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Chapter 192: The Smile Gradually Fades
A searing beam of light shot across the space, its shockwave exploding into transparent ripples against the Green Lantern's force field. Fragments of the barrier scattered like crystal shards as Hal was sent tumbling backward, crashing headfirst into a pile of ruins.
"No one escapes the Manhunters."
The Manhunter that had blasted him slowly approached, its eyes flashing with a red glow.
"Yeah, yeah, I've got the line memorized."
Hal spat out a mouthful of blood and raised his fist. As a surge of green light flared around him, he roared, "No one escapes the Green Lantern!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the ceiling above them exploded. A blinding green light burst through, and particles of light materialized into a giant road roller, descending from above. It was a behemoth of steel, a Green Light construct, its body covered in massive tires arranged vertically, making it look exceptionally huge. The roller spun relentlessly, as if to crush anything beneath it flat.
Eat my road roller!
The Manhunter was caught completely off guard. By the time it looked up, the road roller was right on top of it. It was smashed right through the floor along with the construct, plummeting to the lower deck and out of sight.
Hal floated forward smugly. "Ha, that should teach you not to mess with a..."
BOOM!
He didn't even get to finish his sentence before a green light erupted from below, blasting him right in the face. Hal Jordan's head snapped back as he did a backflip.
"What's going on now?"
He looked up in astonishment to see the Manhunter he had just knocked through the floor flying back up. A green glow burned on its forehead, while it mechanically repeated, "No one escapes the Manhunters."
His power ring calmly reported, "Energy level at 70%. The constructed attack was absorbed."
"Tch, then the next one just has to be stronger." Hal shouted and shot into the air, the green light in his hand transforming into a club as he charged fearlessly toward the Manhunter.
Meanwhile, Orin Vale slipped between two Manhunters. A mach-speed elbow strike shattered one's head, while a flying kick simultaneously sent the other reeling.
From head to toe, they were equipped with anti-Green Lantern weaponry. Their heads and chests were fitted with cores that absorbed green light energy, and even their armor material was designed to counteract the impact of green light.
However, this specialized design was only effective against green light energy and similar emotional spectrum energies; it had limited effectiveness against other types of attacks.
Evidently, the Manhunters' intelligence helped them realize that compared to the Green Lantern, this elusive mobile armor was a greater threat. Therefore, a large contingent of Manhunters made him their priority target.
Arcs of blue lightning radiated from the seams of the mobile armor.
The next moment, at least ten Manhunters opened fire simultaneously.
A dense barrage of fire and the intense heat from the beams filled the space, making the dark ship cabin glow red-hot.
Orin Vale lowered his center of gravity, ducking and weaving through the web of fire. He ran two steps up the wall, dodging several beams that had locked onto him, and continued running from the floor, along the wall, and onto the ceiling.
Then, aiming for a gap between the beams, he leaped. Like a cat passing through a laser security grid, in a fraction of a second, he crossed the web of fire and broke into the Manhunters' formation.
A speed-enhanced mach-punch shattered the head of an oncoming Manhunter, while a knee strike caved in a second one's chest.
Two Manhunters tried to fire at him in unison. But with a flicker of movement, Orin Vale was already between them. As time slowed to a near-standstill, he turned their guns to point at each other's heads.
The moment he dashed away, the two machines fired simultaneously. The red-hot beams blew each other's heads apart, blasting them into scorched wreckage.
Electric sparks sputtered from Manhunter A's scorched head as it struggled to say to its counterpart, "I...*bzzzt*... I'm sorry."
Manhunter B's head was also a wreck, one of its mechanical eyes had been blown out, but it also managed to say, "Me... me too."
Then, the pair powered down and collapsed shoulder to shoulder.
Only then did the other Manhunters react and switch to melee weapons. Each one revealed their standard-issue weapon: great clubs wreathed in electricity, powerful enough to be fatal in a single hit. They swung them with wide, powerful arcs, leaving behind thread-like trails of electricity in the darkness.
Of course, it was of limited use.
Orin Vale faced a Manhunter swinging its club at his head. With a lightning-fast circling step, he dodged around to its side and found the perfect angle from a bullet time-like perspective.
Four Manhunters—one was drawing its club, another was turning, and two more were attempting to swing their clubs at him. All of them moved as if in slow motion, their positions happening to form a perfect line in front of Orin Vale.
Orin Vale stopped in his tracks as lightning radiated out in the frozen space. He placed his left hand on his right forearm. Light energy converged at the output port on his battlesuit's palm and roared out in a burst of electricity.
Ultra Shot!
Piercing through all four!
The four Manhunters exploded one after another in a chain of detonations. The light beam pierced the spaceship, sending parts scattering everywhere.
The three remaining Manhunters on the other side saw the mobile armor had stopped moving and immediately seized the opportunity to charge forward, swinging their great clubs while chanting, "No one escapes the Manhunters..."
Without even looking, Orin Vale spun 180 degrees. By the time he turned, his freezing energy was fully charged.
Freezing Ray!
An ice-blue beam swept over them. The three Manhunters were instantly frozen solid in their charging poses, becoming ice sculptures in a flash.
Orin Vale stomped his foot, and his figure shot out as a bolt of lightning. The afterimage of his mach-speed movement weaved in an S-pattern through the three ice sculptures. The Manhunters immediately exploded in succession, shattering into pieces on the spot.
Coming to a stylish, drifting stop, his metal boots scraped bright sparks from the floor. Orin Vale clapped his hands and turned to look in Hal's direction.
Hal was still locked in a life-or-death struggle with the first Manhunter.
"Energy below 30%," the power ring reported.
"I know, you don't have to keep reminding me!"
As he spoke, Hal was being pinned against a wall by the Manhunter, its pincer-like hand choking his neck. His face was red and veins were bulging on his neck as he muttered the oath.
"In brightest day, in blackest night; No evil shall escape my sight..."
His eyes began to glow green, and the light around his body intensified.
"No one escapes the Manhunters," the Manhunter said coldly, increasing the pressure of its grip. Hal's throat was being continuously crushed, and energy from his power ring was being steadily siphoned into the device on its head. Cracks began to appear on his force field.
But Hal paid it no mind. "Let those who worship evil's might, Fear My Light..."
The power ring released a brilliant radiance, and a powerful green light filled the entire space.
"Green Lantern's Light... Eternal Radiance!!!"
An unparalleled burst of power. Hal's willpower caused the power ring to erupt with an output far beyond its presets. Like a longsword cleaving through darkness, it pierced the Manhunter's head in a single strike. The green light stored within it then burst out and actually flowed back into Hal's power ring!
"Energy level 92%. Power ring operating at optimal capacity," the ring reported.
"Ha, told you so."
Hal tossed aside the Manhunter he had miraculously blasted into scrap metal, looking smug.
"A Green Lantern can do anything!"
He said, turning around to look.
Only to see Orin Vale standing off to the side, watching like a bystander. And behind him, Manhunters lay scattered across the floor. Some were missing heads, others hands; some had completely fallen apart into piles of smoking parts, and one was even embedded in the wall...
Hal's smile gradually faded.
(end of chapter)
A searing beam of light shot across the space, its shockwave exploding into transparent ripples against the Green Lantern's force field. Fragments of the barrier scattered like crystal shards as Hal was sent tumbling backward, crashing headfirst into a pile of ruins.
"No one escapes the Manhunters."
The Manhunter that had blasted him slowly approached, its eyes flashing with a red glow.
"Yeah, yeah, I've got the line memorized."
Hal spat out a mouthful of blood and raised his fist. As a surge of green light flared around him, he roared, "No one escapes the Green Lantern!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the ceiling above them exploded. A blinding green light burst through, and particles of light materialized into a giant road roller, descending from above. It was a behemoth of steel, a Green Light construct, its body covered in massive tires arranged vertically, making it look exceptionally huge. The roller spun relentlessly, as if to crush anything beneath it flat.
Eat my road roller!
The Manhunter was caught completely off guard. By the time it looked up, the road roller was right on top of it. It was smashed right through the floor along with the construct, plummeting to the lower deck and out of sight.
Hal floated forward smugly. "Ha, that should teach you not to mess with a..."
BOOM!
He didn't even get to finish his sentence before a green light erupted from below, blasting him right in the face. Hal Jordan's head snapped back as he did a backflip.
"What's going on now?"
He looked up in astonishment to see the Manhunter he had just knocked through the floor flying back up. A green glow burned on its forehead, while it mechanically repeated, "No one escapes the Manhunters."
His power ring calmly reported, "Energy level at 70%. The constructed attack was absorbed."
"Tch, then the next one just has to be stronger." Hal shouted and shot into the air, the green light in his hand transforming into a club as he charged fearlessly toward the Manhunter.
Meanwhile, Orin Vale slipped between two Manhunters. A mach-speed elbow strike shattered one's head, while a flying kick simultaneously sent the other reeling.
From head to toe, they were equipped with anti-Green Lantern weaponry. Their heads and chests were fitted with cores that absorbed green light energy, and even their armor material was designed to counteract the impact of green light.
However, this specialized design was only effective against green light energy and similar emotional spectrum energies; it had limited effectiveness against other types of attacks.
Evidently, the Manhunters' intelligence helped them realize that compared to the Green Lantern, this elusive mobile armor was a greater threat. Therefore, a large contingent of Manhunters made him their priority target.
Arcs of blue lightning radiated from the seams of the mobile armor.
The next moment, at least ten Manhunters opened fire simultaneously.
A dense barrage of fire and the intense heat from the beams filled the space, making the dark ship cabin glow red-hot.
Orin Vale lowered his center of gravity, ducking and weaving through the web of fire. He ran two steps up the wall, dodging several beams that had locked onto him, and continued running from the floor, along the wall, and onto the ceiling.
Then, aiming for a gap between the beams, he leaped. Like a cat passing through a laser security grid, in a fraction of a second, he crossed the web of fire and broke into the Manhunters' formation.
A speed-enhanced mach-punch shattered the head of an oncoming Manhunter, while a knee strike caved in a second one's chest.
Two Manhunters tried to fire at him in unison. But with a flicker of movement, Orin Vale was already between them. As time slowed to a near-standstill, he turned their guns to point at each other's heads.
The moment he dashed away, the two machines fired simultaneously. The red-hot beams blew each other's heads apart, blasting them into scorched wreckage.
Electric sparks sputtered from Manhunter A's scorched head as it struggled to say to its counterpart, "I...*bzzzt*... I'm sorry."
Manhunter B's head was also a wreck, one of its mechanical eyes had been blown out, but it also managed to say, "Me... me too."
Then, the pair powered down and collapsed shoulder to shoulder.
Only then did the other Manhunters react and switch to melee weapons. Each one revealed their standard-issue weapon: great clubs wreathed in electricity, powerful enough to be fatal in a single hit. They swung them with wide, powerful arcs, leaving behind thread-like trails of electricity in the darkness.
Of course, it was of limited use.
Orin Vale faced a Manhunter swinging its club at his head. With a lightning-fast circling step, he dodged around to its side and found the perfect angle from a bullet time-like perspective.
Four Manhunters—one was drawing its club, another was turning, and two more were attempting to swing their clubs at him. All of them moved as if in slow motion, their positions happening to form a perfect line in front of Orin Vale.
Orin Vale stopped in his tracks as lightning radiated out in the frozen space. He placed his left hand on his right forearm. Light energy converged at the output port on his battlesuit's palm and roared out in a burst of electricity.
Ultra Shot!
Piercing through all four!
The four Manhunters exploded one after another in a chain of detonations. The light beam pierced the spaceship, sending parts scattering everywhere.
The three remaining Manhunters on the other side saw the mobile armor had stopped moving and immediately seized the opportunity to charge forward, swinging their great clubs while chanting, "No one escapes the Manhunters..."
Without even looking, Orin Vale spun 180 degrees. By the time he turned, his freezing energy was fully charged.
Freezing Ray!
An ice-blue beam swept over them. The three Manhunters were instantly frozen solid in their charging poses, becoming ice sculptures in a flash.
Orin Vale stomped his foot, and his figure shot out as a bolt of lightning. The afterimage of his mach-speed movement weaved in an S-pattern through the three ice sculptures. The Manhunters immediately exploded in succession, shattering into pieces on the spot.
Coming to a stylish, drifting stop, his metal boots scraped bright sparks from the floor. Orin Vale clapped his hands and turned to look in Hal's direction.
Hal was still locked in a life-or-death struggle with the first Manhunter.
"Energy below 30%," the power ring reported.
"I know, you don't have to keep reminding me!"
As he spoke, Hal was being pinned against a wall by the Manhunter, its pincer-like hand choking his neck. His face was red and veins were bulging on his neck as he muttered the oath.
"In brightest day, in blackest night; No evil shall escape my sight..."
His eyes began to glow green, and the light around his body intensified.
"No one escapes the Manhunters," the Manhunter said coldly, increasing the pressure of its grip. Hal's throat was being continuously crushed, and energy from his power ring was being steadily siphoned into the device on its head. Cracks began to appear on his force field.
But Hal paid it no mind. "Let those who worship evil's might, Fear My Light..."
The power ring released a brilliant radiance, and a powerful green light filled the entire space.
"Green Lantern's Light... Eternal Radiance!!!"
An unparalleled burst of power. Hal's willpower caused the power ring to erupt with an output far beyond its presets. Like a longsword cleaving through darkness, it pierced the Manhunter's head in a single strike. The green light stored within it then burst out and actually flowed back into Hal's power ring!
"Energy level 92%. Power ring operating at optimal capacity," the ring reported.
"Ha, told you so."
Hal tossed aside the Manhunter he had miraculously blasted into scrap metal, looking smug.
"A Green Lantern can do anything!"
He said, turning around to look.
Only to see Orin Vale standing off to the side, watching like a bystander. And behind him, Manhunters lay scattered across the floor. Some were missing heads, others hands; some had completely fallen apart into piles of smoking parts, and one was even embedded in the wall...
Hal's smile gradually faded.
(end of chapter)
