In the static world of his enhanced perception, despair quickly dug its claws into Henry. His mind fired commands one after the other, screens opening and closing, entire scripts appearing and disappearing.

Beyond the projections filling his optical bionics, all he saw was red. Thin laser beams flew past him, piercing the heads of anyone he dared to get close to. Energy blades followed, ensuring that no one got up after getting sliced. Somehow, he was the only one left unscathed.

He tried sending a distress signal, but his connection was severed. The jammer's range was extended beyond the basement floors, and now the entire building was cut off from the rest of the world.

He raced through the corridors and soon reached the garages. There, a semi-truck disguised as an ad for some beverage company awaited him. The short-range connections were yet to be severed, so he formed a connection with the truck and issued a quick command.

Unfortunately, the truck wasn't built to match his enhanced perception, so he had to decelerate and wait for it to open up. A notification popped up, turning his whole field of sight red. Gritting his teeth, he ripped his coat and clothes off.

His body, mostly mechanical from the neck down, opened up and released several jets of steam. A cloud soon formed around him. It has been a while since the last time he was forced to enhance his speed and perception to such an extent for such a long time, so his Exocore almost overheating was so strange.

The red-haired punk had yet to arrive. When his subordinates started falling left and right, Henry didn't think he would get the whole minute that was promised to him. Turns out the headstart just didn't extend to the others. Either way, one minute was more than enough.

As the back of the truck opened up, the interior came within sight, and the giant's bushy beard moved as his grin spread wide.

~[ ]~

'That's all of them?'

[Yes. Only one remains.]

Dante glanced at the 3D model in the corner of his vision. As he had gone through every room in the five-story building, Volcan was able to form a simplified model without having to rely on Spatial Awareness. The model showed one red dot on the ground floor of the building. It didn't seem to be moving, and Dante knew why right away.

'The bastard didn't learn his lesson, huh?'

Heaving a sigh, he glanced at the sliced corpse at his feet. He raised his right hand and stared at the long claws extending from it. Despite everything he had done in the last few seconds, there wasn't a single smudge on the scythe-like blades.

His thoughts swam for a moment before a spark of pain brought back his focus.

'Volcan, what's my status?'

[You have multiple bone fractures and ruptured muscles caused by the car crash, as for your left hand-]

'Okay, that's enough.'

Taking a RED pill to relieve the pain sounded like a good idea, but Dante dropped it almost immediately. Accelerating his perception, he made his way to the ground floor. The red dot was in a garage, but when he looked around, Dante couldn't find the hairy giant anywhere. His eyes turned to the semi-truck parked to the side, and he quickly realized that the bastard was inside.

[Just come out already.] He said, his voice a bit distorted. [Spare me the theatrics.]

A second passed, then another. The semi-truck shook slightly, its joints groaning. It shook again a moment later. The silence seeped back into the garage, but a loud bang scattered it right away. Another bang followed, and the third came accompanied by the sound of metal ripping.

A mechanical hand jutted from the truck's side. It grasped at the tear and went about widening it, then a second one followed. A large hole opened in the side of the semi-truck, and from it, something jumped out.

A tremor ran through the building the instant it hit the floor. Parts of it snapped and hissed, components adjusting as panels and plating slid into place. Its silhouette seemed to expand as it straightened up, the joints humming with each of the slightest of movements.

The creature was over three meters tall, covered in a muddy green shell. Its limbs were thicker than most people's, and its torso was built like the body of a tank, housing what seems to be the head in a small cavity. Large box-shaped contraptions leaned over the shoulders. Dante felt like he already knew what they were meant to do just from looking.

[Nice suit.] He said, even though he didn't believe that thing could be categorized as a power suit. [Black Shield tech?]

[Oho? You can tell?] The giant replied. [Well, doesn't really matter.]

A red line appeared at the top of its head and went down, washing over it in a matter of seconds.

[The power suit itself is on the higher end of Level 5,] said Volcan. [It provides a great boost to strength and durability, and going by the energy signature, it seems to possess considerable firepower. Its speed pales in comparison, but it is still much faster than the average human.]

Dante listened to Volcan's evaluation while studying the enemy's suit. Threat Levels don't stack. A Level 1 wielding a pistol doesn't become a Level 2, and a Level 4 wearing a Level 4 power suit doesn't become Level 8.

Still, even if the suit didn't push him past the threshold to Level 5, it expanded his options. From appearance alone, one could tell it provided a significant boost to strength and durability. It came loaded with weapons, too, which means it extends any potential fights beyond what the man is capable of on his own.

'How the hell does he even get into it?'

Going by the proportions and the position of the limbs, it didn't look like the giant would be able to fit inside.

[He seems to have removed his arms and legs.] Vilan explained, running the scam once more. [Only the torso and head are housed in the middle section.]

'huh?'

Dante realized that his previous hunch was correct after all. That thing wasn't a power suit. It was a mechanized frame that was fused with the user. The difference between them is barely notable, but while the former is meant to complement the capabilities of the wearer, the latter exchanges them entirely.

'It's almost like that, huh?'

[Indeed.] Volcan replied.

A window popped up, and letters began to appear on it.

'What's that?' Dante asked.

[It is a transcript of what the other person is saying. I believe this to be a good solution for the problem of speech being stretched due to your enhanced perception.]

Making out what someone says while they are in extreme slow motion was a difficult task. Dante had unknowingly enhanced his perception while analyzing the enemy's suit, so he wasn't listening to what the giant had to say at all.

[You should have run when you had the chance]

Dante read the message, and his face quickly scrunched up. Up ahead, the contraptions on the enemy's shoulders popped open, and something flashed inside.

Thinking he had plenty of time, Dante didn't move right away. He realized that it had been a mistake when his eyes failed to follow the launched projectiles, even with his perception enhanced to the max.

'Lasers!!?'

5-3's abilities activated, and he vanished. The next instant, a dozen energy spears pierced the spot he had been standing in.

Going by the trajectories and speed, Dante realized those weren't any simple lasers, and the giant proved him right with the next salvo.

The energy spears took off in one direction, then arched as they followed after Dante. They didn't have the speed of light, but they were faster than 5-3, even with all of its abilities activated.

With his reflexes enhanced to the max, Dante managed to dodge the spears. He realized that, unlike the first attack, there had been slight gaps in the launch of each projectile the second time. That allowed for big alterations in their course and trajectory, which forced Dante to plan for each spear individually.

Just as he finished dodging the last one, he noticed that the spears from the first salvo were glowing much brighter than before. A thought flashed in his mind, and he quickly turned away from the garage.

If not for his enhanced perception, the only thing he would have sensed was a series of violent explosions.

BO-BO-BO-BO-BOOOOMM!!!

From the outside, it looked like something flashed at the ground floor, then the entire building exploded, fire erupting from every opening. A shockwave washed over the surroundings, shattering glass and spreading the heat.

A short distance from the burning building, a dark figure appeared, carving lines through the paved ground as it skidded to a halt.

'Did you get out?'

[Some units were unable to make it in time.] Volcan replied.

Looking at the burning building. That was one big beacon, and with the explosion heard from all over the city, the outcome was already determined.

Dante clicked his tongue, looking at a dark silhouette walking through the fire. It emerged into the street soon enough, pulling along long threads of orange flame.

The mechanical monstrosity was entirely unharmed, despite having taken the explosion head-on. A faint light shimmered over its dark green shell, which didn't have as much as a burn mark, let alone a scratch.

[So? What will be your choice-] the hairy giant spoke, his tone mocking. [Ghost?]