Chapter 292: The Dance of Death!

Words : 1484 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

Royce truly became a human rocket! As an experimental, self-developed linear frame, Maelstrom was well aware of its impact on reaction speed and agility. Compared to mature technology, this kind of linear frame had an extremely high probability of jamming, so the developers simply installed an "emergency stop button." Once activated, all personal links would be severed, and the linear frame would instantly turn into an ejection device! The powerful force compressed Royce's titanium skeleton until it creaked, launching him skyward as the artillery shell detonated his gear— It looked just like a rocket blasting off! Boom! Royce crashed headfirst into a warped wall before gravity pulled him down, landing heavily on the ground. His enhanced legs trembled from the impact! His "Fire-Eyes" cyberware flickered erratically, but he didn't stop—he sprang up and leaped into the ruins. "Hahahahaha!" Brick peeked out from behind the wrecked vehicle, gripping his gun as he roared with laughter. "Fat bastard! You dumbfounded now?! Light his ass up!" Royce, hiding in the rubble, bellowed in rage: "Where the fuck is everyone?! Get your asses out here!!" At his desperate call, the twisted, deformed warehouse erupted in another hailstorm of bullets as three more linear-frame soldiers emerged from the burning wreckage! The relentless gunfire rained down on the Centaur mecha's massive shield, and Brick's ultra-sensitive Fire-Eyes immediately detected the rapid surge of energy on its surface! That shield was tough as hell, but everything had a breaking point! He leaped into a vehicle, signaling his crew to man the mounted heavy machine guns— Within moments, Royce's side was suppressed by the sheer overwhelming firepower! Atop the Centaur mecha, Joestar's freshly installed Fire-Eyes still oozed blood, but his cybernetic vision was now linked to his comrades'. Through the superheated, glowing shield, he could see everything around him: Brick's crazed grin. Royce's furious scowl. The mixture of fear and excitement on both sides' soldiers—like a silent film unfolding before him. [Shield overheating detected. Potential rupture imminent.] [Adjusting pre-set combat behavior.] [Plasma cannon charging. Preparing for a last stand.] The gunfire slamming into the shield, the explosions, and the roaring machine guns drowned out everything else— A chaotic symphony, the background music of this violent pantomime. And suddenly, Joestar thought of Maelstrom's infamous nightclub: The Dance of Death—the very place they were now fighting to reclaim. Maelstrom's pride was in their deafening heavy metal music, amplified by monstrous speakers that could shake entire city blocks. Civilians complained. The mainstream ridiculed it as mindless noise. But to Maelstrom, this was real music! Once, he had been just another ordinary citizen. But now, he was Maelstrom. And this—this was his music. At that moment, he understood why Maelstrom was obsessed with heavy metal. Because this—this battlefield, this deafening chaos—was the hardest, most brutal metal of all. His movements lagged slightly, almost dragging along with the Centaur mecha's pre-set combat routines. But his nerves were electric! Finally, more sounds joined the symphony— It was the high-frequency noise of the rail system as the plasma cannon reached its peak! The entire barrel glowed red-hot as the magnetic rails inside the cannon continued to charge. The accumulating energy surpassed its rated capacity, exceeding even the engineering safety limits. The vibration frequency spiraled out of control, covering an ever-expanding spectrum— [Charging... Calculating counterattack window] Joestar's ears started bleeding. The blood trickled down his cheeks, only to be vaporized mid-air by the cannon's intense heat! [Fire window indicator] The indicator light turned green. The fire control display in his HUD was now fully lit! Every nerve in Joestar's body was electrified, caught in a mix of agony and ecstasy. In the last moment before total deafness, his body would forever remember the final note of this Dance of Death! BZZZZT— The final note was a distorted cannon blast! The Centaur mech hurled its now-red-hot shield, launching it mid-air before it detonated! A projectile, charged far beyond its limits, shot out—a stream of nearly pure plasma, no longer resembling a standard shell but instead a massive blade of light! From above, the plasma blade carved out a near-40° arc! Cars, firearms, linear frames, and human bodies alike were cut through in an instant— BOOM! A sky-shattering explosion! The factory collapsed entirely! The ground was scorched black by the lagging tail particles, unable to match the main blast's velocity. For a moment, silence reigned. THUD. The plasma cannon of the Centaur mech, still sparking and burning, fell off due to its safety mechanisms and crashed onto the ground. Brick, still in shock, was the first to leap from his vehicle! He landed in front of the now-crippled Centaur mech and roared in triumph at Joestar: "Holy fucking shit, brother! That was fucking insane! Fucking insane!" Joestar's lips trembled. Then, they twisted into a grin. His cybernetic Fire-Eyes flickered in a red glow, blinking in and out—just like a true Maelstrom ganger. Gone was the hesitant kid, torn between gang life and being a good boy back home. "I—I'm gonna... Haha—I'm gonna be a boss!" "Motherfucker, you already ARE a boss!" Carter, Brick's right-hand man, was the second to jump out of the car, his face equally flushed with adrenaline. But just as he was about to speak, something leapt out of the burning wreckage! His Sandevistan activated instantly! "BRICK, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" Time slowed to a crawl. Carter saw it clearly—something was flying toward them! It was a person. A woman. She was blazing fast—even in the decelerated world of his Tier 3 Sandevistan, she was moving so quickly she left afterimages. He barely made out the details— She was almost entirely cybernetic, yet the parts fit together seamlessly—top-tier cyberware, no doubt. But unstable sparks of electricity danced along her frame—a telltale sign of system overload. The air behind her shimmered and distorted, heated to extreme temperatures—some sort of thrust-based cyberware. She raised a bladed leg high—a razor-sharp missile aimed straight at Joestar! Brick, hearing Carter's urgent shout, activated his own Sandevistan! The two brothers moved simultaneously in this frozen world, attempting to intercept her— Brick, standing atop the Centaur mech, slowly adjusted his Satara shotgun and pulled the trigger. Carter, his enhanced tendons coiling tight, left cracks on the ground as he prepared to strike. They moved fast. Theoretically, very fast. But compared to her? Compared to Zaria's aerial lunge? They were slow. Zaria's muscles coiled mid-air, her posture shifting into a perfect upright form. Her twin-bladed legs spun, aligning the edges directly toward the gun's muzzle. The Satara railgun fired. The pellets struck the blades unevenly, the impact propelling Zaria's lower half in a mid-air flip! She rotated—inverted, upside down—and narrowly slipped past Carter's outstretched hand. Their heads brushed against each other. Her momentum carried her forward— Her legs shot downward— And in that moment, the blades rotated, shifting into barbed hooks— They pierced straight into Joestar's collarbone. Cut through bone. Impaled his chest. SPLURT! Blood sprayed into the air! In the blink of an eye, the shotgun blast missed. The punch missed. All Carter and Brick saw was a spray of crimson. And Zaria's bladed legs kept carving into Joestar, sinking another three centimeters down before striking the mech's inner plating. She stood there, balanced on her embedded blades. At that exact moment— Royce stumbled out of the ruins, brushing dust off his dented skull. Just as a grin formed on his face, the battle shifted again. [Critical damage detected. Locking exoskeleton.] The Centaur mech locked up, trapping the blade inside! Brick and Carter immediately counterattacked! Zaria, her trapped leg hindering movement, had just unsheathed her Mantis Blades—but the Maelstrom duo were faster. BOOM! A fist and a kick sent her flying—the mech shattered apart. Brick and Carter rushed back into their vehicle, faces contorted in fury. "FLOOR IT! ROYCE, YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD! AND YOUR GUYS ARE DEAD TOO!" [Recipient: Mysterious Hero] [Brick: Bring in the heavy shit! Can we slap a Sandevistan onto a fucking mech?!] [Brick: And weapons—ANYTHING you can get, I WANT IT! Ship it to me or these locations—I'll fucking take it all!] [Recipient: Warehouse] [Brick: MOVE ALL REMAINING MECHS HERE!!!] The vehicles roared away. Zaria staggered back to her feet, leaped onto the rooftops, and vanished into the night, chasing the convoy. Meanwhile, Royce, still recalibrating his cyberware, received multiple distress signals. [Maelstrom Ganger: Boss! The pharma plant is under attack—BOOM!] [Maelstrom Ganger: OH FUCK!!] [Maelstrom Ganger: WE CAN'T HOLD THEM OFF!] Royce, still shaken from barely surviving that cannon blast, was seething. Both sides were fucking furious now. "You think I'll let you off that easy?!" [Recipient: Anthony] [Royce: That old bastard used your goddamn Centaur mechs!] [Royce: FUCK YOU!] Both sides were going all in. This was war.

Chapter 292: The Dance of Death!

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