Meanwhile, Jack was massacring the super soldiers, and Charles and the blessed slaughterer continued to fight.
The blessed slaughterer held to his word and fought without restraining himself. Buildings were collapsing on themselves as they fought.
He sent Charles rolling across the terrain with a kick before quickly pulling two combat knives from leg holsters. Charles regained his balance and stopped rolling. Simultaneously, the blessed slaughterer charged at Charles, breaking the ground apart where he moved from.
Charles quickly backpedaled to keep up with the blessed slaughterer's incoming attack. As he caught up, the super soldier swung his knives at Charles repeatedly. He swung them very quickly and masterfully, even spinning around.
Although Charles nicely avoided them as he was moving backward, it was clear that his speed was not enough. Cuts appeared on his body as the blessed slaughterer landed a few, although it was superficial.
"Ha! Those sticks can't take me down!" Charles confidently declared. "My body is too strong for that--"
Waiting for him to dodge a specific knife slash, the blessed slaughterer struck. He delivered a strong elbow strike to Charles's nose, propelling him into another building. That was when Charles realized that all those knife swings were, but a feint, just for the blessed slaughterer to read the timing of his dodges.
What an idiot...you must be stupid if you thought I didn't know that. The blessed slaughterer said before throwing his knives away and chasing Charles while he crashed into the building.
The blessed slaughterer slammed into Charles with his foot planted on his face. The super soldier jumped off, causing Charles to slightly lose balance. He attempted to counter by swiping as the blessed slaughterer landed, but showing off his flexibility, the blessed slaughterer bent backward to a ninety-degree angle and avoided.
He immediately followed up with another elbow strike with his left before spinning around and following up with a hook with his right, both to Charles's jaw. He launched him into an already destroyed building.
If I keep laying on the hits, it won't be long before he goes down! The blessed slaughterer thought as he dashed up to the ruined infrastructure. I don't need to kill anymore--
Charles suddenly dashed out of the building and grabbed the super soldier's arm, surprising him.
"Good! Let's fight some more!" Charles declared as he spun around with him before tossing the super soldier across multiple city blocks. He eventually crashed into a diner.
"Ugh..." The blessed slaughterer groaned as he leaned up from the debris. He was not able to hear his groans as he could hear the intense screams of civilians inside. While he leaned up, he felt a strange sensation in his hand. Looking at his hand, the blessed slaughterer noticed his palm covered with red liquid.
As he looked around, he noticed bloodstains everywhere, and both injured and dead civilians were crushed under debris, injured from the broken window shards, and impaled by obstructions.
He could feel his heart and breathing rate increase as he had a clear view of the disaster.
Tsk! More innocent lives--
As he let his emotions distract him, Charles rushed in and delivered a powerful strike to his gut. The entire diner was destroyed, and the survivors died as a result.
"HAHA! MORE! LET'S FIGHT MORE!" Charles declared with pure excitement on his face.
Charles did not let up as he caught up and began striking his opponent through other buildings. He struck him several times before grabbing the blessed slaughterer's face and tossing him straight into a gas station.
Civilians who were inside the gas station's convenience store, hiding from the intense destruction they witnessed, had no idea what just happened when suddenly, the entire gas station exploded.
The explosion flattened nearby buildings and tossed vehicles. All life in the vicinity died from either the explosion or the hurdling vehicles. A large smoke cloud was also generated from the explosion.
* * *
Meanwhile, Jack still had fun with slaughtering the super soldiers. Nathan peeked from his hiding place and saw the super soldiers being cut down by seemingly nothing.
Yeah, Jack can handle this. Nathan thought. I don't need to be reckless...and I don't need to kill, at least.
"I-I'll deal with the criminal that went to hide in that building!" A super soldier said to Lancer and Zombie. Before they could say anything, Jack suddenly appeared beside the super soldier, resting his hand on his shoulder.
"Huh? How can you deal with him?" Jack asked as the super soldier continued gazed at Zombie and Lancer, not yet registering his presence. "When you're already dead?"
Jack's presence finally hit the super soldier, and he immediately tried to punch him. It was pointless as Jack disappeared once again.
Almost instantly, the super soldier's right arm fell from his body.
"Huh?" The super soldier said as he noticed. He was rendered helpless, as his left arm also fell off. Next was his right leg, causing the super soldier to lose their balance. As he fell, his limbs came apart, along with his head.
Lancer and Zombie watched in pure shock. Sweat fell from Lancer's face as he became even more fearful.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Jack cackled.
"W-We need...to do...something..." Zombie stuttered.
"D-Do...what?" Lancer asked.
"Something...anything!" Zombie exclaimed. "Anything to--"
Amid Zombie's sentence, Lancer was suddenly dragged away. He got forced to the ground, where he noticed Jack on top of him.
"J-Jack!" Zombie yelled when he finally realized. Jack didn't even acknowledge him as he stared at Lancer with a maniacal smile.
"I told you..." Jack said as he raised his knife in the air. "I'll kill you next!"
What made it worse for Lancer was Jack's psychotic smile and blood-lusted eyes as he drove the knife into his neck. Instantly, he drove the knife sideways and tore the side of Lancer's throat out.
Zombie tried to rush him but was too late as Jack dashed away.
Zombie looked at his comrade, who helplessly was choking on his blood as he approached death. He could only helplessly look, with his mouth gaping open in shock.
Not even giving him any time to process his comrade's death, Jack appeared in front of him and jammed his knife in his tongue while Zombie's mouth was open. Upon realizing this, Zombie held Jack so he wouldn't escape before punching him in the face.
Jack was knocked away but quickly stopped himself by stabbing his knives into the ground. His jaw was severely bruised, as was bleeding from the strike.
"Wow, there's no blood coming from your mouth, huh, bugger?" Jack said as he noticed no bleeding from Zombie. The bruises on Jack's face instantly disappeared, going back to his usual, unblemished self. "And normally, people would be writhing in pain from being stabbed like that, but you look pretty composed."
Dammit...He didn't die! Zombie thought with frustration.
"That's strange, but I can have fun with you then!" Jack added.
* * *
The pungent smell of burning corpses filled the air as the smoke from the explosion cleared up. The blessed slaughterer slowly walked out of the remains of the smoke, revealing himself to be alive. Unsurprisingly, Charles was happy to see his survival.
"Ah...dammit..." The blessed slaughterer muttered as he held his side. His uniform was in tatters, and he was bleeding profusely.
How many cities...have we run through...? The blessed slaughterer thought. How many thousands...of civilians have died...?
"This is fun, isn't it!?" Charles asked. "I'm sure you feel the same way, right!?"
Ignoring Charles, the blessed slaughterer looked around. He witnessed the utter destruction that they caused before gazing back on him.
In anger, the blessed slaughterer began to rub his blood-stained hands in his hair.
"You think...this is fun!?" The blessed slaughterer asked. "You really are...out of your mind!"
"Haha! You say that, but I'm sure you're finding this fun!" Charles countered. "You're strong like me, so of course you'd find this fun--"
Suddenly, blood began to run down Charles's face from his eyes and mouth. Blood also began seeping from the arteries on Charles's body, which surprised them both.
What the hell? The blessed slaughterer thought with a look of confusion but immediately changed to a focused expression. Who cares. There's an opening. I'll kill him!
He instantly charged at Charles and performed a right hook to his jaw, knocking him away. Knowing that would not nearly be enough to kill him, the blessed slaughterer caught up and delivered a flurry of attacks.
Ugh...I knew this would happen. Using physical enhancement stacking for the first time would result in side effects since I am pushing the blood flow in my body beyond normal limits. Charles pondered. Haha...I won't be able to use this for much longer.
He proceeded to grab Charles's head before delivering a knee strike. He followed up with a gut punch, sending the criminal.
You know Charles...you might be right. The blessed slaughterer thought to himself. This might not be fun...but I guess this is stimulating.
Charles got knocked into the air with a powerful uppercut. Immediately jumping up, the super soldier struck and sent him with another hook.
There was a look of pure focus on his face as the blessed slaughterer struck the air behind him with his fist to propel himself through the air to catch up with Charles.
My parents were killed by criminals like you, leaving me with nothing. The blessed slaughterer continued pondering as he kept the intensity of his attacks. And at age sixteen...I was experimented on...to become what I am now...
He hit Charles with multiple aerial strikes, each creating devastating sonic booms.
In my entire time as the blessed slaughterer, for sixteen years, I never lost a battle to any criminal. I was the strongest. I even got this arm to ensure that no criminal would survive. I never had to push myself, so I suppose I felt an emptiness in my heart...but...
Charles tried counter-attacking, but his arm was deflected. He immediately performed a palm-heel strike to Charles's face. Large amounts of blood flew from Charles's mouth as a result.
I'm all loaded up! The blessed slaughterer thought as he clenched the fist of his metallic arm. It radiated an intense glow of energy. I'll strike him with everything! I'll kill him, then help the others with Jack!
Using everything he had, the blessed slaughterer delivered a powerful haymaker to Charles with his glowing fist. As if transferring the power from his arm, the right side (where the blessed slaughterer struck) of Charles's face had the same orange glow.
He sent Charles crashing into a nearby building, causing a massive explosion. The explosion was so large that it covered an entire city block, destroying all property.
The blessed slaughterer saw the damage he caused and looked with a face of slight regret. Distracted by his emotions again and unable to see Charles through the smoke cloud generated from the explosion, Charles immediately rushed him and delivered a devastating drop kick.
The right side of Charles's face was heavily burnt, even to his eyes. It was as if he had two faces. That didn't bother him, though, as he was still excited.
Blood flowed out the blessed slaughterer's mouth as he soared across the area from the drop kick.
Yes...this was the stimulation my heart wanted...But this is not how I wanted it! The blessed slaughterer thought while he crashed into a collapsed building.
Ugh...I never had a problem with killing criminal bastards...they killed my parents, after all. But, so many innocent lives are lost today...and it's because of me...!
Suddenly, Charles picked up the remains of what seemed to be a skyscraper before spinning around and tossing it at the blessed slaughterer. Simultaneously, the blessed prosthetic arm began glowing again.
Noticing the building hurdling at him at extreme speeds, the blessed slaughterer knew it would be hard to dodge, so he decided to strike it with his radiating arm. He blew the building up, causing countless rubble to rain down on the area and resulting in even more destruction.
Dammit...I never wanted this. I can't focus fully...because of how many lives I took. I'm...sorry.
Through the raining rubble, Charles charged up to the blessed slaughterer. He then delivered a combination of right and left hooks before spiking the super soldier into the ground. The blessed slaughterer's impact destroyed the ground.
The blessed slaughterer was on his last legs. He was on all fours as he found it difficult to get up. Charles, also significantly injured, landed in front of the blessed slaughterer.
"Urrrggghhh..." The blessed slaughterer groaned before coughing up more blood.
"It looks like you can't continue anymore," Charles said. "Thank you for this fight! It was the greatest I've ever had!"