SSS Cultivation: I Can Conquer Earth's Rank System
Chapter 39: Leo Vs the weakest Mecha-man

Chapter 39: Leo Vs the weakest Mecha-man

"Leo, where the hell are you going?" Hunter yelled. "Stay away from them!"

But Leo wasn’t listening. He just froze, he has gotten too close to the mecha-man to turn his back. The robot man went past Lam after seeing that he was unconscious, and kept coming for Leo. Omal and Greg were still busy fighting the other mecha-man and Allan and Hunter are now getting ready to engage the other two Mecha-men, so there was really no one that was free to help Leo now.

Leo’s breath caught in his chest. A mecha-man was coming straight at him with his huge beast weapon and there was literally nothing he could do. He however wondered if Mecha-men are allowed to attack students if they are caught outside during curfew time. But what Leo didn’t know was that a mecha-man can’t differentiate a student from a teacher when they are in their suit. The vision device covering their head will always glow red to them, indicating a threat to be terminated when a mutant is sighted at night. The earth’s council are truly being ruthless in getting rid of perpetrators that have been rumoured to be planning a coup in the academy.

So, Leo just stood scared as the mecha-man got close. He raised his hand to show he’s not armed or has any intention to fight. At first, the mecha-man stopped right before him as if it has decided not to harm Leo. But its visor lit red again and immediately, the beast sword was raised above its head and brought down straight at Leo.

Leo gasped and his breath caught in his chest. Reflexively, he ducked and moved away from the attack coming from above. But his movement was too slow, he knew. There was no way he was going to dodge this strike successfully. "Too slow. Too slow."

He fell while ducking and the sword came whooshing down fast. He closed his eyes tightly and raised his hands over his face, waiting for the strike. A few inches to make impact with his body, Leo heard a loud clang that sounded too loud for his sensitive ears.

Leo checked himself and saw that he was still alive. Covering his ears, he opened his eyes to see what really happened. He saw that the mecha-man who was about to kill him has been shifted back by some force. He saw the traces its metal feet has formed against the hard floor as it was pushed backward.

Looking behind him, he saw Hunter Man pointing something at him... It was Loca’s pen that he seized from him.

"Take this, I’ve charged it fully for you. Keep your distance from the mecha-man and shoot. Aim for the head if you can but don’t waste any shot. Seems Loca’s device has that much effect against their armour," Hunter said, then he tucked the thin blue device into Leo’s hand before running back to join Allan in fighting the two Mecha-men.

Leo heard a deep growl from his opponent. He also saw a slight dent that the laser shot has caused on the mecha-man’s armour. The robot man’s eyes glowed red again and was ready for another attack on Leo. Stamping its feet on the ground, it made a run straight at Leo with the beast weapon making irritating sounds.

"I must keep my distance," Leo thought. "But the closer the mecha-man gets, the more damage my attack will cause. It’s a risk I have to take."

Leo stood up and stepped backwards a little. The corridor was long enough for him to move forward and backward as he wants.

Like a wand, he flicked the pen-like device in his hand, ready for the raging robot man. The mecha-man, blind with rage shook the ground as he ran with his weapon poised. When he got close enough, he launched a side slash at Leo but Leo was well prepared for this since he now know that the mecha-man’s attacks are just a little bit faster than his own reflex. Maybe this was the weakest among the Mecha-men here, Leo thought.

He stepped backwards immediately. The mecha-man was ready for a follow-up slash to the side, but Leo pressed the button on the pen at that instant and the blinding blue lasers shot out again. The shot hit the mecha-man full in the chest area and it went tumbling a few yards backwards. It’s beast weapon flew away from its hand to lay on the side.

Leo’s heart kept thumping in his chest. He wanted to run straight at the metalled man and launch more attacks and possibly steal its beast weapon before it stands but his fear held him back. He still can’t believe that he’s coming head to head with a machine that can kill him if its attack connected only once.

The mecha-man finally stood up but didn’t attack like Leo thought it would. The mecha-man was actually shocked at what it was experiencing. It had been attacked earlier by Hunter Man with the lasers so it thought the quirk belonged only to Hunter. But after he saw Leo use the same quirk, it was confused at the possibility. From what it gathered before, the boy had no quirk when it launched the first attack, but after Hunter saved him, he has also gained the same quirk. It thought all these because it couldn’t see the small device in Leo’s hand.

Now, the mecha-man knew that a rash attack won’t be possible again, since the boy is now proving to be a difficulty. It must plan it’s attack properly now.

So, the mecha-man approached Leo slowly and swung its sword ready. "I’ll kill you now," an irritating robotic voice came from the mecha-man.

Leo knew instantly that his former attack pattern wasn’t going to work this time around since the mecha-man was now coming towards him cautiously. He stepped back with each step the mecha-man took. One thing Leo was grateful for was that the Mecha-men can’t launch long range attacks. They have to get close to deal damage with their beast weapons. However, this is not true for every equipment that they had. Some have beast weapons that can protect attacks but not continually.

The corridor was long enough for Leo to move back but the mecha-man’s strides are getting longer and he worried there won’t be more space behind him later. So, he pushed the button on the device and sent a quick laser attack.

The mecha-man however was ready this time around. The beast sword swung out and with a slight wave of the sword deflected Leo’s attack to the side, smashing it into the wall.

Again, the mecha-man approached, and again, Leo sent two blue lasers at it. One was aimed for the head, the other for the belly area. And just like before, the mecha-man ducked the first attack and deflected the second attack. The beast sword must be of a higher rank than the armour seeing how it wasn’t affected by the attacks.

Leo was about to send out more attacks to slow the mecha-man down but he remembered Hunter’s words, "don’t waste any shot."

But there was nothing he could do. The mecha-man started advancing at a faster speed but still cautious. Soon, it will get close enough to attack.

Then, Leo heard a voice that told him, "run straight at him and attack twice. He’d be confused and won’t be able to dodge both at close range."

Leo didn’t even bother to see who was talking to him. Instantly, he jumped and ran straight at the mecha-man approaching. His opponent stopped advancing and became confused at the sudden change in situation. How did the predator switch to be the prey?

With three quick steps, Leo ran forward. The mecha-man was poised and ready for the laser attacks but Leo didn’t shoot yet, until he was too close to suffer an attack from the mecha-man.

The mecha-man who appeared less experienced saw an opening and swung its sword. This was the one thing Leo wanted.

As soon as the sword was lifted, Leo pressed the button twice. The lifted sword didn’t allow the mecha-man deflect the attacks with the sword since it was going for an attack itself.

The first laser hits the armour, denting the steel quite deep. The first hit the mecha-man’s masked face before it doubled over and collapsed with a clattering sound on the floor. A sizzling sound escaped from the man.

This time, Leo didn’t allow his fear get a hold of him anymore. As soon as the attacks hit, Leo ran straight at the struggling mecha-man but was careful not to get close enough to get held.

Without hesitation, he pressed the button twice, thrice, sending a barrage of attacks at the mecha-man’s head. As the lasers connected, pieces of the steel helmet flew around and Leo didn’t stop until the helmet was completely shattered. Behind the helmet was another black leathery mask covering the mecha-man’s face.

First, Leo carefully took the beast weapon lying by the side. He tried to lift it but found it was too heavy for him. But he wasn’t going to let this mecha-man get a hold of it again, so he aimed at the sword pushed the button on Loca’s pen two quick times. A thick blue liquid flew out and wrapped itself round the the sword, completely engulfing its whole length.

Ahead and behind him, sounds of metals clanging rang out as the teachers engaged the other Mecha-men, but Leo has to finish what he started here.

He walked to the lying mecha-man. He could see that it was a man but the face was still covered by the leathery mask. The once perfect shiny armour was now completely ruined, and through the mask, Leo could see that the man was breathing with his mouth open, struggling.

"Why? How is it only a boy?" a normal voice asked rhetorically. The programmed metal mask was what always made the robotic voice before, but now it’s damaged. And the question only proved that Mecha-men don’t really know who they are fighting through the mask. Anybody is a target during curfew time.

Leo pointed the blue device at the man’s head, thinking if he should just end the man once and for all. But he heard a soft gasp and in a jiffy, the man yanked the leather mask off his face, saying, "Please. Please. Please don’t do it."

Leo lowered his hand but he didn’t do it because of the pleading. He was shocked at what he was seeing before him. He never thought that this was the kind of creatures that are behind those steel armours.

Half of the man’s face was normal, smooth and wrinkly at the right places with deep brown eyes. The man might even be around 40 years if he judged right... But the other side of his face wasn’t human. It was made entirely of metals.

The human part was accurately halved at the middle. The left part which appears robotic was made of lustrous metals carefully shaped to match the angles and curves of the other fleshy part. The robotic part has a deep red orb as an eye that turned uncontrollably at different awkward angles. And the jaw part has a joint that enables the metal open and close when the man spoke, and it was in correct alignment with the real mouth.

Leo has read of lab creations like this from one of his comics back then but he never thought they could ever be real. They have half human and half robot parts. Even though he was seeing only the man’s face, he knew that was how the rest of his body was built also.

They are called Cyborgs.

"I have just defeated a cyborg. How interesting," he thought.

The half robot continued begging for mercy but Leo already wasn’t interested in killing him again. He checked the battery level of the device and saw that he has used it up to half its battery capacity. Without wasting time, he pushed the button twice and the thick liquid started forming around the mecha-man and in no time, he was completely trapped in the thick blue bubble.

"You’ll be safe there," Leo said. He looked over to Lam’s side and saw that he was not there any longer. He saw the teachers still struggling with the Cyborgs. Leo wondered if the teachers have any idea if these Mecha-men are actually Cyborgs. Maybe if they knew, they’d know what a few things that could defeat them easily. For now, Loca’s device seemed to be the only thing possible of doing that now.

Looking at the bubbles beside him, he saw what the teachers might need. So he directed the bubble containing the beast sword over to Hunter’s angle and yelled, "take this, Mr. Hunter!"

He pressed the button twice again and the energy surrounding the sword melted and flew back into the device.

Hunter looked at Leo with a shocking look but grabbed the sword anyway. He was sweating profusely and he appeared pretty worn out from the fight. But as soon as he grabbed the sword, he yelled out, "Prepare to die, you bastards!"