To prevent being detected by 【Intuition】, the Special Service's perimeter was exceptionally large. It only began to close in once Jerome reached the center of the dragnet. This meant that for the initial period, Jessica would have to face Jerome entirely on her own, with backup arriving only after some time.
During the moments Jerome had spent shocked, silent, and dazed, the members of the Special Service had already been rapidly closing the distance. For Jessica, though she had no idea what kind of trick this guy was trying to pull—he could either confess or deny it, but what was the point of suddenly bursting into laughter like this?
Still, Jerome's bizarre behavior had bought her plenty of time. To be honest, as the captain of the Mobile Squad who frequently handled all kinds of sudden extraordinary incidents, Jessica was confident in her own strength. However, the pressure of dueling a general who had fought on the front lines for years and forged his path through blood and iron was still quite immense.
But no matter what, seeing Jerome take the initiative to activate his ability, she could only steel herself and charge in.
The effect of the 【One-Man Army】 ability was very simple: it used spirituality to conjure a 'soldier.' The gender, appearance, and clothing of this soldier were entirely up to the 'General' to decide. In other words, if he were willing to put in the effort, Jerome could create a highly attractive army consisting entirely of handsome men and beautiful women.
But Jerome was a general, not a circus ringmaster; he didn't care about such trivialities at all. Thus, by completely ignoring gender, appearance, and attire—focusing solely on making them human-shaped and capable of fighting—the cost of summoning a soldier could be reduced to the absolute minimum.
Jessica was extremely fast, but before she could summon her weapon and reach Jerome, the first batch of soldiers had already been created. They leaped out of Jerome's shadow, entirely pitch-black from head to toe. They could barely be recognized as humanoids—possessing just a head, a torso, two arms, and two legs. They were the ultimate product of simplification, with nothing else to distinguish them.
This first wave consisted of only five shadow soldiers surrounding Jerome. As Jessica's attack descended, they lunged forward simultaneously. One shadow soldier blocked Jessica's spear with its body, while the other four grabbed for her limbs.
Seeing this, Jessica didn't panic. She transitioned from a thrust to a sweeping slash, her sharp spearhead instantly slicing the soldier in front of her in half. At the same time, the shaft of her spear crackled with blinding electricity. Like a beast unleashed from its shackles, the lightning surged in all directions, crackling loudly as it made contact with the other four shadow soldiers.
“What a terrifying weapon,” Jerome's calm voice rang out just then. The Rank Four and Rank Five of the 'General' class didn't grant any close-combat bonuses. Unlike 'Warrior' and 'Hunter,' this class advancement was an anomaly in the War Pathway, with a style closer to a magic-oriented class.
Normally, a magic-oriented class would definitely keep their distance during combat and command their summons to fight, right? Jessica naturally thought so too. But to her surprise, Jerome actually followed right behind the first shadow soldier, executing a counter-charge to close the distance right in front of her.
The crackling arcs of the area-of-effect lightning struck Jerome's body, but the expression on his face didn't change in the slightest. Crouching low to shift his center of gravity, he slipped past Jessica's spearhead and slammed directly into her chest.
At such close range, Jessica's polearm became a distinct disadvantage. In a mere breath, Jerome unleashed an elbow strike and three punches. Even though his Rank Four and Rank Five classes didn't grant close-combat enhancements, it wasn't as if his abilities from Rank One to Rank Three had vanished.
“Cough—!”
Under this barrage of consecutive heavy blows, Jessica was briefly knocked into the air, with several of her bones breaking instantly. Yet Jerome had no intention of letting her off. The moment Jessica was sent flying, he grabbed her wrists with both hands, yanked her back, and unleashed another rapid combination of punches.
The lightning erupting from Jessica's spear grew even more intense, but even while standing at the very center of the electrical storm, Jerome's expression remained completely unchanged as he maintained his relentless offensive.
This was because, during this brief window, more shadow soldiers had materialized behind him, forming a rudimentary formation. This triggered the 【Battle Array】 ability, which distributed the damage he took among his troops.
However, Jessica reacted with great decisiveness. Realizing her polearm had become a liability, she resolutely let go of it and brought both hands up to shield herself, beginning to defend against Jerome's close-quarters brawling.
Several times, Jessica tried to pull away to use her other extraordinary abilities. However, the other skills of the Listener class had activation delays. Every single time, Jerome would catch up and forcibly interrupt her with a tempest of relentless strikes.
Grinning, Jerome said, “A general who only stays in the rear and cowers behind his soldiers is no good general!”
...
Meanwhile, a block away, on the roof of a relatively tall building, Euphemia and Freya were watching. Euphemia held a pair of binoculars, observing the two combatants in the distance, a worried expression spreading across her face. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! That Mobile Squad captain is completely on the defensive!”
This was an operation to capture a Rank Five expert, so an earth-shattering battle was bound to erupt. How could Euphy possibly miss out on something like this? That was why she had picked out an excellent vantage point early on and brought Freya along.
Freya, who was also holding a pair of binoculars, said, “The Special Service's backup will be here any second, and Miss Jessica is a Rank Five herself. She won't be defeated that easily.”
In reality, Jessica was on the back foot only because she had been caught off guard at the very start. Jerome was exceptionally skilled at keeping up the pressure, exploiting this tiny initial mistake to force her into this current predicament.
During the day-long simulation Freya had run just moments ago to prevent any accidents, the exact same scenario had played out. This meant that Freya could have easily used Euphemia's mouth to warn Jessica in advance. If Jessica had been on guard, she wouldn't have been beaten so badly.
But... Freya refused to! Because the outcome of this brief skirmish wouldn't affect the big picture. Once the reinforcements from the Special Service and the Church of the Earth arrived, Jerome would be trapped like a rat in a cage, his fate sealed.
So the only difference a warning would make was whether Jessica would get beaten up. Recalling Jessica's betrayal in the previous simulation, Freya immediately pouted and grumbled in her mind, Blehh, serves you right!
Fufu_holding_a_grudge.jpg
...
While Jerome and Jessica were locked in combat, the Adjutant was on his way back. In the previous simulation, he had run right into the closing perimeter of the Special Service, sparking an encounter that ended with him injuring two of their captains.
Freya hadn't shared this piece of intelligence with Euphy either, because... right in front of the Adjutant, a figure wearing a hood, a black trench coat, and bandages wrapped around her right hand blocked his path. Without a doubt, it was War Freya, who had "ambushed" him here in advance.
Or rather, "ambush" wasn't quite the right word; it was an interception. A Hunter's 【Intuition】 ability was extremely powerful, which was why the Adjutant had been able to detect Euphemia and Freya while they were invisible in the simulation.
As for why Freya wanted to intercept the Adjutant? Naturally, it was to slay her enemy with her own hands!
The Adjutant had killed Euphy right in front of Freya once. Even though it had happened in a simulation, Freya still remembered the grudge. She had never been a generous or forgiving person; she believed in settling scores and avenging grievances. She was going to deal with the Adjutant herself.
The moment War Freya appeared, the Adjutant's Intuition blared with a powerful warning, alerting him that the person in front of him was highly dangerous and harbored intense hostility toward him. But this was incredibly bizarre, considering he had only just arrived in this city today.
Jerome had been in the city for some time, making various preparations, while the Adjutant had been elsewhere sourcing materials for him. He had only arrived today, yet an enemy had already tracked him down. Did this make any sense?
Frowning slightly, the Adjutant sized up War Freya before him and asked in confusion, “Excuse me... lady, do we know each other?”
Although she had reached Rank Four on the War Pathway, this pathway did not grant any increase to height or physical build. Thus, War Freya remained as petite as ever, making it quite obvious she was a girl.
War Freya pulled back her hood, letting her flame-like long hair cascade over her shoulders. She cracked her knuckles and said, “Of course we do. We have a grudge, in fact. Even though it's a grudge from the future, I plan to settle it now. That way, I'll feel much better, and that future grudge won't happen in the first place.”
The Adjutant: “?”
But before the Adjutant could think any further, War Freya bent her knees slightly. She shot forward like an arrow released from a bow—no, more like a cannonball fired from a barrel, or a heavy truck accelerating to its limit in an instant. The moment she lunged, the ground beneath her feet shattered from the immense recoil, leaving two distinct, sunken footprints surrounded by a dense web of cracks.
One had to realize this wasn't a dirt road, but a street paved with hard stone slabs. A Rank Four Warrior of the War Pathway possessed no extraordinary abilities to increase speed, but sometimes, raw power could be equivalent to speed.
Thud!
Guided by his Intuition, the Adjutant swiftly pivoted his body, dodging Freya's simple, straight charging punch ahead of time. As War Freya brushed past him, the Adjutant raised his arm and delivered a downward elbow strike to her back.
The Adjutant held nothing back with this strike. Although he didn't use the extraordinary ability 【Full-Force Strike】, he put every ounce of his strength into it. War Freya was slammed directly into the ground. Combined with her immense forward momentum, she tumbled forward in a spectacular mess, sliding over ten meters before finally grinding to a halt after smashing through a roadside wall.
The collapsed wall and scattered stones completely buried her petite figure. Any ordinary person would have undoubtedly died several times over from such an impact, but the Adjutant maintained his grim expression, keeping his eyes locked onto the ruined wall.
Sure enough, a hand soon reached out from the rubble, pushing aside a large piece of debris. She slowly stood up, casually dusted off her clothes, and walked out of the ruins as if nothing had happened.
She silently mused to herself that it was a good thing the Special Service's encirclement plan had evacuated all civilians from this large surrounding area beforehand. This meant she could fight to her heart's content without worrying about collateral damage.
Moreover, although they had only clashed for a single round, War Freya now had a rough estimate of his capabilities. His Intuition was stronger than hers, and his combat experience and techniques were far more refined. Simple, straightforward attacks would likely be difficult to land.
Similarly, the Adjutant instantly deduced War Freya's Extraordinary Pathway. A Warrior of the War Pathway. He immediately found the situation highly troublesome. Her defense was far too high for his standard attacks to break through. His only way to inflict effective damage, 【Full-Force Strike】, could only be used three times. Furthermore, a Warrior also possessed the 【Intuition】 ability; if he were to draw his weapon and charge up now, he definitely wouldn't be able to hit her.
Under normal circumstances, the two sides would remain in a deadlock, unable to determine a victor in the short term. Yet in the very next second, War Freya pulled out a dagger.
However, this dagger was not meant to attack the Adjutant. It was meant to attack herself.
War Freya didn't hold the hilt, as that could easily cause the blade to snap under extreme force. Instead, she pinched the thicker middle section of the blade with her left index finger and thumb, then pressed the dagger against her right wrist.
If an ordinary person stabbed her with a dagger, they likely wouldn't even pierce her defense. But War Freya possessed immense strength; if she stabbed herself, as long as she was careful not to shatter the dagger, she could easily break through her own defense.
Soon, crimson blood began to seep from her wrist. As she continued to apply pressure, the wound deepened, and the bleeding grew more rapid.
Combat experience and techniques weren't things that could be rapidly improved in a short period. So... if mechanics weren't enough, she would just brute-force it with stats!
Seeing this, the Adjutant felt his scalp go numb. He naturally knew what she was doing, but for any normal extraordinary of the War Pathway, absolutely no one would actively trigger 【Blood Rage】 on purpose.
It was true that those of the War Pathway became incredibly powerful when near death, but the stronger they got, the closer they were to the grave. Any sane person would obviously want to stay alive.
Sure, triggering Blood Rage at the start boosted base attributes, but starting a fight in a near-death state—was she really not worried about accidentally getting killed?
What if she accidentally triggered 【Battle Continuation】 right in the middle of the fight?
......
Rate on N.U.
