This is a passion work. So, I would really appreciate it if you leave behind a review when you're done reading.
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CH66: MASTER KOREDE TAKES ACTION
Even though Korede had finished speaking, the people in the room were still stunned in silence. They were shocked by what they heard and the ultimatum. It took a moment for them to recover themselves.
"How did you get on the wrong side of the army? That was never the plan." The man who seemed to be leading the group of well-armed men Korede thought to be Mercenaries said.
"I don't understand either. Yes, I sell arms to the Haram boys, however, our mutual acquaintance asked me to. I don't understand what this is about." The Duke lied.
He could faintly guess what this was about. However, he was afraid of what the man in front of him might do. He knew he needed his help. So, for now, he lied.
The Duke quickly continued, "Now is not the time for this. It's not like I can surrender and go explain to them that this is a mistake or a misunderstanding now, can I? We can only resist. Also, it looks like there's only one man. We just have to kill him."
"What do you know? You think that's better? If JSOB High Command sent only one man, he must be one of those damned Eagle Squad Commandos. I'd rather face a team of soldiers than one of those guys." The Merc leader said.
He turned to face his men. "All of you spread out. Eagle Squad Commandos are known for their stealth and quick attacks. We have to make him show himself and come to us. Always stay within the sight and reach of another. Always remain under cover. Always remain vigilant. At the end of the day, he's just one man. We've faced worse than one man."
The men just nodded.
The Merc leader turned back to the Duke. "Go back into your study. It's the most secure place, right? You're his target. He can't get to you unless he goes through us. That should force him out. As for the aftermath of this, we'll decide what to do after we've settled this."
Jonathan Duke looked at the man a bit. He didn't like the tone the man was taking with him. He was ordering him like one of his men. However, now was not the time to react to this. He followed the man's instructions and headed into his study.
Though Chike wondered who these well-armed men were and their relationship with the Duke, he and the other bodyguards stayed with the Mercenaries to handle the threat to their employer.
Not long later, Korede's voice was once again heard from the drone's speaker.
"Your five minutes are up. What's your decision?"
"Come get us, if you can." The Merc leader said as he shot the drone.
The air in the mansion became tense. The light suddenly went off. Immediately after, a shot was heard. Then a thud.
Another shot, another thud.
Then a third shot and another thud.
The men were stunned. Before they knew it, three of them had died. They recovered themselves and immediately shot from cover. Then, the backup generator kicked in.
The Merc leader was aghast.
'Less than three seconds in the dark, he killed three of my men in quick succession. Not to mention all three of them were killed with headshots. I know the Eagle squad guys are good but this is just…'
Unknown to them, Korede had not given them the 5 minutes in hopes they would surrender. He never held his breath for that. The reason he bothered issuing an ultimatum was to keep the men where they were and buy enough time for himself to get close to the house.
He had been making his way to the house as soon as the drone entered the mansion living room through the window. He had to control his breathing while he spoke earlier to conceal the fact that he was moving. Luckily, he was able to do so.
Immediately the Merc leader shot the drone, he gave Special Agent Ndike the signal to cut the electricity to the house. He saw and shot the three Mercs, with the help of the enhanced vision from {Sense Boost}, through the window.
He simultaneously channelled his Will strength into {Sense Boost}, {Combat Master}, {Increase Speed}, {Mindhunter} and Zone.
Without giving the hostiles the time to react and adjust, he burst into the house through the window. With the boost in speed, reflex and battle sense from {Increase speed}, Zone and {Combat Master} respectively, he was able to successfully dodge the hail of bullets fired at his previous position as he found a suitable cover
With {Mindhunter}, he was able to amplify the negative emotions brewing in the minds of his foes as they watched his unbelievable feats, thereby dropping their morale and their will to fight back.
Using {Sense Boost}, he was able to get sensory information on the position of his enemies. With the improved battle sense from {Combat Master}, he quickly analysed and formulated the best actions to take for his next moves. This was done while experiencing the slow-mo effects of being in 'Zone' to speed up the process.
With the next course of action decided, he made his move.
Dropping his MK14 rifle, he used the maximum 4x boost in speed from {Increase Speed} to dash at his foes with his sword drawn from his shoulder.
He rolled past the first man, who was about to aim his gun in his direction, and used the momentum of the roll to thrust his sword into the man behind. He removed his sword and kicked the man away in one smooth and swift motion. He slashed his sword behind him, sending the blood on the groove of the blade flying at the eyes of the first man he rolled past.
By reflex, the man blocked the splatter of blood to his eyes with his arm while looking away. By the time he turned back, he saw Korede jumping at him with knees raised. Thinking Korede wanted to hit him with his knees, and since it was too late to dodge, he placed his M4 carbine in front of himself to block in front of his chest.
It was at this exact moment he felt something wrong. The force from Korede's 'strike' was too small. Then he realised what was wrong.
Korede had held his shoulder and tilted backwards. Using his weight to produce the force, Korede brought both of them to the floor. He hit the ground with his back while the man was about to fall onto his knees. Applying some strength to his knees, Korede tossed the man over his head in the direction of the hostiles behind him who had wanted to open fire.
They had just recovered from the effects of {Mindhunter} and were about to open fire when they saw a colleague of theirs being thrown at them by Korede. They scrambled to get out of the way but a Merc and one of Duke's bodyguard were not able to get away as the man had unfortunately been thrown at them. Left with no choice, they worked together to catch him.
After they caught him, the Merc discovered to his horror, that the pins of the grenades on his colleague's vest were missing. Before he could raise an alarm though, the grenades exploded. The two Mercs and the bodyguard died instantly. Another Merc and two other bodyguards close by were also caught up in the explosion. They were riddled with shrapnel from the grenades and body parts from the three closest to the grenades. They also died.
Korede, who caused all this by removing the pins of the four grenades on the vest of the man he knee-threw, had 'conveniently' fallen behind a piece of furniture that blocked the hail of shrapnel and body parts for him. He had also stopped his hearing so that he wouldn't be stunned by the sudden loud sound from the explosion.
His foes were, however, not so lucky.
Bursting to his feet while simultaneously picking up the sword he had dropped when he jumped on the man he threw, Korede dashed towards the remaining disoriented hostiles. He slid on his knees as he executed an elaborate semi-circular side-slash that cut through the throats of two hostiles. Using the momentum from the spin of the slash, Korede thrust his sword into the heart of another hostile.
Before Korede could make any other moves, his intuition sent him alarm bells. He quickly rolled to the side, behind cover. A hail of bullet descended on his previous position.
Behind cover, Korede felt a bit of pain from his right leg, or his right lap to be exact. He looked at it and saw a trail of blood. He quickly understood what a close shave he just experienced.
He looked at the colour of the blood and the amount flowing out and determined that it was just a flesh wound. It would be fine as long as he didn't aggravate it. Due to his current situation, he could only ignore it for now. He was being flanked on both sides by the last two remaining hostiles. Chike and the Merc leader.
'Good thing the sequence worked. Only the strongest ones are left.' Korede eyed the two a bit from his cover. He concentrated his senses.
'Two Specialist. One is at mid-range. The other at the peak of Specialist level, almost reaching into the Expert level.'
While in Okinawa, Korede had discovered that his intuition could piggy-back on his Will Techniques and Tactics. When his intuition piggy-backs on his {Life Communication}, he can check the 'intent' of an individual. In this case, the 'confidence' of that individual. Though not foolproof, a higher Skill level leads to a higher level of confidence in one's self. This is why, at a certain level, a high degree of confidence in one's self leads to the awakening of Will. By 'measuring' the confidence level of an individual, Korede is able to guess the Skill level.
After having a better gauge of his opponent's level, Korede quickly took inventory of his options while the two approach him to get a better line of sight. He had dropped his MK14 rifle immediately he entered the building.
He had dropped it so that it wouldn't interfere with his movements. Though it might not have interfered with his movements much, Korede had thought it wise not to take the chance with the complicated sequence he just executed.
Now, he only had his sword and his sidearm with him.
'Two Specialist, huh. The stunts I pulled just now have dropped my Will strength to 25%. Super-imposing different Will techniques sucks up Will strength badly. Damned law of balance.'
[There's no way around it. Even the strongest beings in the universe are affected by Universal Truths. They can only minimise it. None can escape from it.]
'What's the difference between a Truth and Law?' Korede asked.
Aon was initially silent. Then, it sighed as it realised it had said what it shouldn't have.
[I can't tell you yet. You have to reach the seventh level if you want to know. However, from what I've said, you should be able to figure it out. Isn't deduction your strong suit?
Besides, is this the time for that?]
Korede chuckled.
'They're just two Specialist. Not worth mentioning. If it wasn't because I didn't want to risk engaging a large number of foes at the same time, I could still wipe them out all the same without using Will.
[Finally spoken like a true Combat Master.]
It was a good thing speed of thought was faster than the speed of speech.
Though the conversation between the two seems to have taken a bit of time, it was only a moment in the real world. If not, even Korede would have been killed by now, ten times over.
Korede shook his head at the thought and turned his attention back to the last two foes.
'Too bad my method doesn't tell what an individual is good at.' Korede mumbled. "Well, first, let's get rid of those guns.'
Korede moved from his cover and kicked a chair towards the Merc leader's direction. He figured that it was more likely for a modern soldier or Mercenary to be more skilled in marksmanship than anything else. He used the chair to block the man's line of sight for a brief moment. A brief moment which he used to dash at Chike.
As one would expect, Chike's shooting was poor for someone at Korede's level. Korede dodged the bullets and sliced through Chike's rifle before kicking at him. Chike dodged the kick and Korede didn't press him further. He quickly turned in the direction of the Merc leader.
After dodging the chair, the man was about to attack Korede again when he discovered that the latter had appeared in front of him. Before the Merc leader could react, Korede's sword had sliced through his rifle also.
Shock and disbelief couldn't describe what the Merc leader felt from what he had just witnessed. He quickly backed away from Korede while the latter didn't pursue.
"That's much better." Korede said as he sheathed his sword before resting it on a pillar. "Now, we're even."
He raised his hand and hooked his finger in a 'come' gesture at both the Merc leader and Chike before taking a fighting stance.
[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]
AUTHOR'S NOTE/RAMBLING
MK14 mod 0 Enhanced Battle Rifle
Weight: 5.1Kg
Length: 89cm
Rate of Fire: Semi-Auto
Muzzle Velocity: 975m per sec
Calibre: 7.62mmx51mm NATO rounds
Magazine: 20 rounds detachable box magazine.
[A.N: Please, don't forget to leave a review of the work to encourage me. Your opinion matters to me.]