BXBX NOVEL Chapter 19 Scorched Earth
Bullets came through the windows, sailing towards him from multiple directions as he was drawn away from his discovery, being pelted by the irritating lead.
Through the usage of ["Absolute Sensory"] he located the precise positions of the agents nearest to him, dashing over with his inhuman speed as he appeared right in front of a unit, taking the three soldiers by surprise.
He held his hand forward, invoking a lethal spell: ["Singularity Point"]
It was a manipulation of gravitational forces, pulling the three soldiers into one small point that caused them to slam together, crunching their bones as they were crushed and compact into a ball of fabric and flesh, causing blood to spray out.
"--" He breathed out.
This time, the air hissed as something of higher firepower was used: a sniper round collided against the side of his head, directly aimed at his temple with killing precision, though it didn\'t break his skin, simply leaving a small scratch.
"Gh-!" He winced.
The force behind the sniper round made him stumble to the side before he shot his gaze towards the source of the gunfire, using his enhanced vision to see past the window and across the street at the sniper hidden on top of his neighbor\'s roof.
\'Found you,\' he thought.
Without another word, he invoked ["Spatial Warp"], teleporting just as more gunmen broke into his house, unleashing gunfire that missed as the adolescent vanished from their vision.
Receiving a radio transmission in the form of a warning, the sniper placed his fingers on his headset before flinching at the gray-eyed sophomore appearing right in front of him.
"--!" The soldier jumped up, attempting to aim his heavy-duty, anti-tank rifle at the adolescent.
Before the barrel could even be pointed at him, Noah grabbed onto it, snapping the barrel before invoking another spell from his fluttering grimoire.
["Soul Plunder"]
Without having to touch the sniper, the life was siphoned from the figure as his body mass shrunk, left hollow within moments. Taken from the soldier, a dark, purple essence flowed from his deceased body to Noah, filling him with vigor.
[Experience: +1]
[Mana partially replenished.]
Not wasting a beat, he warped back inside of his home, catching the infantryman by surprise as he summoned a weapon of his own into his grip: ["Weapon Construction: Blood Dagger"]
Before the soldiers could properly react, he dashed down the hall, swiping his crimson dagger across one of their throats.
Toxic fumes densely filled the halls, but it was nothing but thick air to him as he swept through it, unleashing momentarily manifestations of ice spears to stab through a pair of agents: ["Ice Impaler"]
As the others turned around, attempting to counter with gunfire that swept through the narrow hall, lightning it up with sparks and flashes, Noah invoked the true nature of the dagger: the blood that spilled from the slit soldier\'s throat formed into a dozen more crimson daggers, thrown as precise projectiles.
Flesh squelched as the soldiers were pierced by the lethal, multiplying daggers, causing more to be born from the bloodbath.
He left one from the half dozen alive, standing over him as he wiped blood from his cheek.
"Tell me, why\'re you attacking me–?" He interrogated.
Though the only answer he received was the injured agent giving a single code-word to his radio, "Code: Scorched Earth."
Just then, Noah\'s hyper senses kicked in as a blaring whistle filled his ears only for a moment before an explosion was released.
The windows shattered and volatile flames swept through the home, bringing everything down in an instant.
Filling the streets, military-grade, bulletproof vehicles were parked on the street, blocking it off as dozens, if not over a hundred of the mysterious \'S.E.N.T.I.N.E.L\' soldiers surrounded the destroyed home of Noah Grays, pointing their guns at the burning rubble.
Of course, the debris was blown back as Noah stood up; his black t-shirt was nothing but loose fabric on his chiseled body, bearing marks of dust, but no injuries laid on his impervious flesh.
However, the bomb did have an effect: Noah Grays was now angered beyond reason.
Just as the gunfire began once more with the click of triggers and the smell of gunpowder in the dusk air, Noah wordlessly invoked his time-halting magecraft.
["Absolute Freeze"]
Like a picture taken out of time, the world was grinded to a halt as bullets were left stagnant in the air and even the flash of newborn sparks and minuscule explosions of gunpowder were frozen.
"If none of you will talk, I\'ll take the information I need, then," he said bitterly.
["Absolute Mind Infiltration"]
Through the manifestation of a violet light that emitted from his palm, the flash of its nebulous essence brought to him the inner thoughts belonging to the soldiers.
As he tried to peer at the memories he held in the palm of his hand from the collective squadron, he was taken by surprise at what he found: nothing.
\'Their minds are…blank?\' He realized.
It was an inexplicable discovery; he tried delving deeper, individually looking through each blank soldier\'s memories, only to find more of just \'nothing\'.
As he tore one of their masks and tactical helmets off, he found a bald, pale figure with no eyebrows or unique features. It was the same for another he checked, as if they were perfect clones.
This realization left him to one conclusion:
\'Are these soldiers specifically for dealing with people like me?...If that\'s the case, is this \'Sentinel\' organization tied to those system wielders?\' He thought.