The smell of dust parched his nose, and a thirsty sensation in his lungs was all he could feel when Leo fell back on his knees.
Thud-
Hitting the ground, Leo, lingering at the edge of consciousness, saw the reflection of a beast in the blood splattered in the space above him.
He was injured, blood seeped from the gash on his chest.
'what!!?'
Just moments ago, he remembered having the upper hand in a fight against Zeff, but now, he saw himself on the losing end.
'...But how?'
Zeff took out the pendant on Fox's neck, that much he noticed. But after that, his vision was blurry. A green light, maybe, but that was all. He was blinded the next second, falling to the ground.
Leo took the full brunt of Zeff's attack. Whatever it was. He felt no pain. Only the scent of iron from the blood he lost. Perhaps, it was Zeff's final card. But he was nowhere to be seen.
Darkness surrounded Leo, his breath hastening. He could make out two eyes in front of him, glowing in blue. The intimidating set of lights started at him, and his spine grew cold.
'What did he do?' Leo thought, his consciousness sapping away, and after some time, falling numb. Sleeping.
"I hope that takes care of him," Zeff muttered.
On the other side, Surrounded in darkness, Zeff placed his hand on his mouth, coughing blood as he struggled to keep himself standing.
'As I thought, it's still too early for me to attempt a full body transformation…' Zeff thought, his hands a finding wall to keep the balance.
*[Integration: 74%]*
The message hovered before him.
'Dammit!' he cursed himself as he saw the reality of his situation. Losing strength in his limbs, his magical energy, and his body's capacity stretched to the limit, Zeff felt himself on the floor, sitting helplessly.
But he wasn't ready to give up yet. Not now of all time.
He had survived worse, zeffremembed. In a place far nastier than this hell, he kept himself alive. The contempt in his eyes intensified as the memories of the past came flooding back. Yeah, this shithole is nothing compared to SPADE unclassified facility. A place where he grew up held challenges on every hurdle he passed.
Just then, Zeff felt something on his skin. A pat on his palm, little and shivering. The black patches on the fur, stained with blood. It was the little fox-sized beast, Daksha.
"Stupid fox…" Zeff muttered when their eyes met. "It seems you can still walk."
Daksha nodded, coming closer to what he thought was his master, licking the wounds on Zeff's cheek.
"Hey," Zeff said, pushing away the little beast. "I'm not Kai right now, so stop it."
Zeff continued, "But if you want to save me, you can still do something." He pointed towards a shelf to his left with shaking fingers. covered in sheets of dust, the shelf had several models of firearms, advanced and loaded. "Bring that to me."
*[Integration: 81%]*
'That sh*tface!' he cursed as he searched for Kai in his consciousness.
All Kai wanted was the information on Sylphie's data on what he could extract about his family, that much was true. But not all.
Zeff stayed quiet, for a reason, his opposition to Kai's reckless plan was hindered when he learned more about Sylphie.
Kai was interested in the first skill "Zenith's eye" of such a weapon system. But Zeff, his true intentions veiled from his other self, had another goal. To grow stronger.
For That, he was willing to risk it. Kai's nativity. There was more to Sylphie from what Kai knew till then. There was a second skill, for the attack. And a third skill is to boost the defense.
The 'information' gained by the first skill did not only contain the civilian data. Zeff was interested in military data, dirty secrets they keep from the state. The confidential operations and unclassified weapons manufactured, maybe more.
That, Zeff supposed, was more than enough make-up for what he was willing to stake today. The military ruled the world right now. And, if he had 'some dirt' on them that could endanger the morale of their soldiers and the trust they gave to everyone, he was willing to take the trouble. He eventually planned to use them to blackmail the higher-ups of the army, based on what he would gain from this.
People would go to any length to keep their pride intact. All the more true for people with power like the 'Commander' of his army.
'There is only one way out,' Zeff thought. whether I like it or not, I have to bust my way through.'
Shhhweee-
Daksha transformed his shadow, the passive skill he avoided using because of his lack of mastery, and turned his shadow into a hand, grabbed the sheet, along with several firearms, and looked back at Zeff.
"Good boy," Zeff commented, smiling. "Come back."
On Zeff's hand was his pendant. Now lost its green glow, the pendant was dim and lifeless.
Tap-
A drop of blood, falling from the corner of his finger, wet and crimson, Zeff saw blood dripping from the pendant. He smiled. "Sigh, looks like this too, is at its limit…" he said, narrowing his eyes. "Take it."
Zeff threw it in Daksha's direction. As the emerald stone fell on Daksha's fur, laden with blood, it began to glow red.
Daksha growled, unhappy by his treatment. "What?" Zeff scowls back, irritated. "I'll make you a new one so suck it."
The reddish glow from the pendant intensified.
Unlike his 'servant', at least what he thought of the beast, Zeff knew what the glow from green to red meant.
"This place is about to blow up. Best time to make way for an escape." Zeff said, finding strength to stand back up, holding machinery as a support, and docking another firearm on his back.
Switching his vision back to darkness, his 'night vision', Zeff saw blue and purple heat signs behind him.
He paused.
Turning around, on the machinery he used as a support, he saw a name.
Name: Annihilator VX-900
Below it, he saw an explanation.
Description: The Annihilator VX-900 is a cutting-edge, experimental, 7.62mm caliber machine gun developed by a research division known for weapon technology, Division 5, engineered by Dr. Morph. It features a sleek, modular design constructed from advanced lightweight materials, making it highly portable without compromising durability.
Zeff smiles.
"It's been some time since I played." He forgot all the stress he endured till now, only endorphins running in his brain. The euphoria makes him crazy for adrenaline.
"If I'm raising hell anyway, why not throw this in the mix." he made the worst decision possible. But that, however, was his best chance at surviving this.
…
["Emergency!"]
An alarm echoed everywhere in area six, a fire detection warning automated by the control room.
As Robert heard that, shifting his focus from the trigger on his finger to his surroundings, he saw the red lights and panics resounding all around.
He saw cadets taking arms, surrounding the door with him, the entrance to the armory all blocked. Seeing his comrades supporting him, Robert smiled in relief.
But then, what his ears picked up was not the chaos around him.
Thud-
Something heavy fell inside the armory he was waiting out of.
Amidst the chaos, he concentrated on a single goal. Eliminating the invader.
He did not know who, but Robert was annoyed at the fact that someone hurt his friend. Someone played him for a fool and he didn't even notice. It pissed him royally.
There was something he needed to do. Not something great, but necessary. Revenge.
Clack, clack.
The walls trembled at the impact of Zeff fighting Leo. Of course, no one outside knew that.
It has been 15 minutes since an enemy attacked the base. Area Six has lost all communication with its superiors.
For a while, Robert could hear the sounds of battle, the cries and metal clangs, happening just beyond his scope of fire. Inside the armory.
If that's true, who was fighting Zeff?
It was doubtful that anyone would have been engaging in battle with that man. Robert saw no one entering or leaving the armory other than Zeff.
' If I don't kill him today…', Robert felt, ' I might not get another chance.'
Robert was tired of running away. Running away from problems that became too much. From monsters. That was why he joined the military. To grow strong and fight back. Today might be a chance to prove it.
He might not know everything about his enemy. Robert only knew about Zeff from what he saw in the news three months ago, and would soon be shocked.
Then it happened.
Booooom-
Fire engulfed his surroundings in the blink of an eye. Before his finger was placed on the trigger, a bullet came flying at him.
His brain found it hard to process the event unfolding in front of him. And to his surprise, it didn't end there.
A man with torn black clothes and a just-made mask, came out, blazing guns.
Ratatatata-
Smoke started to appear in his surroundings as he kept firing until he was out of ammo, his barrels hot red with heat and recoil.
The cadets run back, taking out shields from their suits, and Robert sees his comrades die, one of them shielding him from the unexpected attack. 'No!'
It didn't happen because someone wanted to save him. He was caught in the line of fire 'accidentally'.
But after that, Robert's eyes reddened with rage when he snapped back to reality.
The ammo ran out. The room fell silent not long after six minutes since Zeff came out.
***
If you find any mistakes in the chapter, please comment below so I can fix them as soon as possible.