Simply barging through and beelining for his house wasn't a perfect option as he'd be followed anyway, but as he tried, SWAT officers holding riot shields lined up to try and prevent him from leaving the scene.
'It's your funeral!' he thought in response to their action.
Thrusting his hand forward like a spear, he pierced straight through the riot shield, stabbing through the sternum of the tactical unit.
He was bombarded by gunfire, hazed by shotgun pellets and hundreds of bullets from rapid-fire assault rifles, though it stung his skin, he pushed on without hindrance, sweeping through the SWAT unit with unequivocal physical might.
Taking one of the riot shields, he used it to shield from the storm of gunfire before using it as a bludgeoning weapon once reaching the other portion of the unit, bashing one of their skulls in with a single slam before cleaving another in half by slamming it down on their waist.
'...I need to get to Yukio…It doesn't matter if I have to bloody my hands for now. I can still overcome this–I just need my grimoire again,' he tried to rationalize, 'If I don't hurry, the Sentinels will show up…I can hold my own against whatever they throw at me with strength alone, but without my grimoire…a Sentinel would be too much.'
As he managed to obliterate the SWAT unit, he huffed, looking around as something of supernatural origin was born around the block: a 'curtain' of distorted space like an outward mirror isolated the block, secluding the civilians from the zone.
'What is this…? It seems like something meant to hide what's beyond it–if that's the case, that means the ones behind it are…' He began to realize.
"--The Sentinels," he remarked, looking up.
Coming to that conclusion, his eyes laid on a figure dressed in a black jumpsuit, wearing a flowing cape as his well-kempt, blonde hair was brushed in the wind.
"That's enough, villain," the man spoke with a commanding, but gentle voice.
The man hovered in the air, descending as the curtain was deployed to hide the presence of the Sentinel from public view.
It was a figure he recognized from the Antarctic encounter, knowing full well that he posed a threat by his level alone.
[Clark] [Level 80 | Superhero System]
"You're late," Noah said.
Though the inability to use his Creator's Grimoire was a handicap unlike any other, Noah squeezed his fists, knowing a fight was unavoidable.
Before he could even raise his fists properly, his ears popped as the wind broke, finding the figure of the fair-faced Sentinel disappearing from above before finding a harsh impact slammed against his chin.
He couldn't perceive the speed, unprepared for the aggressive initiative taken by Clark as the force behind the blow knocked him back, causing his entire body to momentarily go limp as blood spewed from his mouth.
'He's fast, and strong,' Noah remarked.
Regaining his motor function, he flipped around to retake momentum after being flung back by the blow, digging his shoes into the concrete to stop himself.
"--!"
Clark was already in front of him, swooping in with his natural flight, though this time Noah was able to react as he jumped back, avoiding the wind-carving punch.
"Don't think for a second I'll show you any mercy after what you've done, villain," Clark said with steel-like conviction lacing his words.
'Too close,' Noah thought.
Though he was given no time for even the smallest windows of reprieve as he witnessed Clark's eyes glow to a vibrant red before lasers shot from his ocular organs, shooting towards him with swift precision.
It took every ounce of focus and drive from his enhanced reflexes to move out of the way from Clark's laser vision, though still finding his shoulder barely grazed. Even such brief contact caused his skin to be erased by the extreme heat and pressure.
'Heat vision–? You're kidding, right? Don't tell me his system is really molded after–' Noah thought.
Without even being able to finish a single thought, he was forced to flip backward repeatedly as the temperature dropped severely with a powerful exhale of the caped Sentinel, finding Clark's expulsion of breath to turn into a wind that encased the street in frost.
As he came to a stop, he brought his gaze up to find the sound barrier being shattered with the Superhero system wielder flying towards him with a powerful blow being reared back.
'Shit–' Noah thought.
Trying to move out of the way with only a split-second to take action, he realized his legs had been caught in the man's frost breath, locking him down before–
THUD.
The wind howled as a shock wave propelled outward from the impact of Clark's gloved fist slammed against Noah's cheek, shattering the nearby windows of the sky high buildings and blowing vehicles off the road.
As he flew back, Clark caught up to him, slamming his knuckles straight into Noah's stomach, causing him to plummet down into the concrete as it cracked and caved in multiple meters.
"Gah–!" Noah spit out a mixture of blood, saliva, and the breath from his lungs.
Clark stood over him with a look of disdain in his eyes that heated up with a red glow of his laser vision, "If this is all you've got, I don't see how Asiimov failed to finish you. You must've used underhanded tactics…I bet that traitor, Yukio, helped you. He's next."
It was only due to his superhuman statline that he was able to endure such attacks, though it didn't allow him to match the disparity in physical prowess as he was naturally a caster, unlike the Sentinel who seemed like the embodiment of strength.
'If only I had my grimoire! Dammit…!' Noah lamented.
Filled with resentment at his unfair situation, he suddenly kicked himself up with a newfound vigor, taking Clark by surprise as he threw his fist against the man's body, continuing with continuous blows.
Each blow was unrestrained; enough to cause the air to ripple with each impact, yet by the end, his physical might wasn't on par with the self-proclaimed superhero, feeling as if he was slamming his fists into an immutable wall.
"Is that all you've got, villain?"
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