Chapter 1597: The Vengeful Hare
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Vyperion’s hand was brushed aside by Quick Hare, whose sharp red eyes glared at him with fierce intensity.
Something within her had abruptly shifted.
Wrath, vengeance, fury, disbelief, frustration, irritation.
All these emotions, long suppressed to maintain her moderately tolerable life, surged to the surface.
"Every single day of my life has been a lie."
She had once found contentment as a small cog in society’s vast machine, dutifully playing her part.
But...
This society was a falsehood, every bit of it.
She seized the Zodiacrons’ insignia, hurled it to the ground, and crushed it beneath her foot.
CRASH!
"Quick Hare, what are you doing?! Your emblem!" Vyperion exclaimed, panic lacing his voice.
"It has no value, you know?! None of this has any value!" Quick Hare shouted.
"Quick Hare, we must stop Drakogon. Don’t lose yourself to this!" Vyperion urged.
"Stop him?! I want to kill him!" Quick Hare’s voice reverberated. "I want to chain Drakogon and parade him through the city so everyone can see the FALSE KING HE IS! Then I want him to SUFFER AND DIE IN DARKNESS! THAT’S WHAT I WANT, VYPERION!!!"
"Q-Quick Hare..." Vyperion’s eyes widened, registering the depth of the young Zodiacron’s anguish.
"...But of course it doesn’t matter, right?" Quick Hare said with a cynical smile. "It doesn’t matter what a stupid little Rabbit Zodiacron wants, because my opinion doesn’t matter, because nothing I do could ever matter, because I’m just a rabbit, right?!"
"NO! I never said that!" Vyperion protested, but she swatted his hand away each time he reached for her.
"Don’t touch me!" Quick Hare snapped angrily. "Maria opened my eyes, but you kept insisting. You were the one who filled my head with lies! You and Gallotron!"
"They were the same lies I was taught!" Vyperion countered. "I’m just as disillusioned as you are, but—"
"Who’s there?!"
A Corrupted Zodiacron emerged, a Monkey-type with long arms wielding a massive axe, pointing at Quick Hare.
"Huh? A rabbit? Hahah! What are you even going to do against me? Leap around and—"
"RAAAAH!"
Quick Hare answered with a furious roar, launching forward with an explosive shockwave of flames and lightning from her legs. She reached the Zodiacron, thrice her size, and struck his head with a powerful kick.
CRASH!
"Guuaaagh?!"
The Monkey Zodiacron’s face shattered into pieces, his metallic armor splintering as he collapsed, barely alive with half his head missing.
"Uuuggh?! Uuggh!"
He struggled to speak, Quick Hare’s foot buried deep within his fractured skull.
"What were you going to say? I can’t hear you right now! What’s wrong?! Were you going to say I’m a Rabbit, so I’m weak? SO I’M INFERIOR TO YOU?! SPEAK! TALK! WHY CAN’T YOU TALK?! HUH?! SOMETHING WRONG THERE?! YOU TRAITOR!"
Everyone watched in stunned disbelief. Even the Aliens and Corrupted Zodiacrons stood speechless, witnessing one of their own overwhelmed by a mere Rabbit Zodiacron.
"Hey, I like her more now," Partner grinned, revealing her sharp vampiric teeth.
"Quick Hare..." Vyperion murmured, shaken by her sudden transformation, guilt weighing heavily on him. "This is my fault... It’s all my fault..."
"Stop her!"
"Kill her already!"
"Go, go, go!"
Corrupted Zodiacrons charged alongside Armored Alien Soldiers. Quick Hare fixed them with a piercing glare; her brow furrowed and kicked the broken Zodiacron toward them.
"Do you want this piece of garbage back? Sure, have it!"
CRAAASH!
"Gyaaaagggh!"
The Monkey Zodiacron screamed in agony as his head exploded when Quick Hare’s kick drove through his wound. His body ignited, consumed by flames and lightning, crashing into the alien army and sending them sprawling in an explosion.
BOOOM!
"She killed...! She killed Simianx?!"
"With... a kick?!"
"How are there flames and lightning coming from her foot? It doesn’t make sense!"
"What... what is she?! She cannot be a rabbit!"
"I am."
RUMBLE!
The ground shattered beneath her as she appeared before a group of aliens. They retaliated with acid and weapons.
Quick Hare evaded their attacks with blinding speed, a pink blur materializing behind them. She drove both legs into their heads, crushing them.
CLANK!
The aliens vomited blood, their smaller, humanoid heads cracking and bursting, killed instantly by one of the deadliest kicks anyone present had witnessed.
"SHYAAAGH!"
"GRAAARR!"
The aliens hissed furiously, charging with spears aimed at the young Zodiacron. Quick Hare dodged their Mana-Enhanced Attacks with agility, spinning in midair, striking the ceiling, and using the momentum to descend. She sliced through their arms with her long blades while kicking their backs, slamming them to the ground.
Rage fueled her survival instincts. The more she fought, the more she leveled up, her skills grew stronger. A volatile mix of wrath and frustration sharpened her fighting style, rendering her exceptionally lethal.
She had killed a Zodiacron earlier for the first time yet felt no remorse. In her mind, these traitors were no better than Drakogon.
As she battled the aliens and repelled the Zodiacrons, Maria and her party approached the battlefield, observing swarms of Hive Drones converging from all directions.
"I’ve created a monster," Maria sighed. "I’m proud she’s realized the lie she’s been living, but this drastic shift is painful to witness. It feels as though her innocence has been stripped away."
"I wonder why that happened. Perhaps because someone insisted on revealing the truth so forcefully," Emeraldine said, chastising Maria. "We could have handled this ourselves. Was it necessary to place her at the center of everything?"
"I believe it was," Maria replied. "If we acted alone, the people of this world would remain deceived. They’d continue following another fool who’d rise after Drakogon’s defeat. It’s better to reveal the truth and let them choose for themselves, rather than making all their decisions for them."
"That’s... I suppose you’re right, but couldn’t there have been another way?" Emeraldine pressed.
"I understand your feelings, but I’m unsure if another way existed," Maria admitted. "Vyperion, stay with us. I know you can’t fight right now."
"...I’m sorry," Vyperion muttered repeatedly. "I’m sorry, Quick Hare..."
"He looks utterly broken too!" Partner exclaimed. "Hey, snake! Pull yourself together!"
"Leave him be, Partner, please... he’s going through a lot," Alma said. "I understand how he feels."
RUMBLE!
The heavy footsteps of a towering Corrupted Zodiacron echoed behind them. Maria glanced back, spotting Oxetron, the massive Ox Zodiacron and former general of a vast Zodiacron army, advancing toward them.
"My pathetic soldiers can’t handle a little Rabbit," he taunted. "Come on, girl, let’s fight."
"Let’s see how tough that armor really is, old man!" Quick Hare roared, smashing the ground, obliterating the bodies of three aliens she was about to finish, and leaping toward the general. "Take this, traitor!"
With a roar brimming with rebellion, anger, and frustration, Quick Hare struck Oxetron with all her might, generating enough force to crack the floor beneath them.
CRAAASH!
Oxetron remained unscathed, his armor merely scuffed, releasing steam where the blow landed. The attack was undeniably powerful.
But it was not enough.
"My turn."
Oxetron’s left arm, formed entirely of a colony of Aliens, swelled to an immense size. His claws, resembling an Insectoid Alien’s fangs, hissed at Quick Hare.
"HAAAAH!"
With a thunderous roar, the Corrupted Zodiacron swung his fist down, striking Quick Hare before she could dodge, nearly shattering her helmet.
BAAAM!
"Ungh?!"
Quick Hare cried out, collapsing to the floor, dazed. The attack nearly destroyed her head circuits as she glared at Oxetron, his red eyes glowing menacingly.
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