As the world before David's eyes gradually came back into focus, he was greeted by dazzling lights.
The floor around him was immaculate. Two steps forward and he'd be at the rooftop terrace — and beyond that, the glittering sprawl of Night City spread out before him.
This was Arasaka Tower.
David had been here once before, but never had he stood this close to it — never seen it like this.
As his mind sharpened back to clarity, two things surfaced first.
First: backup was coming.
Second: his job was to loot the spoils.
Third: don't forget to hammer Adam Smasher into the ground.
Having confirmed all three points in his head, David took a deep breath, turned, and walked into the interior of Arasaka Tower.
In an instant, the [Artificer's Frame — Earth Series] activated. A pulse radiated outward from the soul chip seated in his skull.
Then David's expression shifted — a flicker of surprise.
He wasn't picking up Adam Smasher's soul signature. It seemed the man wasn't inside Arasaka Tower yet.
Did something call him away? Well — maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.
In that case, he'd proceed with the original plan—
—Just as that thought crossed his mind, a thunderous explosion erupted from somewhere below.
The shrill wail of alarms followed immediately. David's footsteps faltered. He lowered his head with a helpless sigh, catching the familiar orange glow of a fireball billowing up from the floors beneath him.
Looks like Lucy moves a lot faster than he'd given her credit for.
He'd been planning to keep a low profile — stay under the radar, get things done quietly.
Guess that wasn't happening now.
He'd honestly expected Lucy to be the more careful one of the two.
But apparently — whether it was the sight of Arasaka Tower, that sworn enemy, or the days she'd spent being thoroughly corrupted by Anthony's influence — she'd come in guns blazing and detonated [Lachimaeus's Roar] the second she touched down.
Well. That did cut through a lot of red tape.
Then he'd draw some fire for Lucy's sake. When it came to looting, she was probably better at it than he was anyway.
As for himself…
David's lips curled into a grin.
He'd do what he did best.
Once more — straight to the top of Arasaka Tower!
Meanwhile, aboard a helicopter.
"According to reports, an explosion of unknown origin has just occurred at Arasaka Tower. As of this moment, no official statement has been issued by relevant parties."
"Speculation among civilians suggests the incident may have been caused by the notorious Bomb Fiend, a major criminal active in recent weeks, who may have infiltrated Arasaka Tower to conduct a sabotage operation."
"We have yet to receive word on Arasaka's official response, but we believe neither party wishes to see this situation escalate."
"Keeping Night City safe is our shared responsibility."
"We will continue to monitor the situation and await an official statement from the Arasaka Corporation—"
Click.
The holographic screen on the helicopter winked out with a soft sound. Behind it, a man encased head to toe in cyberware lifted his unfocused gaze and stared straight ahead.
Up in the pilot's seat, the captain threw a glance back at him.
"Hey, you catch all that? Smasher?"
Adam Smasher didn't answer. He simply turned his eyes toward the man who'd spoken.
"Corp's got their panties in a twist over this one — wouldn't be rushing us otherwise. That TV station just now? Pretty sure that's a military tech holding company."
"'Shared responsibility.' Ha. Ballsy thing to say."
Talking seemed to be every pilot's natural state. The captain kept rambling, punctuating it with a cold laugh:
"They're just waiting for us to embarrass ourselves. But same as always — the only thing they're gonna get is a good laugh at their own expense."
The captain spotted Arasaka Tower in the distance and began banking toward it.
"After tonight, Night City's got itself a new firework show."
Call it fireworks, call it legend — at the end of the day, it all amounted to the same thing.
There was no question about it: the Bomb Fiend, who'd actually stormed Arasaka Tower and pulled it off with a bomb, was about to become Night City's newest legend.
But all legends had one destination in common. The graveyard.
The thought made the captain smile. All thanks to the man behind him — Adam Smasher.
No matter how large a splash you made, the moment Adam Smasher put you down, not a ripple would remain.
This was Arasaka's composure.
"Hey, Smasher. You've got this one too, right?"
The captain turned and called out. Adam Smasher, apparently done with his patience, finally opened his mouth:
"Fly the bird. Get us down fast. Don't screw it up."
"Relax, I'm the best captain in all of Night City."
The captain slapped his chest with a broad, breezy confidence, swearing up and down:
"Around here, they all call me Captain Zobayan—"
The words weren't even out of his mouth yet when Adam Smasher's eyes caught several points of fire igniting in the distance.
Then — trailing behind those flashes — long plumes of smoke, streaking straight toward him.
Incoming. Air strike.
Adam Smasher was on his feet without hesitation — but the missiles curved through an impossible arc, veering away from the direction he'd moved to intercept. Then they slammed straight into the helicopter's hull.
Artificer's Frame — Earth Series: Soul-Guided Cruise Cluster Missiles!
Blueprint cost: 500 points total. Fifty points per round. Anthony had loaded sixty of them into David — for clearing mobs and blocking chokepoints.
And right now, they were being used for exactly that: blocking Adam Smasher's path.
Tonight, David Martinez blocks the bridge at Arasaka Tower.
In an instant, electrical sparks crackled across the helicopter's rotor blades, accompanied by the angry sizzle of arcing current. The captain's expression collapsed. He yanked desperately at the controls, hauling them upward.
But in the end, the cry tore out of him anyway:
"We're going down!"
"Shut up!"
Adam Smasher choked back his fury and roared back at him. Then his cybernetic vision zoomed in — closer, and closer still.
And there, on the bridge below, he found the source: a young man whose arms had just finished shifting back from cannon form, now waving up at him.
With a smile on his face. A brilliant, beaming, infuriatingly bright smile.
Something stirred in Adam Smasher's chest at the sight of it.
He had a vague feeling he'd seen this person somewhere before.
But he'd seen too many people. Killed too many people. He couldn't place it. So who the hell was this?
No exchange. No words at all. Just the next wave of missiles.
This time, the helicopter had already begun emergency descent. Wreathed in thick smoke, the incoming volley detonated it clean out of the sky mid-fall.
Total wreck.
"Huh. Actually worked."
David raised a hand to shield his eyes, squinting at the distant helicopter as he muttered to himself. Then a look of excitement spread across his face.
High above, the smoke from the explosion bloomed outward. Through it, David heard a sharp, pained scream — and then he saw a dark silhouette hurl itself free of the wreckage.
A moment later, something was falling directly above him.
The shadow grew. Fast.
David caught it with a flicker in his eyes. He spun on his heel, both arms snapping up in a guard.
Clang!
The clear ring of metal on metal sang out. Adam Smasher, descending from the heavens, landed with a look of shock — staring at the young man who'd just blocked him.
And then he saw the same look on the young man's face. Surprise. Disbelief.
"So I actually can block it."
Adam Smasher heard it — soft words murmured from the boy's lips, carrying a barely concealed thrill beneath them.
Smasher leaped back sharply. Something felt deeply wrong here, but then — as his eyes landed on the young man's face — an image crashed into his mind from nowhere.
"You!"
In an instant, a roar erupted — fury and disbelief tangled into one. David, for his part, just smiled.
"That's right. It's me. David Martinez — speaking for myself — saying hello."
"I put you in the ground with my own hands. Doesn't matter. I don't have time to waste on you — you're not the target."
Adam Smasher's emotions surged for a split second — then went cold.
"You came back to life. Fine. That's just round two. Let me show you the ending that should've already been written — one more time."
Svyatogor activated.
The rumble of his full-body cyberware filled the air. Adam Smasher advanced like a warship bearing down, sweeping around behind David, raising his cannon — ready to end this resurrected legend's life with a single shot.
But in the next instant, the legend before him blazed with blue light.
Micro-cyberware phase transfer engine — activated!
David's silhouette vanished. Adam Smasher's vision lurched violently — and in his shock, he found David standing behind him.
With a smile on his face. Ruthless and bright all at once.
"It's different this time. This time — nobody knows how this ends!"
"And this move? I know it too!"
The next moment, a half-armored arm slammed into the center of Adam Smasher's back.
The specially reinforced stats cratered a massive dent into Smasher's armor plating, sending him skidding back more than ten meters.
Smasher stumbled through a rough roll, and for the first time in a long, long while, something stirred in his chest that felt like genuine disbelief.
How? How is this possible?
Just over a month ago, this kid was nothing. A corpse among the piles of corpses on Arasaka Tower's floors.
Since when did Night City's list of legends include someone like this?!
"It works. Good — nothing holding me back now!"
David understood. The half-armored hand stretched forward.
In Anthony's original design spec, there was supposed to be a "henshin" call before activation. David thought about it for a moment — then just triggered the internal program directly.
Alright then. Time for Phase Two.
Sure, his health bar was still full — but who said you had to be half-dead before you could transform?
In an instant, cold iron light bloomed in his hand.
From his fingertips outward, silver-white armor spread across him. Every inch of his body was traced over by icy lines rising from within his soul.
Last, countless razor-sharp crests emerged from the helmet's crown. On the mech frame, dim eyes ignited with a pale, spectral green glow.
And David reached backward — into his soul — and drew out a blade: a keen-edged sword, just over a meter in length.
Artificer's Frame — Specialized Mech: Gaia, loaded!
Artificer's Frame — Specialized Armament: Book Blade, loaded!
From beneath the armor, David's voice rang out — swelling with rising exhilaration:
"Come on!"
With that single shout, Adam Smasher felt it — the power radiating off this person seemed to spike sharply, all at once.
But why? How? A month ago this kid was just one more body among the many that died in Arasaka Tower.
Why was he alive? Why was he suddenly this strong? Why did it feel like he'd been waiting here, specifically, for Smasher to show up? Too many questions.
Far too many questions crowded Adam Smasher's mind.
But he was out of time to ask them.
Because his time of death had just about arrived.
In the next instant, David blinked forward again — not even giving Adam Smasher time to bring Svyatogor online. The Book Blade carved straight into his cyberware frame.
In an instant, the armor shattered. Pain lanced deep, reaching toward something that felt like his very soul — and Adam Smasher felt like a chunk of his mind had simply been cut away.
For a moment: nothing. Blank white.
When awareness rushed back, he tried to bring up his backup armor plating — but it was like hitting a dead trigger. No matter what he did, the plates wouldn't deploy.
As if the very concept of "armor" in this place had been erased.
And then the next slash arrived.
His soul convulsed again, violently. Pushed past its limit, it fractured completely.
The Book Blade spun deftly in David's hand. The phase engine ignited. Soul energy plummeted by a sharp margin.
But the next moment, countless cuts raked across Adam Smasher's body. He raised one arm — only instinct remaining, some last dregs of a soul fighting against dissolution — compelling one final strike.
David cut that arm off cleanly.
"Adam Smasher."
At last, David spoke — quiet and even:
"It's time for all of this to end. Not just for my sake. For the sake of everyone you killed. Everyone whose names you never even bothered to remember."
You. Everything you are. And the Arasaka Tower standing behind you.
It all ends here.
And so — no one answered. There was only Adam Smasher, the last of his soul unraveling through the ruins of his body, dissolving away.
The legend of the Shredder — gone. His soul: erased without a trace.
David released his mech form. He turned, and then — as if completing some solemn rite — walked forward, one step at a time.
Always upward. Ever upward.
Until he reached the very top of Arasaka Tower — the highest point in all of Night City.
The wind was strong up here.
David stood at the summit of Night City. He breathed in deeply, then let it all out in one long, slow exhale — every knot of tension he'd carried in his chest releasing with it.
Mom — are you watching?
And Rebecca — Becca.
I'm okay. Thank you. For everything, along the way.
He couldn't help it — his lips pulled into a complicated, bittersweet smile.
Then he steadied himself. Turned. And began walking back down, planning to collect Adam Smasher's remains for Anthony.
Time to go back and help Lucy.
That thought was still passing through his mind when — out of the corner of his eye — he spotted something drop straight down beside him: a red beacon, hitting the ground with a thud.
Attached to it was a handwritten sticky note, in Anthony's own handwriting:
[Don't panic. Backup's coming.]
Backup? Wait — right now?!
David's eyes went wide. He didn't even have time to process it before the roar of an engine shook the air.
Then the barrier between worlds tore open. Right in the center of Arasaka Tower, endless pillars of fire screamed outward, splitting the structure apart.
And from within that roaring breach, something monstrous emerged. A supreme masterwork of an Artificer — the crowning achievement of a lifetime's craft.
Forge-Heart · Stygian Ark — arriving.
David stared.
Eyes wide open.
What the hell — THIS is what you call backup?!
____
👻🔥Whant more?: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: COTE: Confessing to Sakayanagi From the Start
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