Chapter 57: Knives V Quills
Chapter 57: Knives V Quills
"Don't call me a Quill, you Knife!" the Operator grumbled.
The 'Knife' snickered. He wanted to anger the 'Quill' and make him do the first move so that he'd have the excuse to retaliate. The Vanguard was just waiting so that he'd be able to teach the pretentious Operator a lesson.
He didn't want a nobody like Atlan to interfere with this.
The Operator couldn't help but be angry at the Vanguard. Knives were always arrogant and disrespected the Quills any time something happened. And if things did go well, then they wouldn't get the recognition they deserved.
So, the Operator wanted to show them that 'Quills' were just as equal in strength as the 'Knives'.
While the Vanguard was laughing to himself, the Operator lunged towards him with a straight right jab right down to his face. He was surprisingly agile with his movements, leaving the Vanguard surprised at the attack.
However, the Knife's experience in the Remedium taught him to react well. He quickly raised his left hand, guarding against the attack. And without a second later, he arced his right hand and counter-attacked with a right hook straight to the Quill's ribs.
The Vanguard smiled. He saw the panic in the Operator's eyes. Quills were not good with hand-to-hand combat like the Knives. They were mere pampered office workers.
But unexpectedly, the Quill's left hand suddenly and skillfully tucked itself on his side, protecting the Operator from the hook.
"What?!"
The Operator smiled. "Hmph. Haven't you seen Cybernetics installed in a battle suit before?" He then performed a perfect roundhouse kick straight to the Knife's face.
The Vanguard backed away with confusion in his face.
"The A.I. chip in my battle suit has learned from the best Martial Artists in the City. With just one thought in my brain, I can become a black belt in ancient Taekwondo!"
The Knife frowned. He hated Quills even more. As expected, they cheated their way into becoming strong and just reaped the rewards from the hard-working Vanguards who risk their SoulTime in the Remedium. He couldn't lose this fight.
He rushed towards the Quill. Fighting against regenerating Canzers taught the Vanguard to never let his opponents even have a moment to relax.
The Knife ran around the Quill, using the tight space around them to jump from wall to wall.
The Operator couldn't keep up with his movements.
With each step on the wall, the Knife got higher and higher. He had no fear of falling and even had his eyes focused on the clueless Quill. The Operator couldn't keep up with the Knife's movements, leaving him disoriented. It was a moment of weakness. The knife took advantage of this and jumped down with his hands clasped together, intending to smash the Quill's arrogant head.
The Operator had no idea what was happening, but his blue battle suit suddenly emitted a white color as his AI chip recognized the threat.
His body performed a near-straight back kick, clashing with the Vanguard's clasped hands.
The two stumbled back from the force. The Quill's cybernetic battle suit made up for the guy's lack of fighting skills.
"Tch." But the Vanguard didn't give up. He looked around and used the environment to his advantage.
The Quill was breathing heavily when, all of a sudden, he saw a pot of plant coming towards his face. His computer chip reacted for him, performing a roundhouse kick to sweep the pot and its soil away from his face.
But when he looked around, he didn't see the Knife anywhere.
His body automatically turned to the side and saw the Knife's fist coming toward his face. The Quill's battle suit had no control over his face, so he couldn't react to the attack.
The punch rocked the Quill's entire head to the side.
The Vanguard thought he won, but he was caught off guard when he felt a crushing pain in his ribs. He looked down and saw the Quill's leg kicking him just below the armpit.
The Operator's battle suit automatically kicked the Vanguard's ribs.
"Kuh!"
Both of them spat out blood. They looked at their Soul System and saw that they lost about 10 days' worth of SoulTime from that attack. Their anger for each other burned even harder. They couldn't believe that they let themselves be injured by a Knife/Quill.
They should be the superior!
To prove that, both of them decided to use their real powers. The Knife's body glowed a red tint as four meteors suddenly appeared and rotated around his fists. This was his DPS LifeSkill, Crashing Meteor Punch.
Meanwhile, the Quill's entire battle suit suddenly vibrated and buzzed as streaks of electricity erupted from his entire body.
Even though the use of LifeSkills out in the public was forbidden, their desire to satiate their anger overcame their reasoning.
"Darn it! They've gone insane!" Wemby bit his lips. "Atlan, let's report this so that it doesn't escalate–"
But he was talking to no one. Atlan wasn't there. Wemby was horrified to see Atlan standing in the middle of the two fighters with no regards for his safety.
What is he doing?! He could get hurt!
The Vanguard and the Operator both saw Atlan stand between them.
The Knife scoffed. He couldn't believe that a youth like Atlan was arrogant enough to think that he could stop a high class Savior like him. Didn't Atlan know that he was a talented A class DPS talent that advanced to the 2nd stage in just two months?
"Your loss, kid! I'll beat both of you into a pulp!" he said as his meteors rotated faster around his fist. He charged towards Atlan and the Quill.
Meanwhile, the Operator charged up his electricity into the maximum voltage. "Ha, You filthy Knives! Know your place!"
The Quill rushed towards Atlan and the Knife.
Atlan, with two Saviors coming right towards him with their most powerful attacks, simply raised his head. He didn't look worried at all as they both charged at him with intense hatred.
"Why can't everybody be a pacifist like me?" he lamented.
The Knife raised his fist high up in the air, ready to pummel both Atlan and the Quill in the ground. He thought he'd finally see fear and regret in Atlan's eyes.
Instead, Atlan turned around and faced the opposite direction!
He didn't even spare a glance at the Vanguard and treated him as if he was nothing but air.
He couldn't believe this! He was getting disrespected by both the Quill and this youngster! This was unacceptable!
His meteors rotated even faster around his fist, increasing the force of his punch.
You don't even turn around to face me? We'll see how you feel when I smack the back of your skull!
He jabbed his right fist towards Atlan's face, with his meteors increasing the speed and force of his punch. But just as his attack was about to hit the naive youth, Atlan suddenly tilted his head and dodged the Vanguard's attack.
!!!!
The Knife couldn't believe it.
And without even turning his face, Atlan raised his right hand and caught the Knife's attack, stopping it in its tracks.
Atlan looked back to the horrified Knife and said;
"I'll deal with you later."