While Rebecca was still processing everything, the Tyrant T-001 had already forced itself back to its feet and charged again.
If not for worrying that the Tyrant might die too quickly, Mero would have pressed the attack the moment it went down.
He had complete control over the situation.
In every measurable way, the Tyrant T-001 was inferior to him, and its flaws were obvious.
Its movements were stiff and slow. Compared to it, Mero was far more agile and precise.
The Tyrant lowered its body slightly, its massive claw drawing back into a familiar stabbing stance.
Its shattered face looked even more grotesque now.
Its mind was already ruined. Naturally, its attacks lacked any real variation.
"Let me see your limits."
Boom!
The moment the words left his mouth, Mero and the Tyrant collided almost instantly.
Mero had no intention of letting his flesh-and-blood fist clash directly with claws that could pierce alloy.
He was smaller. Faster.
So he did not block. He redirected.
The Tyrant struck. Mero shifted sideways, guiding the force, hooking his leg, and using the creature's own momentum to throw it.
Its own strength sent it crashing to the ground, momentarily stunned.
Bang!
The Tyrant pushed itself up again, its posture suddenly changing.
Its legs slammed into the ground as it launched forward.
Its speed increased dramatically.
Mero's eyes sharpened.
He saw through it immediately.
There was no technique in that charge.
Just raw power.
Each step drove into the ground with such force that it barely seemed to touch it at all, as if it were gliding forward.
Its massive form blurred, closing the distance in an instant.
Before Mero could counter, a sharp tearing sound cut through the air at his side.
"Roar!"
A full-force whip kick lashed out.
The strike carried a violent gust of wind, snapping forward like a steel cable.
With no restraint on its muscle output, combined with physical capabilities at least twenty times that of a normal human, the attack carried terrifying power.
Enough to shatter stone and tear through metal.
Even if Mero blocked it, he would likely suffer broken bones.
But in the next moment
A flash of metallic light.
Mero stepped back casually.
Behind him stood a solid alloy wall.
Not a hollow lab table like before, but a fully reinforced metal structure.
If that kick landed, the result was obvious.
The one getting hurt would not be him.
The Tyrant, having long lost its reason, did not adjust its attack.
Its leg drove forward at full force, smashing directly into the corner of the alloy wall.
The impact dented the metal. The entire wall trembled violently.
Crack!
The sharp sound echoed through the lab.
The Tyrant's leg bent unnaturally. Bone burst through flesh, fragments tearing free along with strips of bloodied tissue.
It had broken its own leg.
"Alright. Strength, speed… intelligence all tested. Let me think what's left…"
Mero spoke calmly.
None of this surprised him.
Everything had gone exactly as expected.
The Tyrant might be a super-mutated organism, but it was still a carbon-based lifeform of flesh and blood.
At least for now, its individual power was insignificant in the face of human engineering.
The Tyrant swayed, unable to stand properly on its shattered leg.
But a closer look revealed something unsettling.
The torn flesh was writhing.
New tissue was beginning to form.
As a bio-weapon with enhanced physical functions, its regeneration had been strengthened as well.
"Too slow. Definitely a failed product."
Mero shook his head.
"Disappointing combat performance. Not even as useful as an armored vehicle."
"As a military product, it might find buyers in smaller-scale conflict zones."
As he spoke, he walked toward the Tyrant.
The Tyrant tried to attack again, but with only one leg and impaired cognition, it could not even steady itself.
It collapsed forward, almost kneeling in front of him.
"And one more thing… durability."
Without stopping, Mero delivered a heavy kick.
Straight to its groin.
The skull was the hardest part of the human body.
The groin, one of the most vulnerable.
His previous punch had tested its upper defenses.
Now he chose a weaker point.
Both strikes were deliberate.
With his current physical condition, he had once punched through half a meter of concrete.
Compared to heavy artillery, that might seem insignificant.
But against flesh, it was devastating.
A kick backed by tons of force.
In its crippled state, the Tyrant had no way to avoid it.
At this point, it was nothing more than a target.
Rebecca glanced between Mero and the Tyrant being sent flying again.
Cold sweat formed on her forehead.
She understood exactly how terrifying that attack was.
She could almost feel it herself.
"No human weaknesses…"
Mero nodded slightly, as if satisfied with the feedback from his strike.
"Good. For a weapon, that's an advantage."
"ROAR!"
The Tyrant howled, lifting its head again.
Only to find a black gun barrel pointed directly at it.
Both Rebecca and the Tyrant focused on Mero.
In their eyes, he raised his left arm.
The Barrett M82A2, over 1.4 meters long and weighing 12.2 kilograms unloaded, looked as light as a hollow tube in his grip.
His finger tightened on the trigger.
He did not adjust his stance for the recoil.
He simply rested the stock casually against his shoulder.
Boom!
It was not a gunshot.
It was thunder striking the ground.
The .50 caliber armor-piercing incendiary round tore through the air, the muzzle blast erupting into a perfect hemispherical shockwave.
Loose debris on the ground was swept outward as if by an invisible force.
The recoil hit like a charging beast.
Enough to dislocate a shoulder and shatter a collarbone.
But Mero only dipped his shoulder slightly.
The muscle there tightened for a brief instant, crushing the force into a controlled tremor.
The rifle did not rise even a centimeter.
At the far end of his sightline, the Tyrant froze the moment the bullet struck its exposed heart.
Muscle and bone, hardened like steel, were pierced as if they were paper.
A violent spray of dark blood burst from the wound, punching through its body.
The massive frame shuddered.
Its forward motion halted completely.
Then it collapsed.
The smoke faded.
A flicker of firelight reflected in Mero's eyes, turning them momentarily red.
A hot brass casing spun through the air in a glowing arc.
Clink.
It hit the ground.