Chapter 171: My eyes are bursting

Blake pressed his back firmly against the reinforced metal door.

The torture room on the last floor him was empty.

There was a broken window, no furniture apart from the torture device and no place to hide.

It wasn’t much of a defensive position, but it was the only one he had.

Outside, heavy footsteps echoed through the corridors.

He could tell there were dozens of them outside.

Orders were shouted somewhere below.

Doors were kicked open one after another.

They were searching every room, rvery hallway, every floor.

"..."

Blake swallowed.

They hadn’t reached the top floor yet, at least that gave him a little time, just enough to prepare himself for whatever happened next.

Another violent tremor rippled through the building.

BOOOOOOM!!

The wall behind him vibrated.

Dust drifted from the ceiling in pale clouds.

Blake instinctively looked upward.

The concrete had begun to split, hairline cracks stretching across the ceiling like spiderwebs.

"...Please..."

His voice barely escaped.

"...don’t collapse."

If the building came down now, there would be no escaping for him.

***

Outside, the battle continued high above the abandoned factory.

Chunks of concrete floated through the air where explosions had torn apart the rooftop.

Steel beams protruded from shattered walls.

The four combatants moved so quickly that, from the ground, they appeared only as flashes colliding against one another.

Myles wasn’t struggling.

Not really.

The real annoyment was Nar. Or rather, his eyes.

Every microscopic movement, every shift in breathing and every slight contraction of a muscle, Nar caught almost all of it.

His heritage had refined his vision far beyond normal limits.

Distance barely mattered, since motion slowed naturally inside his perception.

Tiny details that ordinary people would miss entirely stood out with startling clarity.

Against almost anyone else, that ability was overwhelming.

Against Myles it was merely annoying, but still a pain.

Nar lunged first, his fist carving through the air.

Myles tilted his head just enough for the punch to skim past his helmet.

At almost the same instant, Mori swept in from the left with a spinning kick heavy enough to cave in concrete.

Myles bent backward, the boot passing inches above his face.

Before his body had even returned upright, Deli appeared behind him, both hands locked together.

He brought them crashing downward toward Myles’ spine.

Myles pushed off empty air, his body rotating sideways.

The strike smashed through nothing, continuing downward until it obliterated part of the factory roof instead.

Concrete erupted like a volcano beneath them.

Without wasting the opening, Myles drove his knee into Mori’s abdomen.

Nar eyes constantly predicted where Myles would move.

Every failed attack immediately flowed into another.

Every dodge forced Mori or Deli into better positions.

Three against one.

Perfect coordination.

Still, Myles remained composed. His breathing hadn’t changed, not even slightly.

Nar bit the inside of his lip.

’Impossible. This is UD? That insignificant coward who only appears every few months before disappearing again? The one no one ever managed to classify properly?’

They were three elite second generations.

Three against one.

Yet, he wasn’t breathing harder, he wasn’t slowing down, he wasn’t even attacking seriously.

It felt, like he was being careful, holding something back.

The realization irritated Nar far more than taking a punch ever could.

He clicked his tongue.

"You know..."

His voice carried across the battlefield.

"...that little bastard we brought in, he cried quite a lot."

Myles’ movement stopped, just for an instant.

Nar smiled.

"His lies were almost entertaining—"

He never finished.

Myles vanished.

Nar’s pupils contracted.

’He is too fast.’

A gloved hand suddenly closed around the front of his helmet.

There wasn’t enough time to react.

Humans accelerated by pushing against the ground.

Even hybrids needed leverage.

Myles didn’t.

The tendons running through his lower body contracted with explosive force, storing energy so rapidly that his first step resembled the crack of a gunshot. His entire body launched forward almost instantaneously, reaching full speed before most people could even begin to move.

Nar had seen fast opponents, but had never seen acceleration like that.

Before momentum could even carry him backward, Myles twisted.

Using nothing but one arm and the rotation of his torso, he redirected all that speed.

Nar’s body slammed downward.

BOOOOOOOOM!!

The impact split the earth, concrete disintegrating.

A crater several meters wide erupted beneath them.

Nar bounced once before skidding violently across the ruined courtyard.

His visor shattered.

Blood filled his mouth.

His vision blurred.

"...Ghh..."

His ribs screamed.

One shoulder no longer responded.

Myles released him without a word.

Far above, the sounds of battle continued.

Then, through all of it...

The explosions.

The collapsing walls.

The screaming.

The wind.

The metallic impacts.

Myles continued to hear something else.

A heartbeat.

Irregular.

Fast.

Familiar.

He knew it was Blake.

Among hundreds of heartbeats surrounding the battlefield, he recognized that one immediately the moment he got here.

It wasn’t racing from physical exertion.

It skipped occasionally.

The rhythm of someone trying desperately not to panic.

Myles slowly lifted his gaze toward the building.

...

’It is far too dangerous.’

Every stronger attack risked bringing the entire structure down.

If Blake remained inside, one mistake could kill him.

He’d have to end this carefully.

Behind him, Mori and Deli exchanged a glance.

Now.

Both attacked simultaneously.

Mori’s fist aimed for Myles’ head.

Deli’s kick targeted the back of his knee.

Neither landed.

Without turning around, without even looking, Myles shifted one foot, his upper body leaning only slightly.

Both attacks sliced harmlessly through empty space.

Mori’s punch continued directly toward Deli.

Deli twisted just in time.

The two nearly collided.

Before either recovered, Myles elbowed backward, the strike connecting with Mori’s chest.

A second impact followed immediately.

His heel crashed into Deli’s jaw.

Both men plummeted toward the ground.

Nar slowly forced himself onto one knee, his breathing came in ragged gasps.

’How...? How can someone like this exist? I thought it was going to be a mere little rock, on the side of the road for me to kick.’

He was Renar.

One of the strongest second generations alive.

Years.

Years of experience.

Years of battles.

Who didn’t know Renar?

’Yet this man, this bastard hid strength like this all along?’

The sky darkened.

Nar instinctively looked upward.

Myles descended, he was not falling, but driving himself downward like a missile.

BOOOOOOOM!!

The impact buried Nar back into the crater.

The ground split apart once again.

Dust exploded into the air.

When it settled, Nar looked sideways.

Mori.

Motionless.

Deli.

Barely conscious.

His companions, the people who had fought beside him for years...

Were already down.

’No, no... this isn’t the time to panic!’

He forced himself upright.

Immediately, a hand wrapped around his armored throat.

Myles lifted him effortlessly.

"..."

For the first time, Nar felt genuine fear.

***

Blake’s eyes widened.

"...No..."

The reinforced door exploded inward.

A flood of armored soldiers poured into the room.

Dozens, far too many.

His breathing hitched.

’Think. Think!’

His lips moved.

"...Take the gun out."

The pistol appeared inside his hand.

The soldiers charged all at once.

Blake barely had time to brace himself.

The first punch landed against his shoulder.

Then another.

A kick.

An elbow.

Someone slammed into his back.

The defensive buff flared to life.

Every impact dispersed across the invisible barrier covering his body.

Even so, pain still seeped through.

Not nearly as much as Trail-X’s punch.

Not even close to the agony of being shot point-blank.

But it hurt.

Blake gritted his teeth.

He swung.

His fist struck one soldier squarely across the helmet.

CRACK!

The armor fractured.

The man staggered back two steps.

Only two.

"...!"

Another came.

Blake punched again.

Another crack.

Another stumble.

’They are too durable for me to handle!’

He raised the pistol.

Bang!

The bullet dented a helmet.

Bang!

Tiny fractures spread.

Nothing more.

"...Damn it..."

To Myles, these people were probably insignificant.

To Blake, they were monsters.

He was still just an ordinary human.

This was his limit, he couldn’t stay, not against this many.

He turned.

Another deafening explosion shook the entire building.

The walls groaned.

The floor lurched.

"...Myles..."

The whisper escaped without him realizing.

One soldier froze, his head slowly turned.

"Myles...?"

A smile spread beneath the cracked visor.

Without hesitation, he sprinted toward the broken window.

Blake’s pupils shrank.

No.

’If he warns the others, Myles’ identity would be in danger!’

Adrenaline exploded through Blake’s body.

He lunged, making both of them crash into the wall.

Blake jammed the gun against the narrow gap between the helmet and neck seal.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The armored collar splintered.

Cracks spread all around the locking ring.

The others tried to hit Blake immediately.

Fists.

Knees.

Hands.

However, the defense buff protected him.

He ignored the pain.

With both hands, he ripped the damaged helmet off of the other’s head.

Blake shoved the pistol directly against his forehead.

His finger tightened.

KRRRRRRAAAAAASH!!

The ceiling collapsed.

A massive slab of reinforced concrete crashed downward.

Neither had time to move, but only the soldier disappeared beneath it instantly.

Blood erupted outward.

A warm spray struck Blake’s face.

His clothes.

His neck.

His lips.

Blake stared.

"Ah..."

His breathing became shallow.

His hands shook uncontrollably.

Tears blurred his vision.

"..."

He couldn’t, he couldn’t do this anymore. He turned and ran, only to be tackled immediately.

This time...

The soldiers had learned.

Punches didn’t work.

So they simply restrained him.

One grabbed each arm, another wrapped around his waist.

More piled on.

Blake couldn’t breathe.

"...I’ll..."

His lips barely moved.

"...I’ll Sneak for My Lover."

Instantly, confusion spread through the soldiers.

"Where—?!"

"Which one?!"

Blake slipped between them unnoticed.

Without hesitating, he sprinted toward the torture device.

He climbed over its metal frame.

Used it as a platform.

Then pulled himself through a shattered section of the wall.

The rooftop, all of it had collapsed.

Only the outer edge remained intact.

Wind howled around him.

Below, there was chaos.

Above, just smoke.

He looked back.

No one followed.

Among the dozens of blurred silhouettes moving under the skill’s effect, they couldn’t distinguish him anymore.

Blake’s chest rose and fell violently.

’If I deactivate it, they’ll see me immediately. If I don’t, Myles won’t know where I am.’

His hands trembled.

He bit his lip.

Then, he made his choice.

His voice broke as he screamed into the battlefield.

"MYYYYLES!!"

Over and over.

Ignoring everything except the desperate hope that despite his skill...

Myles would hear him.