New Game+

The point from the wall where this figure once stood was about a mile away from the main building. The soldiers didn't know where to point their guns as the figure disappeared.

Meanwhile, despite the fiasco occurring at the back, One and Specter dedicated their entire being at the approaching enemy. The sonic booms drew closer and closer.

One stood still and utilized the best of his mental and physical capabilities. Time seemed slower in One's perspective. He could barely see the approaching enemy and thus he practiced the coming strike.

Others called this practice a pre-shot routine, while others know it as 'mental rehearsal'. This is One's secret to his successful strikes against enemies across the world.

The image that One envisioned was that he would be shredded by the powerful sound waves of Richie.

One started to mentally visualize his counter attacks. As One dove deeper into his subconscious, the concept of time changed. In this realm of deep focus, One managed to analyze every detail of his opponent. He visualized every possible attack that the enemy would do, and the possible counters he could do to stay alive.

In most of these scenarios, it ended with both he and Specter either dead or critically wounded. One strengthened his form and made the necessary adjustments to eliminate any useless movements.

Specter was hovering over One. Surrounding the two were various invisible wires that he stealthily placed. The technology of stealth traps had evolved over the years as countless wars brought out the need to counter trap-detecting devices.

The invisible wires spread out like a spiders' net with Specter on the center.

The hidden weapons that Specter held were the full suit. Nothing was left out.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The figure sent several powerful jet-fueled bursts allowing him to readjust his charge to dive in between the two warriors.

The two waited to strike when suddenly another powerful burst shocked the two as the lone figure suddenly stopped several meters in front of them.

One and Specter were about to attack but immediately stilled their arms at the abrupt stop of their foe.

"Ready?" The figure confidently laughed.

BOOM!

The image and possible attacks that One had rehearsed all fell to shambles. The enemy had a totally different attack pattern as it dove straight to the two assassins. One foresaw himself not being tortured by the immense soundwaves but he saw himself dying several times. In many of those scenarios, we would be sliced into three different pieces.

One maintained his calm and gripped his sword tighter. A light reddish glow could be seen on the small protruding steel of his katana.

Specter was the first to act as he moved forward. The thin wires resonated to his movements and started forming barricades before Specter.

BOOM!

A loud sonic boom echoed out. The zooming figure's response to the moving wires was to spin faster.

The burst caused the approaching figure to spin faster as a sword could be seen slashing out.

The wires did not entangle the sword as was originally designed, but the wires were all sliced apart.

BOOM! Another loud bang sounded as the figure dove downwards to face One.

One quickly drew his sword but the successive strikes of the enemy struck his sword at an extremely fast speed. The strikes came from various directions leaving the katana shaking and soon breaking from the pressure.

A small reddish explosion occurred as One's sword was sliced into two. One managed to make a quick dodge causing the enemies sword to slice his mask off. One utilized the boosters on his feet to retreat.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A series of eruptions caused the figure to spin faster and rose to meet Specter.

The sudden change of attack where the enemy abandoned its attacks towards One and rose to attack Specter caught the two off guard.

Specter threw several minor explosives and used several hidden weapons available as he rose further to the sky while his wires formed a net in front of him.

BOOM!

At the last moment, a stronger boom echoed out and sent the figure flying straight towards the palace.

One was so surprised at the movement that his jaw was wide open. Specter already threw his hidden weapons and all of them pierced through the thick floor.

No one was ready for the last burst and no one could intercept the sudden change of direction.

The enemy had entered the palace unhindered.

Blur noticed the sudden change and with a burst from his boosters, he zoomed to meet the foe.

"Foolish!" Lowengren laughed as the explosions rang out.

Several spider mines had made its way towards the palace entrance and exploded blocking Blur's path.

The enemy disappeared into the main building.

Strike and Clutch took the opportunity to attack Lowengren but Alean's rain of fire showered relentlessly on the paths. This time the napalms exploded and left a burning scent of sulfur and brimstone.

The explosions made Blur retreat but then Blur started to advance towards the main entrance. He zoomed past the explosions caused by the spider mines. As he reached the entrance, a powerful explosion occurred sending shrapnel towards Blur.

Blur jumped backward still propelled by his boosters. Blur raised his hands towards the sky as another burst appeared on his hands pushing him backward.

BOOM!

Another explosion occurred behind him but this time the shrapnel's that were sent out started to emit electric sparks.

Blur thought he had evaded most of the sharp shrapnel suddenly an electric current charged from one shrapnel to the other and a web of electricity came forth.

Blur tried to evade at the last moment but the electric nets zapped past his mask. The mask that Blur was wearing was charred black and the circuits of the mask were damaged.

Blur immediately removed the mask before it could harm him.

Strike and Clutch paused in their advance as they noticed the explosions and the electric lines.

"British Lightning rod technology?" Strike paused as he motioned Clutch to stop attacking.

A young Caucasian man with blonde hair and blue eyes was revealed to be Blur.

He gazed angrily at Lowengren who was laughing at Blur's failed attempt.

Blur readied to chase Richie but then a voice stopped him.

"Blur! Don't go! Facing that man alone would be suicide. We deal with the threats here first before chasing him. Don't forget that half of our team is still inside. Besides, he is in there."

One walked calmly towards Arthur who had backed away after the last strike.

Lander had withdrawn back near Alean. They stood back-to-back with Lander facing Blur towards the building's entrance.

Clutch and Strike were facing Alean while Twister positioned himself to the east of Alean and Lander's position.

On another side of the battlefield, Lowengren and Arthur stood together as they awaited the approaching three. Force, Specter and One calmly walked to meet them.

"So this was your plan? Help my Master and get our guards down and invite yourselves to our doorsteps to kill us?" Force cursed at Arthur.

"It's simple yet very effective." Arthur shrugged expressionlessly.

"The plan was to send him inside to fight your master while we deal with you."

"Are you really sure that the four of you can deal with the seven of us?" Blur immediately disappeared as he dashed forward.

BOOM!

A muffled explosion sounded out and Lander disappeared from his position.

Blur was surprised to find out that Lander had already appeared in front of him and to his horror was brandishing the two guns right in front of his head.

A series of gunshots were heard as balls of fire hindered Twister's sneak attack from killing Lander.

Blur immediately flew back at extreme speeds and barely evaded Lander's attacks.

Arthur and Lowengren stood side by side to hinder Force, One and Specter from joining the melee.

"Shall we dance, Samurai?" Lowengren laughed.

"For someone so smart, I can't believe you'd be so stupid. If Richie helped you fight us, then you might have killed us." Force mocked.

"No. That would be stupid. He needs to dash ahead of everyone and make sure to fight Meng before he meets all of us. Isn't Meng's unique power something that naturally erodes everything around it?" Lowengren laughed.

"How did you know that?!" Force shouted angrily.

"Deduction. Your attire appears to be the same suit you would use on your assassination missions. You told us that yourself. Yet when you changed on your underwater gear, Alean told me that she saw several strange scars and wounds. Many of which, seemed to have been incurred recently. So why would you have wounds when your suit is practically perfect? The only conclusion is that it is incurred whenever your off mission." Lowengren laughed as he readied several bombs on his arms.

"But that's absurd! You guys are at the peak of your forms? Who could wound you except your fellow peers? Yet the wounds that Alean saw were similar to burn marks. As if the skin itself was corroding. I think Clutch would be the only assassin out here that could do that. The other option is your master. But then we have a problem. Your loyalty to your boss is something rooted in respect and not fear. That is obvious at how you take offense at us insulting or defaming your master. So why would there be wounds when this leader of yours doesn't invoke fear and why do you allow yourselves to get wounded by your boss?" Lowengren casually walked ahead of Arthur as he juggled the bombs with ease.

"If your boss is much of a freak or more than Richie, then I would have to toss common sense aside. So your boss has the ability to somehow corrode things just by his presence. Therefore, fighting your boss together with your team is disadvantageous to us. You guys are used to his powers. We are not. So that guy has to rush and meet your boss in order to make sure that Meng won't disturb our battles." Lowengren stopped juggling.

Arthur and Alean gave Lowengren an exhausted stare. They knew that Lowengren learned of Meng's capabilities through Seeker's information.

"Impressive deduction. So you made Richie rush inside to fight Master since your three friends are inside the building and they might run into Master? Impressive as always, Arthur." One walked forward to face Lowengren.

"But you've made several miscalculations." One then assumed a sword-drawing position.

"Those three friends that you sent inside are probably dead. Not only are the assassins inside our Demolition Team, but the Judge also accompanied Sting to meet your friends." One gave a confident grin.

BOOM!

A large explosion occurred on the east wing of the main building.

"That must be Blast. The Explosives experts of our group."

"Judge?" Lowengren asked.

Force gave a hearty laugh.

"Our organization has twelve assassins. But should any of these assassins betray Master, He is sent. He is both Judge and Executioner. Even Sting who has grown stronger couldn't beat that monster!"

"That could only mean that he is a personal disciple of Meng… Then that exceed our initial calculations." Arthur frowned.

"Exceed your calculations? You can't calculate him! Those three should be dead by now!" Force laughed once more.

"Don't worry about those three friends of ours." Arthur readied his mace.

"You say that those inside are stronger? Well, the same could be said of our three."

The flames, smoke, and rubble had started to dissipate.

Three figures stood up from the sudden explosion. Their appearances looked ragged as several parts of their suits were burnt. Before they were a pillar of fire that was slowly burning out.

"Get Blast and Trigger here! We can't kill these monsters!" The man with the strange mask spoke angrily.

Three figures started to walk out of the flames.

"Who's the weakling now, Typical?" Meryl shouted as the burning glow around her started to disappear.