Tututututu!

The sound of machine gun fire woke Leon up!

His enhanced senses as an Ascended picked up the sound the moment it started. Leon's eyes snapped open but he didn't move yet as he listened for a few seconds, confirming that it was machine gun fire.

"What's happening?" He sat up.

He was not the type of person to stay passive.

After listening for a few more seconds, he picked his leather bag from under his bed and from inside, he brought out 2 drones.

One of them was a C-5 drone and the other was one of the sword drones.

Picking both drones, he walked towards one of the windows that was connected to the vent leading outside.

His grayish white ADE flowed, engulfing both drones.

Miniaturization!

By intricately manipulating his ADE, he reduced the size of both drones to the size of a thumb, and he regulated the miniaturized effect to last exactly 10 minutes so as to not drain too much of his ADE.

After that, he pushed both drones outside through the gap in the window.

Drone Control Matrix!

His ADE flared again as now under his control, both drones flew up through the vent before quickly going outside.

And then, footage was directly transferred to him.

This was the advantage of Drone Control Matrix, he didn't need a computer or a holographic projection to see what the drones saw. With Drone Control Matrix, the drones directly transferred the footage to his brain.

He went back to sit on the bed, then he closed his eyes.

He was now seeing through the eyes of both drones.

A different, heavier sound other than the machine gun sounds suddenly reverberated, making the ground vibrate as Leon immediately attributed them to the turrets that were mounted to the Tower at the entrance of the Town.

He immediately controlled both drones to fly towards the Tower while using the night as camouflage to avoid being seen by the vigilantes.

Within just a few seconds, both drones arrived and Leon finally saw the situation.

BOOM!

The foot of the Tower vibrated as a powerful shadow collided against it, it was the shadow of a Neon Beast!

And not just 1, but multiple of them.

'A beast tide?' Leon thought.

He focused on the Neon Beasts.

They were humanoid but they also looked like Bats- grotesque, gigantified Bats. Their wings were modified hands and at the edge and middle of the wings, there were two sets of powerful talons on each wing.

They had black fur, a short snout, large ears, and long dagger-like fangs.

They stood on two legs like humanoids, and each of them was at least 5 feet tall!

Their blood-red eyes gleamed with madness and hunger as they attacked the gate of the Tower in a rabid manner.

'They cannot fly'. Leon inferred immediately from how the vigilantes in the tower were taking care of them.

Holed up inside the tower, the vigilantes took turns rotating on top the tower as they unleashed a hail of kinetic bullets on the Neon Beasts, puncturing holes through them.

Their focus was mostly on the humanoid Bat-like beasts that tried to climb the Tower. They were great climbers, and clearly climbing into the Tower was a great threat to the vigilantes.

While the vigilantes took care of the beasts that were trying to climb the tower, the Tower's defenses itself took care of the ones on the ground.

Tutututututu…!

The sound of machine gun fire and the turrets shooting out massive projectiles from the Tower at the beasts made the ground vibrate.

And yet, the tide of beasts didn't stop. Leon easily counted at least 30 of these strange-looking Neon Beasts in one glance.

It seemed like this was not the first time the vigilantes were dealing with this specific swarm of Neon Beast, they fought in an experienced manner.

The reason why the Neon Beasts attacked the Tower was because of the deep trench that was dug around the Town.

The walls of the deep trench were incredibly slippery too, making sure that any of these Bat-like Neon Beasts that fell inside stayed there forever, becoming stationery targets for the vigilantes to pick apart.

Leon also confirmed that Wurzburg had at least 1 resident Ascended because at the moment, there was a short Geneform giving orders inside the tower.

He was barely 5 foot tall.

He held a large tower shield on his left hand and an intimidating War Hammer on his right. Behind him stood other melee fighters that were ready to fight any of the Neon Beasts that managed to climb high enough.

Through the eyes of his drones, Leon observed him and thought. 'Gene Augur or Cyber Gladiator?'

His question was answered when this Ascended's ADE finally pulsed around his body subtly in a violent purple color.

'Gene Augur'.

And then, the first Neon Beast climbed high enough.

BAM!

The short thick-bearded Ascended moved his Hammer so fast that the drones barely kept track of his movements.

One moment, the Beast was poking its head out and the next moment, it exploded into a shower rain of blood and goo.

"Stand firm!" He shouted as his ADE pulsed even more aggressively.

…

[Noble Hotel]

Seated on top the bed in his room, Leon finally opened his eyes. "They seem to have the situation under control".

He frowned. "But how long will they take to either eradicate them or kill them enough to frighten the others to escape?"

"That guy is clearly F Rank, I don't see him jumping down from the Tower's protective wall to confront the beasts directly unless he's a fool".

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Can't I sleep in peace?"

At that moment, a calm voice reverberated from the speakers in his room. Leon guessed that this message was sent to all the rooms, addressing the customers in the hotel's subterranean second floor.

"Please stay calm and don't panic, the sound and vibrations that you're hearing is just a minor disturbance. The vigilante have it under control".

Leon snorted as he ignored the voice and grumbled. "They're disturbing my sleep," he already motioned to pick up his leather bag again as he said that.

From inside the bag, he picked up a tiny Rifle that looked like a toy gun.

Without hesitation, Leon wore the pair of slippers provided by the hotel before sneaking outside. He avoided the hotel security, slipping out without being seen and then he climbed the roof of the hotel.

As soon as he climbed the roof, he looked at the small toy-like Rifle on his hand, then…

BZZZ!

Miniaturization!

As his ADE flared again, the Rifle returned to its normal size.

Only the industrial usage of Miniaturization had a permanent effect on a construct, the practical usage was more flexible.

With it, Leon could make a weapon smaller and he could also deactivate the effect anytime he wanted, returning it to its normal size at will.

And now, with the QX-07 Air Gun Rifle back to its normal size, he took aim, pointing the Rifle's muzzle at the distance.

Wurzburg is a sizeable Town with its land size spanning several kilometers. The distance from the Tower entrance to Noble Hotel was more than 2 kilometers, and that was the current distance between Leon's Rifle and his target.

It seemed like an impossible shot but by keeping his control over the drones active through Drone Control Matrix and seeing through their camera, Leon calmly aimed at the Tower, then…

BAM!

…

The battle against the pest-like Neon Beasts was intense.

With their captain personally leading them, the vigilantes fought valiantly, keeping the Neon Beasts at bay though the situation grew increasingly dangerous due to how persistent and mad the beasts were.

The moment they started climbing the Tower in numbers, casualties were likely to start appearing among the vigilantes.

"F*cking monsters!" Gabriel cursed as he pulled the trigger again.

And that was right when it happened.

The air suddenly vibrated past them on the tower, then…

BAM!

A projectile tore into one of the Neon Beasts that was close to scaling the Tower already, violently blowing its head away from its shoulder.

Headshot!

'Huh?' Gabriel stared in a daze.

The sole Ascended on top the Tower was also stunned but he recovered faster than his subordinates. "What are you gawking at? Shoot!"

"Yes sir!"

They opened fire again and that was not the last time that they heard that powerful gunshot from unknown origins.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

After that first shot, the unknown ally continued shooting projectiles that tore the Bat-like Neon Beasts apart with every single shot.

No shot of his missed.

Considering that they didn't even see where he was shooting from, the vigilantes were horrified by the accuracy of this unknown ally.

Every shot was equivalent to one death among the Neon Beasts. With his addition, the death toll of the Neon Beasts immediately doubled!

After 2 minutes, dozens of corpses of the Bat-like Neon Beasts were piled in front of the Tower in a pool of blood and having failed once again to breach the Tower, the remaining Neon Beasts finally turned to escape.

…

After taking the first shot, the familiar HUD screen of the System lit up in front of Leon's face.

DING!

~----~

[You have killed a Neon Beast: Vampire Drake]

~----~

'Vampire Drake?' Leon clicked his tongue. 'I wonder what kind of ADE corruption science gave birth to these Neon Beasts'.

He didn't stop shooting and after just 2 minutes, with the sheer power and force brought by his inclusion in the battle, the surviving Neon Beasts finally retreated as all their efforts were thwarted.

Leon blew at the muzzle of the Rifle, then he looked at the deep trenches that were dug around the Town. He finally understood their importance.

On another note, he finally realized why Wurzburg was the only Town within a range of 70 kilometers south of Community G.

"It's not easy for a Town to survive in Neo-Tokara". He sighed. "If a beast tide like this attacks Community G, even with Gary and Mary's help, without natural defenses like this Town, the casualties will be immense".

His face turned solemn. "No wonder living in the Wastes is seen by some as a fate worse than death".

"Not just the standard of living. In the Wastes, even your own life is as fickle as an ant's. A single beast tide and you're dead".

"In some places, maybe even a single F Rank Neon Beast is enough to destroy all their defenses and annihilate them".

He frowned. "This world is dangerous".

Leon didn't return to his room immediately as he stayed in the roof, admiring the bioluminescent fog shrouding the town and the night sky.

With the neon storms that always covered the sky in the day gone, he saw stars in the night sky.

"Maybe this is really Earth," He smiled. "I wonder what happened that made the world become like this".

He soon retreated to his room to continue sleeping.

Just before he slept, he was surprised when his System lit up again.

DING!

~----~

[You have gained +4 Ascended Essence!]

[Ascended Counter: 154/2000]

~----~

…

The Tower was busy with activities as vigilantes moved swiftly with urgency through the opened gates, dragging the bodies of the dead Neon Beasts inside.

The bodies of Neon Beasts could be used for so many things.

Their strong bodies, fangs, and talons could be used to craft weapons. Even their blood and organs were not spared, they could be used to create potions, implants for Geneforms and a lot of other bio-products.

Utilizing the raw materials gotten from Neon Beasts to create useful by-products is one of the main specialties of the Geneforge Clans.

At this moment, as his subordinates gathered the beast corpses, the captain of the vigilante corps stood on top the Tower, looking towards a specific direction in the Town with a troubled look on his face.

Some of his strongest subordinates stood behind him.

He finally broke the silence and asked. "Did any special visitor enter the Town today?"

His subordinates looked at each other, then they answered. "No".

He scowled.

This answer either meant his subordinates were complacent in their duty, not thoroughly checking the identity of the strange Ascended despite his warning about the Extremist Movement, or the Ascended donned a perfect disguise to hide his identity from them.

As he looked at the distance, he suddenly recalled something. "Did any of you direct any visitor towards Noble Hotel?"

"No," all his direct subordinates answered except one who froze.

This captain looked at him. "Gabriel?"

Cold sweat immediately gathered on the middle-aged Geneform's face as he looked at his captain.

"Umm, captain, I did direct a visitor towards Noble Hotel this evening. Now that I think of it, he told me that he is an Ascended". His face revealed fear.

"Why didn't you write a report about it?" The Ascended berated in an annoyed tone, then remembering something, he was alarmed as he looked at Gabriel. "Did you fleece him into giving you a tip?"

Gabriel fidgeted. "Umm, I…"

"Idiot!"

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