Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 66: I will be back.

Flare isolated all the thoughts running through her head and focused on the battle alone. With her hired helper providing cover while she led the way, it felt like they were making a lot of progress, but that soon changed.

The number of enemies didn’t seem to dwindle no matter how many they defeated. Some even had several bionic enhancements, making them especially difficult to deal with. Before long, it began to appear as if the two of them were being cornered little by little; that’s when her partner decided that they needed to change their plans.

After retreating behind a few turns, they arrived at a seemingly inconspicuous corner. Since it appeared like a dead end, Flare couldn’t help but be on edge.

"Break this part." The youth said as he pointed to a certain section of the concrete wall.

Flare wanted to argue. She wanted to ask what that was supposed to accomplish. There was no time, however. Their pursuers were fast approaching and they couldn’t afford to waste a single second. The concrete wall was quite thick, but nothing she couldn’t punch through with her bare fists. In less than a minute, a hole wide enough for a person to pass through was formed.

Stepping through, Flare found herself standing on a narrow, ascending staircase. Before she could ask, the rattling of gunfire resounded from the other side of the hole.

"It’s the emergency stairs." The red-haired youth said as he followed after her. "You go catch the boss. I will keep these bastards occupied."

"But-"

"Just go finish the goddamn job already!" He growled at her. "The short bastard should be on the floor above us. We can’t risk the ones down here regrouping with them." He peeked out of the hole then held out his rifle and fired some shots. "I will lead them to the lower floors so hurry up and go!"

Flare understood his reasoning, but this time she couldn’t just follow his instructions. A normal human couldn’t hold back that mob, and a single rifle wouldn’t change that. If she were to leave him behind, his fate would be sealed.

Just as she opened her mouth to argue, he suddenly looked up, his eyes widening as if he had just remembered something then narrowed right away.

"I’m shutting down both your NIM and OAM." He said, and before she could comprehend, a blue circle manifested around her field of view, shrunk down to a point, then vanished. "This way, that bastard won’t fry your brain when you get close. Now go!"

His order was given with such finality that Flare knew there was no changing his mind. This time, however, she felt that there was no need to. As dangerous as the situation seemed, her intuition was strangely silent. It didn’t demand that she remain by his side or drag him along, which could only mean that she wouldn’t regret leaving him behind.

"Alright!" She turned around and leaped to the top of the stairs. "I will be back!"

Flare remained hesitant, but she still decided to follow her intuition. She would finish the boss and his henchmen in no time and return to help him. Overflowing with determination, she made it to the second floor in a few steps, but just as she was about to kick the door to the emergency stairs open, the ground suddenly rumbled, throwing her off balance.

"What is..."

The sound of gunfire echoed from below, instantly banishing the momentary confusion that petrified her. Pulling her right fist back, she took a firm step forward and punched, sending the metallic door flying. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

The area beyond was more open than expected, but Flare’s eyes were immediately drawn to the pile of rubble at its center. There, several people lie unconscious. Among them was a giant with disproportionately thick arms and hands gradually rising to his feet, and a tall, lanky man who was as pale as a frozen corpse. She almost missed him, but there was a short man dressed oddly as well. He was moving away from the others but seemed to have stopped as soon as she appeared.

The short man wore a mask over his face, and though it looked different from the one Delta wore, Flare felt they were one and the same. Her eyes narrowed and her body shifted, preparing to lunge at him like a lioness who had just found her prey. At that moment, she noticed something moving in the periphery of her vision.

Alarmed, Flare docked just as something passed through where her head had been, blowing a gust of wind through her crimson hair. She leapt away, rolled then turned to face her attacker, who turned out to be the pale man she saw before, only now both his arms were open, showing the mechanical components that were hidden behind the layer of synthetic skin. Each one had blades extending from the elbows, and the same went for his legs, which had ripped his pants to reveal the blades running along his shins and feet.

Though she didn’t know the exact model, Flare was familiar with that type of bionics. That’s why she wasn’t too surprised by the pale man moving at a speed that surpassed that of a normal human. They were common among the criminal EIs, and though this was her first time fighting one of them, she was more than well prepared thanks to her training.

Watching as he lunged at her, she shifted her body and evaded another kick then stepped out of the follow-up’s range. The pale man collapsed to the floor and went for a low sweep, but once again she only had to move back a step to evade it.

The pale man was fast, but not fast enough to be a problem. Still, he was good at chaining his moves, giving the young hero no opening for a comeback. She was trying to keep an eye on the short man as well, and seeing that he was already running away told her she had to do something and fast

Making up her mind, Flare leaped back several meters, striking her fist together to ignite their flames. The pale man closed the distance before she could land and swung his right arm, the blade extending from it becoming a scythe heading straight for the hero’s neck.