For a brief moment, a sense of shock and stunned disbelief reigned in the battlefield above Iron Reef but then…

BOOM!

The rebel army exploded in loud cheers.

Amid the cheers, Leon felt like a domino of explosions were detonating in his head even as his brain struggled to process what just happened.

'A D Rank Ascended died? Just like that???' He was horrified.

Leon didn't understand the exact process of what happened due to his lack of complete understanding of D Rank NetRunners, but this was one of the most sophisticated displays of D Rank Ascended powers.

It was a D Rank assassination executed perfectly by Ren Nora.

Of the 3 NetRunner Specializations at D Rank, the Mindbreaker Specialization focus on offensive and psionic assault, the Code Phantom Specialization focuses on stealth and infiltration, while the Cyber Saint Specialization focuses on support.

None of them were particularly adept at defense, but even then, Cyber Saints had the best defense among them.

As a freedom movement led by D Rank NetRunners and as an accomplished D Rank NetRunner himself, Ren Nora understood the abilities of D Rank NetRunners perfectly and knew them like the back of his hand.

This was why after hacking and infiltrating to get the information about the enemy force composition, he planned his welcome gift around a NetRunner as his target.

This was not just because of his understanding of the Class, this was also because in the right circumstances, D Rank NetRunners are the easiest to kill and the fastest to kill at any rank.

His plan was simple and he executed it perfectly.

The first stage of the plan was abusing a D Rank NetRunner's authority over the psionic network to isolate the D Rank NetRunner of the Mindbreaker Specialization after hopping to him through Neural Projection.

But even with 3 D Rank NetRunners ganging up on one D Rank NetRunner, Ren Nora estimated that they would only be able to isolate the Federation soldier from the LAN for 3 seconds.

He built the rest of his plan around the timeframe of 3 seconds.

By isolating him, the enemy couldn't escape immediately when they hopped over and they couldn't leave either, trapping them in a box.

It was a gamble, a gamble that Ren Nora willingly partook in.

He was always a bold gambler.

By activating Overclock Mind to double their mental processing speed for 10 seconds, they processed information far faster than their target and were able to attack before the enemy could even truly process his predicament.

Together, they attacked with Data Lash, stacking 3 layers of Data Lash to create an overwhelming psionic whip that concussed their target.

After that, his 2 Lieutenants who were both D Rank NetRunners of the Mindbreaker Specialization just like their target took over as they assaulted the target with a combination of Psionic Assault, Mind Distortion, and Neural Burn.

All 3 were abilities exclusive to the Mindbreaker Specialization.

Psionic Assault is unlike Data Lash, it's a devastating ability that enables a Mindbreaker NetRunner to directly crush minds with a hammer-like psionic blow.

A D Rank Mindbreaker NetRunner has extremely high WIL to resist a single Psionic Assault from an opposing Mindbreaker, but this was a double-layered Psionic Assault from 2 Mindbreakers!

In that moment, the enemy felt like a bomb detonated in his head!

Mind Distortion is a Mindbreaker's ability to create illusions and hallucinations.

With the target's brain, consciousness and WIL already suffering from the impact of a double-layered Psionic Assault, the double-layered Mind Distortion took effect easily as instantly, the enemy forgot that he was in a battlefield.

Instead, the Geneform saw himself back home in his massive mansion casually swimming in a cold swimming pool with 5 beautiful women in his arms.

In that moment, he became vulnerable completely.

As for Neural Burn, it's the last exclusive ability of Mindbreaker NetRunners and it has a singular devious and insidious effect, it burns the brain in a metaphorical manner!

Neural Burn directly assaults intelligence, dealing devastating mind damage and directly reducing the intelligence of an enemy!

The combination of the 3 attacks broke the Federation D Rank NetRunner completely, and by then 2 seconds already passed meaning the effects of the isolated LAN was already broken, enabling Neural Projection once again.

Ren Nora took on the rest himself.

With a simple Neural Projection, he hopped into the target's smartphone and arrived directly in front of him, then he beheaded him with a dagger while the fool was still hallucinating about women in a cold pool!

A perfect assassination.

…

Leon felt like he was going crazy as he watched from the roof.

'A D Rank Ascended died? Just like that???' He was horrified.

The chilling manner in which Ren Nora led his Lieutenants to assassinate the enemy D Rank NetRunner in such an effective manner showed that Ren Nora was prepared for this moment from the very beginning.

But Leon wasn't focused on the assassination like the others.

Instead, he focused on trying to understand Ren Nora's inner thoughts but he struggled to follow the thought process of the rebel leader.

'What is he thinking about?'

'Does he actually not want to attempt the Trial?'

'Was it just a bluff to lure out the Federation army to attack?'

Leon was confused.

…

"…!"

The sudden death of a D Rank Ascended sent a ripple through the Federation Army as instantly, morale plummeted.

Even for a behemoth like the Omnicore Federation, D Rank Ascended were part of the upper echelons of their army. They were Colonels and Majors, not random soldiers that could be discarded easily.

The death of a D Rank Ascended was significant even for the Federation.

Instantly, the 3 other D Rank Ascended of the Federation reacted in a terrified manner as they huddled together and shifted away from the trio of rebel D Rank NetRunners as they feared another ambush.

And all of a sudden, the aerial battle seemed to have reached a stalemate, but Ren Nora knew that this was not.

This was the reason why with a nonchalant but provocative look on his face, Ren Nora raised his head and looked at the Federation Flagship leading this invasion that was far bigger than all the others, a 300-meter long Behemoth!

Inside this Behemoth was the true Commander of this army, inside was the true carrier of Director-Prime Epsilon's will.

Ren Nora was sure that the sudden assassination of a D Rank Ascended right under his nose, catching him off-guard already irked him.

And now, his sudden provocation was what flipped the switch completely.

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

A deep and primordial surge of ADE suddenly erupted from the Flagship of the Federation Army as the warship turned neon green.

From the roof where Leon was, he shivered under this aura.

This density of ADE, this oppression, this feeling like staring into the abyss, he was all too familiar with it.

His teeth clattered against each other. 'A-a C Rank Ascended!'

Neural Projection!

A tall Synth with a smooth bald mechanical head materialized in mid-air, garbed in the sharp black and red military attire of the Omnicore Federation.

Just like Ren Nora and the other D Rank rebels who couldn't fly, he wore anti-gravity gear that enabled him to float in the sky.

His eyes were a deep gray, dark and unfathomable.

He subjected Ren Nora to the pressure of his gaze as he harrumphed coldly. "How dare you murder my soldier?"

Ren Nora didn't answer, instead his lips curled up into a big smile then he instructed loudly with a cold look on his face.

"Unleash the Purgatory!"

BZZZZT!

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