Chapter 457
D barreled toward him with incredible speed. But Jake was fast too, and with about thirty feet separating them, he had plenty of time to react. He darted out of the way, letting his opponent streak past in a blur.
But what D did next was something Jake couldnāt have predicted. A wicked, scythe-like blade erupted from Dās shoulder, arcing downward to pierce the pulsating organic matter and the ground beneath. It locked him in place, halting his momentum just enough to allow him to perform a sharp turn. Using the blade as a pivot point, D swung toward Jake like a pendulum, accelerating into another attack.
In the next instant, the weapon folded back into his armor, disappearing as if it had never been there. D charged at Jake again, but this time Jake lacked the advantage of distance. He still managed to dart out of the way but barely. D rushed past, nearly brushing Jakeās shoulder. Before Jake could fully recover, the scythe-blade exploded out from Dās armor once more.
It slashed at him with a rush of air. Jake dodged, and instead of cutting deep into his armored flesh, the blade only sliced across it, leaving a scratch. While the damage wasnāt severe, the gash was deep enough for mana to immediately begin to seep from his body.
Sure, the damaged flesh was already knitting itself back together, but the fact that he sustained that much damage from a glancing blow was alarming. Fighting another morphus was nothing like battling human beings in mech suits or even elite monsters. The fight against D wasnāt going to be easy, that was for damn sure.
Only Jake wasnāt eager to fight him at all. He still hoped he could reason with D. With his human side, that is. He still believed D wasnāt entirely a monster yet. Perhaps if Jake kept talking to him, he could reach that human self and cause it to reclaim control of his body once again.
Using the same method as before, plunging his scythe-blade into the ground, D pivoted toward him again. As the morphus charged, Jake activated
Gravity Leap
, launching himself high into the air. He then launched a grappling hook toward a spot ten yards away, and once the hook latched on, he yanked himself toward it. Upon landing, he spun toward D, retrieving the electrolarynx again.
To his surprise, D skidded to a sudden stop, staring at him with his huge, solid-blue eyes. Although those eyes couldnāt convey emotion, the stillness in Dās stance spoke volumes. It certainly seemed as if D was taken aback by what he had just witnessed. The maneuver Jake had performed was clearly something D hadnāt anticipated, indicating he himself didnāt have such an ability.
That made sense. After all, Jake knew that dungeons were rare in this world and could only be completed once. Once someone opened a dungeon, no one else could enter it, and once cleared, it could never be reopened.
And any rewards earned in a dungeon were therefore exclusive. So the five torment-themed abilities Jake had gained from the Maze of Torment were unique to him. Neither D nor any other morphus, assuming there were others, would ever be able to obtain these abilities.
Anyway, the mere fact that D arrested his attack to stare at Jake in surprise was a clear sign that Dās human side wasnāt completely gone. The realization gave Jake hope, encouraged him. Dās humanity was still there, buried deep inside, lying dormant. If Jake could reach it, could wake it, there was a chance it might overpower the monster within and put his human self back at the helm of his body.
Once again, they just stared at each other in silence for a moment. Then Jake pressed the electrolarynx to his throat and said, āI donāt want to fight. And I know you donāt really want to either. If we can justā¦ā
He didnāt finish his sentence because D surged at him once again. His monster side was back in charge. It almost felt like the mechanical voice coming from the device was setting D off, making him angry for some reason.
Perhaps he just didnāt like how mechanical and emotionless the voice sounded? Jake wasnāt crazy about it either, but did that really justify Dās desire to tearĀ him apart? Jake didnāt think so. He darted out of the way before D could get within striking distance again.
Or maybe the Commander had been telling the truth all along. Maybe Dās humanity was hopelessly lost, and no matter what Jake tried, it was impossible to put Dās human self back at the helm.
While Jake had always been ready for the possibility that he and D would become adversaries, he had still hoped it could be avoided. And he definitely wasnāt quite ready to give up hope that they could become allies.
D adjusted the trajectory of his movement and lunged toward Jake once again. Jake vaulted into the air, but this time, D anticipated the maneuver and leaped right after him. As it turned out, he could jump quite high too. They collided in mid-air with a crash.
As soon as they hit the ground, D pressed the assault. Jakeās body sprouted bladed tentacles that whipped toward his opponent. In response, D unleashed two scythe-blades at the same time, one from each shoulder, slicing through several of Jakeās tentacles and cutting them clean in two.
One of his hands shot forward, grabbing hold of another tentacle. With a savage tug, he hauled Jake toward him and swung a punch. Jake twisted his head to the side, narrowly dodging the blow, and it whistled past his face.
His bladed tentacles slashed at his opponent, but they failed to leave so much as a scratch on Dās armor. Since they were useless, Jake detached them, but instead of retreating from D, he moved closer.
He grabbed hold of the left side of Dās head with one hand while morphing the other into a drill. Jake immediately slammed its spinning tip into the other side of Dās head.
His counterpart clearly hadnāt expected something like that to happen. He once again seemed surprised by another of Jakeās abilities. The drill whined as it struggled to bore into Dās armored flesh. Pushing harder, Jake finally managed to force it into the side of his opponentās head.
So, even though Dās armor was powerful, some of his abilities could still damage it. That was definitely a good sign.
That made D angry. He thrust his forehead forward with tremendous force, slamming it into the middle of Jakeās face. It definitely wasnāt just a regular headbutt. Instead, D must have employed one of his abilities because everything went dark before Jakeās eyes for a moment.
When he regained his vision, he found himself sprawled on the ground with D on top of him. Four long tentacle-like appendages extended from Dās back, each ending in something resembling a blossom with four large fleshy petals that clasped tightly around Jakeās wrists and ankles, pinning him to the ground.
Jake attempted to free himself by shoving D off, but his opponent was incredibly strong. Jake was overpowered against humans and regular mutants, capable of even taking down formidable elite mutants many levels stronger than himself.
But D wasnāt just a mutant, he was a morphus. And fighting another of his kind was an entirely different matter. Defeating him was no easy task at all.
D didnāt launch another attack, though. He simply stared down at Jake. Jake wasnāt sure what was going on in Dās head, but he hoped Dās human self was trying to take control over his body, pushing the monster side away.
Despite having his ass kicked, Jake still hoped he could reason with D, make his monster side subside, and allow his human self to surface. Summoning every ounce of strength, he wrenched one hand free. Before Dās strange tentacle could seize it again, Jake pulled his electrolarynx from his inventory and pressed it firmly to his jaw.
āI donāt want to fight you,ā he said. āWe donāt have to. We can be on the same side. But you have to fight your inner beast. Donāt let it control you. You need to be in charge of your body.ā
Suddenly, Dās hand shot out and snatched the device from Jakeās grip. He brought it to his eyes for a closer look, staring at it with what seemed like curiosity, or at least it appeared that way. In his enormous fist, the electrolarynx seemed absurdly tiny.
A moment later, D brought the device to his mandible and jammed it against his own flesh. His jaws parted, revealing rows of large, jagged teeth not unlike Jakeās, and thenā¦ nothing happened. No sound came from the device.
That made sense. To make the device work, D would have needed at least a partially functioning voice box, something he had clearly never developed. He tried opening his mouth wider, but of course, it didnāt help the matter.
A few seconds later, D abandoned his attempts to make the device work. Clearly frustrated, he crushed it in his huge fist, reducing it to nothing more than a handful of dust.
It was fine. Jake knew he could return to New Hope anytime he wanted and ask Catalinaās people to manufacture another electrolarynx for him. But for that to happen, he first had to survive his very first encounter with another morphus.
D seemed to be back under the control of his monstrous side. He opened his mouth wide, as if he wanted to take a bite out of Jakeās face. Jake attempted to push him away with his free hand, but D immediately grabbed it and pinned it to the ground. He tried once more to free a hand, but this time D gave him no chance. Jake knew he was in serious trouble now.
D leaned closer, his jaws spreading wide. But before he could clamp them down on Jakeās face, a whining sound came from behind him. D froze. The noise grew louder with every second, and when Jake turned his head, he saw a small, round drone, about the size of his fist, drift into view. A moment later, it came to a motionless hover beside him and D.
āOwen, no!ā a voice emanated from the drone. āLeave the poor guy alone!ā