His retaliation attack would have been deadly to others. But the flesh and bones of her face had simply liquefied into water. This made the barbs on the spike to fail to find any purchase on her face.
In fact, she wasn't injured at all. The water where her face used to be reverted to flesh and blood after she put some distance between them. It looked as if nothing had happened to her.
He muttered as retracted his nose spike and rubbed the spot where she had struck him, "That was disappointing. I was hoping to catch you off guard there."
She snorted at him, "I have been watching you just as you've been watching me."
This is another reason why he hadn't wanted to fight her. Because he didn't have what it takes to harm her.
Maybe if she were weaker, he would be able to nail her with the Mental Domination Network and prevent her from shifting her flesh to water. But she had the advantage of raw power and couldn't be hurt physically.
But he wasn't willing to give up yet. He still had one more card to play. So he stood up and equipped Juggernaut's Armament.
Then he said, "That was a stupid decision to hit me. But I don't mind it. In fact, I am looking forward to seeing just how unkillable you are."
Wrath roared, "Quickly. Hit her quickly."
Unfortunately, her warning came too late.
He froze, and so did she. It is because the mark of the black tree on their arms had grown roots that spread all over their bodies and bound them.
The mark had seen everything that just happened and had recorded it. The make didn't know what happened exactly, but an AI in Command headquarters, specifically created to spot military crimes, identified what just happened as a military crime.
It took some time for the event to be recorded, the video to be sent to headquarters, the events in the video to be analyzed, and the crime to be identified with certainty.
That period of time was from when she punched him in the face to when they froze after he stood up to confront her. It was less than two seconds.
Now that the crime has been identified as a minor infraction, the parties involved will be frozen, and arbitration will be done by the AI in charge of these matters. If both sides are not satisfied with the resolution proposed by the AI, then the matter will be forwarded to the military court.
The AI sent a message to them. "Minor infraction detected involving you, the offended (Party B), and soldier Sarah, the offender (Party A). Sarah (Party A) broke military code 6-35B by punching you (Party B) in the face once. Is this correct?"
"Say yes or no."
He said, "Yes."
He heard Sarah say beside him, "Yes."
Wrath was unhappy with what Sarah said, but she was still hopeful. She put her hands together and said, "I hope this is not going where I think it is going."
Then they both received another message. "Will you (Party B) be willing to settle this matter by receiving half of Sarah's (Party A) merit points?"
"Say yes or no."
He chuckled and said, "Yes."
The message Sarah received was different. It said, "Will you (Party A) be willing to settle this matter by giving up three-fourths of your merit points, half of which will go to Rupert (Party B)?"
Rupert isn't his name, and Sarah isn't her name. The AI was protecting their information by using synonyms.
But the main difference in the two messages was that Sarah, the offender, had to give up 75% of her total merit points. Kelvin would receive 50%, while 25% will go to the army as fines for the offense.
It was a painful resolution, but Sarah didn't want the matter of her punching a soldier right after the most deadly battle to reach the human commanders. So she agreed to the resolution and said yes.
Wrath didn't like what answer Sarah chose. She groaned and asked, "Why did you decide to be reasonable now?"
Then she threw her hands up and lamented, "Why don't things go my way?"
She was distraught that the matter wouldn't become bigger than it was. Unfortunately, her love for fighting and drama won't change the outcome.
The two of them were released after they both agreed to the settlement.
Kelvin received a notification soon after.
- You have received 22,863,972 merit points.
The message made him grin. He looked at her and saw her wince. It made his grin become brighter.
He said to her, "That was the single best fight I have ever been in. I wish we could have another go at it. What say you, comrade?"
She scoffed and walked away.
The soldiers watching sniggered and chuckled at the sight. They didn't know what the resolution was, but they saw her hit him, and both of them froze.
Now they saw her walking away with her teeth grinding in her mouth. They could infer that the price that she paid for the punch was more expensive than she thought.
She walked away and sat down under a tree sulking. Kelvin watched her leave regretfully before he sat back down.
Wrath was disappointed, which she made sure to make known to him. "I was disappointed by that outcome. But I have to give credit where credit is due. She came here to goad you into hitting her first or doing something stupid, but you managed to turn things the other way around."
He shrugged and said, "I didn't plan to at the start. At the start, I just wanted to watch her make a fool of herself. It was when I saw how pissed off she was that I decided to add salt to the injury."
Wrath shook her head about the missed opportunity. "I'm sure having your kills stolen is a painful experience; confronting you about it is nowhere near the solution to the matter. She would be better off complaining to Command about it. At least, she won't lose half of her merit points that way."
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