Pain seared throughout Damien’s body, and the sudden fatigue that followed dragged him down to a kneeling position. Desperate wheezing escaped his mouth as his lungs begged for air, but there simply wasn’t enough coming in. His furious gasps continued unsuccessfully, and primal panic began to settle in. The corners of his vision dimmed, and he was certain that he’d black out at any second.

He closed his eyes and focused all his attention on his breathing, letting his body frantically gulp down every ounce of oxygen it could get. Each frenzied mouthful of air stung his throat, but he powered through it, determined to not fall in such a dangerous situation.

Slowly, his lungs began to fill up, and he settled into a pattern of long, deep breaths that, while strained, allowed him to stabilize. His vision returned to normal and the panic subsided. Much to his relief, he was going to make it.

With great effort, Damien pulled himself to his feet and stared at the grisly sight before him in a mixture of shock and awe. His seemingly-invincible opponent hadn’t simply been killed, he’d been utterly obliterated. It was as if a monster’s talons had repeatedly shredded through the ex-military’s body, leaving a human carcass covered in blood, internal organs, and torn metal armor.

He struggled to comprehend how this had been his doing, and one surprised thought ran through his mind over and over again: This is what I’m capable of…? One use of his new Tempest Flurry skill and he’d destroyed someone he’d otherwise struggled to damage.

This realization caused other emotions swell up within. Triumph, because he’d defeated a type of powerful opponent that many feared. Worry, because that victory had come at a great price. He’d never had his stamina drop this low, and he was feeling the disastrous effects for the first time. Simply holding his body upright was now a battle, and his grip fought to hold his own weapon in his hand. Now he truly understood that his new skill came with tremendous drawbacks. While astonishingly powerful, it was not something to be used lightly.

Fighting the agony from every movement of his exhausted body, Damien limped toward the weapon that his fallen enemy had used and scanned it.

Volt Blade

Damage: 46

Bonuses: Electric Damage on contact

Rarity: Rare

Condition: Good

Considering the sword a spoil of victory, Damien didn’t so much lift it, as heave it with all his strength up to his waist, allowing it to clip to his side. It was too awesome of a weapon to not loot, and he had no intention of letting it fall back into the hands of these thugs. He looked around for more spoils but his scavenging was cut short when he heard the echoes of yelling once again. More guards were heading for his position, and he was in absolutely no condition to fight. He dropped the idea of looking for more spoils and slung his body in the opposite direction of the voices, toward the control room.

Each step forward felt like he was dragging a mountain with him, and the weight of his battle armor increased that burden significantly. He now understood that being low on stamina wasn’t just a matter of running out of breath, it also meant that every muscle was utterly fatigued. This wasn’t the best time to learn this lesson, but he willed himself forward and cursed his current situation.

A voice call from Lana interrupted his self pity. “Status update, Damien. Now.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Damien swallowed hard and forced his reply with a coarse and strained voice. “Ran into ex-military. More guards coming. How’s Kat?”

“I’m almost done manually extracting the files on her behalf,” she replied, ignoring the question entirely. “Marcus is swinging around with the getaway vehicle. Head back to Kat’s position, drag her body inside the truck, and get the hell out of there.”

“How is she?” he asked again.

The call ended before Lana gave a reply, and Damien’s mind immediately went to the worst possible outcome. He pushed aside the dark thoughts of what may have happened to Kat and launched himself forward with even more conviction. He couldn’t have his body let out on him now, especially since more enemies were on his tail.

When he finally returned to the control room, Damien found Kat slouched over on the floor in the same position he’d left her. He’d seen her go from her typical tough self to someone entirely defenseless in an instant, and she still hadn’t returned to normal. At the very least, he’d managed to keep anyone from physically harming her, but he didn’t understand what caused her to go limp in the first place, and whether it was reversible or not. He gritted his teeth and hauled himself toward her.

Tires screeched from the other side of the door and the sounds of gunfire started echoing in the halls. Lana joined the voice call once again. “Marcus just pulled up. A few Skulls are just outside, let him clear them out first, though more are on the way.”

Knowing that he couldn’t fight any longer, and confident that Marcus could take out some Skulls soldiers on his own, Damien followed Lana’s instructions and let his colleague take care of those enemies. In the mean time, he went over to Kat and knelt down beside her. “Lana. Is she gonna be okay?” he asked as he studied Kat’s still face.

“I… I think so,” Lana replied. “I’ve done all I can to help her while securing the files. I’m pretty sure she hasn’t been brain burnt, but I can’t confirm it.”

Brain burnt? What the hell does that mean? Damien thought, as his mind began to race once again.

The gunshots died down and Marcus joined the call. “More are coming. I can’t hold them all off forever. Get out here, now or we’ll be overwhelmed soon!”

“Got it,” Damien said. With the last bit of strength he could muster, he pushed through the protests of his pain-ridden body and slung Kat over his shoulder. Rising to his feet with the weight of a grown woman added to his already-heavy load, he barely managed to stabilize himself.

Another gun fight started as Damien dragged himself toward the door of the control room. On the other side, a white van with the side door open greeted them, and Marcus took cover behind the driver’s side door as he fired his shotgun at the new bald-headed guards that had appeared ahead.

Damien kept his body position low and slid Kat into the rear of the van through the side door. He managed to lunge himself inside, too, and slammed the door shut. A few yells rang out as Marcus finished the remaining goons and entered back into the driving seat.

A heavy acceleration of the van van followed, and it made Damien slide to the back of the vehicle where he collided with the rear door, sending yet another jolt of pain through him. Kat’s body followed, but he managed to catch her and cushion her head, dampening the impact. Hoping to keep her from getting hurt, he held her close as the van barreled through the wide corridors.

More gun shots went off and a loud thud came from the front, smashing the windshield in the process. Damien poked his head up and saw the van run straight into a Skull member, creating another loud thud and knocking the guard across the broken windshield and over the vehicle.

He ducked back down and checked the mini-map, seeing that they were moving quickly toward the bulkhead at the center of the facility. They approached it with great speed, and when they exited up the ramp back to the outside, they gained a few feet of air, before hitting the ground hard.

Damien winced and covered Kat as the maneuver knocked them around once again. He kept her head close to his chest to stop it from being rattled every which way, until finally, the ride became smooth when they returned to the streets of Neopolis.

With a sigh of relief, Damien watched as they left the research facility behind them.

Somehow, they’d managed to complete their mission.