Free Web NovelChapter 92: [92] Breach of Contract
The rusted remains of the shattered chain axe fell into the muddy puddles at Arthur’s feet.
Korgath stared at the man in the dark coat.
His cybernetic brain was struggling to process the math. A normal human didn’t just catch a revving motor-blade with his bare hands.
"Kill him!" Korgath shrieked, taking another hurried step backward. "Shoot him down!"
The dozens of pirate thugs lining the street snapped out of their shock. They raised their crude plasma rifles and rusty blasters, aiming directly at Arthur.
"PEW! PEW! BOOM!"
A chaotic barrage of plasma fire lit up the alleyway.
Arthur didn’t use reality manipulation. He didn’t use the Absolute Order laws of the universe. His 1,000,000x multiplier was offline, locked away behind the cosmic audit.
He was just a man.
But he was a man who had absorbed the absolute, perfected combat experience of a million lifetimes.
Arthur moved.
He dropped his center of gravity, slipping into a flawless, hyper-efficient martial stance. He didn’t dodge the plasma fire with magic. He dodged with pure, terrifying bio-mechanics.
He stepped a fraction of an inch to the left, letting a red bolt sear past his ear. He dipped his shoulder, allowing a blue blast to harmlessly scorch the air where his chest had been a microsecond before.
He wasn’t fighting like a god. He was fighting like a corporate assassin.
Arthur blurred forward.
He closed the distance between himself and Korgath in three long, perfectly measured strides.
"Get off me!" Korgath roared, swinging his two remaining chain axes in a frantic, cross-guard slash. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
It was a desperate move. It was sloppy.
Arthur’s eyes tracked the exact trajectory of the blades. He saw the microscopic hesitation in Korgath’s right shoulder. He saw the over-extension in his left elbow.
Arthur ducked under the cross-slash. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
He didn’t swing the Ebonheart Sword to kill.
He used the flat side of the heavy, pitch-black blade.
"CLANG!"
Arthur slammed the flat metal directly against Korgath’s right wrist. The strike wasn’t just about force. It was about precision. Arthur hit the exact nerve cluster and hydraulic joint connecting the warlord’s hand to his arm.
"CRACK!"
The metal joint completely snapped. The hydraulic fluid sprayed into the air as Korgath’s hand went entirely limp. He dropped his second chain axe into the mud.
"AARGH!" Korgath wailed, his massive body twisting in pain.
Arthur didn’t pause. He spun on his heel, using the momentum of his first strike to bring the pommel of his sword around in a tight, brutal arc.
"CRUNCH!"
The heavy metal pommel smashed directly into Korgath’s lower left elbow. The joint shattered backward with a sickening sound.
The bone broke cleanly, poking through the synthetic skin.
Korgath dropped to one knee. He had started the fight with four arms. In less than ten seconds, Arthur had systematically dismantled three of them.
Up on the rooftop, Cassia paused. She didn’t fire her sniper rifle. She just watched the display of pure, unadulterated martial mastery.
Cassia smirked. "He really is a shark."
Vane, who was barely conscious and bleeding in the rubble, forced one eye open.
The frontiersman watched Arthur methodically take the warlord apart.
Vane had assumed Arthur was just a guy with a cheat-code system. A guy who relied entirely on magical reality-bending to win his fights.
But watching Arthur move now, Vane realized the terrifying truth. The man didn’t need a system to be dangerous. The system was just an accelerator. The ruthless, calculated violence was all Arthur.
"Fvck you!" Korgath screamed, spitting black oil.
The warlord used his final, unbroken arm to pull a heavy plasma pistol from his hip holster. He aimed it directly at Arthur’s face, his finger squeezing the trigger.
Arthur didn’t even look at the gun.
He casually stepped inside the warlord’s guard.
Arthur drove his heavy boot directly into Korgath’s kneecap, forcing the giant down even further. At the exact same moment, Arthur grabbed the barrel of the plasma pistol and violently twisted it upward.
"SNAP!"
Korgath’s final wrist broke with a sharp, ugly sound. The pistol fired harmlessly into the sky, the plasma bolt vanishing into the smog.
Korgath was on his knees. All four of his arms were broken, hanging uselessly at his sides. He was completely, utterly defeated.
But Arthur wasn’t done.
The pirate crew was still watching. They still had weapons. Arthur needed to close the deal.
He needed to issue a cease and desist.
Arthur stepped forward. He didn’t use the blade of his sword. He pulled his right hand back, his knuckles hardening.
He delivered a sharp, pinpoint strike directly to the center of Korgath’s cybernetic throat.
"SQUELCH!"
It wasn’t a lethal blow. It was a physical reality-command.
Arthur’s knuckles crushed the warlord’s mechanical vocal cords and the surrounding synthetic flesh.
Korgath’s eyes bulged. He opened his mouth to scream, to order his men to attack, but nothing came out. Only a pathetic, broken hissing sound escaped his ruined throat.
He was completely silenced.
Arthur stepped back, his dark coat settling around his perfectly tailored suit. He didn’t look like he had just been in a fight. He looked like he had just finished a highly aggressive boardroom negotiation.
He raised the Ebonheart Sword and pressed the cold, pitch-black edge directly against Korgath’s throat.
The remaining pirates froze. Their leader was broken, silenced, and completely at the mercy of the man in the dark coat.
Arthur looked around the ruined street. He met the terrified eyes of the pirate thugs. He didn’t yell. He didn’t need to. His low, baritone voice carried perfectly in the dead silence.
"I am Arthur Sterling," he announced coldly. "CEO of the Ebon Empire."
He looked down at Korgath, pressing the blade just enough to draw a thin line of black oil from the warlord’s neck.
"You are in breach of contract. You have damaged company property. You have assaulted my staff."
Arthur leaned in close, his pitch-black eyes entirely devoid of mercy.
"Order your fleet to surrender," Arthur whispered, the threat absolute and undeniable. "Or I will liquidate your entire crew, and sell your scrap metal to pay my taxes."
Korgath trembled. The massive, twelve-foot warlord looked into Arthur’s eyes and saw exactly what he was.
