Chapter 68

The clash of fists between Adam Smasher and Victoria tilted in Adam’s favor due to their difference in total mass.

Using the recoil from her deflected right punch, she slammed a left jab into his stomach—but the standard-output strike did little more than ring out a hollow sound.

Like the final battle atop the Bushido X train, Victoria courageously kept pounding her fists into the massive Adam. Yet, the sensation she felt was far tougher than when she once faced the Champion in an underground bout back in old Pacifica, and she couldn’t help but grit her teeth.

The only weapon she had that could possibly work against Adam was the Bunny Hopper’s blade, but deploying it required unfolding it from her leg—something not easily done mid-fight.

Originally, COMRADE’S HAMMER was designed to use Burya ammo, but with a custom Nova blueprint, Vally had created a new favorite gun. Though its power dropped about 20% from the original specs, halving the cylinder size allowed her to carry more rounds. Occasionally, it would spit fire—but even that couldn’t punch through Adam’s armor, perhaps due to its high anti-explosive rating.

The more she fired, the fewer options remained against Adam. And thanks to the AI-level processing speed granted by his memory trace state, Adam began to completely ignore attacks that proved ineffective. Vally’s expression darkened by the second.

"Damn it, the ICE is too tough—I can’t even make a dent…!!"

Behind the main shield, Lucy was desperately trying to breach protocol into Adam, but even with backup from Kiwi, Sasha, and simultaneous attacks by Alt, they weren’t making any progress—in fact, they were on the verge of being pushed back, something that made her grind her teeth in frustration.

Seeing this, Rebecca and the others wore grim expressions as they kept their eyes on Adam, racking their brains for any strategy, any trick that might work.

"Kiwi, can’t you upload a virus into that thing? Like one that replicates endlessly."

『Impossible! If something like that existed, it would've been unleashed from Pacifica ages ago!』

"…Hey, dumbass bro, what about that thing?"

『Huh? Which “that” are we talking about? If you're thinking of a thermonuke, that’s off the table.』

"Not that, the railgun we’ve got mounted on the armored vehicle. That thing could probably punch right through his armor, yeah?"

『…Hah, the odds aren’t bad. Gimme a sec—I’ll build it at mach speed.』

"Tch, I’m counting on you, dumbass bro."

Currently, whether out of arrogance or to break their hope completely, Adam was holding back from using his Sandevistan and was instead overpowering the duo through sheer brute strength.

While the two risked their lives to buy time for a desperate comeback, Rebecca and the others—unable to contribute due to their underpowered weapons—had no choice but to quietly prepare in the background.

At most, they could provide some suppressing fire, trying to distract Adam just enough to give Victoria a shot with her Hopper blade.

"…He really anticipated this. That guy's good."

As she fired in support, Rebecca murmured to herself.

Having witnessed David undergo upgrades under Jugra’s guidance, she could feel just how seriously he had taken the threat of Adam.

He’d handed over the slash-capable 《Byakko》 sword early on, threw David into live combat to build experience, and ensured he fully synced with his Sandevistan—all part of a strategy to make him their trump card against Adam.

And yet, at the final moment, Jugra had pulled David close and didn’t send him over.

Was it affection? Or something else…?

The more she thought about it, the more conflicted Rebecca felt.

With the grim reaper named Adam Smasher looming before her, it was as if her survival instincts were flaring up.

"If David were here, we’d wipe the floor with that guy in a blink—"

"Yo, you called, Rebecca?"

"Huh?"

She turned to see David, who was supposed to be with Jugra, hiding behind the shield, looking a little down.

As the members of 《Edgerunners》 silently gasped, not wanting to alert Adam, David let out a small chuckle with dead eyes.

"She’s done with me—told me to head over and back you guys up. Jugra’s upstairs now, fighting Saburo alone. So, what’s the situation here?"

"…Saburo? I thought that bastard was dead?"

"Apparently, he’s parasitizing his own daughter through that 《Relic》 thing. Makes you wonder—if V had gone too far, would she have ended up the same?"

"Are you serious…? Whatever, long story short, we’re in a shootout with the strongest merc out there. That guy’s memory-traced and installed into a mechanical body, so he’s hard as hell."

"Ahh, I get it now. That explains a lot. What happened to the 《Mikoshi》? V’s not here, so did it work?"

"Well… looks like they got ahead of us and destroyed it. They copied it into Adam’s 《Relic》 and planned to transport it somewhere else."

"Huh… Rare to see Jugra miscalculate. Oh well. Doesn’t change what I have to do."

After hearing the gist of things, David took a deep breath.

Sharpening his gaze, he shifted into combat mode. Activating his Sandevistan, he closed the distance to Adam, and with a lightning draw of 《Byakko》, slashed off the left arm that had been reaching for Victoria from the side.

In the next few seconds, he tried to press the attack—but Adam, now also using his Sandevistan, immediately kicked off the ground and leapt toward the damaged gate, knocking Vally aside as he slipped inside.

Apparently, he figured it’d be too risky to face a katana in such a narrow corridor. His tactical retreat only underscored how seriously he viewed David as a threat.

"Alright, let’s go, Del. Time to wrap this up and get back upstairs."

『Sigh… Do you even understand why I’m using optical camo? Just do your job, Davy.』

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, let’s roll."

While invisible under optical camouflage, Delamain picked up Adam’s severed left arm and followed after David, who dove into the breach, cracking a joke as he went.

Everyone present blinked at the friendly banter—but that didn’t change the fact that he’d completely stolen the spotlight. With a shriek, an enraged Victoria followed after him. Vally, sighing with equal parts relief and exasperation, swapped her cylinder and gave chase.

Rebecca and Lucy, whose brains had just short-circuited from sheer shock, confusion, and despair, snapped out of it after a few seconds. "Oh right, they’re love rivals"—with that realization, they decided to wait for Pilar’s new weapon.

Just before the 《Relic》 room, there was a spacious chamber filled with data monoliths—more than enough room for a full-blown brawl.

"Yo, long time no see, Adam Smasher. We already beat the crap out of Oda and Takemura and took them prisoner."

【Figures. You’re probably one of the people that girl took a liking to. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be running top-tier tech in this city. You’ve got a Sandevistan on par with mine—then I’ve no issue going all out】

At the center of the data monolith chamber, Adam detached what was left of his left arm, reattached a spare, and laughed with excitement.

Now that more enemies were capable of hurting him, the chances of his defeat had risen—and that made Adam smile with joy.

Adam Smasher was a born battle maniac. Once he’d been branded an enemy of the world and sided with Arasaka, he realized war would simply walk to his doorstep. That’s why he was here.

His obsession with combat had led him to self-modification, gradually replacing his body with machinery. As a side effect, he began to only feel truly alive in fights where life and death hung in the balance.

That’s why he respected anyone who might be able to kill him.

Even if they were just some teenage brat.

Adam was having the time of his life.

Vincent, who hosted the lingering soul of Johnny, still biting back even in death.

Victoria, who entrusted her limbs to Jugra for the sake of strength.

Vally, who wielded a recoil-heavy gun despite being a woman.

And David, who sliced through Arasaka’s finest armor—armor crafted with the corporation’s full might—as if it were a folded katana, refined through sheer skill and technique.

【Now show me your strength!!】

The climax began with a barrage from the mini Vulcan cannon mounted in Adam’s right arm.

David, brandishing 《Byakko》, placed the back of the blade along the firing line, deflecting bullets like a bunt in baseball as he advanced forward.

Among countless options, he chose to move forward because he trusted no one more than Jugra’s fine-tuned modifications to his body—and the unwavering support from Delamain.

He relied on the real-time bullet trajectory visualizations floating in his Kiroshi custom, pushing forward—forward—closing the distance, looking every bit like a scene from a movie.

With Delamain's direct-link support, hidden by optical camouflage, David’s cyberware efficiency was pushed to the limit, granting him near-demonic strength.

Only the bullets heading toward him glowed red, and by trusting in their guidance, he bought precious time to encircle Adam.

"I won’t… miss…!"

Handed a COMRADE’S HAMMER customized to match the Nova version, along with an ammo box, by support-unit Delamain, Vally activated her Sandevistan and slid between the monoliths she'd been using for cover. In the middle of her slide, she fired with blinding speed, aiming for the crack in Adam’s faceplate.

The bullet grazed David’s side, passed through a blind spot in the Vulcan fire from Adam’s right arm, and struck his face dead-on.

Amplified by Jugra's specially formulated gunpowder, the bullet rocked Adam’s head back violently.

However, he immediately activated his faceguard with his Sandevistan, reducing the damage to mere impact.

Adam, now a memory trace, had thought speeds surpassing human limits. Coupled with Arasaka’s top-tier hardware, his processing placed him among the world’s top five.

While dodging after seeing is physically impossible, instantaneous defense after visual recognition is well within his capacity.

"What the—!? What kind of reflexes even are those!?"

【…Another creation of that girl, huh. Hah. To not only inherit talent from those two but also show such originality… Masahiro and the others must be smiling in their graves.】

"…Stop acting like some nostalgic uncle. You’re making this super awkward."

【Ku ku ku… My bad. It’s just—I’m elated for the first time in a while. My emotions are all over the place. I haven’t had this much fun since that deathmatch with Morgan Blackhand half a century ago. This clash rivals that, and my heart is dancing. Now, show me what you truly are—for only at the end of a deathmatch can the truth of oneself be seen!】

Adam, who had stopped moving, finally sprang into action.

From beside his thigh, he launched a small blade, grabbing it into a reverse grip with his left hand, and then closed the distance to David with his reinforced legs. The replacement left arm, though light, struck with speed that belied its size.

David almost tried to cut the small blade down, but recognizing the familiar wood grain pattern of the blade, he settled for a deflection.

That distinctive woodgrain appeared on 《Byakko》 as well—metal of such a pattern exists only in one form.

Damascus steel. Forged by layering hundreds of sheets using the latest techniques, it produced blades exceeding a hardness index of 100. Due to the rarity of such technology, it’s said only a handful exist worldwide.

By strange coincidence, two such weapons had come to clash in this very place—eliminating any advantage in gear.

"You’re using some pretty damn fine gear there."

【…A gift Masahiro gave me, saying it was a souvenir. Its name is 《Genbu》. As a protector’s blade, it’s meant to ward off illness and sever one’s enemies.】

"Hahaha…! Like father, like daughter, huh? Mine’s called 《Byakko》. Long ago, it was called the Fang of the Man-Eating Tiger. Wakako passed it to Jugra, who then gave it to me so I could master it."

【Hah, that’s just like her. I’d hoped to give her a more peaceful life, but fell short… For her to gain a friend like you, brat, is worth more than gold.】

And yet, as he said this, Adam unleashed a merciless strike, which David barely managed to parry, sweat running down his back.

With the Vulcan on his right arm constantly aimed at him, David couldn’t afford any bold movements—leaving him struggling to find an opening.

Worse, Adam was intentionally keeping things at close range, nullifying any chances for allied support fire. The resulting deadlock was perfectly engineered.

Adam’s battle technique, honed through countless engagements against multiple enemies, resembled that of a hardened veteran. Compared to David, forged in more focused, rougher battles, the difference in experience was stark.

【So what? If you trust them, you’ll pull the trigger anyway.】

And then, a disruptor stormed in to break that equilibrium—an EMP round slammed into Adam’s unguarded back.

As electromagnetic waves erupted around him, even the shooter himself clutched his head from the feedback, grinning wickedly. It was Vincent.

Holding a customized Overture in his silver left arm and bracing it with his right, he raised a middle finger in defiance.

【We’re all getting patched up after this anyway. The only difference is how deep the wounds are! Ain’t that right, Adam Smasher!!】

《Relic》 being a precision instrument, Adam’s thoughts momentarily wavered.

『Get down!』

At Delamain’s command, David activated his Sandevistan and dropped low.

A supersonic railgun slug passed just above his head, drilling through Adam’s core.

Looking toward the origin of the shot—they saw Jackie, just waking from unconsciousness, grinning as he wielded the railgun launcher.

"They say heroes arrive late to the party."

With that railgun blast, the neural circuits of Adam’s cyberware were damaged. His lower body now paralyzed, he finally dropped to his knees.

He tried to move his right arm immediately, but stopped himself, let out a deep sigh, and looked up.

Unlike when he was still human, his body now ran on electricity—and he no longer had enough left to activate his Sandevistan. That alone sealed his defeat.

Sensing his energy was down to just a few percent, Adam ceased all resistance.

【…Well done. The data from 《Mikoshi》 is in the port. Take it.】

【Heh. You’re lookin’ real pathetic now, Adam Smasher. You’re starting to look like me from back in the day.】

【Hmph. Taking joy in puppeting someone else’s body, huh Johnny-boy? You’re doing exactly what Saburo did.】

【…Aw, come on, man. Don’t say that. Ugh, now I’m not feeling it anymore.】

Vincent, aiming for revenge and wielding his customized Overture, was ready to finish Adam off—but those words from Adam cut the connection, dousing his anger like cold water. He dropped down onto the rubble near a shattered monolith.

If it had been his and Johnny’s victory alone, he wouldn’t have hesitated to strike the final blow. But this was a win for the whole team—and so, he entrusted everything to Jugra’s will.

The rumbling still echoing above signaled that Jugra’s battle with Saburo was far from over.

"…Don’t lose, Jugra."

David’s quiet voice of support drifted upward toward the ceiling.