Chapter 273 - 274
Chapter 273: Just a Spar, Just Once
“Hmph…”
Roland let out a breath and shook his head, forcing away the thoughts that had suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Just now, the rage within Oblivion had risen slightly, and with it came a string of reckless impulses.
Arasaka? What kind of small fry is that? Crush them.
The European Space Agency? What even is that—can you eat it? Crush them.
Highriders? Doesn’t matter. Crush them.
That was roughly the tone of it—pure brute-force thinking. Fortunately, Roland suppressed it quickly. It was clearly the influence of Oblivion’s rage.
But honestly… it felt less like anger and more like some kind of berserker instinct.
“Where’s Apocalypse? I need him to come over.”
Roland retracted the energy blade of his Moon Blade, set it down, and turned to Mudor.
Mudor, who had been admiring Oblivion’s perfect frame, immediately broke out in a cold sweat. His expression shifted to alarm.
“Boss, no! Absolutely not!”
Roland frowned.
“Why?”
Oblivion’s massive body stepped forward, looming over Mudor. The heat radiating from the frame washed over him. Being stared down by that monster only made it worse.
“Give me a reason.”
“This base can’t withstand you and Apocalypse going at it! It’ll explode!”
Mudor unconsciously edged backward as he spoke.
Roland paused. He had to admit—Mudor had a point. If he fought Apocalypse here, there was a very real chance the entire facility would be blown apart.
“Then have Maine wait in the wasteland outside Night City. And don’t tell him it’s me. Just say it’s a test against another war machine.”
“I understand.”
Mudor nodded, though his expression remained complicated. Silently, he wished Maine good luck.
“But… how are you planning to get to the wasteland?”
Roland thought for a moment. There were plenty of options—transport aircraft, for example.
He couldn’t be bothered.
“I’ll run.”
Mudor’s mouth twitched.
“But—”
“No buts. Open the base gate. I’m heading out. And prepare a transport aircraft—we’ll use it to bring us back after the fight.”
“…Understood.”
Mudor forced his expression back under control and issued the order.
The base gate opened, clearing a passage.
Without hesitation, Roland sprinted forward.
Once he left, Mudor ordered the base concealed again.
…
Before long, a terrifying figure was tearing through the streets of Night City.
Everywhere it passed, massive claw marks were carved into the ground.
Pedestrians and vehicles scattered in panic. What made it worse was that this clearly wasn’t the beast from PROJECT Corporation they were familiar with.
Under PROJECT Corporation’s oversight, some districts of Night City had never been safer. Incidents on this scale were rare—especially when the creature had just passed straight through the affluent district with the tightest security.
Rustle—!
Maine, who oversaw security in Night City, immediately noticed the disturbance. Frowning, he leapt down from a high-rise, using nearby structures to descend rapidly to street level.
Whoosh—
A shadow flashed past him.
The oppressive aura made every hair on his body stand on end. By the time he reacted, the figure had already vanished.
Only then did he realize his back was soaked in cold sweat.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt such a clear brush with death. And never this close.
As for why Roland had done it?
No particular reason.
He just felt like it.
Maine quickly reported the anomaly and took off in pursuit.
Soon after, he received instructions from Mudor and learned that the figure was the subject of the upcoming test.
His eyes widened.
He hadn’t expected this at all.
After a brief hesitation, he accelerated.
From that aura alone, he could tell there was a high chance he wasn’t the stronger one. Still, he wanted to try. It had been a long time since he’d fought someone on equal footing.
Equal footing?
The thought flickered through his mind—then disappeared.
No matter what, he would find out in battle.
…
Inside Arasaka’s temporary building, Adam Smasher had also noticed the disturbance.
After barely making out the figure, disbelief filled his eyes—followed by a trace of fear.
That emotion was quickly drowned out by anger.
Ever since becoming a Legend, he hadn’t felt anything resembling weakness.
Yet that sensation—like when he had once encountered cyberpsychos in his early days—was unmistakable.
And he hated it.
“Another creation of PROJECT…”
Adam Smasher muttered the name, his desire to obtain PROJECT’s technology intensifying.
…
Boom!
With a thunderous impact, Roland descended from the sky and crashed into the ground, the force driving a crater into the earth. Behind him, his massive hammer-like tail smashed down, carving a deep groove into the sand.
Maine arrived moments later.
After the dust settled, the two beasts stood facing each other in the wasteland, wind whipping sand between them.
...
Chapter 274: Venting
“So you’re the one being tested this time.”
Maine lowered his stance slightly, staring at Oblivion with a grave expression. He still had no idea Roland was inside.
But just standing face to face with it already felt wrong.
From what he could tell… did something like this even need testing?
“Heh. Testing? You’ll soon find out what kind of battle this really is.”
Oblivion’s signature voice carried a sharp edge of mockery. Maine’s temper flared for a split second before he forced himself calm, carefully observing the beast before him.
There were quite a few structural similarities between them—shared design concepts, familiar components—but also subtle differences.
When he attempted to scan Oblivion’s system data, he found nothing.
No response. No readable output.
It was like staring into a data black hole.
That body rejected all external detection, completely immune to outside data interference.
“Interested in my data? Don’t worry. You’ll experience it firsthand.”
The moment the words fell—
Boom!
The ground collapsed into a circular crater. A white shockwave blasted outward, sweeping away the surrounding sand. Oblivion appeared beside Maine in an instant.
Whoosh—Boom—
Maine’s danger sensors screamed. He twisted aside just in time.
A split second later, a devastating explosion erupted where he had been standing.
Sand filled the air—but only briefly. A stronger shockwave followed, clearing everything.
The ground where Oblivion had struck was now riddled with cracks. The entire section had sunk as if the land itself had collapsed.
Roland grinned inside the frame.
Apocalypse’s speed excited him.
His foreclaws dug into the earth. His hind legs coiled—
Then he shot forward like an orange meteor.
Maine’s pupils contracted.
Without hesitation, he activated Apocalypse’s Carnage Mode.
This wasn’t something he could handle with manual control alone.
White steam vented from Apocalypse’s back—cooling measures triggered by energy overload. Orange energy flared across its body, compressing tightly around the frame.
“ROAR!!!”
Apocalypse lunged.
Boom!!!
The two collided.
At the point of impact, a white dot flashed into existence—then a visible shockwave tore outward.
Within hundreds of meters, dust and sand were blasted into a ring. A second later, an even more violent energy detonation engulfed everything around them.
Neither paid it any mind.
Orange and blue light intertwined. Claw met claw. Fang met fang.
This was no tactical duel.
This was a beast fight.
Thud!
As Apocalypse snapped toward Oblivion’s neck, a massive hand burst through the dust and seized its skull.
Apocalypse immediately struggled.
And then—
It felt it.
The strength was completely different from before.
“I have to admit… this is the most satisfying fight I’ve had.”
Roland’s grin widened.
“Now let me show you Oblivion’s full power.”
He hadn’t realized before how deep his own violent instincts ran.
Without another word, he lifted Apocalypse and slammed it into the ground.
Boom!
Apocalypse retaliated instantly, claws raking at Roland’s arm. At the beginning of the fight, it might have torn through the armor.
But now—
Oblivion was in red rage.
A faint orange-red aura coated its body.
The attack didn’t break through.
Roland’s arm felt like forged iron—no, harder than iron—as it pinned Apocalypse to the earth.
Then came the brutal rhythm.
Lift.
Slam.
Lift.
Slam.
Again.
And again.
After some time, the rage within Oblivion finally burned itself out.
Roland stopped.
He looked down at Apocalypse—and his mouth twitched.
He quickly set it down.
They say copper head, iron bones, tofu waist.
Now Apocalypse’s once-solid skull was covered in cracks. Its claws were mangled. Carnage Mode had been forcibly knocked offline, leaving Maine unconscious.
Meanwhile, Oblivion had only a few shallow cuts—already repairing themselves through nanotechnology.
“…I should’ve held back.”
Roland sighed.
Because who was going to repair Apocalypse?
Him.
And PROJECT Corporation currently didn’t possess full restoration capability for Apocalypse. He’d have to purchase components from the System.
And they weren’t cheap.
Still—the test results were extremely satisfying.
It lived up to its reputation as something that could go head-on with Iron Man. At full power, he didn’t even need weapons to overwhelm Apocalypse.
It wasn’t that Apocalypse was weak.
It was just… half-finished.
Even the version Roland had redeemed was incomplete. With his current technological level, he couldn’t elevate it to Oblivion’s tier.
He arranged for Maine to be transported back.
At that moment, Mudor’s communication request came in.
“Boss, should I arrange transport to bring you back?”
Roland was about to agree when he remembered—there was still one ability he hadn’t tested.
“No. Not yet. Send a team to monitor from a distance. I want to try that form.”
Mudor’s scalp tingled.
He knew exactly which form Roland meant.
“And have our people stay far away. I’m not sure I can control my attack impulses in that state. Monitor everything closely. If necessary, sever my control link and shut Oblivion down.”
“Understood!”
Roland rose to his full height, waiting as the personnel withdrew.
Mudor stared at the monitors without blinking.
“Come on.”
...
Chapter 275: Dominus State!
In the wasteland outside Night City, a group of Wraiths cautiously poked their heads out to assess the situation. Not far from them was the very site where Roland and Maine had just clashed.
Roland hadn’t expected a Wraith stronghold to be located so close to their battlefield.
The Wraiths had naturally noticed the disturbance—especially that massive impact earlier. Sensing danger, they had immediately taken cover. Only after things seemed to calm down did they dare to come out and investigate.
What they didn’t know was that Oblivion, under Roland’s control, was still there—waiting for the right moment.
Just as the Wraiths sent out a small squad to scout ahead, an intensely violent tremor suddenly erupted from not far away, knocking every member of the squad off their feet.
They scrambled up and stared at one another, each seeing the shock and uncertainty mirrored in the others’ eyes.
“B-Boss… are we still going?”
The leader hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth.
“We’re going. Who knows what good stuff might be waiting for us? Ever heard ‘fortune favors the bold’?”
The squad exchanged glances, then followed. Their boss wasn’t wrong—if you want something, you take the risk.
The closer they got, the stronger the tremors became. Sand and pebbles were already lifting slightly off the ground under the vibration.
Along with the tremors came an overwhelming wave of heat.
At the epicenter, Oblivion’s already massive body had grown another size. Orange-red energy overflowed from every inch of muscle and armor, bathing him in a blazing glow.
Under the surge of power, Roland couldn’t hold back any longer. He threw his head back and let out a long howl.
Oblivion’s body swelled again before their eyes.
Energy flooded into his muscles, expanding his entire frame. The gaps in his armor were filled with pure energy. A crimson glow ignited deep within his monstrous maw.
A violent shockwave exploded outward.
Boom!
Everything around Oblivion instantly caved in, forming a shallow basin. Surging energy lit up every sharp edge of his form.
At the same time, an intense high-temperature field and electromagnetic distortion enveloped him. Storms of raw energy swirled violently around his body.
Roland even saw a massive boulder get sucked in—only to be reduced to dust in an instant.
“So… this is Oblivion’s full power?”
He clenched his fist slowly, then beckoned behind him.
A massive Moon Blade tore through the PROJECT transport aircraft and dropped into his hand.
Swish—
A blazing orange blade arc tore through the air, slicing a small hill clean in half before it collapsed to the ground.
Boom—
“ROAR!!!”
The soundwave rippled outward with crushing force.
Roland immediately canceled Dominus State and severed the connection.
If he stayed connected any longer, the rage and brute impulses might push him straight into Night City for a full-scale massacre…
With control cut, Oblivion fell silent.
The prepared PROJECT squad waited at a distance for a long moment before cautiously approaching. Once they confirmed stability, they quickly began crating and securing Oblivion for transport.
Meanwhile, the Wraith squad finally arrived at the scene, just in time to see a large transport aircraft bearing the PROJECT insignia.
“Looks like we’re too late…”
The Wraith leader’s expression carried both regret and relief.
From this close, they had heard everything—the earth-shattering impacts, the roar that nearly made them piss themselves. They knew exactly how dangerous that place had been.
They had only dared approach once things went quiet again.
But when they finally got a clear look—
Every face froze.
The terrain had been completely rewritten. A once-solid hill now lay sliced cleanly in two. A section of cliff face had simply vanished. The ground itself had crystallized under extreme heat.
“I’m starting to think… we’re insanely lucky…”
No one argued. They just nodded blankly.
…
“Damn… those side effects are something else…”
Roland climbed out of the cockpit, rubbing his forehead as a dull ache throbbed behind his eyes. It passed quickly—but remembering what he had just done—
Smack.
“Need to be more careful when piloting Oblivion…”
Normally, he would never take something that massive for a stroll—especially not sprinting through the streets of Night City like a maniac.
What was that if not public indecency at a citywide scale?
It wouldn’t take long before every major faction learned he had something like that.
But would that be a bad thing?
…Or would it just make them even more cautious?
Yeah. Probably that.
As Roland stepped down from the cockpit, he began thinking about how to make proper use of Oblivion.
“Come to think of it… since Yorinobu’s already in Night City, and both Oblivion and Apocalypse are in my hands… what’s Arasaka even good for anymore?”
His eyes suddenly lit up.
“Right. Time to blow up the carrier and Arasaka Tower. And that Smasher I’ve been ignoring? Might as well take care of him too. Decision made—Night City is mine.”
In a strange way, the brute impulses brought by Oblivion were useful. With his current strength, he really could turn hostile against Arasaka.
Before, he’d held back because of insufficient firepower.
Now?
On land, everyone else was a joke.
“Idaho’s dragged on long enough too. Time to end that war… Mudor!”
“Boss, what are your orders?”
Mudor hurried in.
“Don’t ship Oblivion back here. Send it straight to Idaho. I’ll end that war myself.”
“Understood!”
Roland nodded, satisfied.
As for Arasaka in Night City… he could deal with them after Idaho. It’s not like they were going anywhere.
Meanwhile, inside Arasaka’s temporary tower, Smasher suddenly felt a chill crawl up his spine.
For no clear reason—
He had a very bad feeling.
Author's Note
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