Chapter 27 Vanta Black

In a room that resembled a deep, dark arena, it felt like the perfect place for such a fight. Still, he played along as he stood his ground, keeping one hand tucked into his pocket as he pointed a single finger towards the cybernetically-enhanced beast.

["Blaze Bolt"]

A crimson bolt of lightning shot out from the tip of his index finger, directly hitting the salivating lion as a small explosion of flames released from the casual spell.

As he lowered his hand, expecting the simple, offensive spell to have been enough, he was caught off-guard to find his hyper senses picking up on rapidly approaching movement.

"What–?"

Through the billowing of flames, the cybernetic lion rushed out, hardly affected by the ["Blaze Bolt"] as heavy steps from its enormous weight echoed against the steel floor.

Through the intercom, the voice of the Russian Sentinel came through in a confident tone:

"Surprised, are you? The material used on my 'Chimera MK II' is nothing like what you'd find natural to our world. That's the beauty of my 'Reath'--beyond the boundaries of our scientific limitations, I've reached new heights," Asiimov proudly claimed, "You're an obstacle in the evolution of mankind. Through your arrogance and conceited hedonism, you will hinder the beauty of mankind's development. That's why you will die."

It was through the pride of the scientist himself that Noah picked up on information that he wasn't privy to prior, readjusting his approach as he evaded rapid, powerful swipes from the cybernetic lion.

'It may be more durable than a normal beast, but it's nothing special besides that,' he thought.

Though such a thought was mitigated as his ears picked up on a hum of rising temperature through metal, looking up to see the artificial tail of the beast pointing its white-ended laser towards him.

["Weapon Construction: Vanta Black"]

["Absolute Enhancement: Godskin Sharpness"]

Summoning his black blade back into his grip, forged of shadows, he swiftly enhanced it with conceptual sharpness to its edge, swiping it forward as it easily cut through the beast's tail like butter.

In response, the cybernetic lion roared out in pain, its call distorted by its mechanical components that worked in tandem with its organic flesh.

Before the beast could retaliate, infusing its metallic claws with the white-hot essence of its laser-fueled energy, Noah casually dashed close into its range, passing by it after swiping his blade. The slash cleaved the beast of otherworldly material in half, leaving a mixture of inorganic and organic innards falling onto the floor.

"What?!" Asiimov's voice came in through the intercom before cutting off, seemingly speaking out by accident.

Noah looked up towards the pitch-black camera that watched him, speaking directly to the Russian Sentinel, "It's stronger than any other metal on Earth, sure, but I'm stronger than anything else on Earth, too. I guess I was just the superior one."

His words drew frustration from the man, clear as day from the grunt that emitted through the intercom before a response.

"Don't grow cocky! I expected as much! Here! Taste the power of my 'Reath Metal'!" Asiimov yelled.

Coming in through panels in the floor, multiple cybernetically-enhanced beasts showed up: gorillas, lions, and grizzly bears, all seemingly enhanced at a base level from organic augmentations as well.

There was nothing urgent in his actions as he casually responded to the superpowered beasts, witnessing the colossal gorilla, clad in highly-durable steel, leap towards him before slamming its fists into the ground.

Amidst the shock wave emitted from the gargantuan blow from the gorilla, Noah stood there, unphased, though the cybernetic silverback would no doubt be an entity that could terrorize an army alone.

Nonetheless, he simply swiped his sword forward, slicing through the goliath's torso just as the completely artificial grizzly bear charged him.

It lunged towards him with its jaws open, though he countered it with a powerful kick, causing it to stumble to the side before he raised his hand.

"To me, Sung," he commanded.

Manifesting at his side, the 'King of Shadows' appeared, wielding his azure blade with a malicious look in his amethyst eyes towards the beasts.

"Handle a few of them, will you? After that, you can take your leave," Noah requested.

Sung complied as he strolled forward with his mystical greatsword in hand, "Sure thing."

As the massive, metallic grizzly that was a few times the normal size of such a beast threw itself back onto its feet, roaring out a distorted, robotic howl, it rushed towards Sung Hyeon.

With a flick of his wrist, Sung summoned an array of daggers that were manipulated through his will, piercing through the durable hide of the beast with little effort.

"Ifrit," Sung said, summoning a familiar of his own.

Born from shadows, a knight clad in darkness with a fiery, crimson essence seeping through the grooves in his pitch-black, ethereal armor came, bursting forward with flames in his step before wrapping multiple of the cybernetic beasts within chains of mystical heat.

Intertwined rings of fire burned through the mysterious 'Reath' metal, bisecting the beasts caught in its hold.

"What?!" Asiimov called through the intercom.

'It makes no sense!' Asiimov thought, 'He simply surpasses logic! Where are his limits?!'

It only took a few moments for Sung to complete his mission of handling 'a few', taking his leave no moment after.

"Nice work. You can leave," Noah said.

Sung didn't respond, only nodding before dissipating back into magical pollen, transported back to the state he was in before.

Deciding to wrap up the show himself, Noah raised his hand, invoking a malevolence, bleak spell that stifled the theatrics as he grew bored of the lowly beasts.

["Slice And Dice"]

It was a conceptual enforcement of his own blade's sharpness, causing the vicinity of the chamber to be interlaced with the very idea of ["Vanta Black"] being swung.

The result of this spell was an air of darkness swirling around him, exuding an atmosphere of dread, slicing through the cybernetic beasts like butter, leaving them as sparking mincemeat.