A circular blade sliced through the air, spinning as it mowed down muscle-bound Nephilim in its path, before whipping back into Hinetsu's waiting hand.
The Nephilim cut down only moments before stood back up, their numbers doubled.
"Stop killing those things already!" Haruchi barked.
"I'm trying to slow them down, loudmouth," Hinetsu countered.
"Look around you, pipsqueak, it's not working!"
"Nnn! Who're you calling pipsqueak?!"
"We need to get out of here before things get worse," Saiya said, looking down from the rooftop. Both squads—Nagato's squad of Nagato, Haruchi, and Hinetsu, and Saiya's squad of Saiya, Hinetsu, and a sixth squad member named Aya—were gathered on the roof, fending off the approaching Nephilim swarm.
Both groups had ended up here for the same reason: they'd been chased. Against a relentless, regenerating enemy, everything thrown at it was temporary.
Saiya pressed furiously on her headset, then checked her wristwatch. "Communications are jammed, but everything else is still working. What's going on?"
Nagato walked up to Saiya and tapped her shoulder, his voice slow and low as usual. "We need to move… to the docking point. We don't have much time here."
"You're right. The bunker's the only safe place now," she agreed, glancing far west and whispering, "I hope he isn't doing anything reckless."
Saiya sighed, then turned to the group. Some members were still bickering, while others assessed the situation calmly. "We're moving," she announced, halting the fighting between Haruchi and Hinetsu. "We can't stay here any longer; the more we waste time here, the worse it gets for us."
"Where are we headed, then?" Haruchi asked.
"Back to the docking station, then the bunker. We'll figure something out later; right now, we just need to stay alive."
"What about the others? Ryuma and the captains?" Kitetsu asked.
"They should be fine. The captains… should be fine…" Saiya tilted her head a little. "...and Ryuma, too, I think."
Hinetsu swung her long scythe, which was twice her height. "What's next, Senior Saiya?!"
Saiya walked to the edge of the roof, her long hair blowing in the wind as she glanced at the approaching horde. "We carve our way through."
"Beautiful." Hinetsu's eyes sparkled as she watched Saiya. She raised her scythe, transforming it into a circular blade, then hurled it forward, slicing through Nephilim in its path.
"Now!" Saiya shouted, leaping off the roof, running down the building, and launching herself into the horde. The others followed, descending the towering building onto the Nephilim.
With every gunshot, one Nephilim fell, and two rose to take its place. But they advanced toward the docking station, reaching it soon.
"The doors are open. How do we close them?" Haruchi asked, breathless from the long run.
"The switch is probably in the control room. I'll go check it out," Kitetsu said.
"I'm coming with you," Aya chimed in. They headed toward the control room, remembering its location from a quick tour when they'd arrived.
Meanwhile, Saiya stood at the entrance, covering her nose from the bunker's stench, watching the slowly advancing Nephilim. They were slow, but something about it unsettled her.
"Is something wrong, Senior Saiya?" Hinetsu asked.
"No, it's nothing. What about the doors?"
"Kitetsu's working on it."
Saiya turned to descend into the dock when a faint voice caught her attention. She turned back, hearing it again.
"Wait!"
Hinetsu, hearing it too, squinted. "Did I just hear someone?"
Kotomine Issei appeared in the distance, running toward them, a girl in his arms.
"Wait! Don't close it yet!" He rushed in, setting the girl on the ground and collapsing, panting. "T-Thank you…"
Saiya hurried over, checking on the girl. She seemed okay. "You were with Ryuma, right? Where is he? Why isn't he with you?"
"He's… gone."
"What?!"
"I don't know… He told us to run and said he'd catch up." Hearing his words, Saiya relaxed slightly; she knew Ryuma wouldn't die without transforming. But she wondered, what was he up to?
***
Kitetsu and Aya reached the control room and quickly scanned the buttons and screens.
"Let's look for anything labeled 'door,' 'gate,' or 'dock,'" Aya said.
"Yeah." They scanned until they spotted a screen button marked "Dock Gate" with an up arrow.
"There!" Aya exclaimed, pressing it. A prompt appeared, requesting a password.
"A password?!" Aya muttered, checking every paper on the desks.
"Wait, I have an idea," Kitetsu said. He breathed on the screen, revealing faint fingerprints on the button.
"Four digits…shit"
Aya exclaimed
"One, two, eight, zero… four digits, twenty-four combinations. We've got this!" Kitetsu started inputting combinations. Sweat dripping from his face, his hand unstable, it was intense and the pressure was too much.
After several tries, a window finally popped up: Password correct. Dock station closure will commence in two minutes.
"We did it!" Kitetsu slumped into a chair, wiping sweat from his brow and resting for some time.
Then, a faint hissing sound filled the room. Kitetsu looked up and saw red gas seeping from the vent.
"What's that?" Aya asked, moving closer to investigate. Suddenly, her skin began turning red and she hadn't realized it yet
"It's getting hot here…" she muttered.
"Get out of there now!" Kitetsu barked.
"Relax. Maybe it's just a vent issue—" she trailed off, noticing pores opening on her skin. She screamed as Kitetsu grabbed her and dragged her out.
The gas had begun filling the control room, but it hadn't reached the dock station. Kitetsu burst into the dock, pulling Aya with him, and saw the doors were halfway closed.
"Everyone, leave now!"
"What? What's happening?" someone asked.
"Just go!"
Instinctively Kitetsu grabbed Hinetsu by her hand and pushed her out through the door, glancing back at the approaching gas. "Look at that!" He pointed. "It'll burn you alive—get out!"
Now understanding, the group rushed through the closing gates, abandoning the bunker as hundreds of Nephilim marched closer.
"What now?" Haruchi asked, glancing between Aya, writhing in pain, and the advancing Nephilim.
"We're trapped…" Saiya whispered.
The northern and southern gates could only be opened from the gas-flooded control room, while the horde prevented access to ground-level controls. They were cornered.
Just as hope seemed lost, the Nephilim stopped moving, standing still before suddenly exploding, spraying blood and flesh across the city.
Everyone looked at each other, a glimmer of hope in their eyes, then voices crackled over their headsets: "Come in! Any Ranger in sight… we're at the lab… we need help!"
***
Inside a dimly lit room at the lab, flickering bulbs cast erratic light. Wolot sat in the center, holding a headset he crushed before tossing it aside. In front of him, an electric cage held Leonard, Reiko, and Soyo.
"How'd you like my acting?" he asked, met only with Reiko and Soyo's resentful stares and Leonard's calm gaze. He shrugged. "Don't look at me like that. I wasn't entirely lying—they do need saving." He gestured to a corner where over a dozen women huddled together.
"Enough of that. Like I said, none of you are leaving here alive, no matter how hard you try… human," he sneered at Leonard, then turned to Soyo. "...or synthe human. Everyone here dies. And don't look so surprised, I do my research. Always best to know your enemies before launching an attack."
He stood, pulling a remote from his pocket and pressing a button to disperse the electric field cage.
Soyo lunged forward, plunging her hand through his stomach and ripping it out the other side.
"You never learn, do you?" he said with a smile, looking at Leonard, still unfazed. "With this, the first phase is complete. Welcome to phase two." Then he exploded into pieces.
"What's happening?" Soyo muttered, glancing down at the blood covering her before looking toward the women huddled nearby. She approached them. "It's alright. We're here to help," she assured, though they continued to cower, possibly from trauma.
Soyo noticed most of them were unclothed, their bodies marred with blood, deep cuts, and stitches on their lower abdomens. Surgery, she realized. "Who did this to you?"
***
In a distant lab faraway, large and sterile yet thick with a foul stench, piles of bodies were clustered along one wall. Some bodies still moved, letting out faint, pained sounds.
The door slid open, and a familiar figure entered: Wolot, with short red hair and brown eyes. He knelt in the center of the room.
"The first phase is complete. Master Nero has refined and prepared all specimen parts and they'll be delivered shortly. I'll take care of any remaining resistance and retrieve the hybrid. Excuse me," he said, and as a portal opened beside him, he stepped through, a smirk on his face.