The black-clad ninja's guard was up, but it didn't matter. Kage-ōkami (Shadow Wolf) didn't attack him. Instead, it darted out, snatched Hinton's dōryoku-ken (power sword) in its jaws, and zipped back to Riku's side before vanishing.
"Alright, now the real fight begins."
Riku swapped weapons, striking a forward-leaning stance, his feet surging with power as he lunged. The tip of his blade aimed straight for the ninja's chest.
Shizuku Hamon Gekitotsu (Droplet Ripple Thrust), the fastest lunging sword form of Mizu no Kokyū (Water Breathing). The blade struck like raindrops hitting a pond, rippling outward in waves.
Buzz!
The world slowed in the ninja's eyes as he triggered his Sandevistan again.
His body screamed warnings—Sandevistan was tearing him apart from the inside.
But he had no choice. If he didn't use it, he'd be dead.
The ninja sidestepped Riku's thrust, then mustered every ounce of strength, slashing his katana toward Riku's neck.
His cybernetic arm was in overload mode, teetering on the edge of breaking. Adrenaline pumped wildly, his body temperature skyrocketed, and his nanofiber muscles bulged to their limit.
If this strike failed, he'd bolt. He was just an agent—why risk his life for this?
Shing!
That shadowy figure blocked his blade again, like a swamp sucking in his strike, slowing its force.
"AAAARGH!!!"
The ninja roared, swinging with all his might. He finally broke through the shadow's defense, his blade slicing into Riku's neck.
The sharp edge hit Riku's subdermal armor and reinforced synth-skin, which fought stubbornly against the cut.
But Kenritsu Group wasn't kidding about their product quality. Their blades were the real deal—every sword top-notch.
The blade met resistance but soon sliced through the subdermal armor and synth-skin, cutting into Riku's flesh.
To the ninja's shock, this big guy's flesh was unnaturally tough. He nearly got his blade stuck in Riku's neck muscles.
"Damn it! My eddies!"
Pain shot through Riku's neck, but his first thought was the 110,000 eddies he'd spent on that subdermal armor! Fueled by pure rage, he swung his blade at the ninja who'd appeared at his side.
The ninja didn't dodge, still struggling to finish the job and take Riku's head. He was this close.
Shing!
He did it. With one final, desperate swing, the ninja's blade, sharp as ever, cleaved Riku's head clean off.
"Finally…"
The ninja let out a long breath. That was one hell of a fight.
This guy had some weird tech—like an auto-defense system that could morph into a shield or even a giant wolf. It was agile, mind-blowing stuff he'd never heard of.
Clang!
He casually deflected a slash from the headless corpse's final swing, his trembling arm barely holding up.
But the moment he blocked it, his face twisted. No way a headless corpse should have that kind of strength!
BOOM!
The ninja was sent flying, crashing into a wall, his face blank with confusion, like he was stuck in a dream.
Shing!
Before he could react, a blade flew at him, piercing his chest and pinning him to the wall, straight through his heart.
His backup heart kicked in. Gasping for air, the ninja's confusion turned to raw fear of the unknown. He couldn't wrap his head around this. What the hell was happening?!
The headless corpse lunged forward, grabbed the blade's handle, and twisted it viciously, shredding half the ninja's body. Kenritsu's blade proved its worth again, slicing through the backup heart as cybernetic overload and blood loss hit at once. Blood sprayed everywhere.
The ninja opened his mouth, but before he could speak, the headless corpse swung again, lopping off his head.
Kage-ōkami padded over to the headless body. Riku's head sat on its back. The body picked it up, reattached it to his neck, and the wound sealed up in seconds.
"That was… a weird feeling."
Riku muttered, shaking his head. Head detached, yet he could still control his body perfectly. Words couldn't describe it.
He eyed the ninja's corpse, swallowing hard. Reaching out, he grabbed the severed head.
First, he yanked out the cybernetic eyes, then ripped out the neural interface. No way was he letting this guy leave any footage behind.
The fight ended fast. Unless this guy was live-streaming his vision to someone else, any recording wouldn't have had time to upload.
"Riku…"
V and Jack Wells stepped closer, their faces a mix of shock and awe. They'd seen everything.
"We'll talk later. Let's grab the loot first."
Riku waved them off. Now wasn't the time for chit-chat—safety first.
V and Jack exchanged a glance and nodded. They got it. Questions could wait; grabbing the loot and getting out was priority one.
"This guy's got some nice gear," V said, eyeing the ninja's body, practically drooling. "That Sandevistan alone's worth a fortune."
"Might still be salvageable," Riku agreed. He'd hacked the guy to pieces, so the organs were toast, but the Sandevistan might still be intact.
"No clue how to pull it," Jack muttered.
The three stared at each other. No tech expert in the crew meant they were clueless about handling cyberware.
"Can't take the whole body. Too risky—could have trackers," Riku said, shutting down the idea. Too many unknowns.
To be safe, he smeared a layer of his own bio-flesh over the neural interface and cyber-eyes, letting it slowly meld and neutralize any potential trackers.
"Screw it! Let's just rip it out!"
V gritted his teeth and got to work, proving why he was the king of scavenging. The Sandevistan was an OS chip tied to the spine. No idea how to extract it? Simple—yank out the whole spine.
Riku grabbed the bag of swords and, for good measure, ripped out the bandit's spine too. One smooth motion, and he was practically drooling over the haul.
With the bodies stripped, the three hightailed it out of there.
Another weekend gone, and I haven't done a damn thing.
(Chapter End)