Chapter 233: The Breach at the Threshold
The air around Han Zheng and Song Yan shimmered with a heavy, translucent distortion as gravity inverted, carrying both men smoothly over the high steel railing of the observation ramp.
They descended through rising clouds of white steam and black smoke, their heavy combat boots landing with a synchronized, bone-rattling thud in the deep, scorched mud forty meters directly behind the advancing Apex Hounds.
The sudden, unexpected arrival of two dense, high-tier energy signatures instantly drew the attention of the remaining Apex strike force.
The three Hounds spun around in the slurry, their boots churning up black sludge as their eyes—burning behind shattered, spark-spitting visors—locked onto the new arrivals with aggressive, predatory intent.
"Commander!" the heavy assault Hound barked over their internal channel, his voice harsh with static as he adjusted his grip on his heavy automatic cannon. "Two high-tier energy signatures directly behind us!"
"I see them," the Apex Commander growled, his scarred face twisted into a mask of cold, lethal resolve. He spat a mouthful of blood into the melting slush and raised his sidearm, channeling his remaining kinetic power straight into his reinforced forearm braces. "Clear them out so we can blow the blast gates!"
Without giving the enemy time to coordinate or retreat into cover, Han Zheng took a step forward, his boots tearing through the slush as his dual-awakened kinetic energy flared to life. Bright blue energy arced across his broad shoulders and gauntlets, creating a localized pressure wave that violently pushed the surrounding white steam aside.
𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚
"Song Yan, take the heavy," Han Zheng commanded, his voice deep and echoing across the narrow, rock-ribbed valley. "The leader is mine."
"Got him," Song Yan replied instantly, his hands already glowing with a dense, translucent gravitational aura that distorted the air around his forearms.
Han Zheng lunged forward, closing the forty-meter gap in seconds. The Apex Commander met him head-on, stepping smoothly to the side to fire a three-round burst of high-caliber armor-piercing rounds directly at Han Zheng’s chest while unleashing a sharp kinetic pulse from his left palm.
Han Zheng raised his left forearm, his kinetic shield expanding instantly to absorb the incoming bullets and disperse the kinetic pulse with a loud, metallic crack. Using the forward momentum, Han Zheng drove a right hook straight toward the Commander’s jaw.
The Commander ducked under the devastating blow with military precision, sweeping his leg through the thick mud to trip Han Zheng, but Han Zheng anchored his boots into the solid stone beneath the slush, absorbing the force and driving a knee straight into the Commander’s ribs.
The two power-holders locked together in a violent, high-speed melee, trading strikes, grappling holds, and point-blank gunfire that kicked up towering geysers of mud, melting snow, and burning embers all around them.
Twenty yards to the right, Song Yan targeted the heavy assault Hound. The heavy unit leveled his automatic cannon, aiming its thick barrel directly at Song Yan’s torso, but before he could squeeze the heavy trigger, Song Yan slammed both palms toward the earth.
"Gravity Multiply—Ten Times!" Song Yan bellowed, his veins bulging against his neck.
A dense, invisible weight slammed down on the heavy Hound like an anvil dropping from the sky. The massive automatic cannon in his hands suddenly weighed hundreds of pounds, dragging his arms downward until the barrel plunged deep into the churning mud.
The Hound grunted in shock as his boots sank six inches deeper into the waterlogged dirt, the immense gravitational force straining his leg muscles and back joints to their absolute limit.
"Gah! You piece of trash!" the Hound roared, struggling against the unnatural weight as he used his raw physical power to force the heavy cannon upward inch by inch, his armor joints groaning under the pressure.
"Stay down!" Song Yan shouted, stepping closer and maintaining the heavy gravitational field to keep the heavy unit completely immobilized and away from the primary blast gates.
High above the chaotic mud pit, on the elevated observation ramp, Old Wang rested his rifle frame against the steel railing, keeping his scope locked on the ground clash below. Beside him, Su Yun stood with her rifle raised, her eyes scanning the edges of the battlefield to call out directional movements for Han Zheng over the radio.
"Commander, he’s shifting to his left!" Su Yun reported rapidly into her mic, her voice calm and crisp. "Watch his lower stance—he’s priming a secondary kinetic burst from his left boot!"
Down below, Han Zheng heard the warning over his earpiece, sidestepping a split-second before the Apex Commander’s boot slammed into the mud, sending a shockwave tearing through the spot where Han Zheng had been standing a moment prior.
"Good call, Su Yun!" Old. Wang shouted, tracking the Commander’s movements through his optics. "Keep those calls coming!"
However, in the thick shadow of the blast gate overhang, the third surviving Apex Hound—the agile combat specialist—was not engaging in the ground fight.
Standing in the thick gray steam near the warped outer doors, his crimson visor tracked the movements of Han Zheng and Song Yan below. He quickly realized that with two high-tier power-holders anchoring the ground, engaging them directly in a grinding melee would only result in total defeat for his remaining squad.
His eyes drifted upward, following the steel support beams and drainage pipes of the outer structure all the way to the high observation ramp.
Up there, Lin Qing and her spotters were directing the entire fight, providing crucial intelligence and sniper support to the ground team.
A dark, cruel smirk touched the agile Hound’s face beneath his lower mask.
Without making a sound, he unclipped a specialized, pneumatic grapple line from his utility belt and aimed it at the dark underside of the high catwalk. He popped two small, silent smoke pellets at his feet, shrouding his position in a small cloud of gray mist to mask his departure.
PFFT.
The grapple line fired silently through the steam, its magnetic claw latching firmly onto the heavy steel scaffolding beneath the observation ramp.
Utilizing his enhanced physical agility, the Hound retracted the line, rising rapidly into the air like a phantom, completely hidden by the rising clouds of white steam and the roaring noise of the ground battle.
Up on the ramp, Lin Qing stood near the outer steel railing, her rifle raised as she tracked the fight below. Her eyes were sharp, her focus absolute as she watched Han Zheng trade brutal kinetic blows with the Apex Commander in the mud.
"Su Yun, tell Song Yan to shift his gravity field two meters to the left," Lin Qing said calmly, her finger resting near the trigger guard. "If he forces the heavy unit into that rock crevice, he won’t have enough clearance to swing his cannon."
"Copy that," Su Yun replied, keying her comms. "Song Yan, adjust your field two meters left. Lock him against the cliff face."
Down on the valley floor, Song Yan shifted his stance, redirecting the gravitational pressure to shove the heavy assault Hound sideways against the solid granite wall, trapping his right arm and rendering his heavy cannon useless.
Suddenly, the cold mountain wind shifted across the open catwalk.
Lin Qing’s instincts instantly flared up. The temperature behind her dropped subtly, accompanied by the faint, almost imperceptible smell of burnt ozone, damp rust, and wet chemical fabric.
Before she could shout a warning to the rest of the crew, a shadow burst over the steel railing directly behind her position.
A lone guard standing near the ramp’s secondary access door didn’t even have time to draw his sidearm. The agile Hound landed silently behind him, sweeping a long, high-frequency vibro-blade across the guard’s throat in one fluid, terrifying motion. The guard collapsed without making a single sound, dark blood pooling quickly onto the cold steel grating beneath his boots.
Old Wang and Su Yun were completely focused on the valley below, their backs turned to the entry door, entirely unaware of the lethal breach that had just occurred behind them.
Lin Qing spun around on her heel, her instincts taking over instantly as she raised her weapon, but the distance between them was far too short.
The agile Hound was already in front of her. His shattered visor glowed with a faint, lethal crimson grid as he closed the remaining gap in a split-second. His left arm swept out with incredible speed, slamming into Lin Qing’s assault rifle, knocking the weapon violently out of her hands and sending it clattering across the metal catwalk.
Before she could draw her sidearm or step back into a defensive stance, the Hound slammed his weight forward, driving her backward against the high steel railing.
The cold metal bar bit painfully into Lin Qing’s spine as the agile Hound pressed his forearm against her chest, pinning her firmly against the edge of the steep drop. With his other hand, he brought the blade up—its humming, energetic edge hovering less than an inch from her exposed throat.
Lin Qing’s breath caught, her sharp eyes locking onto the cold, murderous gaze of the Hound behind his mask. Below them, forty feet down in the mud, Han Zheng was still locked in a desperate, kinetic-fueled struggle against the Apex Commander, completely unaware that his wife was pinned against the high railing with a lethal blade pressed to her throat.