Raven noticed the direction of the punch at the last second. The unbalanced swing missed its mark, and Raven slipped to the side with an elegant lean.
A faint smile formed on his face. That cold but familiar glint of regained confidence returned to his eyes. He could win this fight.
Just as Raven braced to lunge forward, Kornath stopped abruptly. He slowly raised his right hand and struck the dead weight of his left arm with a harsh blow.
“Work, you useless piece of shit!”
The filtered voice carried a rage that echoed like a stifled scream. Raven thought the attempt was futile—but he was wrong. A second later, the lights on the metal arm flickered back on.
Kornath’s eyes lit up with fury.
“Nice toy you’ve got there bastard!”
The giant advanced again, but this time more cautiously. Each heavy step shook the ground, and with every breath, every tightening of muscle, he signaled the storm to come.
Raven gritted his teeth and shouted to ION,
“Why the hell did that tin bastard’s arm reboot so fast?!”
ION’s voice echoed deep in his subconscious, calm and mechanical.
“Current level is insufficient. Kornath’s bionic arms are of higher quality than any we’ve encountered before.”
Raven barely dodged Kornath’s fist. He was panting now.
“So what the hell do I do?! We’re running out of time! The other assholes could show up any second!”
A brief silence… as if ION was calculating.
Just then, Raven dashed forward and latched onto Kornath’s left arm.
Electric sparks danced along the circuits inside the bionic limb, and the metal began to tremble. Kornath’s body shuddered—but his counterattack was swift. Raven narrowly slipped away; the punch would’ve opened a hole through his chest.
“If you can hit that same arm with current a few more times, its circuits will burn out.”
“How many times is ‘a few’ !?”
“At least seven.”
“Goddammit!”
The nightmare scenario was unfolding. Raven cursed under his breath, but he knew the truth: unless he disabled those arms, Kornath couldn’t be truly harmed. And running away wasn’t an option.
This fight was to the death. If he wanted to get on that train, Kornath had to fall.
Just as he prepared to strike, Kornath charged forward. His massive frame surged toward him, and the air pressure shifted. The ground trembled.
“Dodge, Raven.”
ION’s warning rang out—but it was too late. Kornath’s fist smashed into his chest. The steel blow launched Raven’s body like a ragdoll.
When he hit the ground, the air was knocked from his lungs. The Active Defense Surface he’d stolen earlier had dampened the blow—but the impact drained the last of his energy.
He landed hard on his shoulder. A metallic crack, followed by a groan of pain.
As he tried to stand, he heard a sound—metal striking the floor. His combat knife had fallen from his inner pocket. It was a simple blade. Not a Riftblade, not some high-tech marvel. Just a plain, military-grade knife.
Raven wiped the blood from his mouth with his sleeve. Gripping the blade, he muttered:
“ION.”
“I’m listening, Raven.”
As Kornath approached, Raven tightened his grip. Each step sent tremors through the ground.
“Those modules that mess with hormones, increase focus—remember those?”
“NRC-15 Neurochemical Regulator and IRM-10 Internal—”
“Whatever the hell they’re called! Run both at full capacity.”
“This will disable other systems.”
Kornath was now in striking range.
“Just do it! Trust me!”
As Kornath’s punch was about to land, Raven twisted sideways. He slashed his blade at the joint of the giant’s metal arm. It didn’t pierce, but sparks flew.
Raven’s heart pounded in his chest, each beat like the strike of a war drum. Blood raced through his veins, forcing fire into every limb. His lungs no longer worked like a normal man’s; each breath felt like it was converting into ten times more energy. His pupils had dilated—now gleaming like a predator’s in the dark. For a moment, time slowed for him. The outside world was a blur, but inside, he was crystal clear.
His body might have seemed to lose control, but in reality, every movement followed an instinctive precision. Raven’s posture shifted—his shoulders dropped slightly, knees bent, center of gravity lowered. He no longer moved like a street brawler, but like a trained soldier on the battlefield. Every motion was sharper, more measured, and deadly. He dodged every attack by a hair’s breadth, slipping in between Kornath’s defenses to strike with punishing precision. His body became a spear—carrying death in every direction.
Kornath had sensed the change from the very first blow. He now knew without a doubt that the boy in front of him wasn’t just some street punk. This guy had become someone to be cautious of.
Closing the distance between them, Kornath lunged at Raven with a series of heavy, rapid strikes. Raven kept low, using their height difference to his advantage, moving with a swift, grounded stance. As Kornath’s unbalanced, heavy bionic arms swung wildly, Raven closed the gap in a flash. Slipping in like a snake, he dove between the man’s arms.
With his right glove, he touched Kornath’s right arm. A bright blue spark snapped across the metal surface. The glove triggered a temporary short-circuit, disrupting the mechanical system. The massive arm suddenly dropped, uncontrolled, throwing Kornath’s balance to the right. But the brute hadn’t lost his reflexes just yet. He landed a blow on Raven with a sudden swing.
Raven flew back several meters, his body tracing an arc in the air before hitting the ground. He rolled deftly to his feet. His chest was heaving, but his eyes still burned with resolve. He didn’t waste a second. He heard Kornath curse, punching his malfunctioning arm. That was the opening.
He shot forward like a bullet. Kornath’s arm sputtered back to life at that exact moment—but it was too late.
Raven’s blade darted forward like an arrow. The target was the neck gap, but a last-second swing from Kornath’s arm skewed the deadly strike. The blade stabbed just below the collarbone. Raven felt the blade pierce flesh, vibrating through his arm. Without hesitation, he drew the knife horizontally, carving a deep gash before pulling back.
Kornath dropped to his knees. His scream echoed with a chilling resonance. The tremor in his metallic voice made the cry even more terrifying. Raven was panting. The pain radiating from his left shoulder throbbed in his brain, but his eyes never left Kornath.
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He used that brief moment to breathe and assess the situation.
But something unexpected happened.
From both of Kornath’s bionic arms, two tubes hissed upward, releasing with a sharp metallic sound. Inside them, a bright green liquid swirled. A second later, the tubes snapped back into the mechanisms they emerged from. Kornath’s eyes instantly turned blood-red. His eye vessels looked ready to burst. Veins on his neck and forehead bulged, forming a grotesque network beneath his skin.
“You’re cheating, you metal-jawed fuck!” Raven growled.
Kornath had doped himself.
The two fighters charged at each other again.
Kornath’s first punch came so fast, Raven could barely dodge it. He managed to lean back just enough, but the cross-swing tore through his shoulder and ripped part of his outfit. His skin split open, and blood began to seep out.
Despite the pain, he didn’t retreat.
He struck back, slashing his knife downward. The attack opened a deep gash in Kornath’s chest, but the drug-enhanced opponent didn’t stop. Kornath ignored the pain and grabbed Raven’s neck with his bionic hand.
Raven’s feet left the ground.
“Got you, you little bastard! What now?!” Kornath shouted, grinning madly. The insanity in his eyes was growing.
Raven’s lips moved. His words were inaudible. Kornath, curious about his last words, leaned in to hear them.
“K.R.H…. never…”
Raven’s left hand latched onto Kornath’s metal jaw. At that moment, the glove activated. The Super Punchinator delivered a high-voltage electric shock straight through Kornath’s jaw into his brain stem. Sparks erupted. His bionic eyes froze for a brief second, then his whole body trembled and collapsed.
Kornath fell to the ground. His arms twitched one final time, then went completely still.
Raven dropped to his knees. Blood dripped from his shoulder. His heart was still racing. Only one sentence echoed in his mind.
“K.R.H. Operatives never retreat!”
ION // SYSTEM FEEDBACK — [Session: 0010| Operator: Raven Karr]
Interface: ION_v4.6.1_β // Connection Stable [?]
[?] [NRC-15] Neurochemical Regulator
- Operational Efficiency: 7.9% (↑2.1%)
- Primary Function:
→ Modulates adrenaline, dopamine, and cortisol levels in real-time according to tactical demands
→ Suppresses pain perception to enhance endurance
→ Triggers short-term physiological overdrive for increased strength/speed/reflexes
→ In critical states, forcibly activates fight-or-flight responses via “Overdrive” protocol
- Side Effects:
→ Prolonged usage may induce hallucinations, cranial pressure, gastric distress, and tachycardia (See Report #A7-12)
[?] [CQC-11] Close Quarters Combat Support Module
- Operational Efficiency: 9.2% (↑2.8%)
- Primary Function:
→ Enhances close-quarters combat performance via predictive enemy movement mapping and dynamic muscle memory augmentation.
→ Utilizes neuromotor feedback loops to refine reaction speed and execution precision in real time
- Side Effect:
→ Induced neural strain resulting in moderate to severe cranial discomfort (See Incident Report #A2-02)
[?] [TAM-18] Tactical Analysis Module
- Operational Efficiency: 11.4% (↑2.7%)
- Primary Function:
→ Executes rapid threat assessment using pattern recognition and biomechanical weakness detection
→ Outputs real-time tactical suggestions based on opponent posture, movement patterns, and structural vulnerabilities
- Sample Algorithm Output:
→ “Target #X exhibits instability in the left knee joint. Optimal strike angle: Y°”
[?] [IRM-10] Internal Rhythm Manipulator
- Operational Efficiency: 6.8% (↑2.6%)
- Primary Function:
→ Enhances attention span and focus capacity via brainwave synchronization
- Side Effect:
→ REM cycle irregularities; potential onset of prolonged insomnia syndrome
System Notice: Stated efficiency percentages apply only under conditions of full, synchronized nanite allocation to each individual module. Partial or multi-tasking deployments may result in fluctuating efficiency levels.
Raven // BODYCHECK
→ Gear:
? Garbage again. (Covered in blood, dust, rips and despair. No style, no protection.)
? Active Defense Surface [Model: AS929] (It's broken! ION, do something!)
→ Weapon:
? Left Hook of God? (Who the hell in 2158 still trusts their goddamn wrist? We’ve got the fucking Super Punchinator, for fuck’s sake!)
? Combat Knife [Model: M-12] (Told you it cuts like betrayal! Because it fucking remembers betrayal.)
? Super Punchinator [Left] (Homemade death. It looks ridiculous. I don't want to comment on the name, but listen! It's throwing electricity and penetrating the Active Defense Surfaces!)
→ Additions:
? Bad vibes (Better than Monkey Chocolates.)
? Stolen e-Wallet – Balance: 3038 (Nothing's changed here.)
? VX-21 Commlink (Yo, someone called! Nah, just messin’. Raven’s still solo as hell.)
? Stylish Black Bag (Used to be cool. Now it’s just Raven’s personal hell-pocket. Still cursed. Still smells weird. Stuff stolen from Drail is in here too—don’t ask how he convinced ION.)
? Packaged Rations (Technically food. Realistically? Packaged vomit with a label. But better than Monkey Chocolates.)
? Bottles labeled “Water” (Not water. Gelled hydrogen and oxygen. Probably...)
? (5) VX-21 Commlink (Taken from Rustjaw and RedHawk members. All hacked!)
? (5) e-Wallet (That's called war trophy, baby!)
? Monkey Chocolates (Still there. Still plotting. Hey! This thing is nesting. HELP!)
Data logged. No escape. If you made it this far, Grimhaven either chewed you up or you’re just as stubborn as Raven. Comments, ratings, support… all sacrifices to the algorithm god. See you next chapter.
Or not—depends on whether Raven survives.