Perched on a rooftop across the park, A cyborg crouched low, one red eye gleaming while the other flickered faintly blue.
Gears shifted under his flesh, metallic tendons humming as data streamed across the holographic lens on his visor.
His voice came out. Almost too human to be called a cyborg
"Target identity confirmed."
Through the tiny speaker in his ear, a calm but commanding voice responded.
It was no other than General Vorden.
"Good. Send in your report."
Then the line went dead immediately.
The cyborg didn't flinch.
He tapped his temple, activating a projected interface.
Blue lines spiraled from his eye, scanning across the park where two figures stood.
A boy and a girl, happily playing the naive love bird role.
Lyra Gabrielo.
Age: 17.
Final-year high school student.
Girlfriend of Zaviel Nocturne.
Subject possesses unknown combat experience and physical conditioning exceeding normal human thresholds.
He paused on Zaviel's image. Those distinct hetero-chromatic eyes, one golden, one violet. He could read energy signatures coming off them. An energy that he had never come across. It was...indescribable.
He tried to access information on Zaviel but just as he did.
SYSTEM ERROR
System unable to comprehend the things that are above them
The cyborg's face twisted in confusion. Things above? What does that even....mean?
He tilted his head slightly, metallic fingers clicking as he saved the report.
"Details transmitted," he muttered
He rose to his feet, retractable wings beginning to unfold from his back. sleek metal plates humming as jet thrusters pulsed to life.
But then.....
Alert. Danger detected.
He twisted sideways just as something sliced through the air
Fwooosh
A black katana embedded itself into the concrete where his head had been. Sparks burst upon impact.
The cyborg's single red eye narrowed, scanning.
"Hostile identified."
From the shadows, a figure stepped forward, dressed entirely in black, coat fluttering slightly in the cold wind.
The moonlight caught his face only for an instant. A pair of eyes, gold and violet glimmered like death itself.
The cyborg froze.
Those eyes... identical to the boy's.
But different.
A quick infrared scan revealed chemical traces. Artificial iris enhancement. Fake eyes. Whoever this was, he wasn't Zaviel.
Before another calculation could complete, the Night Demon moved.
He blurred forward, faster than the eye could follow.
The cyborg's predictive targeting system kicked in, projecting afterimages of where the Night Demon might move. But each prediction failed.
The Night Demon wasn't following any identifiable fighting pattern. He just seemed to be in free-style mode. Moving as his instincts commanded
CLANG!
The cyborg blocked just in time, raising a forearm that transformed mid-motion into a curved metallic shield.
The impact sent shockwaves rippling across the rooftop, the katana scraping against the alloy and leaving molten streaks.
"Speed: 72 meters per second," the cyborg calculated aloud. "Exceeds human capability."
He retaliated, his other arm splitting open, releasing a hidden cannon that fired a pulse round.The blue blast erupted, tearing through the night air.
But the Night Demon tilted his head slightly, letting it pass harmlessly by
He turned around, saying nothing. Just a low chuckle under his breath, then he moved again.
The cyborg barely registered the motion. The Night Demon's foot slammed into his chest, sending a metallic echo across the rooftop.
The impact dented armor, but the cyborg grabbed his leg mid-air and swung him down. The Night Demon hit the ground hard, concrete cracking under the force.
The Night Demon rolled, drawing a shorter blade from his thigh sheath. His voice was deep."You should've flown faster."
He dashed forward, slashing in tight arcs. Sparks flared as steel met titanium.
The cyborg blocked each strike with his forearms, claws snapping out with mechanical precision. He countered, his fist like a piston, crushing into the Night Demon's ribs.
The Night Demon grunted. Pain rippled through him, but he stepped into the hit, driving his knee into the cyborg's side and slashing upward.
The blade cut deep into synthetic flesh, black oil spilling like blood.
The cyborg's systems hissed. His arm shifted, plates unfolding into a plasma cannon."Terminate mode: active."
The Night Demon dove aside as the cannon fired white-hot energy cutting through air, melting metal beams behind him.
The heat singed his coat, but he kept running, closing distance before the cyborg could reload.
He leapt, spinning midair, blades crossing in an X.
The cyborg caught one with his wrist but the second sliced through his shoulder joint. His cannon arm fell off, still glowing.
The Night Demon landed behind him, panting lightly.
"You fight good for half a man."
The cyborg turned, slammed a backhand that sent the Night Demon crashing into a vent pipe. Metal crumpled.
Both men bled. One red, one black.
The cyborg lunged again, switching to combat blades extending from his wrists.
He went for the Night Demon's throat, but the Night Demon caught the strike with his katana handle, twisting under the blow.
His other hand gripped a hidden blade from his boot. He jammed it into the cyborg's abdomen and dragged it sideways.
Oil splashed across his coat.
"Human… inferior," the cyborg growled, driving a knee into the Night Demon's chest.
The Night Demon gasped, then smirked through the pain."You'd be surprised what we do when cornered."
He snapped his fingers, his katana sheath clicked. The blade's edge glowed faintly. A pulse—then the Night Demon slashed.
A single clean line across the cyborg's torso.
The machine froze. Sparks burst from within. Its eye flickered, red to black.
The Night Demon staggered to his feet, blood running down his jaw. He grabbed the cyborg by the neck and slammed him against the wall. Metal cracked under his grip.
"Who sent you?"
The cyborg's mouth sparked. No voice came, only a burst of static.
The Night Demon leaned close, whisper cold, almost human."Wrong answer."
He drove the katana through the cyborg's chest, twisting until circuits screamed.
The light in its eye died out.
The Night Demon stood there, breathing hard, rain washing the oil and blood off his gloves. He looked at his reflection in the dying machine's optic.
His own eyes gleaming gold and violet.
He grit his teeth. Disgusted at his own eyes.
The reason for that feeling?
He looked down at the far end of the park was the very reason he hated this fake eyes of his.
Zaviel Nocturne!
The one favored by master!!
The one who had same eyes as master!!!
And because of that, he was tasked with protecting this boy whom master considered special.....
"A night demon like me!! Tasked with protecting a weakling who by sheer luck possesses some eye!!"
"…A weak human like that doesn't deserve master's attention," he muttered, stepping back.
He turned around, about to disappear once more but before he could, a voice came from the robo he just dealt with.
A voice not its. It came from the cyborg but it seemed to belong to another person.
"I have a request for you, night demon!"