated, carrying a daemon into James's right arm.
"Overheat."
The Mantis Blades' mechanisms overheated instantly. The sheer temperature seared the remaining flesh in James's arm, and his swing momentarily stalled.
But a hard man was still a hard man.
Without hesitation, James ignored the burning pain and swung down his Mantis Blade.
Karl dodged. He had no intention of matching brute strength with a soldier of James's size. Even though his cybernetic arms might have been a match, he never forgot—James didn't just have one set of Mantis Blades.
Sure enough, as Karl evaded the downward strike, James's knee suddenly shot up. His leg's concealed Mantis Blade extended and slashed upward in pursuit.
"Ssshhk."
The tip of the Mantis Blade made contact with a monowire Karl had positioned in front of him.
Karl pulled the wires taut, intercepting the incoming attack with nothing but the thin strand.
James's Mantis Blade was top-tier—at least the same level as Karl's monowires. As the weapons clashed, Karl noticed a small dent forming at the tip of James's blade while his own wires emitted a sharp, grating sound, the telltale screech of blades grinding against each other.
"I'll have to get Old Vic to fix that later. At least it's only minor damage."
Ssshhk—sshhhkk—
The grinding noise stretched into a long, piercing whine.
"I knew it."
As Karl acknowledged the inevitable, his prediction came true.
James activated Sandevistan for the fourth time.
Cyberpsychosis really was insane—overclocking limits like it was nothing.
The raised knee came down, retracting the hindering leg blade. James pivoted with blinding speed, his Mantis Blades carving afterimages in the air. Before the effects of Sandevistan could fade, he was already behind Karl, swinging his blade down toward his head.
A single strike.
If this blade landed, Karl wouldn't stand a chance. His skin wasn't ACPA-grade armor—there was no way he could block it.
"So I was right... just as expected."
Karl remained still, back facing James, making no attempt to dodge. Even though his reflexes could keep up, he didn't move.
Because any movement could disrupt the aim of someone who was waiting for the perfect shot.
"At this angle... you should be able to land the hit, right?"
'Easy.'
As if responding to Karl's thoughts, Oliver, who had been aiming with his Nekomata sniper rifle since the start of the battle, finally took his first shot.
A sniper only needs one shot.
"Boom!"
The deafening blast rang out just as Sandevistan's time stopped.
Blood sprayed across Karl's back, along with fragments of bone and mechanical debris. An arm, still attached to half of a Mantis Blade, was sent flying high into the air.
"We are a three-man team, after all."
"Well done, Oliver!"
Amid Jack's triumphant shout, Karl turned and flicked out his monowire.
"Ssshhk!"
The clean, precise sound of severing was unmistakable, yet James's body bore no visible wounds.
James, now missing an arm, stood there, stunned.
The moment he realized his arm was gone, he instinctively tried to raise his knee to deploy his Mantis Blade once more. But as Karl turned toward him, he felt nothing from his legs.
"The real 'movement impairment' is just cutting the legs off, don't you think?"
Karl spoke with a smile, carefully keeping his face clear of the splattered blood. Meanwhile, Jack approached and delivered a swift kick, knocking James to the ground.
With his legs completely severed, leaving only his torso and head with any sensation, James lifted his gaze. Even now, despite his lost weapons and disabled cyberware, he looked ready to attack with his teeth.
"You might have been a real soldier after all."
Jack placed his foot on James's chest, ensuring he couldn't move. Staring down at James, whose glowing red eyes still burned with the desperation of a rabid dog, Jack's gaze softened with a hint of sympathy.
"Cyberpsychosis, huh..."
Jack drew a pistol from his belt.
The weapon he pulled out was a Nue, produced by Tsunami Defense Systems—an elegant yet deadly kinetic firearm. Jack had it custom-painted gold and affectionately called it his "Golden Bitch."
Now, raising his prized Golden Bitch, Jack aimed the barrel at James's cybernetic eyes.
"Rest easy, Soldados."
In the final moments of his life, the red glow in James's eyes faded slightly. His gaze shifted, still fixated on the burning fire—the intense, scorching flames.
But he no longer resisted. He simply stared at Jack, then at the golden gun in his hands, and with a serene expression, he spoke:
"Well played, soldier."
"You really should be saying that to Oliver, but I'll take it on his behalf. Thanks."
And with that, Jack pulled the trigger.
"Bang."