Dan’s sudden speed increase caught the cult master off guard as he raised his bronze blade and barely caught the Conservative. This time, Dan’s sword strike sent the cult master back. His enemy skidded across the pavement eight meters away. The trailing after effects of the cult master disappeared as he looked at Dan with complete astonishment.

  Somehow, Dan had disrupted the cult master’s warp dance.

  “What is this?” the cult master said. The Church fanatic then smiled “And where were you hiding this move all this time?”

  Dan didn’t have a snappy comeback. He eyed the corrosia bar in his HUD that was rapidly draining. He was already down to a quarter capacity for his corrosia reserves. He powered down from both abilities to help conserve his energy. Glancing to his right, Ada stopped in her tracks while keeping her sword pointed at the enemy.

  “Thanks for the save Ada,” Dan said.

  The cult master raised his hand and shot out more rapidfire blue energy blasts from his palm. Dan jumped out of the way and activated his warp dancer while in midair. As he landed back on the ground, a blue bolt was heading toward him. He swung his Conservative and batted the energy ball away.

  The cult master was already pulling away, possibly to get himself into a more favorable position to launch more ranged attacks or use his telekinesis. Dan could’t give him that opportunity.

  Berserk mode activated.

  Dan rushed towards the cult master. The ridiculous speed increase of the warp dancer further amplified with his berserk allowed him to cross the cult master almost instantly. Dan launched a series of jabs, penetrating the robed torso of the cult master before he could execute his next attack.

  The bronze blade of energy in the cult master’s hand fizzled out and disappeared into a glittering mist from Dan’s onslaught. Dan’s corrosia bar hit empty and both his warp dancer and berserk abilities shut down. The world around him returned back to normal perception and his body experienced aches and pains throughout.

  The cult master had numerous puncture and stab wounds from the barrage of jabs. Somehow, he was still standing even as blood gushed out of his wounds and his white and gold robes were stained in red. The cult master spat out a wad of blood onto the street before her smiled at him.

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  “Not… yet,” the cult master said.

  His enemy opened his palm and Dan was frozen in place by an invisible force. Not this shit again, he thought.

  The cult master wouldn't go down. After getting stabbed dozens of times in rapid succession and suffering from excessive blood loss, the cult master was somehow still standing and able to use magic. Dan’s corrosia reserves were at zero and he had nothing left. He had never used his glare ability while at zero reserves.

  Glare ineffective.

  The ability did nothing and only obscured Dan’s vision as his eyes bled from the failed attempt at using the glare.

  The cult master gave him a bloody smile. “Let me show you how it’s done, child.”

  The eyes of the cult master glowed a brilliant red. Dan knew that he would be disintegrated in an instant if that glare hit him. He continued struggling but still could’t budge, even with his superhuman stats as a tier two. At the corner of his eye, he saw Ada’s trailing afterimages for a split second before she plunged her Bloodluster through the torso of the cult master.

  The attack was sudden and was enough to distract the cult master long enough from his focus on Dan. He broke out of the telekinetic hold of his enemy. Dan wasted no time as he charged at the enemy who almost reduced his to dust. He too winded back his arm that carried the Conservative and shoved his blade through his enemy.

  Dan sunk his sword into the cult master’s chest almost up to the hilt. He and Ada exchanged brief glances before they both knew the only way to kill this enemy permanently. Both of them took advantage of the enhanced cutting power of their looted swords and dragged the blades through the cult master’s body. Ada dragged her blade upward while Dan dragged his blade in a downward motion. The cult master let out a shriek as the duo cut him into three pieces.

  Ada’s Bloodluster exited the left shoulder of the cult master while Dan’s Conservative exited his lower hip. The cult master fell to pieces on the pavement. The severed body parts of the Church fanatic glowed with an intense violet as both their swords howled and screamed at their kill. Some of the violet energy were drawn in by the swords while the rest of the energy floated and entered through Dan’s body. Ada received some of the energy as well.

  Immediately, Dan saw his corrosia meter begin regenerating, slowly filling up from being completely empty.

  The battle that raged on between the rest of the team and the cult master’s followers began to die down after his death. Without borrowing corrosia from their psychic commander, the remaining cultists lost their edge over the Kodak forces and were cut down one by one by either Judith or Natalia.

  Dan and Ada looked each other. He smiled under his mask and gave Ada a nod. Her face was covered in blood splatter from the cult master. She ran her fingers around her eyelids, wiping blood off before she too smiled at him.

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