Everybody in the Wild Eyes sect under Serafin had at least a few basic lessons with swords, knives, and other typical blades to start out with. People that took to the training well or that were able to make melee weapons synergize with their own Intrinsic would continue honing their craft, but Cipher was never one of them. He had always preferred guns, even before he himself contracted the virus at nineteen.
Despite that, the boss always made monthly supplementary training mandatory, even the section about bladed melee weapons, for everyone, regardless of preference. He knew the reasoning was a good one, how missions go unpredictable and a Wild Eyes member should be able to adapt, but that didn't mean he liked it. If anything, he despised it. Since he always had his collection of guns on him, he never was able to see a moment where he would have to use a sword. If it were up to him, there would be no such training module, and he'd get a handful of hours back out of each month.
For him, the monthly lessons focused on the barebones fundamentals. Single strikes that could be strung together to ensure he could at least hold his own when armed with a blade. The intention was never to prepare him to take down an opponent of high caliber, rather allow him to exist in combat long enough for another, better option to arise. This sort of thought process made sense, most Wild Eyes existed in pairs and were taught to be resourceful. If they couldn't do it themselves, their duo always had their back. Unfortunately, all these wonderful precautions did not apply to the moment.
Armed with a one handed sword and roughly twenty five kilograms of firearms on a sling, Cipher stepped forward into a vertical rising slash. The rudimentary slash was one of several he was instructed, more like forced, to master. He made sure to aim away from the torso area, the level four plates they were wearing was plenty enough to get in the way of a simple bladed weapon without usable enhancements or attributes. Thus, he shifted to the side, and swung at the pistol in his hand.
The thin sword sliced through, leaving a bright red laceration along his forearm along the lines of his attack. Additionally, the blade managed to catch one of the many grooves in the handgun, carrying it upward with the follow through. The grip he had wasn't perfect, still in pain from the bullet into the arm from earlier. Putting most of his strength into the launch, he flung the light gun high up into the air, almost touching the ceiling with the opponent's weapon.
The attack seemed to stagger the Nihility member, the flash of pain in his arm was not something he seemed to expect. Taking half a step backwards, he opened up his stance and position. Cipher was not somebody to miss an opportunity. Seeing the opening to his chest once more, his left hand dropped to his side, fishing for his main weapon on hanging on the sling. Picking up his favorite rifle, he pressed the flash hider into the plate.
The man's green eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. He opened his mouth and pleaded with the marksman, but his initial words were drowned out by the sound of 7.62 firing off half a meter away. Level four plates were much more resilient than to fall to a single shot, even point blank. The initial amount of force probably caused a bit more damage, the impact rattling his insides, but he would overall be fine from the single shot.
Five more cracks of the much larger gun sang through the air, driving the initial bullet home and peppering more into his torso. The last couple of bullets exploded out the other side of the man's body, flying into a shelf behind him. At one point, the man coughed out a torrent of blood, splattering all over Cipher's long hair and clothes. Pulling his gun away from the deceased body, he let it hang off to his side once more. Raising his scarlet stained long glove into the air, he caught the falling, now ownerless, handgun in his left.
Finally, something I'm familiar with.
No matter how many mandatory training he would attend, the familiar feeling of a pistol grip was always his preference, especially in his off hand. Popping most of his fingers up and on top of the handgun's slide, he pulled it back to look at the chamber. The shimmering brass warped the smile on his face.
He dropped it back firmly into the palm of his hand, holding up the iron sights to aim at the second guy. After watching two of his friends brutally murdered in their own visceral way, most of his resolve had fully shattered. Taking half a step back, unwilling to pull the trigger of his own pistol. Turning on his heel, he broke into a dead sprint, running away from the terrifying visage of a blood covered Cipher. Armed to the teeth with three firearms and a sword, two of which belonged to his now deceased brethren, he was no longer more afraid of his captain than her.
Lowering the pistol, he let out a soft exhale, mostly of exhaustion. The entire encounter didn't last all too long, but it forced him to fire on all cylinders for a large amount of time. Usually, he was able to rely on the combat aspect of his usual pairing with the boss herself, not having to exert himself to such a tiring extent. It was nice knowing that he still had it in him, all the practice and tutelage paying off huge dividends, and it would be even better if he could find Kanashima afterwards.
Where the hell'd you go? God, I hope she's okay…
"I don't remember saying you can leave, dumbass."
The leader of the entire Nihility operation appeared on the opposite side of his retreating man, arm outstretched to block his direct path. Trying his absolute best to come to a stop, his momentum continued to carry his body forward. Furthermore, the captain stepped up into his personal space even more, twisting at the waist to throw almost all of his body weight forward. The smaller man's neck was now on a collision course perfectly aligned with the side of his huge arm.
"Don't have to worry about a little girl shooting you dead, I'll fuckin' kill you myself."
C'mon man, I'm not even that small. 172 cm isn't even that short.
Forcing his arm into the front of his own subordinate's neck, the smaller body visibly rattled from the vicious impact. Cipher could practically see the throat wobble inside, collapsing from the sheer amount of force applied. If that wasn't bad enough, the man thought it to be appropriate to talk down on the last remaining incompetent man. The fear in the man's widened eyes only grew more and more, spreading out of the sclera into the rest of the face. With quivering lips, he wanted to speak up against his superior, but the crushed windpipe simply didn't allow words to come through.
"Truly worth every little bit of pay. Explode."
The orange wisps orbiting his hands moved towards the contact point, glowing like lit magnesium. Once the ability, whatever he was activating, began to hum a high pitched tone, he took it as a perfect indicator to take cover, or at least get down. If he really was going to explode like he commanded, then he did not want to be anywhere near the blast zone of the threatening Intrinsic perk. Crouching down low to the ground, he positioned himself behind the eviscerated chest of the man who took the several point blank shots.
On his own person is crazy! It really be your own people.
A torrential wave of concussive force ripped through the air, a huge explosion at the epicenter. Shredding through the neck, he easily severed it completely off of the rest of the body. The head flew over Cipher's position, landing somewhere in the racks. Blood didn't even splatter on the Nihility leader, the explosion was strong enough to blow even the smallest specks of liquid away. The body collapsed to the ground seconds after with a loud thud. Giving a kick to the side of the body, he pulled down the neck gaiter to spit on the corpse.
"It's so hard to find good help nowadays, huh? What do you say, girl? Clearly good with your hands, looking for a different line of work? I treat them good."
"Sorry, I'm a man! Although, I don't judge if you… swing that way."
The momentum the captain had in the entire engagement came to a screeching halt at the mere prospect. Electing not to speak up again, he gritted his teeth and put his fists together. Vermillion strings flared out from his knuckles, spiraling through the air. His entire body became coated in the same electric signature as his explosions from earlier. Utilizing his own perks, Cipher was immediately clued in on the nature of the transformation, tracing the flood of auburn electrons with his baby blue eyes.
Shit, he's definitely an anger point type. I totally fucked up.
The release of his power was already starting to affect his surroundings, creating an unmistakable feeling of ALFA virus influenced pressure in the atmosphere. In a blink of an eye, he blasted off multitudes faster than before, the Intrinsic perk already pumping his abilities to the max. Cipher's enhanced perception was the only reason why he had the reaction time to jump away from his crouched position and narrowly dodge his seismic fists. Slamming into the ground, he shook the very foundation of the building. Miraculously, the floor managed to hold up to the miniature earthquake despite the web of cracks spreading throughout the tile.
Fuck! Where is Kanashima?
"Impressive. You should feel honored to be fighting me like this."
Standing up in the center of the shallow crater, the orange energy flared up again. In this crazed state, there was no way for Cipher to hurt him with what he held in his hands. That was the original point of summoning Call of the Ghost, but with the transformation's enhancements, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to even fire off a shot in time.
Combat Intrinsic transformation abilities were always super tricky to deal with, and most of the time required another combat wielder. If he knew the status of Kanashima, even with her inexperience, there would have been a solid chance to pierce the orange cloak. Being left to his own resources was not ideal, all he could hope to do was slow him down, and maybe last long enough for the powerup to fade.
Or for something else to change.
He brought up the scavenged pistol and fired off a few more shots, but the man didn't even bat an eye. The bullets stopped dead in their tracks, clattering to the floor harmlessly. The gun was likely not a high enough tier, if Cipher had to guess, it was probably a tier five. The amount of power wafting off of the captain was enough to make him think he was a tier four, he had spent enough time with Serafin to know what it felt like. The sort of mismatch meant it would never pierce, but maybe Pathfinder could. It raised the same issue as using Call of the Ghost.
There was no way he saw to get out of this. He simply couldn't generate enough of an advantage on his own against the superior opponent to get in something that would truly be lethal, and who knew how long his heightened state would last. Normally, he didn't have to worry about the lack of a combat Intrinsic, but it was showing more and more with Kanashima's absence. There was no way to tell if she would know what to do in the situation even if she did show up. Nothing pointed towards her being out of the fight completely, so all he could do was hope she showed up in time.
I just have to last. Doesn't matter how long. I'm so fucking exhausted.