Chapter 37: Arc 1: Chapter 34: A Warrior’s End

"Shiiii"

Warm water flows from the showerhead, Merlin stood still like a statue.

He let the water wash away his sweat, Merlin was extremely calm.

He's made his decision, those random thinking can no longer affect his mind.

At least in this very moment, he won't be swayed by other ideas.

Merlin opens his eyes and takes a step forward, he reaches out and wipes the mirror that was covered in water vapor. He looks at himself through the mirror, as if looking at a familiar stranger.

He has been through a lot, growing up and maturing are what should have happened.

If the things he's experienced hadn't made him mature, that would only mean that his experiences these past 2 years have been in vain.

Merlin takes the shaver and begins grooming his face; after cleaning his beard, he takes off the blade and begins cutting his hair.

Short black hair falls onto the flowing water and into the drain, like those in the past that can only be remembered and not to keep.

A few minutes later, Merlin steps out of the bathroom with a towel surrounding his lower half body.

On the sofa, Betsy who was in her black combat uniform hears the door open and looks back. She sees the brand new image of her employer.

The muscles on Merlin's shoulders and chest were not exaggerating, but the modification brought by the Super-Soldier serum still gave him an oddly vigorous and graceful vibe.

His slender figure, along with his strange eyes and his well-tended short hair, mixed with the gloomy temperament his dark experiences gave him.

All those factors added together made Merlin look stunning at first glance.

Surprise and admiration flashes in Betsy's eyes, she reaches out, grabs the clothes she just bought, and throws them at Merlin.

The latter catches the clothes, turns around, and begins dressing.

He did not avoid Betsy deliberately, this powerful and experienced mercenary seemed to disregard formalities.

Betsy who had finished suiting up in her combat uniform wore armguard gloves on both hands with the samurai blade on her back, her apparel made it easy for combat; but for some reason, her somewhat revealing black leather clothing, with her large coat and black-purple hair made her look surprisingly carefree.

She crosses both arms and speaks to Merlin in a businesslike tone:

"I've sensed the Winter Soldier's hiding place, he seems to be battling the female warrior with the spear, she's being overpowered by the Winter Soldier. But I must warn you, Merlin, I won't help you fight because you lack the money to hire me. So I will only save you again when you're close to dying, got it?"

"Got it."

Merlin nods and begins wearing the grey shirt, and as he fastened the buttons, he asked:

"I'm curious, how much would it usually cost to hire an outstanding warrior like you?"

"Depends on what you need me to do."

Betsy's cold eyes became lively as soon as money was involved, she lists her services to Merlin:

"I'm one of the best amongst mercenaries, so it's a bit costly to hire me. Standard security missions would price at 100,000 dollars if the enemies are regular robbers."

"If we're talking about some tricky enemies, like military prowess or mutants like me, the price goes up to 200,000 dollars."

"Rescue missions like todays' are divided into different classes, ranging from 300,000 to 2 million dollars."

"Lastly are assassination missions, since I'm risking my life on these types of missions, the price is even higher. Of course, you can hire for me to do something else..."

She rests her left hand on her waist while stroking her hair with her right hand, she continues:

"Other than a mercenary, I'm also a model; so if you want to hire me to tread the catwalk or for commercials, those types of jobs are cheaper. If you want me to endorse for a brand, we can sign a contract, or you can pay in installments."

"What if I wanna hire you for a drink?"

As Merlin fastened his last button, he turns around and asks with a smile:

"What if I want you to become my friend?"

"Oh, then the price is even higher, little Merlin."

Betsy sways her body and walks towards Merlin, she frivolously reaches out her finger and taps on Merlin's nose, saying:

"10,000 dollars a day...so let's be friends when you're richer."

"Okay, I'll get in contact then."

Merlin steps back and avoids Betsy's finger.

He picks up the black leather gloves and looks at Betsy surprisingly, asking:

"Why'd you buy this?"

The female mercenary snots, she turns around and waves her hand, saying indifferently:

"Just a little quirk I have. Although we're dealing with lives here, I dislike getting my hands soaked in blood."

"Come, I'll take you to the Winter Soldier."

She gently exhorts:

"I have to advise you, that you may feel that you have a major advantage after becoming strong, but that's just an illusion. Listen to me...I know not of the abilities or hidden trump cards you've received, but you best be prepared against a killer like the Winter Soldier."

"I know."

Merlin puts on the black gloves and places a baseball cap on his head, and says:

"Someone had told me before, that any miracle takes time. And I have enough patience for that."

"No, what I meant was..."

Betsy turns around and glances at Merlin, with a strange tone, says:

"Mr. 5 million dollars, if you have any valuable property on you, it's best you leave a will. Of course, I can also take care of it in your absence."

"It's free."

---

In an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Oakland, the Winter Soldier hides in the darkness.

On the ground in front of him, Wakandan warrior Okoye was searching for his traces while limping.

The armor of the King's guard was stained with blood, of course, most of it wasn't hers.

In the chaotic battle last night, she nearly single-handedly dealt with the killers led by the Winter Soldier. The Vibranium armor she wore had made her nearly impenetrable, despite her habit of not wearing a helmet made her suffer.

Nearly all of this panther-like female warrior's face had been burnt by the explosion, which must've hurt.

When Fury's chopper crashed onto the ground, Okoye had dodged the explosion; but her left leg was hit by the flying debris. Although the vibranium had shielded her, vibranium that hadn't been processed using special methods was not yet completely shock-absorbent.

 A night's hunt had made her exhausted, but she could still fight, as the mastermind behind the attack had yet to be captured.

This was her honor as the servant of the Black Panther; in her country, the King was the strongest fighter, as well as the protector of the people, thus he is called the Black Panther. Only the bravest warriors were worthy of following under the invincible Black Panther.

If she failed to complete her mission, it would stain her honor as a warrior.

This was intolerable by the proud and stubborn Okoye.

The fierce girl resists the pain on her face and contemplates the deserted factory in front of her; she had traced the Winter Soldier to this location, where they would have their final battle.

"Come out!"

Okoye shouted:

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"Stop hiding like a rat!"

"BOOM"

Okoye lifts her spear and a blue energy bolt destroyed a crate in front of her.

"Bam"

Something was thrown from the shadows and lands beside Okoye's feet, it was a range grenade with the pin pulled, and it was emitting a dangerous orange glow.

"BOOM"

Moments later, bright orange flames spread out like a shining sun. But Okoye was protected by an energy shield that blocked the dangerous explosion, she stood in the flames unharmed.

The female warrior had a greyish-silver metal bead in her hand, it was the crystallization of Wakanda's technology, possessing multiple functions both offensive and defensive ones; the energy shield, for example, completely absorbed the fire and heat caused by the explosion.

In their chaotic battle last night,  Okoye had used 2 similar beads, with the one in her hand making three beads in total.

This was her source of fearlessness in hunting the Winter Soldier alone.

Wakandan warriors were not stupid, they knew to prepare thoroughly before their hunt.

But Okoye made a mistake, as the grenade thrown by the Winter Soldier was no ordinary explosive; if she had seen how the Winter Soldier used this grenade against Merlin, she would run away instead of just standing there.

"BOOM"

As the orange explosion reaches a radius of 10-meters, another explosion occurs inside the original one; a strange yet powerful pulling force begins pulling Okoye into the center.

Everything that had been destroyed by the explosion, metal debris, steel rods, all began flying into the center, hammering Okoye's body like a rainstorm.

"Ding Ding Ding Ding"

The objects smash into Okoye's vibranium armor, pushing her backward; some sharp debris even cuts through her neck, causing blood to spill.

"Bang"

Okoye raises her spear with both hands and heavily thrusts it into the ground in an attempt to regain her footing.

"Kuang"

The gravity bomb pulled everything within a 10-meter radius into an odd-looking spear, which slams on the ground making a loud thud.

The odd explosion had ended.

But before the female Wakandan warrior could catch her breath, a figure pounces towards her from the darkness.

The malicious Winter Soldier wields the combat knife in his hand and pounces next to Okoye as she pulled out her spear. The sharp alloy-made knife pierces through the gap in her armor and stabs into her waist.

His metal arm, which had fully charged, smashes towards Okoye with a destructive force.

"Puh"

The female warrior spat out blood from the attack, her entire body was knocked backward and heavily slams onto the ground; the Winter Soldier relentlessly grabs the vibranium spear on the ground and rushes towards Okoye.

"Shwa"

The vibranium spear stabs towards Okoye's head, the other metal bead in Okoye's hand generates a shield that blocks his first attack; but the Winter Soldier soon breaks the shield with his second attack.

The female warrior desperately turns her body and dodges the direct thrust of the spear, but the Winter Soldier flicked his wrist and knocked off Okoye's neck guard; the spear tears into her throat.

Blood begins gushing out uncontrollably.

In the final battle between the female warrior and the Winter Soldier, Okoye loses.

And the price of losing was death.

The Winter Soldier lifts his left leg and stomps on Okoye, keeping her from moving.

Okoye was struggling, but the fatal wound on her throat made her struggles weaken by the second. She could only watch as the spear in the Winter Soldier's hand thrusts towards the center of her eyes.

"I'm sorry...your majesty, I have...failed you."

Okoye was powerless.

Just as the female warrior was in utter despair, just as the vibranium spear was about to hit, just when the bloodlust in the Winter Soldier's eyes reach their limits; the sudden appearance of a black storm crashes through the air like a heavy punch and heavily slams into the Winter Soldier like a train.

The impact was very powerful as it sent the Winter Soldier flying, and the vibranium spear he was holding drops onto the ground.

The black storm carried the unsuspecting Winter Soldier into the air and darkness enshrouds him like the night of his first encounter against Merlin.

Merlin who had taken his chance and launched the fatal hit did not plan on holding back; he madly poured his dark power onto the enemy in front of him, he had gained the ability to manually turn into fog after his body was enhanced by the serum.

And today, he will bury this ruthless yet dangerous killer in his raging black storm.

For the lives that were lost because of him, for the disasters caused by greed, for the countless torturous sleepless nights in the past.

"AH!!!"

The blade-like fog tears through the Winter Soldier's clothing and armor, pieces of meat were torn from his body as if he was being mauled by a ferocious beast.

In the black smoke, Merlin's spirit stares at the killer in front of him; the dark powers inside him begin to boil like flowing lava.

The strongest attack in his fog-form...magic explosion!

"Shla"

Before the dark powers reached their extent, the Winter Soldier's metal arm suddenly lets out a blue spark, and the super electric device releases an electric current that flickers towards the black smoke.

"Pah"

The black smoke suddenly dissipates from the electric shock, sending the Winter Soldier flying. And as he rolled in the air, the bloody Winter Soldier grist his teeth and throws a grenade that was emitting orange light into the black fog midair.

He had not given up! He was still trying to kill him!

But before the grenade could explode, Merlin's fog swiftly dissipates and Merlin returns to the ground in his human form.

The same trick won't work on him twice.

As the orange explosion erupts above him, Merlin flings his arm to soothe the paralysis on his body, pity flashes in Merlin's eyes.

The last hit of the magic explosion was halted by the flickering electricity.

It would seem that after their last encounter, the Winter Soldier's organization had added something new into his metal arm. The brief electric outage just now was strong enough to instantly kill normal people, it seemed to be implanted especially for him.

In front of Merlin, the terribly bad-shaped Winter Soldier crawls up from the ground. Aside from his metal arm, the Winter Soldier almost had no intact flesh on his body; he looked like a skinless monster.

Beneath his blood-stained hair, the Winter Soldier's cold grey eyes stared at Merlin, he didn't look like he was in pain, or that he suppressed the feeling of pain with his will.

He moves both of his hands and combat knives appear on both hands.

Merlin also spreads out his arms with dark fog forming on both hands.

Then, the two charged at each other.

There was no interaction, no scolding, no running away.

They were going to end their grudges towards each other. Right here! Right now!

 

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