The statue narrowed his gaze on Hiro’s katana, the two on a rooftop near Fifth Avenue, a true standoff about to take place high above the streets.

Hiro placed a shaky hand on the hilt of his blade. “You want me to draw my weapon.”

Mercury offered him a slow nod that sent a chill down Hiro’s spine considering the statue seemed to actually understand his words.

He drew his blade, and Mercury rushed forward.

Clank!

Hiro blocked the statue’s first attempt, Mercury’s caduceus with enough force behind it to make Hiro’s wrist scream.

The Sentry delivered another quick strike that Hiro parried. He rolled—I can’t believe I just did that!—to avoid another attempt.

{Blade Whirlwind} staggered the Roman god.

“I’ll fucking cheese it if I have to,” Hiro mumbled as he followed up with more bladed wind attacks. He hit Mercury several times, and in doing so, Hiro naturally gravitated toward the opposite side of the roof.

It’s working!

Mercury’s health bar dropped each time he struck the statue with {Blade Whirlwind}. It reached the halfway point and things suddenly changed.

The god flew up into the air and slammed down onto the rooftop with his caduceus, which caused a ripple that hit Hiro and nearly sent him over the edge. Mercury remained on one knee, using his caduceus to keep himself up as his robes began to twist, the folds locking into place and forming armor.

Better spear him now.

Hiro was just going for his Buster Kunai when the two stone snakes entwined around Mercury’s caduceus stirred to life, their eyes glowing gold. The snakes slivered down the staff, their movements unnatural and swift. They bared their fangs and launched themselves toward Hiro.

“Shit, snake!” he shouted as he batted the first stone snake away. The second snake dug its fangs into the side of his calf, straight through his jeans.

A stifled howl caught in Hiro’s throat.

The fact that a stone snake could bite him was also unreal, yet Hiro had little time to think about it as he cut into the snake with his katana. He hacked at the serpent, even as his leg pulsed.

“Mother…fucker,” Hiro mouthed as he finally cut the snake in half.

It was still attached to his leg, its body writhing as the other snake slithered toward him.

Beyond, Mercury seemed to be charging up for something, the Roman god still kneeling.

Hiro dropped his katana, grabbed the snake that had bitten his leg with both hands, and ripped it out. “Fuck!”

He tossed the snake aside and went for his Buster Kunai, which he hurtled at the approaching stone snake. The kunai grew into an enormous sword and speared the snake to the rooftop, killing it.

Limping, still cursing about the bite the snake had given him, Hiro picked up his katana and drove it into the head of the stone serpent that was still alive. He returned his focus to Mercury and noticed something about the Sentry’s health bar.

It’s even lower, past the quarter-mark. Killing the snakes injured him!

Even if he was injured, Hiro wrapped both hands around the grip of his katana and glared at the god as he dragged his leg toward Mercury, who stood, caduceus at the ready.

“Let’s finish this,” Hiro said through gritted teeth.

The Sentry rushed forward in a frenzy, Hiro wincing as he blocked the barrage of strikes that would have been impossible twenty-four hours ago. Mercury pivoted and thrust his caduceus forward.

“Ugh!” Hiro fell back, and released another blast of {Blade Whirlwind} in the process.

Boing!

Falling backward also triggered {Bounce} which sent him back to his Buster Kunai, the Roulette Weapon still stabbed into the roof.

As much as it pained him to do so, Hiro reached a trembling hand to the grip of the Buster Kunai. It shrunk, and he rolled to the side just as Mercury came in for another strike.

With as much strength as he could muster, Hiro hurtled the throwing dagger sideways.

The Buster Kunai morphed in size and cut across the front of Mercury’s armored body. The blade landed near the edge of the roof as Mercury fell backward, his health bar flashing.

Hiro knew what this meant even though he’d yet to receive the instruction from his Companion.

Finish him… he thought as he staggered to his feet, brought his katana around, and drove it into Mercury’s chest, metal through stone, an impossible feat made possible by the Doom System, which spoke to him yet again in its creepy voice:

[You have killed a Sentry. Good work, Survivor.]

Soul Essence poured into Hiro as the Roman god of speed, luck, trickery, and trade took a knee and bowed his head at Hiro, frozen once again.

You have new followers!

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

Trembling from the snakebite, Hiro turned his backpack around and got out some of the healing gauze that Carmen gave him. I hope this works…

He gingerly pulled his pant leg up, and wrapped the gauze around the two puncture wounds.

Hiro felt immediate relief, so immediate that he let out a deep, satisfying breath. “Ahhh…” The gauze faded away, the wound gone. All that was left now was dried blood.

The Mercury statue shifted one more time, startling Hiro and causing him to jump back. It turned a hand around offering up loot.

“What the hell?” Hiro asked as he approached the statue and saw what it was holding. “Seriously? A vape pen?”

Unique Item: Kiri Yōso Vape Pen

Grade: C

Upgrade: Available

Description: The Kiri Yōso Vape Pen takes specialized cartridges with potent effects. The status effects will only target allies or foes within the Survivor’s vicinity. Vaping is totally healthier than smoking. Totally.

Weird way to end that, Hiro thought as he caught his breath. He read the description once again. The word kiri meant mist or fog in Japanese, and yōso meant element. Mist Element Vape Pen…

He took it from the Sentry and turned it over in his hand. The vape pen was made of a blackened material that almost felt like leather, the mouthpiece that of wood.

But it doesn’t have any cartridges.

His phone buzzed, signaling his Companion had further details.

“So you’re saying that I can potentially get, I don’t know, a poisonous vape cartridge, pop it in, and then blow poison mist?”

“Badass.” Hiro squeezed the vape pen. “So I just need to make it to tomorrow and get as many followers as possible to sacrifice, yeah?”

The phone didn’t respond.

Fucker, Hiro thought as he tried a different question. “What about the teddy bear that you have asked me to hold onto?”

“Okay.” Hiro adjusted his Hyottoko mask. He was less than ten blocks away from his first intended target, St. Patrick’s Cathedral. From there, it would be to Billionaire’s Row.

He squinted up at the sky, which remained a blackened red, the sun blotted out by the moon. An eternal solar eclipse.

His phone buzzed one last time.

****

Another trio of bats with swords came for Hiro. He killed the first monster with {Blade Whirlwind} and was able to cut the other out of the air just as it zipped overhead.

“Got you!”

While they were easy to kill, the bats soon became relentless.

Every time Hiro landed on a rooftop, it seemed like a new wave headed in his direction.

Some seemed to laugh upon seeing him upon seeing his Hyottoko mask, which stalled their progress. Others put up quite the fight, Hiro glad he had leveled his Sword Proficiency.

How many more? he thought as he killed the last of the current wave of bats.

The winged monster struck the rooftop, shrieked, gnashed its teeth dramatically, and died.

Soul Essence poured into him as neared the cathedral, Hiro ready to head back down to Fifth Avenue. He spotted a fast fashion store he could drop onto, then a shoe store that had been heavily looted.

I’ll get a better look from there.

Hiro prepared to jump to the next rooftop when he spotted something across Fifth Avenue, down at the street level. A body was sprawled out yet there was a glow to it, a glow radiating from it.

That one is clearly dead. Could it be another trap?

“What happens if I have too much Stolen Valor?” he asked his phone.

Alienated? Hiro smirked at his Companion’s suggestion. “I’m already alienated. Does stolen valor reset or anything during new Interims?”

“So through it, I take a power from another Survivor, but I get dinged at some point in the future.”

“But I don’t know if I’ll even survive until later.”

He waited a moment as the text took shape, almost as if it was thinking.

“You would say something fucked up like that.” Hiro paused to consider the implications of having too much Stolen Valor, at least in the way the Doom System viewed it. He couldn’t think of a problem. If people alienate me later, fuck them. We all need these powers to survive. Better to loot first, ask questions later.

After checking the area again, he timed his jump and landed in front of the dead woman’s body. A spiral of energy poured into him.

[You now have access to a new Roulette Skill known as {Refund}.]

The woman’s body shriveled and faded away as Hiro read the description:

{Refund}

Roulette Skill

Rank: B

Type: Transformation/Utility

Upgrade: N/A

Description: Channel the energy of an incoming attack, absorb its force, and redistribute it through your next strike. Can be used once per fight.

Nice.

A roar somewhere in the distance caught his attention.

Hiro rushed up to the nearest rooftop in anticipation of a fight. He scanned the sky and didn’t see more of the sword-wielding bats.

Okay, false alarm. Let’s check St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

He moved to the point that he could see the gothic structure and its numerous spires, some rising hundreds of feet in the air. The cathedral’s light gray facade was adorned with intricate tracery, flying buttresses, and a grand entrance that led up to a breathtaking entrance.

Hiro expected to find a Sentry.

Instead, he found the cracked stone steps of the cathedral, an overturned car with its engine burned out, stained glass shards galore, and towering bronze double doors decorated with relief sculptures, three robed men on the right and three hooded women on the left.

I can’t believe no one has touched the place, Hiro thought as he crouched at the base of the steps, staring up at the bronze doors. No graffiti, nothing.

Each side of the double doors was fifteen feet tall, and five feet wide, the pieces looking nearly as thick as the walls of the church.

Hiro considered his options. Maybe there’s nothing—

The double doors ripped free of their hinges. They flew open and smashed together, the bright bronze ringing out.

Hiro saw the red barrier trace around him, one that signified he was trapped in the Sentry’s zone of influence.

“I’m going to have to fight a… door?” he said as he readied his sword.

A health bar appeared over the door, and the six relief sculptures carved into its exterior all looked at Hiro, fury on their faces.

The ground rumbled as the enormous sentient double doors swarmed toward Hiro.