World Runner: A Merc's Trial in a Spiritual Dystopia Ch.22 (Patreon)

— Maliketh ‘The Beard’ Aeneas —

BOOOOOM 

An explosion erupted as I punched down the metal door that had been blocking our entry. Smoke filled the now opened warehouse as I summoned my blade from my pocket dimension. 

“That’s one way to make an entrance.” Jackie snorted and I shrugged. 

“We’re supposed to take them out anyway, might as well give em a chance to fight back.” I explained back. Was it stupid? yes. Did I care? No. This was my chance to make up for the Maine failure. Even though I was so much stronger than I was when I fought Maine, that defeat still lingered heavily in my heart. 

I’d take out this group of Hunters and Haki-men (if they have any of the latter) and solidify my strength in my heart. 

“I knew it would only be a matter of time before some weak gonkheads stepped on our turf.” I heard a gruff voice speak through the smoke and immediately activated my Ten, while Jackie activated his Haki on his arms and legs. 

We were going up against powered gang members, it was time to get serious. 

As the smoke cleared, my eyes widened minutely at the sight of around twelve people on the ground with us. Standing at the front of them were two men, one of them was a tall man with scales on his body, and the other was a slightly shorter man with six arms. 

Those must be the big baddies that ran shit around here. 

“That tends to happen when you start building a super powered gang in Night City. No one likes the success of others.” I shrugged my shoulders as I locked eyes with the man with six arms. I could practically feel his power radiating within him. 

He was definitely the leader. 

“Yeah, should have expected as much, thought you dumbasses would have taken longer though.” The man facepalmed.

“Then doesn’t that make you the dumbass?” Jackie tilted his head in confusion. 

“Fuck you, jackass, you fucked with the wrong gang, and now you’ll feel the wrath of Asura!” He roared and I was about to follow up with something snarky, but he rushed me immediately. He activated Ren and speed-blitzed me. Thankfully I already had my Ten active, so when he reached me, I blocked his punch easily and jumped backward to escape his follow-up punches with his other four arms. 

The other tall man engaged Jackie as well and the two clashed, with Jackie blocking the reptilian man’s attacks before throwing counters. 

As I gained some distance from the man I assume addressed himself in third person, I glanced at his men who were standing further back. I could see the fear in most of their faces, they didn’t want to be here, and they didn’t want to fight. 

As long as they stayed out of my way, they’d live, but I wasn’t going to let my guard down and give them a chance to get a free hit in. 

I activated Haki over my arms and followed up by using my Nen Ability, making my arms, and blade burn orange from the sheer amount of fire and heat. 

Asura grinned and rushed me, and I quickly switched to my Ren and did the same, we met in the middle in a powerful clash of Nen. He launched a powerful punch at my face, and the blow struck me, but not before I could cut into one of his arms, completely severing it. 

The moment his arm was removed, he jumped backward and looked at the stump in surprise. Then he looked back up at me, and his grin grew even wider. 

“You…what is your name?” 

“Maliketh Aeneas.” I supplied almost immediately, and I could see some of them men widen their eyes, the fear in them amplified quite a bit. 

“I see…to think ‘The Beard’ would come and put a stop to my gang so soon. We must have made a bigger name for ourselves than I thought.” Asura said, baring his teeth in an excited grin. 

This man had lost his fucking mind, but I can use that. 

“Plenty of people are offering good money for an end to your little operation.” I outstretched my arms. “So let me make you an offer. Pack up and leave Night City. Do that and you can live to conquer another city. This one is mine.” I offered, and I do believe it was a reasonable offer. His men clearly didn’t wish to fight me, and he had already lost an arm, even if he landed a solid blow. 

“And miss the fight of my life?!” He asked as if I had said the most asinine thing. “Never.”

With that last word, all communication was dead. He crouched down and blasted toward me again, this time with even more Nen Aura before, reaching me faster than I could keep up with and forcing me to activate my Sandevistan. When I did, I could follow his movements, but he was still moving fast…he has a Sandevistan of his own! 

I dodged his punch and attempted to slice his head off, but he followed up with another punch that sent me flying backward. He didn’t give me a chance to breathe. He blitzed toward my body and tried to deliver another powerful blow, but I managed to get one foot on the ground and push myself out of the way. 

This guy was stronger than I thought, and he’d end up being some real trouble, especially if his men ended up joining in. 

Pilar, Rebecca…Dorio, I may need your help sooner rather than later.

— Dorio (A Few Minutes Ago)—

Dorio frowned as she stood watch. Pilar was planting the explosives while she and Rebecca had to watch over him. 

It was a simple job, one that kept her away from any action, and she hated it. 

She wouldn’t complain about an easy job normally, an easy job was a good job after all, but not when Maliketh and Jackie were about to take the fight to a whole gang of superpowered people. 

She should be there, helping out her love and her best friend, but instead she was here, keeping an eye on nothing while Pilar planted some bombs.

“Hurry up!” She rushed Pilar. The man looked back at her before frowning. 

“This shit ain’t easy ya know! I need my fucking focus so stop fucking nagging me!” He shouted back before returning to work. 

Dorio glared at him. He didn’t understand how easy their job was compared to the other two, yet he was taking his sweet-ass time! 

“You heard the blonde, hurry the fuck up, I want my eddies!” Rebecca shouted at her older brother, making him pause again. Dorio was just about ready to join Rebecca in rushing the man but her eyes caught the reflection of sunlight hitting glass above. 

Her eyes widened as she looked back down at Pilar. 

“I won’t say it again, sit your little ass do-” 

Dorio immediately activated her Ren and sped over to Pilar and pushed him out of the way.

BANG

A loud gunshot rang out and hit the dirt past where Pilar had been crouching. 

“Get on guard, sniper!” Dorio shouted, activating her Ten and jumping up to the location where she saw the glare on the rifle’s scope. She frowned as she reached the roof of a building and saw that the sniper was no longer there. 

“Is that fucking bastard up there?” Rebecca shouted in anger, earning a shake of Dorio’s head as the blonde jumped back down. 

“Keep your eyes pee-”  Before Dorio could finish, the hairs on her body stood up as she sensed a Nen Aura behind her. She jumped away out of instinct, narrowly avoiding the slash of a Nen-infused knife.

As Dorio got back up and turned around, she saw a beautiful woman with long black hair and cold brown eyes staring at her with hate. 

“You should have stayed still, it would have made this easier, for both of us.” The woman said, increasing the amount of Aura around her blade. 

“You’re fucking dead!” Rebecca shouted as she aimed her gun at the woman and pulled the trigger. 

BANG 

The woman activated her Ten and the gunshot slammed her against her Aura before stopping. 

Rebecca’s glare grew more heated as she continued firing bullets.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

Each bullet had the same effect as the last, doing absolutely no damage to the woman as she stared at the group with an unamused expression. 

“To think the first time we get attacked on our own land, they would send amateurs. Pathetic.”

“I’ll show you pathetic you fucking big-titted fuck!”

“Such vulgarity…I will deal with you and your dirty mouth first.” The woman pulled her blade back before rushing toward Rebecca. Dorio stepped in the way and threw a punch at the woman, forcing her to block with her free hand before counterattacking with the blade. Dorio’s eyes widened at the speed the woman launched the attack but she was saved from a painful slash as Rebecca tackled the woman straight to the ground. 

Haki covered the little gremlin’s hands as she held down the woman’s arm, keeping the blade away from her as she used the other hand to beat her up. 

The punches didn’t seem to be doing much damage if any, and as the woman let out more Nen Aura, she easily overpowered Rebecca and sent her flying to the side with a hard kick. 

The woman gracefully got back up the her feet, picking up her knife in the process as her eyes locked with Dorio’s.

Dorio knew just from that exchange that this fight was going to be difficult. The woman was fast, and that blade was deadly. One wrong move and her life was over. 

“You’re mine, you don’t have permission to die until I’m done with you.”

A smirk tugged on Dorio’s lips as the memory of Maliketh’s words replayed in her mind. 

She had no intention of dying here or anytime soon.

“Pilar, finish your job, I’ll deal with her.” Dorio ordered, dropping into a low stance.

“You don’t gotta tell me twice!” Pilar cackled, moving back to the explosives he was setting up and continuing his work. 

Dorio raised her dukes and prepared for the fight of her life. 

It was time to show this bitch and the rest of this bullshit gang all the hard work she’d put into her Nen!

The woman rushed forward, and Dorio did the same, meeting her in the middle. Immediately Dorio was forced to avoid the slashes Marissa launched at her, the Nen Aura extending off of the blade, along with the speed of the woman made the task a lot harder. 

Luckily, Rebecca came back and threw a punch at the woman’s lower back, striking her and making her pause in her slashes, which gave Dorio the perfect amount of time to send a punch straight to the bitch’s chin. 

As the woman landed on the ground, she quickly picked herself back up and crouched in a low stance, ready to spring forward at any moment. Dorio used this time to activate her Nen ability. 

Her Nen Aura radiated around her and began to form small circular distortions in the air around her opponent. A grin appeared on her face as she punched her palm.

She was ready. 

The woman looked at the new circles with caution.

“You’re not gonna win this fight, give up.” Dorio offered the woman, but only got a sneer in response.

Well, nobody can say she didn’t try. 

“I gave you an out.” Dorio frowned before punching at the distortion in front of her, and as she did, her fist appeared through one of the other distortions, slamming into the woman’s head and knocking her to the ground, 

“Holy shit!” Rebecca shouted as she looked at Dorio’s floating arm. “That’s so fucking preem!” 

“Hush, I need to focus!” Dorio growled out. 

“Sorry Boss-Lady!” Rebecca apologized immediately. To think all it to took to tame her was a cool Nen ability. 

The woman pushed herself up and looked around at the distortions, or more accurately, portals that surrounded her. 

She was fucked, and that realization had started to dawn on her. 

“Josiah, I need your help!” The woman shouted before Dorio ran into the portal in front of her, appearing behind the woman as she delivered a powerful blow to her back.

“Argh!” She groaned in pain as her body was launched away a few feet. 

They had this bitch beat, but it seems she managed to call for backup.

Dorio glanced in the Maliketh’s and Jackie’s direction where she sensed a assload of power erupting in the building. 

She needed to end this fight quickly and make her way over there.

“You better keep your promise, you damn jackasses.”  

— Jackie —

He was in danger, and he found that very thought to be incredibly amusing. 

There was something about fighting with everything you had, and it still was not enough. It was a bad feeling, one that made you wish you had worked harder, but it was also surprisingly fulfilling. 

Giving it your all and coming up short. You tried your best and you failed. In the end, you did try your best, so what was there to feel bad about?

That was not the feeling Jackie was going through at the moment.

No, he was more amused than anything that he was being ganked! Five men, if you could even call them that, along with the reptilian vato were seriously ruining his day!

The strong guy with scales was already enough for him, so why the hell did he need to fight the other Hunters as well? 

Sounds like bullshit to him, but he knew he couldn’t do anything besides fight with everything he had. 

He wouldn’t lose; he knew that much. He had a sexy woman to return to, along with his actual family and his mother. Dying to a come-up gang wouldn’t mean shit in the long run, but surviving this fight meant everything!

The name Jackie Welles would be known and feared throughout Night City as the man who took down Dragon!

…That was his name, right, the scaly fuck?

Eh, he’d ask later.

Jackie narrowly dodged a punch thrown at him from Komodo before he jumped over to one of the gonks. His fist impacted with the weak Hunter’s head, cracking it open and leaving him with severe brain damage…or more than likely killing him. 

Ehehe, shoulda been stronger!

Jackie jumped out of the way, dodging the Dragon’s tail attack. He was really annoying to fight, because who the hell has a tail! How do you get used to fighting something like that without a scratch?! 

It wasn’t gonna happen, and as the remaining four guys and the Dragon guy grew closer to him, Jackie realized he only had one option going forward. 

Give it his all and pray! 

He rushed another one of the weak hunters, blocking the scaly guy’s attack with his Haki covered arm, all while sending a kick through the man’s throat with his Haki covered leg.

Another one down! 

Just at that thought played in his mind, the scaly guy’s tail shot out and slashed Jackie’s back, leaving behind a nasty cut that made Jackie jump up in pain. 

“Chingado!” Jackie breathed out before shooting a glare at the puta who cut him. “Hijo de puta, que toda tu familia come mierda!”

The scaly guy was unaffected by his words. Jackie didn’t know if it was because he couldn’t understand, or didn’t care, and honestly he himself couldn’t give less of a fuck. 

Scaly vato was dying now, if it was the last thing he did! 

“Bring it on!” Jackie shouted, rushing the lizard man with the intention of driving his fist through his face. 

Just as Jackie was about to land the punch, lizard guy opened his mouth and spat some green shit at him. It hit Jackie in the face and immediately he reeled back, clenching his face in pain and jumping backward to gain some distance. 

Acid?! 

What the fuck?!

“Maldito sea-!? Te voy a destruir todo lo que amas!” Just as Jackie was about to continue berating Komodo, he felt something sharp enter his abdomen before being pulled back. He felt his blood leave him as his body dropped down to the ground. 

Damn…This was really it. 

His Haki began to leave his body, as he curled up in the fetal position, trying his best to keep his blood from leaking out of his stomach. 

How did things end up like this?

The job was supposed to be hard sure, but not this hard…

He was really going to die…

His mother’s face flashed into his mind and he realized just how broken she was going to be when she learned of his death. She wouldn’t be able to take it…not after the others. 

Then, Misty…

How would she take it?

Her ever-beautiful smile would be ripped away forever. Would she be able to move on.

…Did he want her to move on. 

Jackie pictured her naked sexy body in his arms, the way her soft body felt, the sound of her voice as she whispered soft moans into his ear, and the way her body smelt, so sweet. 

Fuck no!

He didn’t want her to move on!

He was the only one, and he’d be damned if he let some guy come along and fuck her in his absence! 

“Fuck you, you dragon fuck!” Jackie shouted, pushing himself up as his Haki reappeared over his arms and legs. 

He would live!

The Haki spread to his waist and his chest. 

He would make it home!

The Haki climbed up his abdomen and neck.

And he would fuck his girlfriend silly!

“I am Jackie Welles, and I am going to be a legend, mark my name on your graves, pendejos desgraciados!”

The Haki had completely spread across his entire body, and he rose to his feet, glaring at the scaly bastard who had almost ripped his future away from him. 

Before he made his move, Jackie made one last declaration, a promise from him to his would be killer. 

“You’re going to die.” 

With those last words, he rushed forward, Komodo tried his best to block the attack but ended up getting a mouthful of fist. Jackie followed up the punch with another to the man’s stomach. 

The weak Hunters tried to help the lizard, but they did absolutely no damage in their attempts to punch and kick Jackie. 

Jackie’s attention was locked solely on Komodo. 

The lizard was going to die here. 

Jackie unleashed punch after punch, utterly destroying Komodo, knocking out teeth, bruising his face and body, and as he heard the crack of the man’s bones, a small smile came to his face-

But it wasn’t enough!

Komodo had almost taken him from this world, almost hurt his mother and his woman, and now he was going to give Komodo the fate Jackie almost had!

“Die!” Jackie roared, opening his hand and bringing his fingers together before slicing at Komodo’s stomach, cutting his belly open and revealing a river of blood that began to leak out of him. 

Jackie let out exhausted breaths as he stared at the dying form of Komodo. 

His anger started leaving him, and as it did, he realized that the fight wasn’t over. He utterly ignored the weak Hunters that had been fighting him and looked over at Maliketh who was still struggling. Most of the Hunters that had joined in the fight against the Beared Man had been killed already, leaving two weak Hunters and the now Four Armed man fighting ‘The Beard.’

— Maliketh (A Few Minutes Ago) —

Ya know, I can say this without feeling any shame: This is the hardest fight I’ve ever been in.

Even Maine who was a cheating fuck with a smart shotgun wasn’t as hard to fight as Asura. 

How the hell do you fight a man that has multiple arms?! 

Blocking attacks simply didn’t work because he’d just follow up with his many arms.

In terms of speed and strength we were about equal. While my Nen was stronger than his, his Haki was stronger than mine. He could cover all of his arms and his legs with the stuff which made it incredibly hard to take out anymore of his arms. 

That combined with his Sandevistan being just a bit better than mine made this fight incredibly difficult. 

The weak Hunters weren’t a problem, however they did force me to keep my Ten active all the time, which means the entire fight I was on the defensive, running away from Asura’s attacks since I couldn’t block them, all while the Hunters tried their best to keep me preoccupied. 

I considered killing them, and normally I would have, but I could tell they didn’t want to fight. 

They didn’t even want to be apart of the gang, they were forced to.

Though if they kept being this annoying then I may have to take them out. 

In terms of Nen, I could go all day, so I was certain Asura would tire out before me, but his constant Ren being active made him a great deal stronger and faster than me at the moment, which means if things continue like this, I’ll be the one that ends up losing. 

As I dodged away and gained more distance, I glanced over to Jackie and my heart sank.

He was lying down as blood leaked out of his abdomen. 

How…How the fuck did that happen?!

Jackie…he’s strong, I know he is, so how did he lose to that guy?!

…Did I seriously underestimate the might of this gang. 

As Asura’s fist connected with my face, I realized I did, by a fuckton.

Jackie…was he-

Just as that thought came up, I glanced over to see Jackie pushing himself up to his feet. 

He was alive…Thank God. 

“Focus on me, you bastard! Show me the might of ‘The Beard!’” Asura shouted in anxious joy before rushing me again.

Jackie being on the verge of death changes everything. 

I apologize to the Hunters that were forced into this life, but now they needed to die. 

I activated my Ren and dodged Asura’s attack, shooting off toward the Hunters behind him.

There were seven total, and as I cleanly cut through three in one quick move, now there were four. 

They weren’t strong, not even close, though I would still put them above Maine. They have potential for growth, and I’d rather not do this, but it had to be done now. 

“You think you can ignore me?!” Asura shouted, rushing me again, this time he was ready for me to dodge, but I had no intention of doing such a thing. As he threw a punch, I let it crash against my stomach, and just as it did, I grabbed his arm that hit me. He launched another two punches at me, but I harnessed the Nen within me and let out a pulse of fire around me, burning him along with myself.

He winced from the sudden heat as his body jolted back, but I kept my grip firm on his arm and used my blade infused with Haki and my Nen Fire to cut through it like a hot knife through butter. 

His Haki made it a bit harder, but ultimately, it went through. 

Now, he had four arms left. 

I took a moment to thank whatever gods made it so that the one boy that had came to join them ended up running away. 

I could sense his Nen and knew he was powerful, but he had fled the fight before we had even exchanged blows. 

I had a feeling that he made his way over to Dorio, Rebecca, and Pilar, but even though the boy was powerful, they should be able to take him. 

It definitely did me a lot of good that he was gone now. 

Four men remained, along with the four-armed Asura. 

I needed to thin that herd a bit more. 

I rushed forward again and activated my Sandevistan, the moment it took Asura to copy my actions gave me a small advantage of speed over him as I completely moved past him and cut down two more of the weaker Hunters. I had to immediately turn around and block his attack with my blade before channeling more Nen through it, engulfing the entire thing in bright orange-flowing flames. 

Asura moved back a step from the head, and I used that moment to push forward, launching my blade at his heart, but at the last moment, he used one of his hands to redirect it into his shoulder. 

My eyes widened as he using another of his free hands to punch me, sending me flying away and skidding into the ground. 

“Maliketh!” Jackie shouted and I looked over to him to see he didn’t look anything like he once had. His entire body was covered in Haki, and it was hard to distinguish it was even Jackie in the dark room, but I recognized his voice and his body type.

“Jackie…” I glanced past him to see that the guy he was fighting was dead and the other Hunters were standing still, completely overwhelmed by fear. A smile tugged at my lips, I knew Jackie was built different. 

“I’ll help you, Mali!” Jackie began to run over-

“No!” I shouted, making him stop in his tracks. “Head over to Dorio and help her out!” I ordered him and he stayed still for a moment.

“What did I say about ignoring me?!” Asura roared as he rushed me. I pushed myself up to my feet and prepared for him to strike…but he never did.

His body froze and he began screaming in confusion and…pain? 

His hands clenched his head and I quickly realized someone was hacking into his body. 

I used the moment to pull my blade out of his shoulder and stab it into his abdomen before pulling it out again and kicking him away. 

My eyes shot up to the railing above where a woman was locking down at me. 

She looked…oddly familiar. 

I knew her from somewhere.

“Who the hell are you?!” I asked, trying to place where the hell I knew her from.

“My name is Sasha Yakovleva and I have no intention of working with this gang anymore!” She explained quickly and I immediately realized who she was. 

Sasha…as in the same Sasha that worked with Maine’s gang in Edgerunners before she died and was replaced by Kiwi. She was also Stella’s sister. 

…Could I trust her? 

No. Not yet; I didn’t know if this was just some plot to get us to let our guard down, especially since I didn’t have anytime to get any long lasting damage on Asura. 

“Jackie, take her with you but keep your guard up! Kill her if she even dares to try anything!” 

Jackie nodded before gesturing for Sasha to follow him out of the warehouse. 

“The rest of you, get follow my lead!” Asura ordered. The remaining six Hunters in the room looked hesitant but ultimately surrounded me. 

Again, I was back at square one. 

I let out a tired sigh. I really didn’t want to fight anymore. 

So, I decided not to. I quickly contacted someone and waited until they picked up. 

“[Beard!]”

“Pilar.” I greeted evenly as I stared down Asura. “Let it rip.” 

There was a silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds before he spoke again. 

“[You got it, boss man!]”

A chuckle escaped me as Asura rushed forward. My Aura exploded out of me, surprising him as I directed it all around me, activating the strongest form of Ten that I possibly could. 

“See you in Hell, Asura.” 

BOOOOOOOOOM

— Chapter End —

Author’s Note: I hate writing fight scenes with a passion, but this shit needs to be covered because it’s a rather important event that will be looked back on more than a few times in the future.