The Talons were loyal machines brainwashed by the Court of Owls. Their minds were entirely focused on executing their current mission, which was to kill one of Gotham's prominent figures—Morrison Gene.
Aside from being immortal, a Talon's speed was also beyond that of an ordinary person. Completely ignoring Zane and Victor Zsasz next to Gene, his legs launched him like a projectile directly toward his target.
"Monster," Zsasz cursed under his breath.
He was a mercenary who took money to get things done, and the employer had promised another million dollars upon success. Therefore, as soon as Zsasz finished speaking, he also charged toward the Talon.
Upon getting close to the Talon, Zsasz's body suddenly twisted at an unbelievable angle, perfectly dodging the Talon's claw blade attack.
Zsasz shifted his body behind the Talon, gripping a knife coated in highly toxic poison, and stabbed down fiercely without hesitation.
The sharp knife plunged unimpeded into flesh and blood, and the compressed air let out a pfft! sound of friction.
The highly active poison coated on the blade immediately tried to launch an attack the moment it came into contact with the Talon's blood. However, it was eradicated in an instant by the Talon's cells, which were fused with Electrum.
The Talon's forward momentum wasn't hindered for even half a second. Zsasz coiled around the Talon like a python, then repeatedly stabbed down with his dagger, puncturing countless bloody holes in the Talon's back.
However, this was completely useless.
"Damn monster!" Zsasz roared. Then, utilizing his superb body control, he forcefully twisted to the Talon's side.
Immediately after, he used his dagger to perform an amputation surgery on the Talon's arm, forcefully dismembering the Talon's right arm.
But that wasn't all. Zsasz once again twisted to the Talon's left side and, repeating the exact same maneuver, dismembered the Talon's left arm as well.
It was like playing with Legos.
"Ahhh!!" Although the Talon's pain receptors were extremely insensitive, it didn't mean he couldn't feel any pain at all.
With Zsasz directly severing both his arms, the Talon let out a miserable howl from the pain. He then fell to the ground and placed the stumps of his arms against the severed limbs on the floor.
Granulation tissue squirmed rapidly, and the Talon effortlessly reattached his freshly severed arms just like that.
It was like playing with Legos.
"What the fuck is this thing?" Ten thousand alpacas stampeded through Zsasz's mind. How had limb regeneration become so easy?
Although he had heard the employer mention the abilities of these Talons before accepting the job, Zsasz couldn't help but be shocked upon seeing it with his own eyes.
If severed arms can be reattached, what about a severed head?
This thought popped into Zsasz's mind. Meanwhile, the Talon over there had already deemed him a threat. He drew a long sword from his back and immediately followed up with a leaping downward slash.
Zsasz hurriedly executed a lazy donkey roll, narrowly dodging the blade's edge.
Retreating his body, Zsasz pulled out two submachine guns from both sides of his waist. Aiming the muzzles at the Talon's hands, he pulled the triggers, and two tongues of fire spat out simultaneously.
The deafening bang bang bang of bullets exploding echoed endlessly. The specially modified submachine guns had an extremely high rate of fire, and with enlarged drum magazines, they instantly formed a metal storm that smashed the Talon's hands to a pulp.
Clang~
The long sword fell to the ground, emitting a crisp sound.
Zsasz seized the opportunity and charged forward fiercely. His flexible, snake-like body twisted and turned. Upon getting close, he grabbed the Talon's head with both hands and snapped the Talon's neck with a crack.
Drawing his dagger, he plunged the blade in and circled it around the neck. The Talon's head fell off cleanly, and his body slumped limply.
"Problem solved." Zsasz turned around confidently, casting a disdainful glance at Zane, who had done absolutely nothing over there.
"Zsasz..." Gene retreated to a corner. "This monster isn't dead yet!"
How is that possible?!
Zsasz immediately turned around, only to find that the Talon had indeed reattached his head and was launching another attack as if nothing had happened.
Unable to dodge in time, Zsasz was fiercely tackled to the ground by the Talon. The latter pulled a small knife from his waist, posturing to stab it into Zsasz's carotid artery.
"You damn bastard, are you just going to stand there and watch the whole fucking thing?!" Zsasz yelled at Zane.
"I just had a lot of faith in you." Zane shrugged innocently. "The moment the Talon came in, you rushed up and got into a scuffle with him. I didn't even have time to intervene."
"I thought you could handle it alone," Zane added, rubbing salt in the wound.
"After all, although this Talon thing is said to be immortal, its brain is actually dumber than Killer Croc's. I thought the famous Victor Zsasz would definitely have this kind of trash in the bag." A second dose of salt.
"Ahhh, you have time to intervene now, hurry up and help!" Zsasz gritted his teeth, blocking the Talon's continuously pressing arm.
"Don't panic just yet." Zane placated Zsasz, then took two steps forward. "Let a true exorcism master help you eliminate this half-dead evil creature!"
Over there, Gene looked at Zane's back, a look of anticipation appearing on his face.
Is it finally about to begin?
An immortal evil spirit and a confident exorcist... Gene remembered the fantasy novels he had read as a child.
Gene's heart was about to jump out of his throat, and his blood felt like it was going to freeze together. He looked at the stalwart figure before him.
Oh, my exorcism master, bring me a hearty and exhilarating exorcism feast!
Make that terrifying, half-dead evil spirit kneel before your radiant presence!
Gene widened his eyes.
And so, Zane pressed the activation button on the Omnitrix. A green light flashed, and he transformed into a humanoid creature over two meters tall, its entire body composed of diamond and other hard crystals.
Four crystal spikes protruded from his back. His entire body displayed an opaque, pale green hue, gleaming with a red light under the morning sun.
Diamondhead!
Petrosapiens were silicon-based lifeforms. Their primary abilities included crystal constructs, regenerative capabilities, and shooting sharp crystals.
In terms of strength, they couldn't compare to Four Arms, but their defense was extremely formidable. Even missiles couldn't deal any effective damage to Diamondhead.
Zane moved his body toward the Talon. Over there, Gene was so blinded by the dazzling light reflecting off Diamondhead's body that he couldn't open his eyes, only barely able to see the other party through the gaps between his fingers.
It would have been better if he hadn't seen clearly, because once he did, Gene was instantly dumbfounded.
What about the gorgeous and wondrous exorcism spells? What happened?
Although Gene was dumbfounded, he wasn't disappointed. Diamondhead's two-meter-tall stature and incredibly dazzling body couldn't help but make him feel much more at ease.
Regardless of what methods an exorcism master used to exorcise demons, as long as the exorcism was successful, they were a qualified exorcism master.
The camera shifted back to Zane. He didn't care what Gene thought and simply walked up to the Talon.
The latter immediately backed off from Zsasz, picked up his long sword, and brazenly launched an attack without hesitation.
The long sword slashed down frantically like a bolt of silk, yet it didn't leave even a single mark after striking Zane's left shoulder.
Crack!
The massive recoil force directly shattered the long sword in the Talon's hand. The blade, broken in two, fell to the ground, emitting a pleasant ding-a-ling sound.
At the same time, outside the window, the teenager and the young man looked at each other.
Huh?