บท 80: Showdown at the Facility: Hero vs. Villains
Carl's eyes widened in surprise as he locked eyes with Silver Striker. At that moment, he recognized the dangerous aura coming from Silver Strike, and he realized that this was a trap all along. Panic flickered across Carl's face as he stared at Silver Strike while sensing several auras appearing in the surrounding area.
Before any of them could react, Nacht, who had been waiting for the signal, unleashed his reality manipulation powers. He created an illusionary image of multiple Carls surrounding the hero, each mirroring his every movement. The hero was momentarily disoriented, unable to distinguish between the real Carl and the illusions.
Blorg, seizing the opportunity, activated a gadget concealed within his suit. It emitted a high-pitched sound that disrupted Silver Strike's enhanced senses, causing him to wince in pain and lose focus on his powers.
Carl, his face hidden behind a mask, lunged at Silver Strike with a blade in his hand. He moved with lightning speed, his anger and determination driving him forward. But the hero, despite being disoriented, managed to evade the deadly strike by inches.
In that split second, Silver Strike retaliated. He unleashed a powerful shockwave of energy that sent Carl flying backward, crashing into the balcony's railing. The force of the blast was enough to damage his suit and caused him to cough up some blood.
The commotion on the balcony intensified as guards rushed to Silver Strike's aid. Luna maintained her guise as an official, her acting skills pushed to the limit as she continued talking, her enchanting voice suddenly making the guards, as well as Silver Strike, stop for a moment.
Nacht and Blorg regrouped quickly. Nacht used his reality manipulation powers to create a protective barrier around the villains, shielding them from the approaching guards. Blorg deployed a smoke-emitting gadget that filled the balcony with thick smoke, further disorienting the security personnel.
Silver Strike, now fully recovered from the initial disorientation, attacked them as he sensed that the other heroes were arriving quickly. His instincts kicked in as he assessed the situation and stepped forward.
With a burst of energy, Silver Strike shattered Nacht's protective barrier and cleared the smoke with a powerful gust of wind. His eyes glowed with determination as he prepared to confront the villains head-on.
Suddenly, his powerful fist was stopped as another fist clashed against it. Carl stood right in front of him, the suit that covered his hand ripped apart as many bones coiled around it and further strengthened his arm, allowing him to contend against Silver's incredible power.
Nacht didn't stand idly either as he quickly used his powers and created a large sword that he swung down, causing Silver Strike to jump back before using his powers to punch upwards, shattering the sword and causing hundreds of fragments to explode around them, each of them attacking Silver and the guards.
"We retreat, the mission is a failure!" Carl suddenly said as Nacht and Blorg nodded at him. Luna and Rex were already gone, their powers made them great for assassination and stealth, but they were not good at fighting enemies directly.
"There's four heroes that are coming at us, all of them are A-grade," Blorg said, his face twisting in anger and humiliation as he couldn't believe that his device which he used to sense powerful figures had not managed to pick them up before.
The three of them all suddenly jumped to the side, breaking through the wall and falling down to the ground. They were on the top floor, and even though the fall was a high one, none of them showed any fear as Nacht used his power, creating a sort of glider that all three of them grabbed in order to quickly get away.
Silver was not about to let them go, however.
The previous clash against Carl had caused a powerful gust of wind to blow the smoke away, making them all fully able to see the villains.
The guards took out their weapons and started shooting while Silver bent his knees before launching himself at Carl and the others.
"We won't be able to get away easily, help me hold him down a bit, when the other heroes arrive, I'll weaken them," Carl said with a solemn face as the glider suddenly disappeared and they plummeted down to the ground.
Silver Strike's fist hit nothing but air as he glanced down at the three villains with anger.
Rex and Luna were masters of stealth, and Carl was not afraid that they would be captured, but the three of them were a different story completely.
Silver Strike suddenly saw a tree in front of him and kicked it, pushing himself down at Carl and the others as the tree broke in half.
Carl's eyes narrowed as he clenched his hands into fists. Bones suddenly sprouted from his body, most of them coiling around him, while some stabbed deep into the ground. He twisted his hips before punching forward at Silver Strike who did the same.
Blorg and Nacht had already retreated for a couple of meters and were ready to attack as well.
As Carl and Silver's fists met, the ground beneath Carl cracked as a shockwave blasted whatever was in their immediate vicinity.
Blorg took out his giant sword while Nacht put a glove on his hand which suddenly started shining brightly with a red light. It was one of the items that Blorg had made for him, and it allowed him to make anything incredibly quickly as long as it was held by the glove.
A sword materialized again, but this time, it was larger, and thicker, and it obviously looked a lot more real than the one that he had hastily made before.
"This bastard, to think he can actually hold his ground against a freak like that," Nacth said as he glanced at Carl with slight anger.
The main reason all four villains had met together to do the mission was actually because of Carl. He wasn't only their handler, he was the team leader, and the reason they had agreed to let him be the leader was because he had shown incredible power last week, which was when they all learned that he possessed the power of an A-grade.
'Compared to a peak A-grade whose abilities fully focus on power, I'm still lacking by a lot.' Carl thought in his head as he felt his entire arm go numb from the previous attack.
He and Silver Strike had both stopped the attack and were staring at each other. Carl had truly gone all out with his ability and physical strength before, but compared to Silver Strike, it was obvious that there was still a big gap between their strength.
The latter seemed completely unfazed and unbothered by Carl and the other two, the previous attack had barely done anything to him.
"I have to say, I didn't expect you guys to manage to do this much, for a bunch of villains I have barely heard about, you're quite good." Silver said as he smirked at the trio.
Suddenly, four people emerged from the forest behind Silver Strike and stood right behind him. Each one of them was an A-grade hero, and each one had the same suit on them, with an emblem shining brightly on their chest.
'The Golden Beacon, the mark of Golden Strike, these guys are all members of his party.' Carl narrowed his eyes as he stared at the five heroes who were obviously the ones with an advantage.
"So, will you surrender, or do I need to break your bones before capturing you?" Silver Strike asked with an air of arrogance before he squinted his eyes. Carl was shaking, but not in fear, but because he was laughing loudly.
"I can't believe how corny that was man, oh god, you really think we are going to be captured by you pieces of crap?!"
"You call yourselves heroes, and yet, you made this trap for us and sacrificed many officials and servants, and you don't even care, to be honest, you're as much of a villain as we are, you bastardly piece of crap!"
"But hey, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, right?" Carl asked with a smile as Silver Strike and the other heroes blasted their auras around them in anger.
"Alright, no need to be that angry, you all know that I'm right anyway"
"I have to admit, you managed to trick us real good this time, but the next time we met, Silver Strike, you're head will be mine," Carl said with an arrogant voice before he suddenly extended his hand, causing a green wind to blast forward.
The five heroes had already charged at him, and because of their anger and conceit, believing that there was no way the villains would be able to get away, they were unable to dodge the wind.
Blorg and Nacht didn't stand idly either and immediately attacked them with full force with their respective weapons before all three of them turned around and fled. The powerful sword beams, as well as the giant sword that once again shattered and sent thousands of shards down, made the team of heroes stop and defend themselves, which allowed Carl and the others to flee successfully.
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