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Chapter 144: Complete Fallout

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Rex almost imagined Cortana saying something in the lines of [How rude.] and him, replying a 'Shut up.' at her. But she didn't say anything. She knew Rex was just playing the main card he always play in front of his enemies —deception using the truth with a twist as icing in its cake.

"Monster?" Chronos was becoming really livid. "I will not play your games, boy. You've cost me my Office Server so I will not let you go today. Heh... I will also include your woman, that princess, in my list of people that's going to be interrogated..."

The smile on Rex's face vanished and he stood straight and took a step forward near Chronos. If the two of them begin attacking each other, they'd be able to hit one another.

"You have no idea of the monsters you created in that world. Even if you're the ones that created all of them, you have not the slightest idea of the real threat they pose in the real world. Eoin Bozkovich was nothing more than a courier for the monster, and I was its keeper. If I die or if I give a command to that monster, I can make sure that all of you will suffer and I will make sure to only save my people in the wake of the chaos that will ensue."

Chronos didn't dare to question it.

A 50ZB file was a huge file, 100 times larger than the size of a copied soul from the [SCAN] project.

It was easy to imagine just what kind of file, no, of what kind of monster it was if it came from inside the Janus Console —the console amalgamating all of the memories and souls of [Project Salvation].

"A... monster...? I don't believe you."

"Believe me or not, once I released that monster, I am sure not to survive myself but I'm still prepared to pay that high a price if it means I can eradicate every single one of you who're standing in the way of my revenge!"

Rex hissed the words out of his lips as his glared back to Chronos with eyes burning with hunger of its insatiable hate.

This time was his time.

He was in a pinch. Real pinch. He was cornered.

A cornered rabbit would bite when it felt like its life was being threatened, what more is a monster that lived its life in bitter struggle against real monsters in all the lives he had ever known in every world?

Rex wasn't genuinely spouting only lies. It was the truth as well; that if Baron, the only reason why he was sane, were to disappear as well, then he will really have to unleash the devil in him and make all life on earth perish at the wake of his wrath.

Chronos shuddered.

The event was a failure. When he gave the order to cut the connection earlier, everybody who was still taking the assessment tests, and the ones who were already defeated, should all have been logged out and woke up in the dimly lit main hall.

But what happened after that, Chronos isn't sure; because by the time he wanted to know exactly what had happened, [Abraxas] was kicked out and he discovered that there was no Comm Signal.

His mind worked and his experience taught him of the biggest possible reason why he felt alone...

....there's a Massive Outage in Lausanne.

This was the only logical reason he could think of that could totally shut down his connection with [Abraxas] all the way from their Family's HQ. This was an unprecedented weakness. In today's era of communications technology, just the very basic of firewalls of Communications Networks already exceeded the ability of even geniuses hackers to crack... and only AI's with capabilities on the level of [Abraxas] and [Database] could infiltrate them.

The fact that Rex could, regardless if he had the help of a third-party Battle-AI, infiltrate that level of defense was proof that he had indeed become a genuine threat to Planet Salvation...

...and this just ticked him off even worse.

*****

Rex barged in to confront Chronos so as to establish his grounds and also to demand his share of respect and recognition.

"Now that you know my stance... give me back my brother and Pegasus, and only then I will give you the monster Eoin Bozkovich gave to me."

Chronos' mind worked. He didn't have the effects of accelerated and organized thoughts-processes as Cortana's, but he had experience and this was what made him find the little crannies of openings on what Rex had just said.

"Why would Eoin Bozkovich even contact you if the two of you never met?" Chronos' question is a bit of a surprise to Rex but it was just a bit. "Look at my face, Rex Kingsley! Do I look like a Chinese moron? Do you see me as some cluelessly dense Japanese, huh? Do you think I'd ask you why I should believe you and ask for details that I ought to already know and just needed to confirm? I will not waste my word count on you so better just tell me what I'm asking or I swear will make sure you are given proper care of until the end of all this!"

Rex paused, looking at the old man in cold gravity of his intent to murder. He was also just a man and he had limited patience to begin with. Still, it's not as if Cortana had not considered things to develop in this direction and trusted the scenario she had drafted for him to lead the situation into.

The open threat on Chronos' voice entered his ear and escaped to the other. Instead of opening his floodgates of hostility, Rex breathed out all the rising hate in his chest.

He said, "True. We didn't know each other. At the very least, not until Janus introduced him to me, indirectly, at least. That..... I can tell you."

Janus... a name Chronos didn't expect to hear in this place suddenly appeared. He frowned and he stared Rex in the eyes. "How did you know about the existence of that name?"

"You already have an idea how. Our first meeting was four years ago and then we met again just two months ago today."

Two months... Chronos' heart sank. Rex's entire horde of revelations had exceeded him and the old gangster's initial impressions of his existence.

Right now, Chronos had the feeling that Rex was already beyond being just a mere entertaining and harmless pawn in their game..... He's already an unknown and uncontrollable variable in their plans; that unregistered cog in the gears of their running engine; the large black stain in the middle of their white board; the big eye-catching yellow object in a sea of red blood cells.

Janus was a secret project only a few people are privy of. The Janus Console is one thing... but the AI that runs it was another. Nobody knows that it's an AI based on the mind of its world's creator; the AI was based on the "soul" of Dr. Alfred Pegasus.

"You mean..." Chronos stopped half way and then glared sternly at Rex, "What do you know about the External Update?"

Chronos was sure now; Rex was going to evolve into an obstacle that will hinder their plans.

Given Rex's hatred with Pegasus and the fact that they also can't give him to Rex Kingsley in addition to Goldwyn also having custody over AG's assets which included Baron's supposed location, Rex is bound to vent his hate towards anything related to the World Government... and that included him as well as the Five Great Clans, given the fact that a few of AG's friends have given Rex info regarding some of the secrets of World Government.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Rex said in an indifferent tone. "And I don't care one bit if it has something to do with what I'm doing or where I'm going. Like I told you before, I'm just a pawn in their plans and we have a reciprocating deal. I was given benefits with information and a chance to talk to you like this in exchange for chaos. My one and only goal was revenge and securing the life of my brother." Rex took one more step forward and the two was only two paces apart. His step, as he took it, was slow. To Chronos, a seasoned veteran of the old war, felt a clear threat from his growing presence.

This was a threat only those who knew blood and war could possibly emit. Rex, as unimaginable as it seems, is a person who had that experience in him. But as to how and where he experienced it, Chronos could only imagine it.

"I'm prepared to pay the price of utter destruction of the world if one of the two people I want was deprived away from me."

He spoke the words with hiss in his voice and the old veteran was now sure that Rex was serious. It was the threat Chronos felt before. It was real.

For some inexplicable reason, Chronos imagined an aftermath of war and carnage and in the middle of that bloodbath was a [person], holding the neck of a bloody corpse and throwing it away.

When the [person] turned towards him——

—GASP!!

Chronos realized that he had unwittingly held his breath as he succumbed into an illusion. Chronos was surprised that he was almost overtaken by the sheer will Rex was radiating off. His senses were tingling. They were screaming for him to get as far away from Rex Kingsley as possible.

But should he back down today?

No!

He was Chronos Abraxas! He was feared by the mortals of this world. The Abraxas Family is at the peak of power. They are the uncontested Kings of these mortals frolicking about in the surface of the planet. Why should he back down with a boy? It should be the boy who was backing down!

Chronos returned the glare, "I do not have your brother." he said calmly. "Ah, and one more thing, I will not let you get away today since you did not only hack into my system you actually even ruined it along with my files! I need compensation coming from you! PERSONALLY!!"

Chronos took a step forward. They were just one step away from each other and launching attacks in this distance will surely hit and will surely hurt.

But contrary to Chronos' expectations, Rex not only didn't back down, he also clenched his fists as he glared back at him and said: "I'm not afraid of you or your family. And I think you've already forgotten... the deal was a fair event. You cheated by attacking me on two fronts. Now we're even."

Chronos' temper rose in his head.

This kid dared not only to talk back at him but also dared to actually say they were even.

"You're forgetting who you're talking to, boy." The old veteran spoke threateningly.

By this point, the old playful and whimsical veteran of the old battlefields is gone. What was left here was just a blood-stained king of the world, ready to unleash his wrath upon an impudent scoundrel.

His body moved according to his will and a punch backed by the power of the 22nd century, latest version of the NanoMechs in his body and also a custom-made Ironman Exoskeleton just for him; it was a punch that could send a grown up muscled man with a weight of 80kg tumbling back in force.

Chronos' punch was not only powerful, surprising, and accurate, it was also fast.

In the instant he unleashed it, the jab was already just 12 inches away from Rex's face.

And yet...

The target of the surprise attack, Rex's face, felt like an entire room away from his reach. —Air, his mind told him aloud. Chronos punched empty air!

Amidst his confused mind, Chronos didn't expect Rex's response to wring his mind in. Not only that, he also felt that the punch he put so much trust on didn't actually miss its target.

It was just in fact deflected to another direction!

Rex never moved from his position. He used one of the moves he saw the boy use against Gibson!

—Kenpo?!

Chronos' right fist was deflected by the Rex's left back hand into missing his face. He immediately realized what happened but by that time, Rex's words already came into his ears and his mind was turned upside down by the next moment.

"No, you're wrong there Mortal—"

Mortal?

Using the force of his attack, like fluid water, Rex shoved himself into Chronos' inner space before moving his body lower than the old man's, pushing the latter up with his body while at the same time pulling the right fist, lifting the old man up, twirling him in midair before slamming his back to the hard carpeted floor.

Everything happened within an instant's contact.

"I'm not weak! Don't underestimate me!" Chronos roared. Only a fraction of an instant was he on the floor before his lower body circled, kicking Rex in the body but already two steps back in retreat. "I am Chronos Abraxas!" he declared as he took his stance again.

"I know." Rex said. "But I think you're the one who don't know who you're talking to in here."

Chronos was flabbergasted. Then, Rex's figure blurred —no— Rex used the boxing body weight-feint move, a move popularized by Cassius Clay in the 1970's that became the specialized technique of a few ever since then.

Chronos stepped to the right, the whirling kick of the young man missed!

"Shu!" Chronos let out an exhale as he charged to his enemy's inner space while he was open.

Combat Sambo: Bullhorn Thrust.

(AN: Combat Sambo is an actual Martial Arts from Russia and is an improved version of the original [Sambo], derived from the combination of 200+ Martial Arts with a few resembling grappling skills taken from Jujitsu and even wrestling)

Putting his right foot as a pillar of support, it was a charging attack and also a close-in step technique.

In but an instant, Chronos' two fists made contact with Rex's body and he was thrown back —or he should've been.

Chronos' eyed went wide when he realized that Rex was like a snake who crawled on his arms into his body. He panicked and pulled his upper body into an upward swing, carrying Rex who locked his body into his left arm already.

"DIE!"

Chronos put his muscles to the test and slammed Rex towards the ground but Rex dislodged hisself before the impact while the force of the throw was enough to send him towards the wall.

The sounds of their clothes flapping from the high speed movements rung in the entire suite; Rex, like a drawing in the wall, looked up, folded his legs and prepared for a jump. Chronos braced for a meeting and clenched his right fist.

"Come." He hissed. The boy had made him mad in fury and he was itching to teach him a lesson right this very instant.

Rex jumped. Chronos punched. One was like the lance of a knight and the other a meteor.

The two's punched collided, the sounds of their fleshes clashing along with either broken bones or folded metals was something unforgettable.

"Tsk." Rex clicked his tongue.

"Argh!" Chronos cried in pain.

Rex flipped in midair, his two feet landing on the carpeted floor while Chronos backed off for three steps before looking up —only to realize that Rex was already three paces away from him.

Their eyes met.

"You!"

"..."

Whoosh!!

BAM!!!

Chronos almost imagined the wind whishing past his ears as Rex's left shoulder, head, and left fist formed a perfect triangle —a technique used by a few American Football Players all over the world called [Delta Dynamite] which deals not only force damage upon contact but also makes the enemy outbalanced from the force.

Actually, this was a very complicated technique.

Just a simple mistake in the execution timing and the doer will get a shoulder, wrist, or head injury; it also implore great control and accuracy to the skill user because it only works on enemies with either bigger bodies than yourself or if you could angle the attack/technique accurate enough that it will hit the target in the body for full effect.

Not only that. The technique itself required one to have the necessary base strength to actually deal enough damage to the target or else you would've only thrown yourself into your enemy's embrace for a killing counter.

With all these things considered, the fact that the old veteran was lifted from where he stood means that Rex, despite having the same body size as him and with almost similar strength, executed the technique with utter precision for maximum injury.

Pain assaulted Chronos. From his stomach to his brain, he felt air leave his lungs and he gasped to chase his breath. But by the time he did that, Rex was already moving for the kill.

A sharp elbow hit his solar plexus. Chronos' back almost formed a perfect "c" but Rex's palm already rose and hit his chin —it was a Kenpo Movement Technique called "Takusousho". Usually, the two attacks were done on the reverse order but Rex's assault concentrated on maximum damage upon his target so he first landed an elbow to his solar plexus to snatch Chronos' air and then wrench his entire world upside down by knocking his brain off of its pedestal, dealing temporary equilibrium loss, giving Rex another second or two of an opening for another batch of attacks.

Chronos' mind was in utter chaos. He was shaken to his very core.

"Like I said, you don't know who you're talking to."

Rex's disdainful words knocked some sense to the old veteran's mind. Yet, before he could speak a word of retort or even say a word at all, Rex's clenched left fist moved past his inner space and gave him another body punch straight to the gut.

"Gah!" Chronos' body bent from pain and grabbed his stomach, or tried to, since by the next moment, his face was met with a left knee that converted to a rising right foot to his chin once again.

His world and ceiling met for the second time but before he could put up a defense or recover from the shock, the sounds of flapping clothes rung in his ears and his peripheral vision saw a shadow who was in midair, twirling, before Chronos saw a left foot heel already done with its 360 turn. The heel fell into Chronos' vertex, slamming his face directly to the ground as a result of the force.

The power of the somersault strike made a loud noise that shook the room as if a bomb had just exploded somewhere.

Chronos' mechanized NanoMech body was just in a half-sense and incomplete. Majority of his body parts are still "human" and these human parts are all susceptible to damage when hit.

Despite his metallic skull and alloyed face, he still let out a deep and reverberating groan. Chronos was reeling in pain.

Tap... tap.... Tap...

Within the fading light within Chronos' world there came the sound of Rex's voice echoing in front of him: "Do not dare forget my name as you descend to oblivion...."

Chronos' pain had reached its peak and he was accepted by the comforting darkness as he finally lost his consciousness.

Yet, in the lingering dregs of his awareness, the old veteran still managed to hear the last words of the young teen.

"—for I am the monster you created, and also the [God] you wanted to become... my name is [Siva]."

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