Cyberknight: One Path (original novel)

Soldiers scrambled for cover as the blinding flash of a nuclear blast hit their eyes. While all the men on the battlefield made the hopeless dash toward safety, two soldiers from opposing sides were finally snapped out of their adrenaline-fueled animosity toward each other by their surroundings. Upon seeing how there was no escape from the flame that was about to engulf them, they decided to at last put down their weapons. 

[soldier 1] - "Look at us, killing each other for what in the end? "

[soldier 2] - "I don't know. "

Said the second soldier in total defeat. 

[soldier 1] - "It took the common equalizer of all life, death, to make us realize how pointless all this was. You, I, we fought for what we believed in only for none of us to win. "

[soldier 2] - "I wasn't going to let you invade my country without a fight. I think, a minute ago, there was a reason but now, it doesn't anymore. No matter the outcome, I still hold on to the fact that I fought for what was right. "

[soldier 1] - "You are quite stubborn, aren't ya? I suppose it's normal that not all humans share the same view. "

[soldier 2] - "That I can agree. "

Everyone was on the edge of their seat as the climax of the movie neared its end. McCree's eyes were glued to the screen while chewing aggressively on his popcorn. To his side, Senju shakingly slurped his soda while the bright screen flashed against his pupil. Meanwhile, sat below them, Kadyn covered her mouth in fear for the characters' fate. Finally, CK was silently cheering for the main hero to arrive at the scene on time to save his friends. 

[Hero] - "Nooooo! "

Yelled the Hero as he flew toward the nuclear blast. 

[soldier 2] - "Despite our differences, I respect you. You fought well. "

Said the soldier as he extended his hand. 

[soldier 1] - "Let's hope we are friends and not enemies in our next lives. "

Said the soldier as he shook his opponent's hand. 

In an instant, the nuclear blast consumed the two men before the hero could arrive on time. 

[Senju] - "Fuck, why didn't he fucking realize sooner what was happening? He could've done better, konoyaro! "

Cursed Senju at the main hero. 

[McCree] - "Damn, that's unfortunate. "

[Kadyn] - "*gasp* Oh god! Noooo! "

Whispered Kadyn while tears edged in her eyes. 

[CK] - "Blyat! That's fucking stupid! What the fuck do you mean comrade hero was late? Naru, suka blyat! "

Yelled CK as his voice filled the room. 

Suddenly, all eyes inside the room were fixed on CK as he continued his outburst. Acting quickly, Kadyn got up and tried to calm him down. However, when CK kept ranting loudly about the movie, McCree and Senju knew they had to step in and help. After a short altercation, the four of them exited the cinema while dragging CK with them. 

[Kadyn] - "What's with that reaction, CK? It's just a movie! "

[CK] - "I hate bullshit like that! I knew Western movies fell off ages ago but this is beyond garbage! Russian and Chinese movies are way better! "

Yelled CK while holding the door for the rest of his team. 

[McCree] - "Woah there, partner, I ain't contestin' what ya said about Hollywood or China, but Russian? That movie "T-80 for Donestk" ya showed us last time was absolute dog water, if I'm being honest. "

[CK] - "What? It was about glorious men defending against bad American-controlled Ukrainians who wanted to kill innocent Russian civilians in Donestk. "

While the two argued in the back, Senju and Kadyn decided to move forward and order food instead. 

[Kadyn] - "Jesus... I have never seen the two argue like this over movies. "

[Senju] - "It's an exceptional case. That Russian movie was bad enough to make McCree act like CK today at the cinema. Even me, I fucking despise it. "

[Kadyn] - "I'll take two large orders of number 23 for my friends over there and I'll have a single number 65 with extra bacon and cheese. Yeah, Senju? What happened? "

Said Kadyn while handing a hundred-dollar bill to the cashier. 

[Senju] - "For some reason, Japan caught some strays in that movie over the Kuril Islands. Like... why? The propaganda and shit, it's what CK enjoy beyond anything. Yeah, I'll have a number 65 with twice the same extra topping as my friend here. "

[Kadyn] - "Yeah, thank you. Keep the change! "

Said Kadyn before turning around to look for a table. 

Even after the four of them were seated and served their combos, CK and McCree were still arguing while occasionally spitting food at each other with their mouths full. 

[McCree] - "And... And the fucking Russian tank too a fucking hit on the side! On the gosh darn side and none of the crew were injured! "

[CK] - "Superior Russian quality of course! Unlike trash Abrams exploding when hit by a small mine. "

[McCree] - "Ey, fuck your Russian bias! That movie's based on yaps and legends anyway! Instead of one T-80 holding down a battalion of Western-equipped Ukrainians, in real life, it's more like 100 T-80s retreatin' at the sight of 10 Bradleys. You just can't accept how US intervention almost made Putin shoot himself. "

Both Senju and Kadyn were looking at the two arguing as if they were observing two grown children fighting over if Goku was stronger than Superman. 

[Senju] - "Those two idiots... In reality, China was the one who ended up wiping the floor worldwide. Good thing we, the Japanese, decided to switch to the winning side at the last second. "

Whispered Senju to Kadyn. 

[Kadyn] - "Aw, well, if Mike was there then, things would've been settled more cut and dry. "

Said Kadyn before delicately putting a fry against her lip. 

[Senju] - "I completely agree with you! By the way, Kadyn-sama, if possible, could you get Mike-san to train me to make me stronger? "

[Kadyn] - "Sure! Knowing him, he's kind enough to help. "

Said Kadyn with a bright smile. 

Meanwhile, as the people around Jagger watched in terror, the crystals on his arm emitted a blinding blue glow, indicating an unlimited attack. 

[Jagger] - "Echoing Verdict: Blade of Pandemonium! "

Blade of Pandemonium, a technique Mike developed to deal devastating damage to a single target by exponentially increasing the damage over the span of a few seconds. The attack itself was quite straightforward, debuting with a single clean vertical slash and two horizontal slashes. However, the number of slashes will rapidly increase to 1200 vertical slashes and 2400 horizontal slashes by the one-second mark. Unless the opponent is armed with an explicit full-body defensive technique or ability, the cuts will not miss their target. 

By inverting the precise nature of Mike's technique from performing inward converging slashes to an outward expanding attack, Jagger basically manifested a nuke from a sword. 

1200/2400

Most of the underground mega-city was split into large perfectly cut cubes. Although people were mostly unharmed, the seconds on the clocks were still ticking and Jagger didn't seem to show any sign of backing down. 

1 440 000 / 5 760 000

One second everyone was simply a bit shaken up by the ordeal, the next, almost everyone began to be mutilated in some way. Meanwhile, only a cold empty expression appeared on Jagger's face as people finally began to realize what was going on. However, the next second was already lurking around the corner as time cruelly continued its flow. 

[Senju] - "Kadyn-sama, what do you think Mike-san is doing right now? "

[Kadyn] - "Ehh... Well, knowing him, he's probably dealing with the Allied Command, Dunkel and her goons. Whatever his business is, he is a kind man who does the just thing. "

Said Kadyn with a cute smile before lifting her burger toward her mouth. 

1 728 000 000/ 6 912 000 000

Every single thing in existence caught in Jagger's attack was reduced to perfect small cubes. People didn't even realize that they were being cut apart as most appeared as they were a few seconds ago except with a few barely visible red lines across their bodies. 

172 800 000 000/ 691 200 000 000

No one even got the opportunity to panic, yell or feel anything before every single object was reduced to a rough mist. From Dane and Dunkel's perspective, it appeared as if a shiny bright underground city went abruptly dark within four seconds. Thousands of kilometres of land suddenly turned into a chunky gravel-like sea before collapsing onto itself. 

Meanwhile, Kadyn jerked forward and immediately put down her burger as a massive puddle of ketchup fell onto her coat. Like blood, the red liquid slowly rolled down Mike's coat while tainting its fabric. 

[Kadyn] - "Oops! Oh my, I don't want Mike to see how I messed up his coat. "

Said Kadyn as she began to wipe off the stain using a napkin. 

However, despite her efforts, she only ended up smearing the ketchup onto a larger puddle than it was initially. 

On the other side, Jagger abruptly collapsed to his knees in exhaustion. With a dry cough, Jagger expelled a few drops of blood from his mouth. Confused, Jagger stared at the blood for a few seconds before more joined the puddle from his nose. It was then Jagger realized that he pushed himself so hard using that attack that he ended up tearing up blood vessels in his body. 

[Jagger] - "Impossible... this couldn't be my full extent. Mike has done things before which required even more power than this. "

Suddenly, his exhaustion caused him to vomit before tremours began to manifest in his limbs. Slowly, Jagger lifted his head and noticed how his destruction had been way more underwhelming than what he was projecting at the start. Instead of wiping out close to 75% of the entire Appalachian range, he had only managed 45%, not even reaching the half-point. 

High mastery techniques like Blade of Pandemonium are not simple spells one can cast by thinking about them. One must be able to picture an astronomical number of strikes in their vision and maintain them with the ease of reading a book or risk overexertion. At the fourth second, where the strikes should've been a factor of 1200 from the previous second, Jagger had only managed to conjure a factor of 100 before collapsing in exhaustion. 

Jagger might have Mike's memories, skills and body, however, the essence of a person is also what determines how strong one's ability is. Simply put, Jagger's soul was only a sun compared to the supernova that burned inside Mike's soul and character. 

[Jagger] - "Hahaha... I was naive about you, Mike. Even though I think you are a bitch, I have to respect how strong you truly are. Only 4 seconds made me shit myself while I remember from your past that your maximum was a 10 seconds full-strength Blade of Pandemonium. "

Jagger slowly pushed himself off the ground before reaching for the box of sliced pineapple he had stolen earlier. While Jagger was thinking of Kadyn as he reached for the box, Kadyn was thinking of Mike while cleaning her coat. Suddenly, unbeknownst to Kadyn, the crystal on her chest glowed for a split second. 

[Mike] - "Skills issue, ya blood bastard. Think I know who's real bitch here. "

Mike's voice made Jagger jump up in fright before he began backing off pale as a ghost. After several seconds spent in paranoia and high alert, Jagger finally calmed himself down, convinced that it was simply him imagining things. 

[Jagger] - "Ugh! Fucking piece of shit! No matter, I'll let them handle the rest. "

Cursed Jagger with clenched teeth. 

Jagger was immediately met with Dunkel's cheerful applause as soon as he landed beside her. However, upon seeing how Jagger didn't share her enthusiasm, she quickly switched to a more professional demeanour. 

[Dunkel] - "Amazing work, my lord! I suppose you just need to do the same with the rest of the complex you haven't managed to deal with? "

[Jagger] - "Nah, I'm done here. I'm not taking the blame for whatever happened here. People have to worship me as a God for my empire to prosper. The best kind of loyalty comes from hypocrites who believe in virtue. The bad people who convince themselves of their righteousness are always the most fanatic and unshakable. If my perfect image as a saviour is solidified, I wouldn't even need to silence the critics with these believers around. "

Meanwhile, Dane stared lividly at the aftermath of Jagger's rampage with his mouth hanging open. All these lives were lost in four short seconds, yet not a single person around him found this scene disturbing. Jack was showing admiration while Dunkel was showing enthusiasm. As for Jagger, he acted as if all this was just a harmless stroll in the park. 

[Dane] - "Y'all aren't human. Not even animals can be this cruel. "

Whispered Dane. 

Suddenly, he heard laughs coming from Dunkel and Jagger's direction. At that point, Dane's goal has completely changed. He felt that, as a human being, he had the duty to see through the downfall of these three demons around him. 

[Dane] - "JAGGER! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU? WHAT- WHAT- "

Yelled Dane while choking on his words from the amount of emotion escaping from his mouth simultaneously. 

[Jack] - "Silence, ya mumbling idiot! "

Screamed Jack before slapping Dane in the face. 

With Dane silenced, Dunkel and Jagger immediately went back to discussing their business. 

[Dunkel] - "As I was saying, my lord, how could you shift the blame? "

[Jagger] - "When I asked you to contact the people from the specific name list I gave you, did you think those people were just regular civilians? "

[Dunkel] - "Oh? Do elaborate, my lord. "

[Jagger] - "You'll see in just about a second... "

Suddenly, a massive explosion shook the ground before Dunkel's attention was snapped by the bright flashes behind her. She stared at the sky as a single dot jumped through the blast before becoming larger and more in the shape of a human. Meanwhile, another rumble abruptly snapped Dunkel's attention to her left where a chain of mountains collapsed on themselves. Finally, three small dots began to converge toward her location before a cloud of dust was kicked up by their landing. 

[Jagger] - "Now, is everything taken care of just as I had ordered? "

As the dust cleared, Dunkel was shocked to see three cyberknights on their knees before Jagger. Two cyberknights had the Gemini identification for possession of two abilities and the one with a more scarred armour had the Chimera medal for three abilities. 

[Athena] - "It's done as you had asked, Grand Knight. "

[Jerry and Harry] - "We are honoured to serve under you once again, Grand Knight. "

[Jagger] - "Hmm, very well. Now, shall we continue the next part of the plan? "

[Athena] - "Understood! Good luck with your ascension to the throne, Grand Knight. "

Said Athena as she stood up and saluted Jagger. 

In a breeze, the three knights disappeared into the night while leaving Dunkel with a lot of questions. Before she could say anything, Jagger held his palm to prevent her from speaking.

[Jagger] - "Mike's power will naturally attract allies and admirers. I used his past knowledge to ring up a few of the cyberknights he knew who would willingly take the blame for me. "

Said Jagger as he stepped forward to admire the destruction. 

[Jagger] - "In line with any kind of regime change, we need to weed out all the traitors and rogue elements within our ranks. The next few days will be fueled by panic and rumours. Those who support these elites I killed will be manipulated to fight those who despise them. Meanwhile, others unaffected by this clash will be made to believe that these three cyberknights are the biggest threat to the Allies. "

As a gesture to mock Dane, Jagger walked to him before continuing his explanation. 

[Jagger] - "When most vocal and powerful people are either taken out or made more identifiable, I will capture and execute these three cyberknights and paint myself as a messiah. Finally, using the power vacuum, I will become emperor and rid my ranks of the rest of the unwanted people. "

Despite Jagger explaining his plan, Dane remained unresponsive with his eyes pointed at the ground. 

[Dunkel] - "That's actually genius, my lord! So that's why you insisted on pulling the propaganda minister into our plan. "

Said Dunkel while amazed by Jagger's genius. 

[Jagger] - "When the sunlight crosses over that horizon, the innocent will be shunned as guilty while eternal night will be cast upon our involvement. Let the great lynching begin. "

Said Jagger with a sadistic smile while extending his arms. 

To be continued...