“Michael, to your left!”
Lily’s warning came just in time.
Michael sidestepped at the last second and narrowly avoided the tentacle that lashed out to ensnare him.
Without any hesitation, he raised his sword overhead and brought it down with tyrannical force, cleaving through the writhing limb easily like a wild vine.
The beast he was fighting — Subject Omega — let out an ear-piercing shriek that rattled the air.
For half a second, it disoriented everyone that was present.
Everyone except Michael. Somehow, he stayed sharp and focused, even as the high-pitched noise clawed at his eardrums like nails on glass.
And thankfully because of that, he saw the beast open its maw wide and shoot a thick glob of black saliva toward him.
Michael threw himself to the side just in time again.
The acidic spit struck the ground where he had stood a moment ago, sizzling violently as it rusted and ate through the metallic floor like lava.
The stench of acid filled the air.
Subject Omega recoiled, its grotesque, multi-eyed face twisting in a mixture of pain and mindless rage. Its severed tentacle twitched on the ground.
Michael didn’t give it a chance to recover. He lunged forward, closing the gap between them in a heartbeat.
With both hands gripping his sword, he slashed at one of the beast’s many legs, aiming to cripple its movement.
The blade bit deep — but the beast’s flesh was unnaturally tough.
Instead of a clean cut, his sword only managed to carve halfway through. He twisted his body and wrenched the weapon free before Subject Omega could retaliate.
“Michael, watch out!”
Lily’s voice rang out again, sharper this time.
He ducked without thinking.
A flurry of tentacles whipped through the air, missing his head by inches. The sheer force of their movement stirred the wind and sent his hair into disarray.
Michael rolled to the side, breathing hard.
This time, Subject Omega took the lead.
The beast pounced forward at him while Michael was still crouched.
His eyes widened as the abomination swung one of its razor-sharp claws at him, aiming to shred his body apart like knives to paper.
Fortunately, Michael managed to raise his sword just high enough to block the incoming blow with the flat of his blade.
The impact still flung him back. He hit the ground hard but rolled with the momentum and sprang to his feet.
After jumping to his feet and assuming his fighting stance, Michael clenched his jaw. ‘I need to end this fast.’
He wasn’t in a very good condition.
His lusterless black armor was dented, caved in places, and on the brink of shattering into fading light particles.
His body was littered with black and blue bruises, and his Essence pool was draining dangerously fast.
To his left, across the laboratory, Alexia and Kang were battling Subject Alpha. That abomination was twice as tall as the one Michael was facing, and considerably stronger as well.
Lily, the only support in the team, had the responsibility of controlling the flow of battle — guiding and moving her teammates like chess pieces to checkmate their opponent.
Her plan was simple.
Alexia and Kang would hold Subject Alpha at bay.
Meanwhile, Michael would take on Subject Omega alone. It was smaller and weaker than its counterpart, making it the easier target.
Once Michael finished his fight, he’d join Alexia and Kang, and together they’d overwhelm Subject Alpha.
The strategy was simple and easy to follow.
The execution, however, was proving to be difficult.
While Subject Omega was indeed smaller and slightly weaker among the two beasts, it was exceptionally fast and agile.
Its reaction speed was off the charts, and its instincts were honed like a predator that had spent its entire existence hunting.
Whenever Michael closed in on it, the beast would somehow find a way to twist its grotesque body out of harm’s way or counter with its flurry of tentacles.
It fought with relentless, animalistic precision.
Michael wasn’t the hunter here.
If anything, he felt like prey.
“Tsk.” He clicked his tongue and leapt back as the beast lunged at him.
Each exchange drained more of his stamina, more of his Essence.
He couldn’t keep this up. He needed a deal decisive blow.
He knew he had the power to end this fight in a single strike — but to do that, he needed an opening.
His gaze flickered to Lily.
She was standing at the center of the chamber. Her Origin Card was floating around her waist, and her eyes burning with a bright violet glow.
Michael had no idea what she was thinking.
But that didn’t matter.
He trusted her.
She was a seer, after all.
She could glimpse three to five seconds into the future. And in a battle like this — where a single mistake meant death — even a fraction of a second could change everything.
Suddenly, her eyes met his.
And she nodded.
Michael grinned.
Then, he charged straight at Subject Omega without a shred of concern for his own safety.
The beast screeched and lashed out with all its tentacles.
Michael didn’t slow down. If anything, he sped up.
The tentacles came at him like a storm, slicing through the air with lethal speed. A single misstep, a single hesitation, and he’d be skewered.
But he didn’t falter.
He ducked, twisted, and weaved through the onslaught, his body moving purely on instinct. His blade flashed, severing a few tentacles mid-swing, but more took their place in an instant.
Yet, he kept going.
Because he trusted Lily.
Because the moment she nodded, the path to victory had already been laid out.
The future where they would win was set in stone.
And then — he saw it too.
The beast had committed all of its tentacles to the attack. Michael had dodged or cut through every last one and closed the gap between them.
Now, Subject Omega had nothing left to defend itself with aside from its claws and fangs.
So, it had to move forward itself.
Normally, that would’ve been a good thing for Michael.
Why?
Because Subject Omega was absurdly fast.
If Michael was charging head-on, he wouldn’t have time to evade if the beast did the same.
And that’s exactly what the beast did.
It lunged forward with blurring speed—
…Or at least, it tried.
Right before it could launch itself at Michael, Lily activated a Card.
Suddenly, thick green vines sprouted from the ground beneath the beast’s leg, tearing through the metallic floor and anchoring its foot in place.
At the same time, she summoned another Support Card.
Immediately, a shimmering veil of white light enveloped Michael’s body, boosting his speed.
It wasn’t much.
The beast shredded through the vines in an instant and lunged forward, while Michael’s speed boost only made him a split-second faster.
…But that split-second decided everything.
As soon as it stepped into striking range, the beast slashed forward with its claw.
But it was just a fraction too late.
Michael jumped, landed on the back of its claw, and ran up its twisted arm.
The beast barely had time to react before Michael’s blade came down with tremendous force.
His sword pierced straight through the abomination’s skull, carving a gaping hole into its brain.
The beast spasmed violently.
Its many eyes rolled back, its grotesque limbs convulsing as if refusing to accept its own death.
Michael didn’t give it a chance to fight back.
He twisted the blade and drove it deeper into the beast’s skull.
Subject Omega let out one last gurgling screech as its body went limp.
For a brief moment, silence filled the lab.
Then, the beast collapsed.
Michael jumped off its toppling body and landed smoothly on the ground, grinning.
But there was no time to celebrate.
Without missing a beat, he rushed toward Alexia and Kang to assist them.
Lily finally joined the battle as well.
Subject Alpha was tougher and stronger.
But now, it was alone.
And there were four of them.
•••
After fifteen grueling minutes, it was over.
They had won.
Subject Alpha lay motionless in the center of the laboratory.
Its grotesque body was sliced and carved in so many places that it looked as if an inexperienced butcher had started skinning it but abandoned the job halfway through.
Michael had sustained the most injuries out of all of them since he was fighting on the frontline with Alexia.
His armor was completely gone, dissipated into light particles, and his longsword was on the verge of breaking as well.
It broke his heart. He had brought this sword only recently, and had grown a lot fond of it. This was the first time he used it in a real battle, and it served him well.
But now it was as broken as he felt.
His left arm was entirely numb, his right ankle throbbed from a mild sprain, and his chest ached every time he took a breath.
Kang had dislocated a shoulder, and Lily had survived with only minor cuts — save for the deep gash running across her torso.
Alexia, surprisingly, fared better than expected. Her armor was gone too, but the wounds she sustained were not nearly as bad as Michael’s.
Her left cheek was swollen and one of her knees was scraped. There was also a shallow cut on her back. But that was it.
“Whooo!” She cheered while plopping onto the ground. “That was exhilarating. I might chase this feeling.”