Chapter 29: Phantom vs Hunters
"BOOM."
Darkness.
"PZOOOM!"
The "EMP Cannon" wave tore through the arena.
Every light died. Every electronic screen fizzled.
50,000 spectators gasped.
For one second, the world was black and silent.
Then:
Two blue eyes lit up in the dark.
"[EMP DETECTED: GROUNDED]"
"[SWITCHING TO BACKUP POWER]"
"[SYSTEMS: ONLINE]"
"WHOOSH."
Scrap Mark III was already moving.
The Phantom Strikes
The EMP Engineer from Team 09 didn’t have time to react.
He saw a shadow. 2.2 meters. Silent.
Then a fist.
"CRUNCH."
The "Portable EMP Cannon" shattered.
The Engineer flew back 10 meters and crashed into the barrier.
Out cold.
"[ANNOUNCER, IN THE DARK]"
"[ONE DOWN! TEAM 09: EMP SPECIALIST DOWN IN 2 SECONDS!]"
"[WHAT IS THAT THING?!]"
The lights flickered back on.
Team 09’s formation was broken.
The "Mana Null Mage" and the "Anti-Material Sniper" stood back to back.
Pale.
Across from them: Scrap.
No wires. No sparks.
Just matte black armor and glowing blue eyes.
"EMP didn’t work," the Sniper hissed.
"I told you to aim for the kid," the Mage snapped. "Not the golem!"
Kael stood 20 meters back.
Hand on the port on his back.
Blood trickling from his nose.
"[Synchronization: 96%]"
"[Mana: 92%]"
"[Backup Power: 89%]"
He smiled.
"Your turn."
Lira and Ren Move
Lira didn’t wait.
"[Skill: [Glacial Step]]"
She vanished.
The Sniper spun, rifle up.
"BANG!"
A round that could pierce tank armor shot out.
Lira was already gone.
The round hit the ground where she was.
She appeared behind him.
"TAP."
Her spear tip touched the back of his neck.
"[Skill: [Absolute Zero]]"
Ice spread from the tip.
The Sniper froze mid-step.
"[Target: DISABLED]"
"[ANNOUNCER]"
"[TWO DOWN! IT’S A 3v1!]"
The Mana Null Mage was the last one.
A-Rank. The captain.
He wasn’t scared.
He was angry.
He raised both hands.
"[Skill: [Domain: Mana Nullification]]"
The air turned heavy.
Kael felt it immediately.
"[WARNING: MANA CORE: OFFLINE]"
"[SWITCHING TO BACKUP POWER]"
Scrap slowed down.
40%.
But it didn’t stop.
The Mage pointed at Kael.
"You rely on that thing. Without it, you’re nothing."
Kael wiped the blood from his nose.
"Who said I rely on it?"
He looked at Ren.
Ren grinned. His arm still in a sling.
"Took you long enough."
The Real Team 47
While Scrap tanked the null field,
While Lira held the Sniper,
Ren moved.
He wasn’t the support.
He wasn’t the comic relief.
He was A-Rank too.
"[Skill: [Dual Blade: Tempest Dance]]"
Ren blurred.
Two swords.
One in each hand.
One in his teeth.
He wasn’t fast like the Team 03 Swordsman.
He was violent.
"SHING SHING SHING!"
The Mage threw up a barrier.
Ren cut through it.
The Mage threw a spell.
Ren cut through that too.
"You’re not just a golem user," the Mage panted, bleeding from 3 cuts.
"You’re a team."
Kael nodded.
"We always were."
"[Direct Link: MAX OUTPUT]"
Scrap roared.
Even with backup power, even in the null zone.
It charged.
The Mage tried to run.
Scrap’s hand shot out and grabbed his leg.
"CRACK."
"[ANNOUNCER, SCREAMING]"
"[THREE DOWN! FULL WIPE!]"
"[WINNER: TEAM 47!]"
"[ADVANCING TO SEMIFINALS!]"
"[TIME: 3 MINUTES 14 SECONDS!]"
Silence.
Then the arena exploded.
"TRASH KING! TRASH KING! TRASH KING!"
The chant was deafening.
The Aftermath
The barrier dropped.
Kael dropped to his knees.
"[Mana: 11%]"
"[Neural Strain: SEVERE]"
"[Backup Power: 2%]"
Lira was there in an instant, catching him.
Ren was there a second later, pulling the sling off.
"I can carry him," Ren said.
"No," Lira said. "I got him."
She lifted Kael like he weighed nothing.
Scrap walked behind them.
Guarding.
As they left the arena, the crowd parted.
No one threw trash anymore.
No one laughed.
They bowed.
Some of them.
Instructor Garrick was waiting in the tunnel.
He looked at Kael.
At the bandages.
At the blood.
Then at Scrap.
"EMP proof. Mana independent. And a 3-minute win against A-Ranks."
He closed his notebook.
"You’re not C-Rank anymore, Kael. None of you are."
He walked away.
2 Hours Later: Medical Bay
"[Status: Critical Mana Depletion. Recovery: 48 Hours]"
"[Neural Link: Stable]"
Kael was awake.
Staring at the ceiling.
Ren was asleep in a chair.
Snoring.
Lira was sitting by the bed.
Not sleeping.
"Why?" Kael asked quietly.
Lira looked up.
"Why what?"
"Why help me? From the beginning. The Dump. The 200 pieces. All of this."
Lira was quiet for a long time.
Then she reached out.
And took his hand.
Her hand was cold.
"Because someone should have," she said.
The same words from Chapter 1.
Kael squeezed her hand.
"Thank you."
The door opened.
A messenger in Academy robes.
He handed Lira a sealed letter.
Gold seal.
"[ACADEMY HEADMASTER]"
"[URGENT: SEMIFINAL OPPONENT ANNOUNCEMENT]"
Lira opened it.
Her face went blank.
"What is it?" Kael asked.
Lira handed him the letter.
"[SEMIFINALS: TEAM 47]"
"[VS]"
"[TEAM 01: THE ACADEMY’S HEIRS]"
"[3x S-Rank. The Headmaster’s Personal Students.]"
"[Time: 5 Days]"
"[Odds: 0.01%]"
0.01%.
Worse than Team 03.
Ren woke up.
Read the letter.
"...Oh."
S-Rank.
The best of the best.
Kids who grew up with A-Rank gear since they were 10.
Kael closed his eyes.
He could still feel Scrap.
Waiting in the workshop.
"5 days," he whispered.
Night: Workshop 2-B
"0100"
Kael couldn’t sleep.
Again.
He was at the workbench.
Scrap stood behind him.
Silent.
On the table: 3 holograms.
"[Team 01 Member 1: S-Rank Sword Saint]"
"[Team 01 Member 2: S-Rank Elemental Monarch]"
"[Team 01 Member 3: S-Rank Strategist]"
"[Gear: All Artifact Grade]"
"[Threat Level: EXTINCTION]"
15%.
Then 8%.
Now 0.01%.
"KNOCK KNOCK"
Lira came in.
Ren followed.
No sling.
They didn’t say anything.
They just stood next to Kael.
The 3 of them.
And Scrap.
Kael looked at the holograms.
Then at Scrap Mark III.
Then at his team.
"0.01%," he said.
Ren shrugged.
"We were at 0.1% last week."
Lira nodded.
"We beat that."
Kael looked back at Scrap.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then he walked to the board.
He erased "Mark III".
The marker stopped.
Kael stared at the empty space.
Then he wrote:
"[PROJECT: [Scrap - Mark IV: GODBREAKER]]"
"[Time Until Semifinals: 5 Days]"
"[Construction Progress: 0%]"
"[Objective: Kill Gods]"
Ren stared at the board.
"Godbreaker?"
Kael nodded.
He picked up the torch.
The blue flame ignited.
"They think we’re a joke."
He looked at Scrap.
"A C-Rank with trash."
His eyes hardened.
"Let’s show them what trash can do."
"[TRASH SYSTEM: FINAL UPGRADE MODE]"
"[WARNING: REQUIRED MATERIALS EXCEED ACADEMY INVENTORY]"
"[WARNING: RISK OF SYSTEM FAILURE: 89%]"
Kael looked at the warnings.
For the first time that night, he smiled.
"Then we’ll find what we need."
Lira stepped forward.
"I’m in."
Ren cracked his knuckles.
"Let’s build a god."
Scrap’s blue eyes flared.
The workshop fell silent.
Outside, the Academy slept.
Inside, four shadows stood beneath the blue light.
The semifinals were only five days away.
And this time, Kael wasn’t planning to survive.
He was planning to break the impossible.
"[PROJECT GODBREAKER: INITIATED]"
To Be Continued...
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