Suddenly, a colossal robot machine appeared in the sky—looming over Arka like a giant shadow. His eyes widened as he stepped back in disbelief.
"W-What the hell is this?!" he muttered, his grip on the sword loosening for the first time.
D. Cock started laughing, clearly enjoying Arka's reaction.
"This is a military weapon we stole a year ago," he said proudly. "TITAN-09—the colossal robot of destruction. I've programmed it to follow my every command through the AI system."
As the massive robot prepared to land, Arka turned and dashed out of the way just in time.
The ground quaked violently as the robot hit the surface, sending a shockwave through the area. It stood tall like something straight out of a movie—a mechanical titan with two huge arms. One arm ended in a massive robotic fist, and the other had a built-in cannon.
On its chest, written in bold letters: T-09.
A colossal robot… how the hell am I supposed to fight that? Arka thought, eyes locked on the towering machine. I've never even trained for a fight like this. I'm not built for robot combat and I can't expose all my abilities here. Or… can I?
His mind started racing, searching for a plan that could give him the upper hand without giving away too much.
"Lisa, Tell me all the weaknesses of this piece of junk!" Arka shouted, eyes fixed on the towering machine.
The system activated instantly, and the AR display in front of him shifted into scan mode. A few seconds later, the results appeared on the screen.
[SCANNING COMPLETE. THE ROBOT IS NEARLY INVINCIBLE, BUT THERE ARE TWO NOTABLE WEAKNESSES. FIRST, DUE TO ITS MASSIVE SIZE, IT CANNOT MOVE AS FAST AS YOU. SECOND, WHILE THE CHEST IS THE STRONGEST PART OF ITS BODY, THE LEFT CORNER, WHERE 'T-09' IS WRITTEN—IS A STRUCTURAL WEAK POINT. TARGET THAT SPOT TO CAUSE DAMAGE.]
Arka nodded to himself as a plan started forming in his head.
"Guess I'll have to use a bit of my powers... Lisa, activate Combat Mode. I'm going all out."
[ACTIVATING COMBAT MODE. BUT LET ME WARN YOU—DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THIS ROBOT. IT'S THE FOURTH STRONGEST IN THE ENTIRE TITAN SERIES.]
The AR display shifted to red, locking onto the robot's weak point. A glowing marker pinned itself on the left corner of the robot's chest, right where T-09 was written.
From the side, D. Cock raised his hand and pointed straight at Arka.
"Destroy this creature!" he roared.
As soon as the order was given, the Titan roared to life. Its cannon arm lit up with a high-pitched whine then blasted a plasma shot straight toward Arka.
Arka barely managed to dash aside, the beam hitting the ground behind him and blowing a crater into the street. Debris flew everywhere. He jumped to a nearby rooftop but the robot was already turning, its heavy arms smashing through buildings just to keep up.
"Tch—so slow but too damn destructive!" Arka muttered, trying to keep distance. He ran across the crumbling rooftops but the robot's tracking was sharp. Its cannon locked on again and fired.
This time the explosion caught Arka mid-air, sending him crashing into the side of a building. He grunted in pain as he fell down to the ground, dust and smoke covering his landing.
Before he could get back up, the robot's massive foot stomped down, shaking the earth. Arka rolled away just in time but even the shockwave from the stomp left him disoriented.
Lisa's voice rang in his ears.
[YOU'RE TAKING TOO MUCH DAMAGE. DO YOU WANT ME TO ENGAGE BACKUP DEFENSE SYSTEM?]
"No," Arka growled, wiping blood from his lip. "Not yet... I'm not done playing."
Titan began charging a beam and rushed toward Arka with it. Arka blocked the blast with his sword, bracing himself. The robot's firing nonstop… just three seconds. One... two… Before the third second hit, the beam suddenly stopped. Arka looked at the robot in confusion—but it was gone. A shadow loomed over him. He looked up and saw the colossal robot coming down to crush him.
He raised both arms and blocked the robot's foot with his bare hands. People watching from afar gasped in shock. The sight of a human holding back such weight was terrifying—even for a bounty hunter, it was supposed to be impossible. The robot was massive, easily weighing tons.
D. Cock's hand trembled as he watched. T-That's impossible... A bounty hunter can't lift more than a ton even with a full adrenaline surge. How is he lifting 10 tons?!
[ARKA, ARE YOU OKAY?!]
Arka spat out blood, his breath shaky, then gave a faint smirk.
"Don't worry... they're all weak," he muttered, even as blood trickled from his nose. His eyes slowly shifted back to their icy blue. He closed them, trying to focus, forcing his mind to calm despite the pain.
What should I do?! I don't have any other mastered ability besides Technique Reversal… and I'm already using Combat Mode. There's nothing else in my arsenal right now. I have to figure something out—fast!
Arka slowly opened his eyes, his expression now completely calm. Without hesitation, he removed his hands from under the robot's foot and instead placed his head beneath it, holding it up directly. D. Cock frowned, watching in disbelief. What the hell is he doing? Is he trying to crack his own skull? he thought with a twisted smirk.
Then, Arka raised his hands and formed a triangle symbol in the air. The people watching from afar stood frozen—caught between hope and fear, unsure if they were witnessing bravery or madness.
"What are you trying to do, bounty hunter?" D. Cock shouted, still confused.
Arka closed his eyes again and took a deep breath.
"Aayaam Parivartan..."
Dimensional Change...
"What?!" D. Cock's eyes widened.
Arka slowly opened his glowing eyes again and muttered,
"KaalChakra..."
Cycle of Time!
The space around Arka, the robot and D. Cock was suddenly engulfed in a dark energy that twisted the air itself. D. Cock instinctively shut his eyes and when he opened them again, everything had changed. They were no longer in the district, they stood in a vast endless white space. A blank dimension with no sky, no ground...just emptiness.
Above him, the colossal robot Titan-09 was suspended in the air, completely shattered into pieces. Its arms, chest and head floated separately.
D. Cock looked around, panic starting to creep into his expression.
"What is this place?!" he shouted.
A calm voice echoed in the space.
"This is my space," Arka said.
D. Cock quickly looked up and there he was. Arka floated upside down above the broken robot, his coat swaying gently, arms crossed and eyes glowing with a calm fury.
"What do you mean? Is this another one of your 'abilities'?" D. Cock asked, trying to hide the shakiness in his voice as his grip on the axe loosened.
"Yeah, it is," Arka said calmly. "But it's not fully mastered yet. This technique is called Dimensional Change: Cycle of Time. You see, space is made from vacuums, radiation, scattered matter and most importantly—dark matter and dark energy. There's more to it but those two are the key."
He raised his hand and bent the space around his left palm. The air twisted unnaturally. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"I can create a new space using dark energy and matter around me and my enemy. It's like making a new space inside the existing one. I also have control over the time in this space... but there's a limit. I... I haven't maste—"
Before he could finish, the white space suddenly cracked and shattered like glass. Everything returned to normal as Arka dropped to the ground, weak and drained. The robot was completely gone, nowhere in sight.
D. Cock was overwhelmed and terrified by what he saw. He turned and fled the district without looking back.
"He's not human! That bounty hunter is a monster! He's a monster!" D. Cock shouted as he ran through the streets, eyes wide in fear.
Slowly, the people who had been hiding began to come out. They looked around cautiously, checking if the danger had truly passed. Their eyes finally landed on Arka, lying on the ground, bruised and bleeding.
[ARKA? ARKA? ARE YOU ALIVE? DON'T DIE HERE, YOU HAVE A DREAM! YOU HAVE A GOAL!] Lisa's voice rang out in panic.
Arka coughed out blood and gave a tired smirk. "Shut up... don't be so dramatic. I'm alive... and I haven't forgotten anything about my dream or my goal."
One by one, people gathered around him, eyes wide with disbelief and gratitude.
"Thank you, sir! Because of you, we're safe!"
"Thank you for defeating those bandits!"
"Thank you for saving our daughters!"
Arka closed his eyes and smiled faintly, the crowd's voices blending into a quiet hum around him.
---
The news of D.Cock bandits' defeat spread fast and reached the government. It wasn't just the defeat of an infamous gang that shocked them but the bounty hunter behind it—Arka.
Reports claimed he used powers far beyond human limits. The government received scattered footage, witness statements and drone scans confirming Arka fought alone and destroyed a stolen military-grade robot.
Now, they weren't just looking at a bounty hunter.
They were looking at someone... More than a human.