[LSB] Chapter 96: Julian vs. Exterminator

“Hmm.”

Julian had encountered all sorts of people since his senses began to grow increasingly abnormal due to the Otherworld project. But this was the first time he’d met someone whose body was entirely enhanced by cyberware. He could feel it, hear it—every whir and click of machinery beneath the man’s skin.

Even the exterminators Kitty worked with weren’t this heavily modified.

This man was almost a cyborg, much like Victoria. In fact, it might be more accurate to call him one. And from the sound of his joints, he had more than just cyberware in his body. Something else lurked beneath the surface.

“MEGAN, what’s in his body?” Julian whispered to himself, forgetting for a moment that MEGAN wasn’t inside her shell. The man with the large rifle noticed and smirked, his lips curling into a sly grin.

“Oh, you’re talkin’ to your AI, ain’t ye?” The man’s voice was rough, his eyes locking onto Julian’s mechanical ones. “Fancy stuff you got there. But these folks? They want yer head bad enough to hire someone who kills squidheads for a livin’ just to… exterminate you.”

“Hmm.” Julian’s response was a single, measured hum. He didn’t flinch, didn’t move, even as the man leveled the rifle at his head.

Squidhead. A name exterminators sometimes use to call daemons.

He was facing an actual Exterminator. And one who was hostile toward him.

From what MEGAN had told him in the past, the strongest Exterminators could rival mid-level artemians in terms of raw power—maybe even the higher-level ones. But artemians, of course, had the advantage. Their base strength was greater, and their potential was unmatched. The highest-level artemian, the Eldazen known as the Hero of the Great War, was said to level mountains with a single punch. And considering that most materials on Artemia—even dirt—were at least five times more durable than their Earth counterparts…

Well, the Eldazen could probably wipe out entire countries on their own.

That is, if Cyrus’s history lessons could be trusted.

Still, if it ever came to war between artemians and humans, there was no doubt who would win. Humans had weapons of mass destruction—tools so devastating that even a child could wield them.

And right now, the weapon of mass destruction staring Julian down was the rifle in the Exterminator’s hands.

The man’s smirk widened as he noticed Julian’s silence, his finger resting lightly on the trigger. 

“What’s the matter, boy? Scared?” he taunted, his voice dripping with mockery. “Cat got yer tongue, ey? Or maybe it’s the barrel of my rifle that’s got ye frozen.”

Julian didn’t respond, but if MEGAN was here right now, she would surely be vomiting from the exterminator’s words. Julian’s persistent silence, however, seemed to irritate the man, but his grin only grew sharper.

“Well, ain’t this a shame,” the man said, shrugging theatrically. “Guess I’ll just have to say goodbye the hard way.”

In an instant, the rifle fired—a blinding streak of light erupting from the barrel. The weapon was designed to fire at near-light speed, a devastating tool in the hands of an exterminator. 

But Julian was no longer there when the shot landed, causing the man to hold his breath when he saw him dodge.

Julian couldn’t move as fast as light, of course. But his enhanced senses allowed him to detect the exact moment the trigger was pulled, the split-second shift in the man’s posture, the faint hum of the rifle charging. All in a split second, but it was enough. 

The exterminator fired again, the air crackling as it hit the building behind him and probably killing anyone unfortunate enough to be inside.

“Heh. A mutant, ey?” The exterminator narrowed his eyes, which seemed to have activated a HUD that showed Julian’s current speed. The exterminator fired again, and Julian’s speed when he dodged went up to one hundred fifty miles per hour, “Yer fast, boy. But not that—”

Before the man could finish his words, Julian suddenly changed direction and rushed toward him—the speed it registered, almost close to three hundred miles per hour, closing the distance between them with startling speed.

The Exterminator’s smirk faltered for a moment, but then he chuckled. 

“Oh, so ye’ve got some fight in ye after all,” he said, his voice tinged with amusement. “Let’s see how ye handle this.”

With a whir, the rifle in his hands began to shift and transform. The sleek, rifle morphed into something far more brutal—a massive greatsword, its edges shimmering with a zapping and vibrating glow. The blade hummed faintly, a sound that set Julian’s teeth on edge.

A phasing weapon. Julian recognized it immediately from the way it vibrated. It was one of the Exterminators’ staple weapons, designed to slice through the toughest daemon exoskeletons as if they were paper.

Efficient, deadly, and utterly lacking in finesse. Julian hated it. Not to mention its horrendous durability—it might as well be a disposable weapon. The only way it could survive a lot of uses would be if it were made from the strongest metals, much like the metal Julian used to create SwordJunkieNo.1Fan’s kitchen knife—xylarion.

But then, if it was going to be made from xylarion, Julian could just make a normal weapon instead—and it would infinitely be more durable.

Come to think of it, Cindy Solis told him that she wanted to create a weapon made from xylarion. Maybe—

“Die!” The man rushed forward to meet Julian, swinging the greatsword with as much force as possible. The blade cut through the air with a low, violent hum—and the sound it made when it hit the ground caused Julian’s head to slightly tilt.

The exterminator saw this, and he quickly swung his sword again. The ground offered no resistance at all as it cleaved through it and then the air—but once again, not Julian, no.

Julian was already behind him.

The man’s eyes widened in shock as he quickly turned around, but this time, Julian didn’t give him a moment to attack. With a deep breath, Julian drove his fist into the man’s chest with a force that sent a ripple through the air. The impact echoed like thunder, scattering dust and debris across the undercity in a violent cloud.

Yet, when the dust settled, the man stood unharmed, his smirk returning as he brushed off his chest with a growing chuckle. Julian tilted his head slightly, his enhanced senses picking up a faint, familiar sound emanating from within the man’s body—a low, mechanical hum, like the whir of countless tiny gears working in unison.

He had heard this before—femto-particles, but not quite. The only difference was that the noise they made, the particles crawling around the exterminator’s chest was much louder.

“Nano-machines, son,” the man said, his voice dripping with smug satisfaction. “They might be old tech, but you ain’t doin’ anything to me unless you’re stronger than a daemon.”

Julian hummed, the skin of his fist feeling the nano-machines. But slowly, a smile crawled on his face.

“Well,” he breathed calmly, “that depends on what kind of daemon.”

“W–”

Before the man could react, Julian suddenly moved behind him. His hands shot forward, gripping the exterminator’s shoulders tight enough that even someone watching from afar could hear it. 

His fingers started to dig into the gaps between the man’s enhanced skin. The man’s smirk faltered as Julian’s fingers pressed deeper, piercing through the layers of synthetic muscle and into the joints ever-so-slowly.

Joints, after all, were the weak point of any creature that had them.

The man gritted his teeth, his phasing greatsword clattering to the ground as Julian’s grip began to tighten even more. Slowly, the sound of straining metal and snapping sinews filled the air as Julian wrenched the man’s arms apart.

The nano-machines inside the man’s body whirred furiously, trying to pull his arms together again, but Julian’s grip was unrelenting.

“You—!” the man snarled, his voice strained as he struggled against Julian’s hold. But Julian didn’t respond. The undercity seemed to hold its breath as Julian continued to pull, the man’s arms inching further and further apart.

The Exterminator roared, his voice a mix of fury and panic. 

“Stop! You think you can just—” His words were cut short as he swung his free arm wildly, landing several heavy punches against Julian’s head and torso. Each blow landed with a heavy and rippling thud, but Julian barely flinched, his head shaking slightly from the force but otherwise… he remained still.

The man’s struggles grew more frantic. He kicked out, his foot hitting Julian’s side, but it was like striking a wall. Julian didn’t budge. Instead, he shifted his weight and kicked the exterminator’s other leg, sweeping the exterminator off his feet and then slamming him down onto the ground with a force that cracked the pavement beneath them. 

Julian did not give the man to react at all as he wrapped his thighs around the man’s neck, pinning him down to the ground before grabbing him by the jaw.

For the first time, the smugness in the exterminator’s face faded away, replaced by a flicker of fear. He had faced daemons before—monstrous, towering creatures with claws that could shred steel and jaws that could crush tanks. 

But this? This was different.

The man in front of him wasn’t a daemon. He wasn’t some mindless beast driven by instinct or rage. Julian was calm, extremely so—and his dead, mechanical eyes did not help at all.

So, why?

Why does it seem as if he was staring at a monster even more sinister than the daemons?

“What… what  the fuck are you?” the man stammered, his voice trembling in fear. His nano-machines whirred furiously, trying to reinforce his body, but Julian’s fingers were already digging beneath his jaw, finding the soft gaps in his enhanced skin.

“What the fuck are you!?” The man roared.

Julian didn’t respond. His expression was calm, almost detached, as he began to pull. Slowly, deliberately, he applied pressure, his fingers sinking deeper into the man’s synthetic flesh. The sound of straining metal and snapping fibers once again filled the air, mingling with the Exterminator’s ragged breaths.

Julian had always wondered how he would fare against an Exterminator. Cyrus had told him his stats were far beyond what was normal for his level, even Victoria said it.

Now, as he felt the Exterminator’s head beginning to give way under his hands, he had his answer.

“Hmm.”

With a casual hum, a wet, squelching noise snapped through the air as the Exterminator’s head separated from his body. Fragments of his metal spine dangled from the base of his skull as Julian pulled it free.

Julian hadn’t come to the Below with intention to kill. Victoria had reminded him that he was a public figure now, that they were trying to mold him into a hero—a superhero, even. But this wasn’t the time for restraint. MEGAN was missing, and every second counted.

All in all, this fight probably only lasted a minute.

Julian stood up, his clothes stained with a mix of fluids—oil, synthetic blood, and whatever else had been inside the exterminator. He exhaled slowly, tossing the man’s head aside with a casual flick of his wrist. 

“Hmm.” His shoulders flicked to the phasing greatsword lying beside the corpse. He picked it up, testing its weight with a few swings.

“I really don’t like this,” he muttered. But he gripped the weapon firmly anyway and turned toward the building’s door. But instead of stepping inside, he pressed a button on the greatsword’s hilt. The blade shifted and folded, transforming back into the sleek, giant rifle.

Without hesitation, Julian raised the weapon and fired. The rifle’s beams tore through the door, the walls, and everything beyond. He didn’t let up, his finger steady on the trigger until the weapon overheated, its barrel glowing red before finally melting into uselessness.

“Tch.” Julian clicked his tongue, dropping the ruined rifle to the ground. He’d expected as much—phasing weapons were powerful but lacked durability, and this proved it.

And no, he wasn’t being a hater.

He stepped forward, delivering a sharp kick to the already damaged steel door. It flew off its hinges, crashing into the room beyond and scattering the thick clouds of dust that had gathered from his barrage.

Inside, the scene was one of carnage. Corpses littered the floor, some still clutching their weapons, their faces frozen in expressions of confusion. Julian had sensed them earlier, while he was still dealing with the Exterminator. They’d been waiting for him, armed and ready. But as he already decided, he wasn’t going to waste any more time.

“Hmm,” he whispered, stepping over a corpse as he moved deeper into the building and whispered to himself,

“Let’s just get this over with.”

[LAST CHAPTER] <-----> [NEXT CHAPTER]

AUTHOR NOTES

So, I decided to try out Grammarly. How is it? It changed some of my wordings that I like and removed all my "just". lol.

Also, I have talked to the editor of the publishing company again... and I do believe Book 1 would be on Amazon some time next month! Agh, hopefully it actually sells T_T