After the Shadow Reaper crumbled to dust beneath her hand, the air in the technical шлюз suddenly became still and heavy, as if Death itself had decided to pause and watch what would happen next.
Astra stood in the middle of the wrecked chamber, breathing hard, feeling the remnants of dark energy still crawling across her skin. She knew one thing for certain: Vanguard Corporation hadn't just been recording data on their servers. They had been measuring her value, like a rare commodity on the black market.
And now that the price had turned out to be too high, they would rather write her off as an "irreversible error" and erase her from existence with one precise strike.
"Let's go," she rasped, picking up the Storm-12 shotgun from the floor.
"We're not getting out through the main gates. There's probably a full punishment squad with heavy artillery waiting there. Those bastards don't like it when their toys get taken apart."
[THERE IS A PATH BELOW, AVATAR,] Tanatos' voice purred inside her mind with unusual satisfaction. The fresh soul of the Reaper had clearly given him a surge of strength, and now the God of Death sounded like someone who had just finished a very satisfying meal.
[OLD METRO BRANCHES, SEALED BEFORE THE ERA OF PARITY. THE DARKNESS THERE IS THICKER THAN YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE. MY POWER WILL FEED YOU LIKE A MOTHER FEEDS HER CHILD. TRUST ME. OR WOULD YOU PREFER I CLEAR THE PATH MYSELF?]
"No thanks. Let's avoid extra corpses this time," Astra snapped mentally as she moved toward a ventilation shaft.
"I've had enough corporate toys for one day. Just show me the path and I'll handle the rest."
She took a running start and smashed through the rusted grate with both feet. The metal screeched, sparks flew, and she slid down the slimy pipes for several minutes. Cold sludge soaked her suit, and the stench of mold and stagnant water burned her nose until her eyes watered.
Finally she landed with a dull thud on the concrete floor of the abandoned station Liberty Place.
There were no neon lights here.
No holograms.
Only the faint, ghostly glow of mutant fungi that clung to the old rails and walls like luminous sores. Water dripped from the ceiling—tap… tap… tap…—echoing across the empty platform. Somewhere deep within the tunnels a distant rumble vibrated through the darkness.
But the silence was deceptive.
As deceptive as the smile of the Broker on the Shadow Market.
The moment Astra took a step across the cracked platform, the echo of her boots was drowned out by a low mechanical hum. From the darkness of the tunnel, three tactical interceptor drones "Korshun" glided silently above the rusted rails.
Their red laser targeting beams instantly crossed over her chest, painting bright points of death.
"Attention! Citizen Nova," a cold synthetic voice announced through the speakers, echoing off the walls.
"You are suspected of theft of corporate property and sabotage of Experiment Reaper. Resistance will result in immediate annihilation. Drop your weapon and kneel. You have ten seconds."
"Annihilate this, corporate rats," Astra hissed through her teeth as adrenaline surged through her veins.
"Ten seconds? I'll give you eternity!"
SKILL PURCHASE: "SHADOW STEP" (LEVEL 1)
COST: 15 SOULS (REAPER RESERVE USED)
REMAINING BALANCE: 2.3 SOULS
[HAHA! NOW YOU ARE MY DANCING SHADOW, GIRL! SHOW THEM HOW DEATH PLAYS HIDE-AND-SEEK!]
The instant the drones opened fire—flooding the platform with bullets and laser flashes—Astra's figure simply vanished.
She didn't jump.
She didn't duck.
She dissolved into a smear of black ink that slid across the wall, ignoring gravity as if the darkness itself had decided to join the game.
[FASTER! LEFT SIDE, ASTRA! HE'S FLANKING!]
She materialized directly behind the first Korshun.
Her hand—still warm with Abyssal energy—slid into the drone's armor like it was soft butter. Her fingers closed around the central processor.
Crunch.
Sparks burst out as the drone collapsed onto the rails in a smoking heap.
"One down!" she shouted, already dissolving back into shadow.
The remaining two drones spun frantically, their turrets whining as they tried to lock onto the target. But Astra was faster.
What followed looked like a terrifying dance of death.
Laser flash — empty air.
Machine-gun burst — silence.
Every time she emerged from the shadows, another piece of corporate machinery collapsed into scrap metal with the pitiful whine of dying servos.
But the ambush was deeper than just drones.
Heavy footsteps echoed from the tunnel.
These were no flying machines.
Four operatives in massive Juggernaut power armor emerged from the darkness, bright Vanguard insignias glowing on their shoulders. In their hands were bulky field suppressors—devices designed specifically to stabilize spatial anomalies.
Their visors glowed cold red.
"Shadow Step blocked," the squad commander reported in a deep mechanically enhanced voice.
"Target contained. Shock grenades ready. Do not allow her to enter shadow phase again."
Astra felt the space around her suddenly solidify, like an invisible cage closing in. The shadows refused to accept her.
Shadow Step shut down with a painful crack inside her head.
"Damn… they came prepared," she muttered as a piercing ringing filled her ears.
[DID YOU THINK IT WOULD BE THAT EASY, LITTLE HUNTER?] Tanatos laughed inside her mind. But there was no mockery in his voice—only excitement.
[TRUE DEATH DOES NOT HIDE IN SHADOWS, ASTRA. IT COMES OPENLY… WITH A SMILE. USE THE SHOTGUN. BUT DO NOT FIRE BULLETS. FIRE MY WRATH.]
Astra tightened her grip on the Peacekeeper shotgun.
She closed her eyes for just a second, letting Tanatos channel a stream of absolute, freezing energy directly into the chamber.
Frost spread across the weapon. The barrel cracked from the cold. The air around it trembled with the presence of absolute zero.
"My turn, bastards," she whispered, opening her eyes.
They now burned with a cold blue flame.
"Let's see who annihilates who."
She pulled the trigger.
From the muzzle erupted not pellets but a cone of annihilation energy—a swirling black-violet storm that erased the first line of Juggernauts along with their suppressors, a section of tunnel, and part of the ceiling.
The explosion made no sound.
But its destruction was absolute.
Armor disintegrated into dust.
Screams vanished mid-breath.
The air filled with the smell of ozone and molten metal.
The path to the Cosmic Elevator was now open.
Behind her, wreckage of drones and armor still smoldered.
Astra reloaded the shotgun in one smooth motion, spat onto the rails, and said quietly—with a predatory smile:
"Thanks for the warm welcome, Vanguard. Tell your bosses in the Upper World… I'm coming."
"And next time, I won't be this polite."
[I LIKED THAT, ASTRA,] Tanatos chuckled.
[VERY MUCH. NOW THEY KNOW THEY ARE NOT HUNTING A HUMAN.]
[THEY HAVE AWAKENED SOMETHING THAT CANNOT BE BOUGHT WITH ALL THE CREDITS IN THE WORLD.]
WARNING: 4 SOULS ACQUIRED (JUGGERNAUT OPERATIVES)
SOUL BALANCE: 6.3
PASS TO "YGGDRASIL" ACTIVATED
NEXT DESTINATION — THE UPPER WORLD.