Pride's Origin

Chapter 13 - Human Nature

    “Director! Tear your eyes away from them for one second and get over here! My main goal in coming here was securing you!” Machyal saw that this battle was going to take a while and even contained elements of uncertainty, something he hated.

    The old man wasted no time and hurried over to where Machyal stood, “Machyal, what the hell is going on here!? You told me we were dealing with something in the realm of super-soldiers! This goes well beyond that realm. What is this!?”

    As if to drive his point home, the land violently shook, nearly sending them tumbling to the ground.

    “Listen, you need only know that there exist certain individuals who wield… skills that went far beyond what normal humans could achieve. We eventually used our influence and far reach to be on the lookout for anyone suspected to be one of them. At my level, I only know that they are called Taliums.”

    When the director finally came over, Machyal continued explaining, “There are some things that they all seem to just know, even without meeting each other, meaning they access to knowledge available only to them. We are trying our best to find out what makes them tick and use that knowledge to grant that power to others. We have recently been able to patent a way to direct them through… means.”

    Boom!

    The land shook once again, “Damn it! If I knew it would be like this, I would have brought more people. It’s a good thing I called in backup. They should get here soon. TM-B157 and TM-A26 should be able to hold out until then.”

…

    Boom!

    “C’mon big guy, can you only shake the ground? I barely felt anything. Is this how you treat all the ladies?” Rikona was dealing with the Talium branded as TM-B157 who was doing nothing but slamming the ground, sending a shock-wave of earth hurtling towards her.

    She reacted by using her powers to repel all the debris headed towards her and even managed to send some back.

    TM-B157 crossed both his arms in front, causing all the fragments to shatter on impact.

    “What are you, a one-trick pony? Can’t you do anything else? I’m kinda getting bored over here,” she stated as she moved farther away and tried to circle around while her mind raced, ‘s**t this guy’s no joke, it’s a good thing they don’t know about constructs, or we’d be in an even worse state. Well, it’s not like I have mine anyway, I guess.’

    Some distance away…

    Kling!

    “b***h, why don’t you face me like a woman instead of all the hit and runs!?” Kura didn’t have it any easier. As soon as she finished speaking, a blade that struck her side suddenly shattered.

    “I swear I’ll kill her, I will catch her and kill her!! Life can’t continue if that doesn’t happen!! And how many knives do you have!?” Kura’s face twisted in anger because of the annoying mosquito she was engaged with.

    TM-A26 didn’t let up on her assault. After all, she already went through about six knives since she started the exchange. Moreover, it was dangerous getting near to Kura.

    Every time she came close, the air suddenly got heavier, and it felt as if she was moving through quicksand.

    Thankfully, she was on another level regarding speed so she could move just fast enough to escape Kura’s reaction time.

    “What, all out of knives? Heh, so what you gonna do no-” However, before Kura could finish speaking, a knife strike to the side of the head cut her short… but only figuratively.

    “The f*ck! The double f*ck!!”

    Kura cursed when she received another strike and once more when she saw TM-A26 brandishing another blade.

    ‘Doesn’t she know that no matter how many times she does this, she won’t be able to hurt me!? If anything, she’s just pissing me off!’

    She glanced in her sister’s direction and inwardly commented, ‘Plus that big oaf over there with the name that sounds like the results of a barcode scan just keeps on slamming the ground over and over. Even though big sis has her hands full a bit, it seems she can hold her own, but still, s**t! We may be able to do a lot more than them, but they can hold their own because their control is so refined, albeit a bit stiff.’

    The minute her eyes glanced in her sister’s direction, TM-A26 saw the subtle fluctuation in the space around Kura and unleashed a full-powered strike. Hopefully, with enough speed, she could finally inflict some damage.

    “Gotcha!”

    The minute she made a move, Kura suddenly brought the area back under control.

    Using a large portion of her energy to further intensify the solidification of the space, she was able to trap TM-A26 mid-strike.

    She quickly turned pale during this ordeal. Apparently manipulating space to this extent through the sphere was still too taxing for her.

    ‘I need to end this fast!’ She quickly thought to herself and was about to kill the annoying gnat when something on said gnat caught her eye.

    “What the hell is th…” Kura’s eyes widened in shock and anger as she realised what was happening. “So that’s how it is, those bastards! Sis and I knew that humans getting their hands on this wouldn’t end well and just look at this! Disgusting! I just knew something was off with them, I need to let Rikona know right away!”

…

    Boom!!

    Another deafening explosion assaulted the ears. Rikona only appeared like a small speck darting around in this turbulent situation.

    If she miscalculated even the slightest while dodging or counter-attacking, the consequences would be unimaginable. The most merciful outcome being nothing short of serious injuries!

    “Good God, how long am I gonna be stuck with this i***t!? He just won’t stop hitting the fricking ground! Hey, there are other things that even a normal person can do, jackass!!!” She was under constant stress due to the continuous attacks.

    She couldn’t even execute Cerebral Rupture, the move she used to relieve the world of Mayuri in the beginning. The minute she readied herself to trigger it, trees, earth, rocks and god knows what would come rushing towards her.

    “Rikona! Rikona, can you hear me!?”

    “What in the… is this a duppy!? Wait, Kura is that you!? How am I hearing you right now!? Where are you!?” questioned Rikona, who suddenly heard Kura’s voice in her head.

    Telepathy was just one of those things they always had trouble with, though they knew they were capable of it.

    “Not much time, just listen! These guys are not themselves! I can’t explain too much but trust me once you take a closer at that big oaf, you’ll see what I mean!” Kura didn’t want to distract her sister for too long seeing the situation she was in, so she just told her the crucial part before anything else.

    After hearing her younger sister, she began scrutinising TM-B157 as she evaded around him.

    “Wait, what am I supposed to be looking for here? Kura? Kura!? Oh great! How the hell am I gonna fi- Oh hello there, and what are you?” Rikona’s eyes landed on a particular item around his neck.

…

    “Wait is she… No stop!! What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Machyal, who was some distance away, saw what Kura was doing to TM-A26.

    Kura’s head snapped in his direction as her eyes burned red with rage. She practically growled the following, “You f*cking pigs! Just wait till I find your sty. I swear to God I will slaughter every single one of you!!”