Damien slid the edge of his katana across the Skull Soldier’s throat, ending the guard’s life with a single stroke.

Beside him, Marcus held the final guard in a choke hold, the barrel of his shotgun pressed tightly against the Skulls’ head. Their silent ambush had worked perfectly. They’d taken care of all the members on watch duty at the entrance, leaving no one to alert the remaining members inside. All that remained was to gain access to the hideout.

Marcus nudged the hostage over to the front door of the warehouse where the control panel held the locking mechanism. He tightened his arm muscles as he tapped on the panel with his shotgun. The soldier, who’s face was turning more ghastly with every passing second, quickly obliged and entered the password. The panel let out a pleasant ding, and the nearby LED strip changed from red to green.

That’s one way to do it, Damien thought.

With no obstacles remaining in the way of their entry, Marcus went in for the kill. He lifted the bald-headed enemy off the ground and squeezed at the neck, veins jutting out all along his arm. The Skull member desperately clawed at the forearm, but it was no use. The tight grip was too powerful.

A moment later, the futile struggle was over, and their enemy went limp.

Marcus let the body drop to the ground then pulled out a small, metallic ball from his jacket. “You ready?” he whispered.

Damien nodded.

This was the plan that Marcus had come up with. He’d use a flashbang grenade to stun the enemies on the other side, giving the duo a few precious seconds to assess the situation and trim the enemy numbers.

Damien felt nervousness start to creep in, not knowing what to expect on the other side. Unlike the previous mission, he didn’t have a map overlay to tell him the layout of the compound. But then again, he didn’t really need one. Their objective wasn’t to advance through the hideout. They simply had to hold their position while Kat made her way to the target.

“Let’s do this,” Marcus said. He pulled the grenade pin, then opened the door and launched the metal orb inside. An explosive bang promptly followed, shaking the nearby surroundings and signaling that the mission was officially underway.

Damien charged inside and quickly took stock of the situation. The massive, pale warehouse was filled with gang members; their numbers far exceeding what the assailants had brought. Their only potential source of refuge were the brightly colored shipping containers that were scattered all around.

At the far end of the room, a cluster of soldiers stood clumped together on the metal walkway above.

I’ll leave the far ones to Marcus, Damien thought. Best to stick to the ones within my reach.

He spotted three enemies nearby to his left, each frozen in place, dazed by the explosion. The overlays above their heads told Damien that all three were simple Skull Soldiers, same as the ones he’d killed at the previous hideout.

I guess these ones are mine.

With his adrenaline rushing, Damien lunged forward and slashed his blade through the first enemy, then the second, then the third. All three fell easily, their bodies providing no real resistance to his blade.

Beside him, he heard repetitive blasts pop off from Marcus’s shotgun. He managed to kill two more soldiers before the effects of the flashbang wore off, eliminating their dishonest advantage, and inviting gunfire from the other side.

From the corner of his eye, Damien spotted an adversary creep around one of the large metal boxes. He charged at the foe but was quickly greeted with a pistol barrel aimed straight at his head.

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Time to try it out, Damien thought. Parry!

The opponent’s gun flashed and Damien felt time slow to a crawl. He could see the bullet swim through the air, its trajectory aligned perfectly with his head. He asked his arms to raise his katana but they barely moved, his muscles unable to keep up with his will, or the bullet.

Then, once the projectile entered striking distance, the motion exploded out of Damien with an unnatural speed. He could only watch as his blade lined itself up perfectly with the side of the bullet, intercepting and deflecting it off target to his right.

Another bullet spat out of the opponent’s gun, and again Damien’s weapon deflected it, this time to his left.

He looked at the Focus bar in the corner of his vision. For the first time ever, it had gone down, now reading 95/110.

Just as I suspected, Damien thought. It’s like a mana bar for my Skills.

Time sped up once again, and he’d closed the distance to only a few feet away. He let out a wild slash, and his blade struck deep within the Skull’s chest, killing him instantly.

Surveying the battlefield, Damien noted that Marcus had taken care of most of the original enemies, but a new group of soldiers had arrived from the door on the walkway above. Without the hindrance of another flashbang, the Skulls’ pistols fired swiftly and relentlessly, pelting the entire floor with bullets in a symphony of gunfire.

Damien jumped back, taking cover behind one of the large, rectangular boxes beside Marcus.

“This isn’t good,” Marcus said. “I didn’t expect so many.”

“Hold tight,” Kat said through the three-way channel. “It’s all clear up here. I’m almost at the spot.”

The bombardment of bullets continued, and Damien could feel the impact shockwaves ripple throughout their source of cover. At this rate, they’d be easily surrounded and overwhelmed.

He turned to Marcus. “I’m gonna play decoy, you shoot them down.”

“Huh?” Marcus blurted. “You crazy?”

“Just trust me. Take them out while they’re focused on me.”

Damien clutched his weapon and leapt out to the open, revealing himself to the enemies. Instantly, a flood of bullets rained on him from above.

Parry.

Just as before, his katana steered itself to meet the oncoming projectiles with an effortless ease. The motions flowed through his body, creating a synchronized dance between each bullet and his blade. With each deflection, however, his Focus bar depleted further.

To his side, Damien could see Marcus at the edge of the container, firing back at the gang members. His shots connected perfectly, and one by one the foes fell, until only one remained.

That’s when Damien spotted a new enemy on the ground just ahead. This one was much larger than the rest, and he didn’t carry a weapon on him. A quick scan confirmed what Damien had suspected.

Skulls Brawler

Level: 3

Weapon: ?

Armor: ?

When the Brawler spotted Damien, he picked up the pace to a full out charge.

Shit! Damien thought as he quickly glanced at the now-empty Focus bar. Is he coming for me?

He prepared to meet the oncoming attack, but at the last second, the Brawler pivoted and slammed his entire body into the nearby container. Marcus went flying backwards, the impact traveling into him through the metal box.

The Brawler quickly got back to his feet and started another charge at Damien. This time, he readied a bulky fist.

I’m all out of Focus, Damien thought as he gripped his sword with both hands. I’ll have to manually parry.

Damien maneuvered his sword to catch the side of the arm but the fist snuck through, slamming into his chest with the force of a hundred hammers, and rattling his whole body as he fell backwards.

Torso: -7%

A glance at the corner of his vision told Damien that his HP bar had been depleted by about a tenth.

Shaking off the blow and getting back up, Damien saw that the Brawler had moved on to Marcus. The big pirate tried to keep his distance, dodging his opponent’s wild swings while he fired his shotgun. But it wasn’t working. The gun blasts seemed to only chip away at the metal armor.

Damien prepared to lunge forward to help his ally, when he felt something smash into his arm.

Left Arm: -9%

Immediately, he knew that the remaining soldier on the walkway had shot him.

“Found the target,” Kat said out of nowhere. “Extracting data as per Zero’s instructions.”

Now’s not the time…

Finally, Marcus managed to get a point blank shot to the Brawler’s head, breaking through the armor and slaying the monster.

Damien felt a sense of relief build up within him; they were almost there. He turned to Marcus. “Only one more lef-”

A large crash interrupted his sentence. He swerved his head to see that a new, hulking figure had broken through the door on the walkway above. A scan of the enemy revealed something that he didn’t want to see.

Skulls Brawler

Level: 5

Weapon: ?

Armor: ?

Ah, damn it…, Damien thought. Looks like the boss monster just showed up.