As I approached the main gate, I slowed my pace and trailed my bow, taking aim with measured steps. Behind me, the cacophony of madness still played in the forest as it lit up from time to time with either explosions or gunfire.
Just in front of me, I felt the heat emanating from the area of the explosion that had just taken place here. Taking a few measured steps and looking around, I saw an enemy combatant on the ground, wailing, his leg half torn off. I fired a bolt directly into his forehead to end his misery and moved forward. Spotting no one else in the vicinity, I immediately broke into a light sprint toward the left wing of the manor.
Going through a door, it was pitch black inside. Unlike the forest, which had a little moonlight to help, the interior was far worse—the windows were so spaced out that there was basically no source of light. Thankfully, I had my goggles on. Looking around, I didn't bother wasting time. The hallway stretched forward, and I followed it, already knowing where my target was. I moved in a hurry, but not running, so as not to alert anyone to my presence.
"Why do we have to be the ones standing guard here?" I heard a male voice ask. "We're practically just standing blind, waiting to be killed. Why don't we go to the supply room and get night goggles or candles to light the place?" he continued. I slowed, resting my back against the wall.
"Because the enemy is probably heading this way. Besides, there's no time for that. Just stay focused. I'm pretty sure our boss will figure—"
I didn't let him finish.
I turned the corner to my right and fired three bolts with quick reloads, all of them dropping my targets immediately. That got their attention. Even though they couldn't see, they could guess where the shit came from and fired in that direction.
I rested my back against the wall, unclipped one of the two flash grenades on my waist, and waited until they emptied their magazines. After I heard them begin to hurriedly reload, I pulled the pin and threw it in. When it went off, I immediately moved in and dropped the remaining four while they were basically helpless.
I took a few steps, picked up another flash grenade, ready to unclip it, then lay belly-up among the bodies I had just dropped. In no time, I heard hurried footsteps as six men rushed into the room and began to look around, confused. Eventually, they turned to look at the fallen men, while two went toward the corridor I had come from to see if the "enemy" was still there.
All of this was done without anyone giving a command, showing how easily they flowed as a unit. It was useless, though. With the rest facing me and only two facing the other direction, I opened the grenade, lightly rolled it, and turned my head. It went off. I quickly took out the two who were unaffected before dropping the rest.
Once I was done, I didn't waste time and broke into a sprint. The gunfire had definitely drawn attention, and I didn't have time to repeat the same tactics. I reloaded my clip magazine along the way, making a mental note of how many bolts I had expended. I didn't run long before I was about to turn a corner when someone came through it. I immediately fired a bolt into his neck and was about to enter the room when rapid gunfire forced me to grab the man I had just shot and use him as cover.
I pulled out explosive grenades, unpinned them, and stuffed one into the dead man's pants as I pushed him backward, ducking low and moving toward the wall for cover.
Boom!
Hearing the explosion, I immediately got up and went back in, my heart hammering against my chest as I nearly lost the mission by rushing. Seeing a body on the ground still heaving labored breaths, I shot him quickly. Turning around, I came face to face with the dogs again.
Sighing, I fired but missed as they rushed me. Tossing the crossbow aside, I picked up a hand grenade with my left hand and pulled the pin as the lead dog jumped at me. I gave it my forearm to bite—already guarded, just as I'd expected when running into the pricks.
Using my right hand, I pried its mouth open and shoved my left hand with the grenade into it. At the same time, I spun to dodge the dog behind me and tossed the first dog back toward the last one. They slammed into each other a few feet away and blew up.
All of it happened in a single motion.
I grabbed my machete from behind me and looked at the remaining dog baring its fangs. After barking a few times, it charged once more, and I met it with equal ferocity. Once again, I gave it my left forearm to bite, slammed it sideways into the floor, and in one brutal motion brought the machete down on its neck, severing its head instantly.
Catching two people approaching from my peripheral vision, I dive-rolled and grabbed my crossbow as gunfire whizzed past my ear. I turned and fired but missed, yet didn't relent.
They fired, and I did the same, all shots missing. The lingering smoke from the explosion didn't help our aim. Their already terrible vision worsened, and my goggles became practically useless. After they emptied their magazines and I ran out of bolts, I surged forward. We were close enough now.
I hurled the crossbow at the man in front. As he tried to block and push it away, he came face to face with my axe.
The man behind him panicked while trying to reload. I threw my axe, and it buried itself in his skull mid-sprint.
I ran. I was just one turn away from my target, and a quick glance at my mission update showed I had only five enemy targets left. Reaching the corner, I slowed and pressed my back to the wall. I leaned in to peek and immediately pulled my head back as the remaining opponents opened fire.
They stopped shooting after I withdrew—probably conserving bullets. Too bad for them. I pulled out my remaining flash and explosive grenades, only three of each left, removed their safeties, and tossed them in just as they resumed firing.
"Grenade!" one of them screamed.
The explosion followed.
I tore off my night goggles and threw them aside—no point keeping them with all the smoke I'd just created. I drew the last viable weapon I had left: the katana.
I went in at a light sprint. Moving through the smoke, I saw three men had survived by diving into a corner. The lead man had already recovered and raised his gun. I sidestepped left, brought my blade down, and took off his arm. Before he could scream, I stepped forward and brought the blade back up, slicing horizontally through his face.
The other man tried to stab me and missed as I stepped back. He continued fluidly with an upward slash, which I sidestepped, then I slammed my forehead into his nose from the side, using his forward momentum. I brought my blade down and cut into his side—but before I could finish him, a gunshot rang out. The shot was poorly aimed, but it shattered my blade.
I didn't let his teammate take another shot. I grabbed his wrist and slapped the gun to the floor, disarming him instantly—only for him to pull out a canister with his left hand and spray it into my eyes.
Pepper spray.
My eyes burned as I felt him yank free. I forced them open to see what was happening, then shut them again from the pain. Thankfully, he grabbed one of the knives on my vest. I caught his arm, pulled him toward me, and delivered a flurry of blows to what I instantly felt was his face.
Taking a deep breath, time slowed. I forced my eyes open again despite the sting, shut them, and delivered a roundhouse kick with extreme force and precision to his neck. I heard an audible crack. He died before hitting the ground.
The air was knocked out of me as someone tackled me and slammed me to the floor. I couldn't see, but I felt blood dripping onto my pants. I pulled my arms over my face, and as expected, a few blows came down. I blocked them with my knees, buckling them around him. He screamed—his injury was on his side.
I took the chance. I pulled out a knife from my vest, forced my eyes open just enough to locate his head, grabbed his neck, and plunged the blade into it, ending his life instantly.
I lay there, breathless, then shoved him off and stood up. Blinking through the pain, I looked around until I found the handgun from earlier. I stumbled down the hall until I reached my target.
I cut him loose and pointed the gun at his head, my eyes still itching.
"Get moving."
Terrified, he complied, and I led him down the hallway of carnage.
Fire crackled as we walked back to the main gate.
45 seconds left.
I realized the timer stopped counting as I passed through the gate.
Shoving the gun against the target's head, I hurried him along as we entered the forest, now deathly calm. The smell of burnt flesh and exposed guts made me want to hurl. Guess the adrenaline was finally wearing off, huh?
Well, at least it was a hundred percent mission clear rate, I joked to myself, trying to take my mind off the nonsense I'd just gone through.
The door floated between the trees.
I stepped through with the target to the same annoying congratulatory jingle from the last mission.
"Congratulations, Subject 1004. You are the second to clear your mission."
Huh? Second? That's cool. All that, with only a few bruises and mental trauma to show for it, I joked internally—wait, second? Why tell me that? Was that done on purpose, or did she slip?
"You may return to your station until you are called to continue your tasks here."
I nodded, exhausted. Slip or not, I was done with this horsing around. I'd done what I wanted, satisfied my desire to use the weapons despite the baggage it brought. Now it was time to find a way out of here.
Ms. Destiny
I watched in silence.
Subject 1004 moved differently this time. No hesitation. I saw him get to work and wondered what he was doing.
When I realized what he was building, my breath caught.
"…An interference generator," I murmured.
Bold.
I felt Mr. Adeyemi step beside me.
"I heard someone cleared already," he said, sounding particularly happy.
"Yes, sir," I replied, bowing slightly. "Subject 070."
I brought up the footage.
He smiled—a genuine smile, something I rarely saw.
Then his gaze shifted.
"…And the others?"
I expanded the display, showing the remaining subjects, then focused on Subject 1004 in particular. We watched him set his trap, wait, and then unleash carnage when night fell. In no time, the fort collapsed.
All of it done methodically.
"Second place," he said, pleased. "This is good. And to think he wanted out, when he has the talent for all this carnage."
Looking at the screen and seeing that Subjects 007 and 083 were about to clear theirs, he nodded.
"This," he said, "is progress."
And with that, I wholly agreed.
This was indeed progress.
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A/N: okay so I hope by this chapter you have a good grasp to review the novel, so please leave you review and comments. Also support with power stones as that boost my work and makes it easier for the book to perform well in the algorithm thanks.