Above the forest was the fighter jet hovering over. The pilot was doing reconnaissance to locate Jack and Nathan.
"I'm sure they're hiding around here." The pilot communicated on his earpiece. "I suggest sending forces to corner them."
* * *
Nathan sat with Jack and the NPCs (except for the blacksmith for obvious reasons), each on different couches in the living room.
"As you already know Jack, the developer wanted us to meet here and formulate a plan to be victorious in this war," Nathan remarked. "However, most of our group is missing. Any ideas, Jack?"
"I'm not the calculating type. I'd just want to go for the ideas that result in the most deaths...wait a second, that's perfect!" Jack said before something clicked.
"Hmm?"
"Almost everyone's evacuated from the zones that we attacked previously, right?" Jack began to explain. "Then let's bring the war to the civilians!"
Everyone reacted with shocked expressions (except for the NPC as he had his mask of course).
What an insane plan...as expected from Jack though. Although, the civilians would put the military at a disadvantage.
"I mean if nothing else comes to mind...I guess we'd have no choice but to use that plan."
Suddenly, noise could be heard outside, which garnered everyone's attention.
"Someone's here...?" Nathan said with a serious expression. Jack also took a knife from his coat.
"Wait...it's probably someone we know." The NPC said.
"Are you sure?" Nathan asked.
"Yeah...if it wasn't, the blacksmith would have already done something."
What does he mean by that?
Suddenly, Charles entered. He had some bruises on his body.
"Hey guys! I made it!" He said in his usual excited demeanor.
"Oh, Charles," Jack said as he placed his knife back in his coat. "From those bruises, I can tell you had some fun."
"Haha...yeah I...did." He responded in a strained tone.
* * *
Going less than an hour in the past after Jack had left to find Nathan, Charles was fighting the super soldiers he encountered.
"Damn it...Jack left." A super soldier frustratingly said. "Well...at least we definitely can take out Charles, now that he's by himself."
"Haha, is that right?" Charles asked. "Don't you guys know that it took the strongest guy to take me down!?"
"More accurately, you got horrifically beaten by that guy. Plus, he was the first super soldier that fought you." The super soldier countered. "You may be a bit stronger than most blessed people, but you're still blessed...and we specialize in killing you guys."
"Haha...I like your mindset."
He charged straight into the group of super soldiers. The regular soldiers began firing at him in response.
Haha...Physical Enhancement - Blood Doping.
Pulsating veins surfaced on his face and neck, more than when he fought Rachel at the hotel. Having no choice as he charged at them, the super soldiers did the same. The regular soldiers stopped firing to not hinder their allies.
With the use of knives, brass knuckles, clubs, and other melee weapons, the super soldiers attacked. Although they had the number advantage and their sonic-speed movement seemed to make them faster than Charles, they just couldn't hit him.
Reacting and redirecting knife and club swings to miss him and blocking punches and kicks, Charles was blocking everything, much to the super soldiers' chagrin.
"Tsk, why the hell can't we hit you!" A super soldier shouted as he desperately attacked, still being blocked.
"It's a skill I'm using...blood doping!" Charles said. "Blood carries more oxygen around my body which boosts my attack and reaction speed to great amounts!"
"What the hell is your body..." The super soldier said in confusion. "That's just drug--" Before he could finish, he caught a punch to the face from Charles, sending him away.
Charles continued to block and eventually started to overpower them with his sheer attack speed. It quickly got to the point where the super soldiers were getting thrown and punched across the block.
Slamming one's head into the ground strong enough to make a hole, punching one several times in the face before one could react, and only taking a few hits, it was obvious that they were losing.
His knuckles were bloodied from beating them, and Charles started to become bored.
Sigh...these guys aren't enough to excite me. I need to fight that guy again.
The soldiers frantically started to shoot at Charles after seeing him overpower them. They even tried to fire missiles at him from launchers, which annoyed him.
"Tsk, you guys are just in the way!" Charles said before throwing a super soldier towards them like a projectile. Before the soldier crashed in, however, he was caught by another.
"Oh?" Charles said. The soldier who caught the other gently leaned their unconscious body against a military vehicle. He then turned to Charles.
Seeing his face, Charles looked surprised. The soldier had scars on the right half of his face. Charles was reminded of the man who defeated him in the past.
Hmm...I wonder if this guy will be better than the others.
"You're a strong guy aren't you." The scarred super soldier said. "You're like a natural-born super soldier. It would have been nice if you weren't a criminal."
"Oh well, enough talking!" Charles exclaimed.
Charles immediately ran at him and they started to fight. He was keeping up with Charles's increased attack and reaction speed much better than the others could. They started to move around as they took their fight around the city block.
The scarred super soldier even surprised Charles as he landed several hits on him.
Charles smiled but in the back of his mind, he knew that this wasn't enough to fulfill his battle-lust.
"Heh, you aren't too bad," Charles said. "But I'll end this now."
"End this, what do you me--"
Adrenaline Doping.
Charles' body immediately shifted from having veins to greatly increased muscle mass. Dragging his right leg back, Charles prepared to charge at him.
"Watch out," Charles warned with a smirk which alarmed him. Despite his warning, however, Charles dashed at him, breaking the ground that he planted his feet on and emitting sonic booms.
The scarred super soldier tried to move but wasn't fast enough and received a direct uppercut to his chin. He was sent many meters into the air, his jaw broken from the force.
W-What...?
Charles jumped up and caught up to him in the air. He proceeded to grab the scarred super soldier by the face. Charles punched the air with his free arm, generating enough force to propel him back to the ground, still holding the super soldier.
He brutally smashed the scarred super soldier face first, breaking the ground on impact. Shattering his teeth and with a busted face, the super soldier was down for the count.
"I guess the only similarity you had was the scars."
Charles's phone suddenly started ringing and he answered.
"Hey Charles, nice fight!" The developer commended.
"Yeah, but these guys aren't enough...maybe if they all come at me, but still..."
"Oh don't worry, you'll get your long-awaited fight and many more." The developer reassured. "For now, I need you to meet up with your party."
"Hmm...Sure, why not? It'd probably be better than these boring people."
* * *
"Yeah, I...had...fun for a while, I guess," Charles responded.
"Well, at least you came here," Nathan said. "We have yet to hear from the other three."
I don't mind if Ada's not here...but what about Zack...or Olivia for that matter. She always seems scared of Ada too so it's strange that she'd be away with her for so long.
* * *
In a dark hallway, an officer walked down. As he walked, he passed what seemed to be several prison cells, with each containing individuals. He stopped at a cell, however, as something caught his eye.
"Ha...oh yeah, I forgot we had you for a second." The officer said. "It must suck to be you, am I right, Ms. Gray?"
The prisoner was none other than Olivia Gray. Filled with depression and with an empty expression, she was curling up in the fetal position in the middle of her cell.
"Aw, sad?" The officer taunted. "Well, you should have thought of that when you killed your fellow students. But don't worry...your misery will end very soon."
Olivia didn't even seem to register his presence so having enough of her, the officer left.