July 1st, Year 714 A.G.

Southern Biome, the Wasteland.

Tututututututu…!

The sound of machine gunfire reverberated like thunder in the hot afternoon, shaking the ground as a group of mercenaries dressed in brown-themed wilderness attire ran from pursuers that were determined to kill them.

There were at least two dozen mercenaries in the group.

They were spread across 4 different desert bikes, 2 light-armored Trucks, and 7 tamed Desert Horses. And they were armed to the teeth.

Desert Horse is a type of Neon Beast that is native to the wastelands of the Southern Biome. Unlike most regular Neon Beasts, the reason for their popularity is because skilled adventurers can tame them.

Spread across the 4 bikes, 2 Trucks, and 7 tamed Desert Horses, this was a force that could pose a threat to most groups in the Southern wilderness.

But all these was not what made them truly frightening, the singular fact that made them terrifying was the fact that the leader of this mercenary group was an Ascended, an F Rank Cyber Gladiator.

And yet, they were running from their enemies.

This was because their enemies this time were not the regular type usually found in the wastelands in the Southern Biome.

Their enemies this time were the new type, the radical type that was taking the Southern Biome by storm, the religious fanatics of the Extremist Movement.

Also, this time, their enemies also had an Ascended champion.

In recent months, the Reclaimer Church's estranged Extremist faction became more radical than ever before, boldly hunting people, both civilians and warriors in broad daylight as they killed in the name of their holy war.

Unlike the diverse lineup of the mercenaries on bikes, trucks, and Desert Horses, the extremists were all on desert bikes, 8 bikes in total as they stayed hot in pursuit of the mercenaries.

Each bike of the extremists carried 2 warriors.

Man to man, the mercenaries had superior numbers but the fearsome reputation that the Extremist Movement had forged within the past few months meant they dared not be confident in a head-on confrontation.

Instead of staying to fight, they ran for their lives.

Unlike the mercenaries who were dressed in brown-themed wilderness attire, the extremists were garbed in a black paramilitary armor that was quickly gaining popularity in the territory of the Geneforge Clans.

It was the trademark of the Extremist Movement.

They wore full-face black combat masks that were mechanical and insectile in design with black hoods that hung low, swallowing their heads in shadow.

The masks had glowing red visors that gave them a primal and inhuman stare as they pursued the mercenaries. It was intimidating.

Across their torso, modular tactical rigs were strapped tight with ammunition pouches, utility compartments, and hard-mounted gear, built not for aesthetics but brutal efficiency.

Unlike the mercenaries who wore simple wilderness attire, their armor was shock-resistant and ballistic.

On their legs, they wore leather pants that were reinforced with armored joints. They also wore thick and plated gloves, including thick and heavy industrial boots that seemed capable of crushing a head in a single stomp.

While those sitting at the front rode the bikes with their weapons strapped around their bodies, the ones that were being carried held intimidating Rifles.

With them, they engaged in a gunfight against the mercenaries on the road.

They looked like ghosts conjured from a nightmare.

"C'mon, move faster!" The leader of the mercenary group seated at the front of one of the Trucks, a middle-aged man with tanned brown skin cursed as he looked back with an anxious look on his face.

On his forehead, he tied a red scarf that gave him a rugged and unruly vibe.

"Move faster!" He growled at the driver. "F*CK! Press down on that damn accelerator! Go to the Twin River Grid!"

He looked back again at the pursuing religious fanatics. "If we can get there, we'll likely encounter river patrol squads from Sprawl Delta. They won't dare continue the pursuit, move fast!"

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Both sides exchanged rapid gunfire as the intense road battle continued.

The mercenaries tried their best, lasting a long time even as they lost some allies while taking one or two extremists with them.

But then, finally, their path forward was cut off as an impact bomb was detonated in front of them, making the two Trucks somersault!

The mercenaries had no choice but to come out and fight.

And then, all hell broke loose.

BOOM!

The moment the Truck he was in somersaulted, the leader of the mercenary group maintained his composure as timing it perfectly before the Truck could crash, he dove out of the Truck.

Thud!

He landed on his knees and immediately he unsheathed his sword with a ferocious expression on his face.

His eyes reflected his inner fear but he perfectly masked it all behind a practiced bravado that he was used to projecting in front of his subordinates.

With his sword in his grasp, his confidence rose.

"Bring it on!" He snarled like a mad man as he turned to face the nearest extremist.

But before he could even pounce on any of the extremists, there was a bright flash of blue in his vision as a searing hot plasma beam slammed into his face!

BAM!

He briefly lost consciousness.

His body somersaulted like a broken doll and only when he hit the ground did he regain consciousness. He rolled on the ground a few times- the left side of his face was directly torn apart, still burning from the extreme heat.

The pain was blinding.

At some point in time, he already lost his sword. "Ugh!" He groaned in pain.

"Argghhh…!" He growled and rolled back up as he looked at the enemy that had injured him in a single attack.

He was angry but the moment he stood up and saw who his opponent was clearly, his anger faded as his eyes constricted in horror.

His whole body shuddered. "I-it's her… it's the Demoness…"

Xena Rousey, the Pulse Demoness.

Her notoriety only grew in recent months, coinciding with the rise of the new leader of the Extremist Movement.

Very little was known about her, the only confirmed facts about her was that whenever she made a public appearance, her hair color was always different. And also the fact that she always carried an exaggerated Pulse Rifle with her.

Unlike the others, she didn't wear a mask, she simply wore blue visor goggles that glowed in a blue color.

Her face was chubby and round, undoubtedly young but there was a ruthless energy to her. This time, she dressed differently from the other extremist soldiers.

She dressed casually in a flippant manner that didn't fit the occasion on a black leather sleeveless crop top, tight black leather pants that hugged her skinny and fit body, black open-fingered gloves and stylish black leather boots.

She had vivid tattoos of a slithering snake across both her exposed arms and the exposed part of her torso.

This time, her hair was blue, flying with the dry wind.

Her visor googles glowed blue, and on her hand was the exaggerated Pulse Rifle that gave her a notorious reputation.

She gave off a wild feeling of murder and ruthlessness.

At this moment, she calmly walked towards the mercenary leader with a nonchalant expression on her face.

The face of the mercenary leader twisted. 'I-I must stand up… I must fight…!'

'F*ck, even if I must die, I won't die like a dog!' He growled as he suddenly shot up to his feet while unsheathing the dagger that was hidden in his boots.

Kinetic Absorption!

Impact Surge!

This Cyber Gladiator went all-in in his last moment.

His purple ADE flared around his body in a violent manner, converging on his dagger as he took a step forward to charge her down, but then…

Data Lash!

BUZZ!

His brain exploded!

For a moment, he lost his mind completely as his thoughts became disjointed, his legs wobbling as he collapsed to his knees.

His eardrums burst as blood flowed from his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth.

By the time he regained consciousness and realized that he just suffered a mental attack, she was already standing in front of him.

His lips quivered. "Y-you're E Rank…" he muttered weakly in horror.

He looked into those glowing blue visors and tears welled in his eyes, mixing with his blood and snot as his shoulders shook. "I don't want to die…"

Bam!

He was knocked unconscious.

He didn't die, yet.

With the mercenary leader easily taken care of, the rest of the mercenaries fell easily. 7 of them were killed and the 15 others were captured, rounded up and tied before being driven away in their own Trucks.

The tamed Desert Horses escaped, those that survived the onslaught.

And then, the wasteland regained its calm.

…

BZZZT!

Static sounds echoed, then a video came to life.

[LIVE VIDEO=]

On the live video, 15 mercenaries dressed in brown-themed wilderness attire were lined up in front of the camera inside a dilapidated room.

All 15 of them were on their knees, and 5 men stood behind them.

The 15 mercenaries had looks of fear and horror on their faces as they were forced to look at the camera.

Of the 5 men behind them, 3 of them wore the familiar full-face black masks with a mechanical and insectile design that was the trademark of the Extremist Movement to hide their faces, while the 2 others wore half-face masks.

One of them was muscular and buff, built like a giant. Standing on the right side behind the mercenaries, his black hair was braided and he wore a cybernetic gray armor.

He wore the full-face mask. On his right hand, he held a pistol and on his left hand, he held a dagger with a gleaming dark blade.

Beside the muscular man on the right is a blue-haired woman wearing a half-face black mask with blue glowing visor googles. The blue googles glowed, and on her hand was an oversized Pulse Rifle.

Starting from the left, the third masked man behind the mercenaries in this video is a lean hooded man with zero fat in black combat gear. From his tight-fitting clothes, his clean abs were clearly outlined.

He wore a half-mask through which his small brown eyes gleamed like the eyes of a slithering snake.

Out of combat, a sword with a black handle was strapped to his back.

Standing beside him closer to the middle was a short-haired, tattooed man in a short-sleeved black shirt. He wore the full-face black mask on his face, and open-fingered gloves on his hands. Unlike the others, he held no weapon.

And finally, standing in the middle is the fifth man, a man with unassuming features covered in a familiar full-black mask and black paramilitary armor.

He held a single dagger on his right hand.

Standing in the middle of the video, he looked straight into the camera then he spoke. "I am the Demon of Ozempic".

His voice echoed through the room and into the camera.

He swirled the dagger on his right hand. "People call me Demon, but I prefer to call myself Angel". He looked into the camera. "I'm an Angel with the divine mandate to reconcile this sinful generation with the divine blueprint".

"This generation has forgotten its divine roots, we've forgotten what it means to be human. We've embraced sin, we've tolerated cosmetic surgery, DNA transplanting, body modification".

His voice rose up a crescendo. "This is heresy!"

"The divine blueprint is humanity!"

"It is our duty to strive towards it, not away from it!"

"A.I Constructs are heresy".

"Synths are heresy".

"My brothers and sisters out there, pure Geneforms are the only beings allowed in God's kingdom".

"Let's rise up together to return to the divine".

"It is time we put an end to heresy".

He pointed at the mercenaries. "We caught a few heretics today, lost souls who've engaged in willing DNA and extensive body modifications. Lost souls among Geneforms that need to be purified".

In that moment, his grip on the dagger turned firm as he moved closer to the leader of the mercenaries.

The mercenary leader's eyes instantly turned red as he struggled to no avail, the extremist didn't stop as he positioned his dagger, then he ruthlessly slit the mercenary's throat!

Spurt!

Blood spurted as the mercenary's throat gurgled.

At the same time that he did this, the other extremists moved to the other mercenaries as they brutally slit their throats in the live video.

"Gud er større!"

"Gud er større!"

"Lovet være Gud!"

They chanted as they murdered the mercenaries in cold blood.

And then, amid the gory scene of blood and murder, the extremist in the middle removed his full-face mask, revealing his face in front of the camera for the first time!

For the first time, the world saw the face of the Demon.

The face reflected in the camera was that of a young man who seemed to have seen the vicissitudes of life.

His young face was rugged and marred with unnatural scars that seemed like a result of torture rather than battle, while his neck was covered with snake tattoos.

His eyes were unique and dual-colored, the left eye was dark green while the right eye was brownish red. Both were calm but dangerous, and there was a religious radicalism to them.

He looked into the camera and raised both his hands in a worshipping manner, then he said.

"Humanity will rise again, built from the ashes of this sinful world".

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