Ch 157

  It was the woman with dark gray skin and pointed ears who moved first, rushing at Matt. He went to dodge, only for her to grab him by the wrist. Matt had already shifted that part of his body to be nothing but a thin layer of skin and blood. The result was his hand and wrist bursting like a water balloon filled with blood, causing her to blink in surprise. She screamed a moment later as Matt's hand regenerated while hers burst in the same gruesome manner, spattering crimson across the polished floor.

  "What the fuck," shouted the smallest of the women, her eyes wide beneath her hood. "He isn't even B rank. How did he do that?"

  "Wound transfer," called out the blue-skinned woman, her melodic voice now tense with concern. "That or some kind of skill that causes our attacks to land on ourselves in the worst possible way."

  "Who the hell cares!" yelled the largest of the women, her armored hand moving toward her greatsword. "He's attacked us, we can—"

  "No, everyone stand down!" ordered the fox-woman, her amber eyes flashing with authority. "He was attacked first, and I think capturing him might end with one of us dead if not more."

  "He fucking blew up my hand," the gray-skinned woman hissed through clenched teeth, clutching her mangled wrist. "Even with healing, it's going to take hours to restore it."

  "I can heal that in a matter of moments," stated Matt, positioning one foot toward the exit in case any of the women decided to make another move. "As for what I did, I simply healed my injury and bestowed it upon the one who gave it to me as I did so. I just heal so fast that it might as well be instant."

  "You're saying that you can heal better than an A-rank healer?" questioned the blue-skinned woman. "I call cow balls on that."

  "I have to take the injury onto my own body," retorted Matt, frowning at the blue-skinned woman's words. "Is healing magic really that weak at restoring body parts?"

  "What are you?" asked the fox-woman, her amber eyes narrowing with suspicion. "Clearly you're not merely human."

  "I am seeing him as a human hybrid of some kind," stated the smallest of the women. "What he is mixed with I have no clue as my skills aren't revealing that."

  "I don't see how my species has anything to do with my ability to do anything," commented Matt, crossing his arms defensively. "Now, if you would be so kind as to leave and return with someone who can discuss how things will work moving forward, that would be great."

  "My hand?" spat the dark-skinned woman, holding up her mangled wrist. "Or are you going to not prove your words?"

  "See, the problem is that I would rather not get close to you as I can't trust your party to not try and capture me again," stated Matt, taking a cautious step backward. "While I can do what I did to you practically all day, I would rather not as it is painful and causes me to have to take more damage than I like, and I would rather not kill one of you to survive."

  "What did you just say?" challenged the dark-skinned woman, her violet eyes widening. "You can trade your life for another's?"

  Matt sighed as he looked at the dark-skinned woman before replying as seriously as he could. "Yes, though there are obviously restrictions. Just know I have already done it to an A rank who tried to kill me."

  There was a long moment where Matt thought the five women were going to challenge him again. That was until the fox-woman sighed and ordered the smallest woman to head back and inform the Interstellar Administration of the situation. Judging by the fact that no group had come after them, Matt was relatively sure that the gate they had used was a less traveled one. Not that he knew what that meant as Rudan had said that even ones to backwater worlds like the one Matt was on were normally used dozens of times each day.

  The fact that the situation had turned into a standoff was fine in Matt's opinion, as that was among the better results he could hope for while waiting to see who would come. Meanwhile, Rudan's situation was just starting to get bloody as he fought alongside the others to reach the very gate he had just exited from. The fact that they were facing a swarm population made every second count as they struggled to reach it without attacking any of the enemies that didn't attack them first, their chitinous bodies clicking and scraping against each other in a cacophony of alien sounds.

  This was, in fact, one of the most dangerous kinds of factions to face during a penalty period, as they could not care less about their lives, and if they sent an attacker flying into a bystander, the system would still penalize Rudan's group. So, when trying to force their way through a mass like they were, each attack had to kill their foe without damaging even a weak H rank if it was present. Thankfully, anything below D rank would die by stepping foot into an A rank world, so there was a bit of leeway with each counterattack, but only just. The real saving grace was the fact that swarms almost always were hive minds, and hive minds always had problems sending out individual orders to each drone in a relative area, their coordination breaking down into chaotic, jerky movements when overwhelmed.

  It was for this reason that Rudan and his temporary allies were making any progress at all, as the insectoids attacked them relentlessly regardless of level. With each step forward, they executed a precise block or dodge followed by the death of a drone, its carapace splitting with a sickening crack. Sadly, they were moving at a snail's pace, and when they were just 50 feet from the gate, a massive insectoid that Rudan knew was an S rank from its overwhelming presence alone came through. Its mandibles clicked menacingly, dripping with viscous fluid. If he had to bet, it was about to take over the responsibility of leading the battle, and once it did, they were doomed regardless of how careful they were. After all, even if the system would forgive them for interpreting an attempt to hug them as an attack currently, it would not extend the same leniency for something as innocuous as a handshake.

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  Feeling like he had no choice but to act, Rudan stopped caring and surged forward, punching the newly arrived S rank back through the gate with a bone-jarring impact. A moment later, Rudan did the one thing he really hadn't wanted to do and destroyed the gate as he hoped that they had been connected to the swarm's hub rather than to one of their planets. After all, if not, then the results of what he and Matt had just done would be far worse than anything they had intended. Not that they hadn't known that such an outcome had been a possibility.

  With the gate destroyed, the connection that the rest of the swarm had to their hive mind was severed instantly. They all froze in place like grotesque statues, mandibles half-open, limbs suspended mid-motion. It was truly eerie to see the chitinous figures standing motionless as Rudan glanced toward his uneasy allies while scanning the system messages flooding his vision. The notifications were a hot mess—most of them stated 0 experience points and noted that he had acted in self-defense. However, after the final tally, he saw a full nine levels stripped from him as he dropped down to level 251. While he was technically still S-rank, he now was at an A-ranked level.

  Really, it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. He had feared killing far more enemies below his experience range would cost him even more. Yet as he turned to those who had been fighting beside him just moments ago, Rudan tensed, ready to fight if necessary. His muscles coiled beneath his armor, hand hovering near his weapon. Thankfully, as the figure who had chased him through the gate spoke, Rudan's worries eased slightly.

  "Now is not the time for us to fight. Even if you shut that gate, the swarm will find its way back sooner rather than later. They know where this location is now."

  "Right, we can hope they'll be far too busy elsewhere," commented Rudan, wiping ichor from his fists. "Not that it will be a good thing either way."

  "Just tell me why you did all of this, brother."

  Rudan sighed as he looked at his brother Qudan, his actual blood brother with whom he had risen to the very top. While they had been separated by assignment after reaching S rank, both still felt a connection with each other. Deciding that he had no reason to lie, Rudan went ahead and recounted the events he had experienced since Matt's capture. This continued right up to the point where Qudan had chased him into a teleportation gate other than the one he had been targeting and their current situation.

  "So, your only goal was to buy time to escape into a new faction and hopefully live?" asked Qudan after Rudan finished. "I mean, sure I can see the logic, but it is a messy plan with too many ways it could go wrong."

  "I know, and I can only imagine the situation back at the hub as there could be as many as seven gates that were rerouted if everything went according to plan. Though, I suspect that many will destroy their gates connected to it once it is known that the swarm has located it. Godfrey Enterprises is likely finished as they are going to be completely disconnected in any meaningful way, at least."

  "That will depend on how powerful this swarm is," argued Qudan, his fingers tapping nervously against his armored thigh. "I'm more worried about the fates of the six other worlds this was done to. Imagine a C or B rank world being connected to an S rank force with no S ranks to fight alongside them."

  Just then Matt watched as four individuals who looked more than a little annoyed came through the gate that the fox-woman's party was guarding. Instantly Matt felt like destroying the gate might have been for the best, but now it was too late, and he would have to hope that his plan to have whatever force he connected to protect the world worked out. Looking from one scowling face to the next, Matt didn't think any of them were going to be friendly. This was only reinforced when a woman with short white hair and similar features to the blue and grey-skinned women started speaking, her voice as cold as steel.

  "By the order of the Interstellar Administration, the individual known as Matthew Pierce, leader of Scattered Stars, is hereby ordered to surrender and forfeit all organizational assets as punishment for the loss of connection to the Mithril Pits."

  "And Matthew Pierce says go fuck yourself," retorted Matt, squaring his shoulders. "Honestly, if that is what you come in here with then you can go to hell."

  A moment later he stepped out of the door before any of them could react and shut it. Then with a single twist, the room was locked, and even an S-ranked individual would need a few days to break out according to Rudan. Though Matt wasn't going to count on that fact as he sprinted away, leaving a teddy bear-sized puppet behind in the room with the Interstellar Administration. The puppet stepped into view the moment the door shut.

  "Now," stated the puppet, its small arms crossing defiantly. "Since it seems like you think that your position matters to me, I am going to let you speak with me through this puppet."

  "This room will not hold us," spat a muscular man with a pair of bull horns jutting from his forehead. "We will be out of here in a few moments at most."

  The man charged straight at the door Matt had fled through, only to bounce off an invisible barrier just before he would have made contact. Furious, the man stood and started to pound on the barrier with all his might, his knuckles leaving faint golden sparks where they struck the unseen force field.

  "So that's how the room can last at least a few days," commented Matt's puppet. "Still, I would think that you would want to show a better side to a new world when first arriving. These women had me thinking that you were a group of organizations that actually worked together and found ways to compromise. Now it seems that isn't the case, and the strong still bully the weak."

  "It is a crime to own something of value beyond one's means to protect it," stated a man who wore a hood among the new arrivals, his voice carrying an aristocratic accent. "If you can't protect something, then how can you own it?"

  "Got it. The Interstellar Administration is just a bunch of murder hobos, as Greg likes to put it," stated Matt's puppet as it started to move forward. "Since that is the case, you won't blame me when I steal each of your lives to fuel my own rise, will you?"

  After saying that, the puppet charged right at the horned man who turned and backhanded the puppet, turning it into a blood mist, only for it to reform a second later as the horned man spat out blood and fell to his knees, panting as blood covered his body from head to toe.