The dust hadn't even settled from the explosion before the screaming started again.
Agnar pushed himself up from the cracked pavement. His vision was blurry. His gear was still offline. Around him, the street was a graveyard of stalled cars and burning rubble. He felt a drop of water touch his head. It had began to rain. The high-tech weapons that had been humming with blue light moments ago were now nothing more than heavy clubs.
"Keep your distance!" Commander Evrick's voice boomed.
The Commander had discarded his scorched jacket. Even without the power of his suit, the man was a mountain of muscle. Beside him, two other Pro Exterminators, Sora and Kael stood with their feet planted. They were gasping for air, their faces covered in dirt, but their eyes were locked on the monster's back.
The man in the black mask stood there, perfectly still. He looked down at the Pros like a human looking at ants.
"Kill him!" Sora yelled. She lunged forward, swinging a heavy metal rod she had scavenged from the debris.
Without the suit's assistance, her movements were slower, but she was still a professional. She swung with enough force to crack stone. The masked man didn't move until the very last second. He leaned back, the rod whistling past his chest, and grabbed Sora's wrist.
He didn't use a blast of energy. He pulled a thin, jagged needle from his sleeve and drove it directly into her neck.
Sora's eyes went wide. She didn't even scream. She slumped forward, and the masked man tossed her body aside like trash.
"SORA!" Kael roared, charging in.
"Wait! Don't!" Evrick shouted, but it was too late.
The masked man moved like a dancer. He stepped inside Kael's guard and struck him three times in the chest with his open palm. Each hit sounded like a wet fabric. Kael coughed up blood and fell to his knees, his ribs shattered. The villain didn't even look at him as he finished him with a quick, brutal snap of the neck.
Twenty feet away, the rookies were fighting their own battle.
"They're too fast!" Ash yelled. He swung his rail-spear like a staff, knocking a mini-monster back, but three more were already leaping from the walls.
Agnar's arms felt heavy and every swing of his katana felt like he was moving through deep mud. A mini-monster lunged, its claws scraping across Agnar's chest. He kicked it away, but his chest were burning from the chest injury.
Lyra was back-to-back with Torren. She was using her lance to keep the spawns at bay, but without her ice powers, she was just a girl with a stick. Torren was swinging his heavy gauntlets, his face bruised and bleeding.
"We're going to die here," one of the other rookies screamed, dropping his weapon. "We can't win without the tech."
The masked man heard him. He stepped off the massive monster's back, floating to the ground as light as a feather. He walked toward the center of the battlefield, ignoring the remaining Pro Exterminators who were trying to regroup.
"The world is mysterious," the man said. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried weight. "The more you try to learn about its mysteries, the more you get trapped."
He stopped and looked at the sky, where the dark clouds were still swirling. The rain came down heavy.
"When you die, that's when you can be truly free," he continued softly. He turned his masked face toward Evrick and the trembling rookies. "Tell me... do you think you're awake right now? Or are you just dreaming that you're awake?"
Commander Evrick spat blood onto the ground. He tightened his grip, his knuckles dug deep into his palms. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about. All I know is I have to stop you right here and right now."
The masked man tilted his head. "Oh? I'd like to see you try."
He raised his hand, and the giant Class A monster behind him let out a roar that vibrated in Agnar's teeth. The mini-monsters hissed, their bodies beginning to glow with that same volatile orange light. They were going to explode again.
Agnar looked around. He saw Ash struggling with two monsters. He saw Lyra about to be flanked. He saw the Commander charging toward certain death.
Move, Agnar thought. Move, you coward.
His heart hammered against his ribs thump-thump, thump-thump. The sound grew louder, drowning out the screams and the fire. The sheer will to survive, to not let this be the end, surged through him like a physical shock.
Suddenly, the world turned grey.
Everything slowed down. A drop of rain hung suspended in the air.
Agnar blinked. He saw a ghostly image of a mini-monster leaping at his throat. But the monster wasn't there yet. He saw another image of a spike of rubble falling toward Ash's head. He saw the masked man moving his hand to the left. He could see a glimpse of the future again, but this time the images were clear. The future was screaming at him, showing him exactly what was about to happen five seconds before it did.
Agnar's grip tightened on his katana. The risk of dying didn't matter anymore. He knew where the opening was. He knew where to step.
He looked at the masked man, his iris glowing a brilliant blue-white shade.
The true battle begins...