Chapter 84: Divergent Part 5
'This crazy demon is dangerous," Rodnick muttered, trying to calm down his frenzy because of the drug side effects.
He realized that acting rashly would not be good for him. A cunning demon posed a greater threat than a powerful one.
And he was right on the money.
Reign's behavior didn't always showcase intelligence, but it wasn't because he lacked IQ.
His struggles came from a lack of common knowledge and life experience. Being uninformed doesn't equate to being unintelligent.
Consider this: Imagine a brilliant surgeon.
Ask them to build a car, and they wont know what to do.
On the flip side, a mechanical engineer would also find doing a surgery impossible, uncertain how to navigate the complexities of the human body.
However, given time, he would accumulate more and more experience.
Someday, when he figured out how this world operated, he would be an unstoppable force.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Multiple shots echoed, forcing Reign to dodge to the side and take cover.
'These guys are annoying,' he muttered, clicking his tongue as he noticed armed guards surrounding him.
That's the problem with modern weapons.
One or two might not be a problem, but when the numbers stack up, even a monster like him would find himself cornered.
It didn't help that they were now in an open area, with all the spotlights focused squarely on him. So every move he made would be seen by them.
'I'll take out those annoying lights first,' he thought to himself, shooting down the spotlights.
They were big enough that hitting them from a distance wasn't hard. The only issue was the spotlights out of his view, forcing him to leave cover for a moment.
This exposed him to be shots by the guards.
Dodging wouldn't have been much trouble, but soon they started using grenades, forcing Reign to change cover from time to time.
The only silver lining was that by throwing grenades at him, he managed to pinpoint their locations and fought back with his claw bullet, taking down many in the process.
One by one, their bodies were riddled with his attacks.
Even taking cover wasn't enough to stop the projectile, intensifying the fear among those who choose to fight.
They only have one life, and when faced with something that could kill them, it was only natural that they became afraid.
Humans have something called survival instinct. It's in their DNA to preserve their lives when faced with danger.
And in that moment, Reign stood as the very embodiment of danger itself, he look like death in their eyes.
"Shit, we're not getting enough pay for this crap."
"I don't want to die, I don't want to die."
"We should get the hell out of here!"
The guards started mumbling their protests, further feeding the seed of fear in their hearts.
A few found themselves walking backwards, subconsciously wanting to flee. They felt like it wasn't worth it to keep on fighting.
Finally, one person ran away after seeing his companion die on the spot like a pig. This triggered a chain reaction, and everyone else started escaping for their lives.
Meanwhile, Rodnick realized the futility of the situation and knew his drug's effects would soon wear off.
He sprinted toward Reign, engaging him in direct combat.
Like Jones, he wore the Shadow Steal, but thanks to the drugs, his speed surpassed even Ben's when he was running on a straight line
"Die!" Rodnick screamed in anger, the veins in his forehead throbbing even harder.
BAM!
When the fist connected, Reign realized that the force of the punch felt really heavy and sharp.
And it didn't stop there. Rodnick launched into a one-two-three combo, not giving Reign a moment's breather.
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
Each punch was enough to send Reign taking a step back. The only reason he was able to hold back was because he was now using Stream Guide to redirect the force of the punches.
Reign wanted to retaliate, but the punches were so fast and lethal. Rodnick targeted all of his weak points: the abdomen, the chin, ribs, and even his neck, leaving him struggling to defend himself.
'Is he a boxer or something?' Reign thought as he continued to raised his hands for defense. He didn't even have time to focus his energy on his claws because of how fast the attacks were.
He tried using Death Aura, but because of the drugs, Rodnick wasn't even the least bit affected.
At the same time, Reign could feel that he was running out of stamina. This continuous battle had taken a toll on his body.
'So this is the level of Divergent from a Tier 3 City,' Reign thought to himself.
This was a wake-up call to how vast the world was.
He was pretty sure that Rodnick was not even relatively strong compared to his peers, and yet he was already being pushed like this.
In a way, he was glad that he had transmigrated to Summit City. If it were a more dangerous place, then he could only pray for luck.
"But it's time to end this fiasco," a grin appeared on Reign's face.
When one of Rodnick's punches was on its way to his torso, Reign let it hit.
"Got you!" Rodnick smiled, convinced that victory was within his reach.
His punch was a force not even a demon could withstand without a scratch, amplified further by the experimental drug he had injected on himself.
It made him not just twice, but three times as strong.
However, the price of such power was steep; once the drug's effects wore off, he would be left crippled for life, or in the worst case, dead.
It was an experimental drug that the Scorpion Mercenaries had acquired. He hadn't planned to use it, but faced with Reign's overwhelming power, he knew he had no choice if he wanted to survive.
But instead of being sent flying, Reign grabbed onto Rodnick's arm and shoulder, then pointed his claw at Rodnick's face.
"N— No.." Rodnick realized he had made a blunder the moment his punch landed. Reign twisted his body just enough to redirect the impact, minimizing the damage.
"Goodbye!" Reign chuckled, bombarding Rodnick's face with claw barrage, completely destroying the head.
THUD!
Rodnick's headless body dropped to the ground, and Reign began licking his claw, which was now covered in blood.
At this point, everyone who witnessed the brutal scene lost all hope to fight and began running away, completely abandoning the laboratory.
But when they reached the gate, thinking they would be able to live, Reign leaped over them and began his one-sided massacre.
He had no intention of letting them go. Each one who escaped would be a minus on his EXP.
After that round, he swept the area again for other survivors.
They ran, they hid, they pleaded, they offered money. But they all faced the same fate: death.
Because for Reign, the most valuable thing they could offer him was their lives.
He then went back to recover all the dead bodies and piled them up inside. It would be a hassle to eat them separately.
When he finished, the pile was so large that after counting, there were almost 120+ dead people. That number was something he did not expect because he just kept on killing nonstop.
Of course, he did not forget to separate the bodies of the Divergents because he would save them for last.
As for the briefcase, he set it aside for now.