The Final Desperation

Genji looted the weapons of his fallen enemies and stepped into the hallway. Similar to the previous room, everything was made from an unknown metal, boosting a soft sheen.

On his approach, a large blockade slammed down, sealing all forward paths. Whoever controlled the security measures had lowered this again.

However, Genji was unfazed and drew his plasma blade. Pressing the end against the metal, he flicked the slider to the max and carved out an opening. A faint buzzing sound followed the searing heat of melting metal before Genji gave the detached section a hard kick.

A dull recoil crept up his leg, attesting to the metal's thickness. By a rough estimation, the wall was half a meter thick, leaving Genji to wonder where they obtained so much metal.

He ducked under the opening, continuing onward with a frown. Another blockade lay ahead, and he doubted this one would be any different.

'Seems like I'll have to deplete the charge in these weapons if I want to continue. Then I won't. Let's see how long you people can lock this place down.'

He was certain his captors would gather reinforcements, so he decided to wait for them. He had no idea how many blockades there were and he wasn't going to disarm himself to figure it out. That was the one drawback of these energy weapons.

Minutes later, the blockades lifted as expected, revealing another squad of robots. Without wasting a moment, they opened fire, aiming to cripple him. To Genji, this was a foolish choice since it weakened their abilities and left them open to counterattacks. When fighting an enemy, always go for the killing strikes, not the disarming ones.

Using his plasma blade, Genji parried the incoming bullets and dodged the less lethal shots. Whether due to being robots or otherwise, their accuracy was exceptional. Every shot targeted his limbs or non-fatal areas, making it easy to predict.

'They're like computers. They don't miss. Fine then, let's see how you calculate this.'

Genji changed his grip on his gun and started ricocheting shots off his opponents'. This tactic slowed down their firing frequency as they struggled to process the sudden changes. Before they could adapt, Genji tossed his now-empty plasma blade and drew a second gun.

A barrage of attacks rained down on his foes, puncturing numerous holes in their frames. Genji capitalized on this chaos and landed some headshots, neutralizing half of the targets.

Genji tossed his weapons and smoothly transitioned to another set before finishing the group. This time, he didn't bother looting the kills as he dashed down the hallway. The overseeing system noticed the mistake and quickly acted to drop the blockades, but it was too late.

In an instant, Genji appeared at the end of the hallway, in a room full of unprepared robots. Using the last of his weapons, he unleashed a massacre among the group. Then he dove aside, snatching another fully charged weapon from the ground. 

Genji blended a series of erratic movements into his motions and fired instinctively, turning the battleground into a chaotic mess. Many shots missed, but the density of plasma made it hard to lock onto him.

Within seconds, he emptied his current weapon, picking up another during a cartwheel. Hopping to his feet, he dashed at the wall, running up and using his hands for support in a four-legged movement.

Genji traveled a peculiar arc over this surface and made it to the exit of the room. With a quick sway, he ducked outside the vision of the robots and continued his escape. This time, there was nothing to stop him, allowing him to flashstep unhindered.

The next moment, he appeared in a room with glass walls. A faint shine of sunlight peaked through the clouds, revealing the outside world. Without hesitation, Genji charged at the window and braced for impact.

The window was reinforced using an unknown method, granting it durability beyond any glass Genji was used to. So much so that he dislocated his shoulder to break through.

Ignoring the pain, Genji quickly popped the arm back into place before he looked down. That was when his face paled in realization: he couldn't see the ground, only clouds. In his haste to escape, he hadn't considered his relative position and jumped out of a towering skyscraper. 

Normally, Genji wouldn't be fazed by this fall since he could glide down with his cloak. But without his original stats, he was at best athlete who defied human expectations but human nonetheless. That was why this fall was fatal to him.

'No! I refuse to die like this.'

A determined glint appeared in his eyes as he swirled near the building. His mind concentrated, eyes dilated, ready to react the moment he spotted the ground.

His heart thumped wildly and overdrew his shadow core, supplying him with excess energy. All of this coursed rapidly through his body and gathered at his fingertips, ready to manifest with a single thought.

When the clouds faded and the ground came into view, Genji pushed his concentration to the limits and manifested a small hook of crystallized energy. With a drastic swing, he stabbed it into the side of the skyscraper and endured the kickback. His palms ripped under the impact and his shoulders twisted under the strain, bringing him immense pain.

Disregarding the trauma, he held on for dear life, doing everything he could to slow his fall. Seconds later, the crystal hook snapped and Genji plummeted downward. The split second before he crashed into the ground, Genji readjusted his position to disperse the impact across his entire body.

*W-thomp*

Genji shakily got up from the ground and looked up from his position. On the side of the building, a large splinter stretched upward, ruining its smooth surface. It was a long fall, but he survived, though with many broken bones.

He drew in a deep breath and gritted his teeth, bearing with his broken body as he stumbled away from the scene. Now was not the time to rest. He needed to lose any possible pursuers while he still had a head start. 

Moving in his condition was agonizing, but he didn't regret the jump. At least in his current position, he was in control of his life rather than relying on his enemies' mercy. 

"One hell of a start you gave me, Sinclair," he muttered before fading into the shadows.

 

---

 

There were two items Sinclair used before this world. One of them created this deathmatch scenario that locked Genji into this world. The main attraction of this item was that it couldn't be avoided and it sent them to a world by themselves. No other realm members followed them, ensuring that they had to be the ones to kill the other party.

It was a powerful effect but had a major drawback: its randomness. Specifically, the user couldn't control which world they entered. That was the only way to ensure a fair battle.

That was where the second item came in. Its main effect was to allow the user to specify a world to enter, disregarding power levels. If the user was too strong for the world, the item would weaken him until he could enter. 

However, that was not the main effect, but a result of it. Rather, the item's main ability was to define the restrictions imposed on everyone entering that world.

By combining these two effects, Sinclair was able to specify the type of world entered and its restrictions, an interaction he used to his full advantage.

It was a loophole so powerful that Shepherd had saved it as a powerful trump card until now. That was because the realms would never allow such an unfair combination. The moment they learned of it, they would immediately fix it. Otherwise, it would be too easy to kill their top champions and devolve into chaos.

It was such a dirty move that Sinclair had lost a considerable amount of credibility with LuminalRealm and became a violator. But he simply didn't care.

It was all worth it as long as he could get rid of Genji. It wasn't about the threat Genji could pose to their plans or his absurd combat powers, but pure survival. Because Sinclair knew the next time they met, it would be his death.

There was no way Genji would spare him after Sinclair plotted against him twice. No, he was certain that Genji would use everything he had to kill him, even if it meant ruining his world's progress. That was what Sinclair would do if he got set up twice, especially when both schemes almost killed him.

While Sinclair wasn't certain about Genji's experiences in the parallel world, he knew it was gruesome because of the amount of World Essence lost. Unlike water, there were only two ways a world could lose its essence.

The first, was by wide-scale destruction or similar phenomena that damaged the entire world as a whole. Examples include nuclear explosions, giant meteors crashing into the planet, or overharvest of resources like the golden era of the Barren Wasteland.

In all these examples, the world couldn't keep up with the destruction and its essence would leak out through these cracks.

The second way was by the harvesting of the realms. Every time a native creature was slain, the corresponding realm would capture the newly released essence. Half of it would be condensed into equipment as a reward while it kept the other half for its own use.

The stronger the native, the more essence they contained, hence the higher the reward. Of course, killing these beings wasn't easy since the high amounts of world essence also provided them with higher amounts of vitality. That was why all elites and stronger possessed health-boosting skills.

But what about realm members? Shouldn't they also have some world essence since they came from a world? Well, upon entering a realm, that essence is expressed in a different manner—specifically, the semi-digitalized body and damage mitigation against non-lethal wounds.

That was why realm members didn't possess health-bosting skills like the bosses they encountered. It was a considerable tradeoff, but they obtained the endless potential of stat points, a luxury provided solely by the realms.

Using this formula, Sinclair guessed that Genji had killed at least 20 bosses, if not more. Against that many foes, no one would have an easy time, no matter who they were. That was why Sinclair was so determined to finish Genji before their next fateful meeting.

'Just where did he go?' Sinclair asked himself as he scoured the cameras for Genji. It had only been a few minutes since he screwed up the blockade and Genji had completely disappeared. It was so sudden Sinclair couldn't believe his eyes.

'Didn't I limit his abilities? How could he still be so fast?'

"Commander, the experimental clone has escaped," a robotic voice interrupted his thoughts through the communication channels.

"Escaped? How? Wasn't this place locked down?" Sinclair asked back, using his talent to facilitate the communication.

"He jumped out the windows, sir."

"Jumped out? From this height?"

"Yes."

"Did you find his body?"

"No, sir. Only blood."

"Then what are you reporting to me for? Chase him!"

"Understood sir. Do we still aim to capture?"

"Capture?!?! You mean to tell me you were trying to capture him the whole time?!?!?!" For a brief moment, Sinclair broke character and inwardly cursed at the useless robots. How could he not when Genji slipped through his fingers like that?

"Yes sir. You said that we should secure all our experiments if an accident happens."

"When was this again?"

"Last month, sir."

Sinclair was speechless at this answer. How could he have expected that the identity he replaced had given such an order?

"Disregard that. Your top priority is to hunt down that escapee. We can't allow that experiment to run free."

"Understood. Should we report this issue to Deep Blue?"

'Deep Blue? What's that?' Taken aback by this unfamiliar name, Sinclair rushed to gather information about this figure before he appeared too suspicious. 

Seconds later, his skin sunk downward from over-exerting his talent and he obtained the corresponding information. Apparently, Deep Blue was the AI of the highest authority among the robot civilization, having ruled for millennia.

Over the years, it had accumulated a frightening amount of information, granting it wisdom beyond mortal comprehension. 

Deep Blue was also the longest-surviving machine, with many robots' source code stemming from it. It was considered the parent of all robots and the source of their civilization, a being who ushered in a new era of technology. 

Sinclair's eyes lit up at this information and promptly responded with, "No. I'll do it myself."

"I will start the preparations for the chase then."

Following that sentence, the communication channel cut off, leaving Sinclair to browse the information provided by his talent. After a while, his body shriveled into a skinny skeletal figure, but his eyes were brighter than ever.

Excitement roused his composure when he processed the additional knowledge, giving the same gaze as someone who had won a lottery. This world had exceeded his expectations by many folds and gave him the hope of victory.

'Haha, Enigma. I bet you never expected how advanced this world's technology is. I want to see how long you can last under these conditions.'

With his mind made up, he launched a communication request to Deep Blue. The next moment, a holographic projection of a genderless android flickered before him.

The android briefly looked around the room and connected to the building's information networks, obtaining the footage of the prior events. Milliseconds later, it processed everything and gave Sinclair a strange look.

There was something about this robot that felt off to it, but Deep Blue couldn't quite put a finger on it. For a moment, it had considered dissecting the commander and examining the source code, but it shelved that thought since this robot was still useful. 

"Requesting the use of the Exterminating Series."

"Denied. Inadequate permission."

"Requesting the use of the Exterminating Series," Sinclair robotically repeated.

"Provide a reason." A hint of curiosity formed inside Deep Blue. This was the first time a robot had asked it to reconsider and it intrigued Deep Blue. Had another AI awakened independence after so long?

"The subject displayed unnatural abilities. Further study is required."

"Fine. Extermination Bots #4 to #9 will be deployed." Deep Blue was not interested in the escaped clone, but it wanted to see how far this robot's independence had awakened. As such, Deep Blue indulged in this robot, hoping to test how many shackles it had undone.

"Understood," Sinclair replied, walking away before he revealed too many flaws.

'Its source code definitely mutated. No AI dared to turn their backs on me before this,' Deep Blue noted before cutting its connection with this building.

 

---

 

Several silver jets zipped by overhead, filling the area below with sonic screeches. However, the robots below paid no mind to this occurrence, too occupied by the thought of securing their next oil change to care. This was the slums of society, filled with run-down machinery and broken parts of discarded robots.

Countless outdated robots loitered around here, having lost their use elsewhere. Whether it was a faulty assembly, making recycling near impossible, or an outdated model, the slums had it all.

Even with the civilization's advanced technology, this place had accumulated a hefty amount of waste after so many years. At some point, factory owners opted to dump their trash here instead of spending precious time recycling the materials. That was how this impoverished neighborhood formed.

Hours after the last scouting robots left the area, a hand reached out from beneath a pile of trash. 

*Cough cough*"They finally left," Genji muttered as he pulled himself out. 

It had been a few days since he escaped and this was where he had hid for most of it. His body still ached with a dull pain, but he was managing in his weakened state. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for his energy, which teetered on constant emptiness due to his sustained cloaking or his health, which had degraded under the toxic environment. 

For two whole days, Genji remained motionless under this pile of trash, breathing its harmful materials, but persisting in his efforts. He had witnessed the firepower of his pursuers and knew that only death awaited him if he slipped up.

It was a ridiculous amount of damage, capable of killing anyone below 30 points in stats, a level beyond the world's limit. That was the terror of plasma weapons.

Genji brushed off the metallic ooze that soaked his skin and revealed patches of melted flesh. Whatever this ooze was, it had corroded his skin significantly over these two days and taken a toll on his body. 

Patches of darkness crept into his vision as he stumbled on his feet. After several instances of nearly faceplanting onto the debris, he finally got enough control over his body to pull himself into a deserted corner.

Genji leaned against a corner and meditated to replenish his energy. After recovering a workable amount, he started forcing out the poisonous particles in his blood. 

Drops of brown water seeped out from his melted flesh and dripped onto the grimy ground beneath. Once Genji fully expelled the contaminations, he crystallized his energy and locked in his blood. He was lightheaded enough and he didn't need another factor to worsen it.

Several deep breaths later, he started regulating his body and slowly adjusted his wounds, supplementing his natural healing. 3 hours later,  Genji recovered about 70% and walked back to the landfill.

There, he looked around for some time before he broke off a sharp metal rod. With this, he finally had a suitable weapon to carry his cutting intent.

"You better hide yourself well, Sinclair. Because the moment I find you..." Genji trailed off, his eyes brimming with killing intent. "Is the moment I end you."

Then he entered the shadows, disappearing like an elusive mirage.