CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Chipped and Chased

The dust settled in choking waves as Marcus lay sprawled in the wreckage, half-buried under broken wood and shattered drywall. He groaned, brushing debris from his arms, his face caked in plaster and dust. ‘Thank god I wore a helmet,’ he thought, spitting out dust before coughing to clear his lungs. Every breath felt like it scraped the inside of his chest.

His hand wiped the last bit of dirt from his face when movement caught his eye. To his left, the pile of debris shifted, a low, grating sound rising as chunks of plaster and jagged splinters slid away.

Marcus froze, his breath hitching as the creature pulled itself free of the debris, its neck hanging at an unnatural angle. The head lolled to one side, its bones shattered. It moved with a jerky, awkward gait, its attempts at regeneration slow, failing to fix the damage quickly. The plating that once armored its skull lay fractured, with jagged pieces chipped away, exposing raw, pulsing flesh underneath.

A shard of metal stuck out of its side, dripping with dark blood, but the monster kept pushing itself forward, its heavy limbs dragging through the wreckage. The creature let out a low, gurgling hiss.

Marcus stared in disbelief. “Still alive?” he muttered, his grip tightening on the nearest chunks of brick in case it came at him again. “You’re as stubborn as you are ugly.”

The creature’s limp head swung toward him, hearing his voice, that faceless skull somehow fixing on him. More bone plating than anything that resembled a head.

Marcus braced himself, barely a breath passing before the creature lunged, barreling across the wreckage on all fours. He rolled to the side, feeling the rush of air as it missed him by inches, the weight of it slamming into the wall beside him. Not wasting a second, he brought the first brick down hard against the side of its skull. The creature let out a furious, strangled cry, thrashing wildly, swinging its head left and right, still dazed.

Marcus lifted the second brick and drove it into the thing’s broken neck, each hit hammering bone and splintering plating. Blood oozed out, thick and dark. The creature snarled and swung a limb his way. He sidestepped just in time, then aimed a nasty kick at its hind leg, feeling the joint crack under his boot. The creature just slammed its head into his side in response, with Marcus hissing as he felt the sting of the blow.

Then the plating on its head split, releasing a hissing cloud of gas. “Shit, shit, shit,” Marcus shouted, dropping the bricks and bolting. He dived into the nearest apartment, hitting the floor as an explosion roared behind him, shaking the walls and sending a fresh wave of dust into the air.

Marcus staggered to his feet, fighting the dizziness, when he heard it: the monster barreling toward him. It smashed through the wall in a shower of broken wood and crumbling bricks. The creature looked worse than ever, its face stripped bare of bone plating, raw and bloody, as bits of its head slowly reformed.

Acting on instinct, Marcus ripped off his helmet and met the creature head-on. He swung the steel headgear straight into its face, the sharp clang of metal against flesh echoing around them. He hit it again, and again, each blow denting the helmet as it drove the creature back, until finally, the thing went down in a heap. “Fucking hell,” Marcus said, panting violently before slamming the helmet down once more.

Through the torn remains of its head, Marcus spotted the Monster-Glass glinting, exposed at the back of its skull. He gripped it tight, pulling with all his strength. It started to come loose, a sickening feeling as the thing’s head twisted, until—

The creature jerked back to life, ramming him upwards with its head. Marcus slammed into the ceiling, the air knocked out of him as he crashed down, landing right on top of the beast. His vision blurred, but he held tight while the monster screeched and thrashed, trying to throw him off.

Then it lunged forward, charging through wall after wall. Marcus clung to its back, pelted with debris as they plowed through apartments, furniture splintering and dust filling his lungs. He dug his fist into its side, finding a soft spot and punching through. Each hit tore into organs and tissue, ripping bits free as he fought to keep his grip. The monster howled, bucking and swerving, but Marcus didn’t let go, battering it from the side even as the world blurred into a stream of shattered walls and carnage.

With a final shift of his weight, Marcus tightened his grip and focused, calling up every ounce of Mana left in his body as he released a burst of wind from his knuckles.

‘Gale-blast.’

The blast ripped through the creature’s insides with violent force while Marcus roared at the top of his lungs, light blue Mana bleeding out of his body, “Die!” The brutal gust crushed organs and tissue, the pressure jetting out through the hole in the monster’s side with sprays of blood. The sheer pressure forced Marcus’s arm out, leaving him dangling by one hand as the monster’s blood gushed out in waves. His fingers tightened, his knuckles aching from the strain, but he held on, swinging from the creature as it lurched and bucked.

The monster veered right, smashing through another wall in a frenzied attempt to shake him. Shattered bricks and chunks of plaster flew in every direction as it crashed back into the hallway, its agonized howls twisting into a mad wail that echoed off the walls. Marcus barely had a moment to brace before the creature pinned itself against the wall, grinding its massive frame against him, trying to scrape him off like unwanted junk. But he locked his arms around its neck, gritting his teeth as the hallway turned into a blur of walls and carnage until it suddenly stopped.

“No, no, no!” Marcus yelled as the monster reached the stairs, hurling itself down with reckless speed. They hurtled down the stairs, and Marcus lost his grip, crashing into the wall before tumbling to a painful stop at the bottom.

He gasped, pain pulsing through his ribs, each breath feeling like a razor slicing inside his chest. Gritting his teeth, he forced his eyes open and saw the monster, just feet away, its limbs twisted and broken. And yet, like a waking nightmare, parts of its body started to regenerate. The creature’s mangled form slid down the stairs in a twisted, jerking crawl, inching closer.

Marcus tried to push himself up, desperation mounting as he edged backward, trying to reach the stairs that led downwards, but the creature kept closing in. Suddenly, a deafening gunshot cracked through the air, and a chunk of the monster’s face blew away in a splatter. More shots followed, and he spotted Jessica charging up the stairs, her shotgun ripping bits of flesh from the creature with each blast. Behind her, Benedict unloaded his assault rifle into its chest and head, each burst ripping through flesh and spraying blood.

A second later, Marcus felt himself yanked up, lifted clear off the ground before being dropped back down as Sebastian moved past him. “Step back,” the pissed off Breacher said, venom in his voice as he lunged at the creature. When the guns clicked empty, he made his move—he drove his fist into the monster’s face again and again, each strike pushing deeper, ignoring the mess of regenerating tissue.

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The beat down felt like hours, with Sebastion just punching away, while Jessica and Benedict kept suppressing the creature with more gunfire. With a final, brutal yank, Sebastian pulled his hand free from the torn tunnel of flesh he’d carved. Benedict rushed forward, pressing two grenades into Sebastian’s hand before retreating, pulling Marcus and Jessica back with him. Without missing a beat, Sebastian clenched the grenades in his fist, ripped the pins free with his teeth, and shoved them into the gory cavity he’d just made. He kicked the creature down the next flight of stairs, sending it crashing to the bottom.

The monster struggled back to its feet, limbs twisted, head hissing violently as it teetered—then exploded in a massive shower of blood and gore. Fleshy-debris exploded outward, coating the walls, ceiling, and Sebastian himself. Drenched from head to toe, blood and entrails dripping off him, he stood amid the carnage, a blood-soaked shadow against the broken staircase.

“There were three Glass pieces inside,” Sebastian said as he picked up the pieces, laughing a little before tossing the them to his brother. “Figured as much.”

Marcus shook his head, exhaling a heavy sigh. He made a mental note, crystal clear in his mind, to never piss off the German. His gaze shifted to the Glass in Benedict’s hand. ‘Three? I mean, I’ve heard it could happen, but I didn’t know they’d be that much stronger,’ he thought, eyes narrowing.

“It happens more frequently in higher Spheres or the weirder ones,” Benedict said, as if reading Marcus’s thoughts. “When a Sphere focuses more of its Mana into sustaining fewer but stronger monsters, you get tougher buggers that are a pain in the ass to deal with. It’s one of the reasons we usually stick to light-blue Spheres.”

Benedict then gave Marcus another once-over, checking for injuries, before nodding to Jessica.

Jessica slipped an arm under Marcus’s shoulder, steadying him as they descended the stairs while the German brothers swept the rest of the building. Every step jarred his ribs, and his boots slipped on the slick, blood-soaked steps. Jessica’s grip held firm, keeping him upright.

They passed a bent, spotting his twisted sword lying in a pool of gore.

“That was my sword,” Marcus muttered, voice layered with defeat, remembering how he had stabbed it inside the monster’s torso earlier.

Jessica patted his shoulder. “Occupational hazard, buddy.”

When they reached the ground floor, they saw Kay resting on a mattress, cradling his head. Julien sat on the stairs outside, his hand clutching his ribs as he kept a tired watch. Jessica knelt to check on Kay while Marcus limped over to Julien and dropped down beside him in an orchestra of groans and hisses, clutching his own ribs.

“Still alive?” Julien asked, glancing sideways.

Marcus groaned. “Kinda wish I wasn’t.” He plucked a piece of gore from his hair, unsure what he was even looking at. “How are your ribs?”

“Like my nan’s hip—completely wrecked.”

Marcus chuckled at the comment, then immediately wished he hadn’t when a fresh jolt of pain shot through him. “How’s Kay?” Marcus asked the wounded caster while looking at Kay and Jessica for a moment.

“He’ll be fine, but he’s concussed for sure. We’ll get him checked out just to be sure.” Julien paused, a silence wrapping around them as they stared out at the city, the occasional gunshot or distant scream echoing through the streets. “You saved my life back there… both our lives.” He glanced over at Kay. “You did well. I owe you one.”

“Yeah,” Marcus muttered, rubbing his ribs. “If I’d known I’d feel like this, I might’ve let the monster eat you, to be honest.”

“Fair enough,” Julien said, picking up the broken staff lying beside him. He turned it over in his hands, inspecting the battered material, then dropped it on the stairs with a frustrated clatter. “The Chip’s is in some bloke’s arm by now, huh?”

Marcus flashed an amused grin, only for it to twist into a groan as pain shot through his body. “Jesus, even smiling hurts. Technically, I didn’t lie,” he said, pressing his thumb against his chest, hinting at himself as the aforementioned bloke.

“So… Chipped, huh?” Julien’s gaze suddenly sharpened, eyes narrowing as he took in Marcus’s form, like he’d just noticed something off. “Wait, how the hell did you even pull that off? You told me you didn’t have the credits for it, and even if you did, you’d still be laid up from the surgery and therapy.” Julien’s brow furrowed deeper as he studied Marcus, trying to piece together the impossible. “It also doesn’t explain what I saw back there. Your blue—”

“Remember that favor you owe me?” Marcus cut him off, a challenge in his eyes.

Julien studied him for a moment, as if trying to read the change in him. He then nodded slowly. “It was dusty inside, huh?” He shifted his attention back to the city. “Couldn’t see a thing up there. Not… a… thing.”

Marcus nodded, letting the silence stretch. They kept their gaze on the city until Jessica joined them, grinning as she took in the pair of miserable-looking men.

“You boys look like you could use a shower and a drink.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Marcus and Julien muttered in unison, and after a moment, a weary Kay chimed in,

“Can I also have one?”

- - -

A few minutes later, the six of them made their way back to the edge of the barrier, bruised, grimy, and weighed down with Monster-Glass. Kay, Marcus, and Julien trudged slowly, each step testing their sore ribs and battered limbs. Sebastian trailed behind them as the rear guard, keeping a watchful eye while Jessica and Benedict led the front.

As they neared the barrier, more Breacher teams appeared, some limping or nursing cuts, while others looked better off but just as grimy, streaked with blood and dust from battle. Some Breachers chatted, exchanging quick stories or sharing relieved laughs. Even Sebastian grew social, nodding and talking with a towering Breacher who cradled a massive war axe like an old friend. Marcus smirked, shaking his head. ‘Figures he’s friendly with other berserkers.’

They stepped through the barrier, the gel-like membrane tugging at their skin as they passed through. Beyond it, a crowd of Breachers awaited, many of them new arrivals. “Fresh meat for the grinder,” Julien muttered, his voice carrying a tired edge as they walked on. “Thank god we’re done.” Benedict and other squad leaders broke off to report to the government officials who lingered near the checkpoint.

Marcus’s gaze caught on an ambulance in the distance, along with a police car. “Did someone get injured badly?” he wondered out loud, his eyes narrowing.

Jessica glanced over at the ambulance, then shrugged. “Probably. Or someone kicked the bucket. It happens.”

Their group moved to a series of containers, each filled with chemical solutions for the Glass. One by one, they dumped in the pieces they’d collected, watching as the containers fizzed and bubbled before an official pulled each cleaned piece out to dry and counted the haul, transferring it to security crates. Marcus eyed the growing amount, impressed by their total. ‘It’s a good haul this time,’ he thought, even feeling the familiar itch to jump in and take all the Glass for himself, knowing full well he couldn’t.

Marcus spotted Benedict standing a little ways off, talking with an official who kept nodding and pointing in the distance. As the official gestured, Benedict’s face hardened, his jaw set like he was holding back his reaction. Marcus turned to see what they were discussing, but a heavy hand gripped his arm.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Sebastian warned, his voice low and even.

“What do you—” Marcus stopped, catching sight of the ambulance in the distance, noticing just now that it was parked near the food trucks. A knot of dread tightened in his chest. ‘Felix!’ Adrenaline shot through him, flooding out the ache in his ribs as he shrugged off Sebastian’s grip and limped his way through the crowd of Breachers and site personnel. He shoved past anyone in his way, ignoring their protests, his eyes locked on the ambulance.

He broke through the cluster of people, his gaze falling on Felix’s food truck. A massive dent marred its side, garbage bins lay toppled nearby, and a folding table lay broken on the ground. “What happened?” he demanded, eyes darting over the scene.

Benedict jogged up to him, his calm expression offset by a cautious tone, as though bracing Marcus. “They told me your friend, Felix, got caught up in a fight. Some sort of argument broke out between two groups of Breachers. Apparently, your friend tried to de-escalate things, but he got caught up in it.” Benedict placed a hand on his shoulder, holding his gaze steady. “He’s in the back of the ambulance. I’m told he broke his arm.” Benedict paused, watching him with a strange, unreadable look. “Marcus, the police have this handled. I think—”

“Do you know who did this to him?” Marcus asked, his voice cutting through the tension like a blade.

Benedict hesitated, as if weighing his response. “Yes. It’s the same group we ran into earlier. The one that nearly went off on you.”

Marcus’s fists tightened at hearing it. “Can you get me their names and address?”

Benedict’s jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing in thought before he gave a slow nod. “I can.”

“Mail it to me.” Marcus didn’t wait for a response. He turned, his fingers gripping the edge of the ambulance as he tried to push down the anger swirling in him. He steadied his breath, then went to the back of the vehicle.

Inside, Felix lay out on the ambulance stretcher, arm strapped in a sling while the paramedic dabbed carefully at a cut on his cheek. When his friend looked up and saw Marcus standing there, blood-spattered and bruised, worry flashed in his eyes, his face tightening. Then he caught the crooked smile pulling at Marcus’s mouth and relaxed, a small grin breaking through as well.

Marcus crossed his arms, leaning against the ambulance and letting out a dry chuckle before he spoke up, “You look like shit, mate.”