"Hold!"
"Block them off!"
"Argh—"
Screams resounded across a barren area which was a small forest a few minutes ago.
Fresh huge potholes were present all over, destroying any presence of greenery.
In the potholes, Men and women, clad in blue and red combat dress, the patrol uniform of Planet Guards laid injured.
Many had at least a limb bone crushed to pulp, but somehow managed to stay alive. Of course, the injuries on their bodies ensured they wouldn't live past a few minutes.
Others were not so lucky. Twisted necks, severed torsos and punctured hearts…their deaths were too gruesome.
Even the ones alive dreaded their fate. They would've died like that too, only…
Only a woman was standing in front of them.
Her arms were badly bruised and a large wound gaped on her abdomen. Yet, the woman gripped her sword tight and glared at the enemies in front of her.
Her intense gaze seemed to pierce through the three abyssals standing in front of her.
They towered her, both in stature and power.
Yet…
"Son of bitches! Even if I die, I'll take one of you down!" The woman growled.
The three Abyssals looked down at her and laughed. The middle one suddenly stopped and looked up the sky. "No time to waste. Order Realm will be here in 10 seconds."
The two Abyssals understood his order and dashed at the woman.
The aura in their body exploded like a volcano burst and they crossed the sonic speed in an instant.
Boom!
Boom!
As the air burst like it an explosive, they both raised their fists and punched down at her.
Drip!
Drip!
In those critical moments, the world view of the woman slowed down. She could feel the warmth and stickiness of the liquid flowing from her forehead, down to her eyebrows and dripping down in front of her shoes, forming a small puddle of ruby red.
"Huh!" The woman's speed suddenly increased by a notch.
The Abyssals' eyes shrank.
They were both low level 7.
From early on, her attacks too seemed to be on low level 7. The aura they sensed earlier also seemed to be vaguely around low level 7.
So they too assumed her to be level 7 Super Body Awakener.
Body Path (Level 1-3) —> Enhanced (Level 4-6) —> Superhuman (Level 7-9)
But—
The Abyssal that was watching the whole battle exclaimed in rage. "You suppressed your aura! And you're an Extreme mid level 7!"
Boom!
The woman's heightened speed easily let her avoid the blows and in an instant, her sword hummed, slashing down at the Abyssals with a bright light.
Right at the moment she swung her sword, she changed her heightening and improved her strength.
Creaak!
There was a tearing sound and the next moment, her sword attack, reaching the strength of high level 7, connected with the Abyssals' torsos.
Kua!
Like a knife slashing through butter, her sword cut down their bodies into two, their guts splattering all over the place as their green blood splashed on the dying humans, sending them off.
But she had no room to celebrate.
Boom!
Right when she swung her sword, the third Abyssal shot at her. His speed was even higher than the two, in mid level 7.
Right when she cut them down, his fist hit her chest.
Kacha!
She was blown away like a broken rag doll as the sounds of her ribs breaking resounded throughout the barren land.
The woman felt a warm and iron taste in her mouth. Before she knew it, the liquid was overflowing from her mouth.
Bam!
She finally crashed into the ground, her back almost breaking from the impact.
"Kuh!" She barely stood up, her vital organs—heart, lungs, liver, were all severely damaged.
Even with a Level 7 Superhuman Awakener physique, the combat power she could exert was less than 20%.
"You cocky bitch!" The Abyssal appeared in front of her, even before his words could reach her and raised his hand.
No, he wasn't going to do something silly like slapping her.
He had an important mission.
The Shadow Order's secret realm…
Ding!
A bracelet on the Abyssal's wrist hummed softly.
"They're here." He muttered and narrowed his eyes. "I heard Shadow Order likes slaves from the army. You even have a good black market price."
The woman's eyes went bloodshot. She gathered the last of her energy and punched at him.
Boom!
The Abyssal easily blocked her fist and slapped her with the back of his hand.
Paa!
She crashed to the ground as the prickling pain from her cheek coursed through her body, her brain threatening to shut.
Unfortunately, she was already spent from fighting. She already killed ten low level 7 Abyssals before these three arrived.
As the Abyssal approached her step by step, the woman closed her eyes in despair.
In that moment, her life flashed before her eyes.
She was the best genius of her school. She graduated from the Imperial defense academy.
After serving as a base commander on the planetoids for 10 years, she was punished and transferred to the Planetary Guards.
She started a family. Her son just turned 11…he always asked about his father.
She couldn't tell him he sacrificed himself to protect her and their unborn son.
"I..want…to live." She grinned her teeth and said.
Pa!
The response was a kick to her stomach.
The woman's eyes turned white from the pain…and slowly, she felt her brain shutting down.
This Abyssal was merely playing earlier! He never planned to let her live in the first place.
Looking at her eyes that were quickly losing focus, he grinned and lifted his foot.
Even though he wanted to crush every part of her body, the Order's Secret Realm was already here.
So he decided he'd make do with stomping her to death.
"son, I…lo..ve…u." She muttered and closed her eyes, accepting her fate.
"Hm?" Even after a few seconds, the expected pain or…relief of death, didn't come.
She slowly opened her eyes and saw a woman in black standing in front of her.
Her tricolor hair fluttered in the wind as she stood straight, gazing into the sky.
Even though she was only one person, she looked like a million strong army.
She exuded a cold and calm killing intent. As if she was a perfectly rational slaughterer.
"…good work." Enigma said as she threw an expensive healing potion at the dying woman.
It splashed on her severely injured body and a warmth washed over her.
The woman widened her eyes as she saw the same Abyssal kneeling in front of Enigma, his head long crushed to pieces sprawled around his body.
At that moment, she recalled what the military told her.
The Shadow Guardians and Shadow Order were from the same source—Shadow Nation.
They just had different means, but the same goals.
Shadow Guardians were cruel and inhumane people.
Especially, it's leader Enigma.
She kills without batting an eye. She has no emotions. She is…not even a human.
All those words—everything her superiors, her colleges and her juniors talked about her came to mind.
Yet, she found in the most unexpected way the validity of those statements.
"…Th..ank…you.." She said and fainted.