It took seconds for First Sergeant Nickael to realise the gravity of the situation.

“SIR! THEY HAVE RADIANCE ABILITIES AS WELL!!” he yelled.

The entire room went silent. Every eye was on Nickael.

Colonel Husker responded with urgency in his tone, “report, Sergeant.”

“I’m picking up immense levels of radiance in Opolla. I’ve done my calculations, sir. It can’t be ours.”

“Radiance levels?”

“Twice above Commander Russell Tauros. It’s deadly readings we are detecting…”

“Could it be our allies? The prince, maybe?”

Wang Xin, who was observing the operation together with Husker, interrupted the Commanding Officer, “impossible. Di’s radiance is not of such insane threshold. It’s not ours.”

Radiance threshold way above Russell Tauros, the most powerful Berserker in Heaven’s Command? Husker had a hard time believing his ears. Russell Tauros was a legend, even among Berserkers. Knowing Tauros’ history, Husker could understand why he was the strongest. No one was ever close to Tauros’ threshold, let alone surpass him.

No. There was one, Husker recalled. One hollowed soldier he saved from that haunted facility. But that was his initial release. Most initial releases were uncontrolled and usually twice above their usual levels. If that were to be the case, he would just be on par with Tauros. This reading, however, was just too unbelievable.

“Put it up on the main screen,” he ordered, “I need to see this for myself.”

First Sergeant Nickael toggled a key from his system.

Husker was no expert in radiance readings and yet he was able to deduce the sheer power in comparison with other hot spots.

“Get me ORACLE on a secured line now!” Husker bellowed.

Too stunned to speak, Wang Xin cupped her mouth with her palms and slumped onto her chair. Could she have sent her younger brother into a death trap?

“Sir, I have ORACLE on channel six!” His soldier informed.

“This is Colonel Harrold Husker, Heaven’s Command. Does ORACLE have any more intelligence regarding Phantasm’s overlords?”

“Colonel, we have provided all necessary information regarding Phantasm. So, naturally, we do not have any more new intelligence for you,” came the curt reply.

It seemed as if Oclia Regional Agency for Central Legitimised Espionage (ORACLE) did not wish to co-operate.

Urbs, who was standing next to Husker, interjected, “does that mean that ORACLE is withholding crucial information from Heaven’s Command?”

“Crucial, yes. But not withholding. Colonel Arnold Urbs, you realise that such intelligence is on a need-to-know basis, don’t you? ORACLE is an independent organisation working for homeland security. We do not report to the military or Heaven’s Command.”

The agonised princess could not stand the political bicker unfolding in front of her. She, however, was in no position to interrupt their internal squabble. She had to be strong in front of the allied nation and her troops. Drawing on courage from within, she stood up silently, indicating her readiness for command.

Urbs picked up on the signal, and pushed on. “Director Winona, those are Oclia’s men in the heart of Opolla right now, together with The Kingdom’s soldiers. Do you intend to spark an unnecessary political war right here in the Operations Room?”

The director of ORACLE’s reply remained short and terse. “Colonel Arnold Urbs. Allow me to repeat ORACLE’s stand once more for the records. We have already provided all necessary information regarding the enemy forces known as Phantasm. If more intelligence is gathered, I assure you that it will be duly reported to the military in the shortest time possible, in goodwill.”

“Sir, thirty seconds,” his man reported.

“No, wait! Please! Director Winona! Just answer this question. Does Phantasm have radiance wielders?” Husker asked urgently, almost to the point of pleading, “Just a yes or no. We need to know this! Oclia’s men are on the line as we speak!”

“No, Colonel. They do not.” The steel-voiced director paused. For the briefest moment, her expression softened, as she pondered over her choice of words. ”Even if they have, this information has not reached ORACLE… Good luck, Colonel,” she added on, filled with the slightest tone of pity.

The secured connection severed automatically due to security reasons.

After a brief moment of silence, Husker commanded, “sound the alarm, warn our men. It is not confirmed, but tell them to expect going up against a power as destructive as radiance.”

The radiance monitoring system swept the surroundings once again. The Ops Room was on high alert. But the system captured something more disturbing, neglected from the discord. Two leagues away from the city, the system pinged a moving dot of high radiance density, higher than anything seen before, much denser than in Opolla or even in Heaven’s Command. The moving target was moving steadily towards the centre of the fight…

“Insanity Overdrive,” Cardinal Kolv’ka stated with his head bowed down, staring at the carpeted floor.

The conversation between the gentleman, Elliot, and the prisoner-of-war, Kolv’ka, started once again after an hour of silence. Both of them were probably pondering about the other’s words. Elliot was successful in persuading this tribal soldier over, to betray Phantasm and pledge allegiance with Oclia. Kolv’ka simply could not resist his alluring invitation. Elliot had a way with people. The perfect tone down to the perfect twitch of every muscle. He was a master chef with the manipulation of the mind. Elliot could convince wrong into right or even that the Sun rose from the west. The most important aspect was that these victims _wanted to _believe that he was right. It was just so tempting. It was like hypnosis behind his warm smile.

It was no different for Cardinal Kolv’ka. Even when Kolv’ka was trained to be a tough nut to crack, Elliot had him singing rhymes about even the smallest details of Phantasm after taking a trip into his mind.

“I have been thinking about your soldiers and their abilities… It seems similar to our Overlords’.”

“Oh, is it?” Elliot asked, “I would love to think that ours are stronger.”

Kolv’ka made a slight scoff, not because he belittled Oclia, but because he knew the sheer power of his tribe. “No. Not even close. Yours are more complex and adaptive, I’ll grant you that. But the Overlords’… Theirs are sheer destructive forces. A few times more powerful than what we’ve seen, and much more overwhelming than what we’ve experienced.”

Kolv’ka looked up into Elliot’s eyes before continuing, “trust me. I was one of the few unlucky cardinals to have seen my Overlord train. I didn’t get to see the execution, but I could feel his presence. So powerful… So overwhelming I had difficulty regulating my breathing. That’s what you are up against. Insanity Overdrive.”

Elliot raised an eyebrow. That was new to him. A tribe with leaders who were radiance users as well. If those powers were as destructive as his new found friend claimed to be, then it would be a major obstacle for Oclia. It was an issue of concern.

But no hurry. It was not in his job description to worry about Oclia’s future. That was left for parliament to worry about. Right now, Elliot had more important things to take care of.

“It’s late already, I shall not disturb your rest any longer, Kollingre. Have a good night.”

Kolv’ka returned the greeting and Elliot exited the basement.

The overly-dressed man strolled to his office on the second floor and picked up the receiver of his antique telephone.

“Secure this line for me, will you, sweetheart?” He asked in a melodic, sonorous tone.

“Never forget one’s manners,” his father always educated, “even if you are at the top of the food chain.”

“Director, it’s me. We have a situation. Category Falconi.”

After which, he placed the receiver back and flipped open his laptop. His state-of-the-art laptop booted up, the screen lighted up with the design of a white, three-dimensional globe. Below the white globe were the letters “O.R.A.C.L.E.” He hummed the theme song of “Pink Panther” as he waited for the system to authenticate his identification.

After the high-pitched ‘beep’, Elliot began to type on his laptop.

“Enemy commander has radiance-like abilities, more powerful than the military. Operation Turnover in jeopardy.”

Elliot leaned back on his cushion chair and lit his pipe. He looked out his window, enjoying the peaceful, night scenery of Odina, thinking about Operation Turnover happening that instant.

 ”Ah… No hard feelings if your troops don’t make it, Fernando,” he whispered while staring into the dark horizon.

He bared his teeth. A set of pointed, carnivorous teeth revealed themselves. The sharpest and most prominent of them all were two protruding fangs. Dried blood stained his teeth which smelled like rotten decaying fish.

Too much hair gel was used when he combed his black hair to the back. His wrinkles and dehydrated skin were visible even at a distance. He wrapped a black, high-collared shroud around his degenerating body. A weird hairdo and a strange outfit. As he flexed his elongated fingers with long, unkempt nails, he sniffed out fresh human flesh and sweet, sterile blood.

It reminded him. Ever since he took over the mess Slandarma’an created, he had not had the time to unwind. Curse the Necromancer for arranging Slandarma’an’s immediate departure. Why did that awful spectre get all the fun while he was left with crumbs?

He reached for his hip flask and uncapped it. The contents were pathetic. It was at best a drop left in his flask. The irritated commander overturned his flask over his opened mouth. Lazily, one drop of viscous red drip rolled down the side, out of the flask and onto Jee’angzsh’s parched tongue.

“Just one drop?” he exclaimed. If he remembered correctly, this was his last supply ‘energy formula’.

He rolled his eyes irritably. Seriously. Was this how he was being repaid for clearing up Slandarma’an’s wreckage?

But he had no time to grumble. He could not. His body convulsed abnormally as his teeth chattered vigorously. His addiction side-effects overcame his control over his body. If he was well hydrated, saliva would have flowed down from the crack between his lips but his throat was too dry for that.

He could no longer hold back his thirst. Suddenly, his body stopped. His eyes as if in a trance. Then, the next second, they refocused. He twisted his neck awkwardly, revealing the same tattoo branded on Slandarma’an – an uncompleted inverted pentacle. Overlord Ja’far Jee’angzsh muttered coarsely, “insanity overdrive.”

Hysterical wails saturated the war zone as soon as the radiance levels in Opolla spiked. WAR soldiers were greeted with an intense odour which stunk the city.

Rotten flesh, that was what it smelled like. The overwhelming stench disrupted their breathing.

“Tear gas! Mask on!!” the soldiers alerted, believing that Phantasm had released a massive city-wide tear gas to incapacitate the troopers. Several soldiers coughed gruelingly. Within seconds, those badly affected by the stench struggled, gasping for air as they gripped their throats. They were suffocating.

“What’s happening?” Wang Xia questioned his general as he looked out of the window from the forty-sixth level of Central Monetary Administration.

Xue Wu pressed on his earpiece comfortably snugged in his ear. “Toxic agent has been released into the city… but it’s not us…”

“Then why aren’t we affected? Such a wide-scale effect requires ventilation systems to disseminate the air particles. Buildings are full of it. I’m surprised we are not the first to be affected, let alone being unaffected by this gimmick,” Wang Xia reasoned.

“Indeed. We don’t know what other tricks they might have up their sleeves. Let’s quickly finish up and get an extraction.”

“Whoa!”

Wang Xia fell to the ground, shocked by a colony of bats which swooped past the windows, heading towards the platoon of soldiers on the streets. The never-ending swarm split up into smaller colonies, heading for different platoons.

Wang Xia’s communication device cackled. “Tian Long, let’s wrap up and go! Enemy sighted!!”

“What’s going on downstairs?” Wang Xia asked urgently.

The Oclia’s soldiers attached to them could not respond. They were preoccupied with Phantasm soldiers streaming into the building through the main entrance.

“My liege, I’ll guard the door. Do what you need to do.” General Xue Wu strolled to the door in five huge strides. His other bodyguards scrambled to take their positions as well. The formation was neither defensive nor offensive. It was fortifying. There were five human shields and a one-man ‘Great Wall of China’ defending the prince.

The prince was in the midst of extracting petabytes of data from the storage dump. He was hitting the keyboard ferociously, filtering through billions of accounts and numbers. As his stress levels increased, a faint gold shade around him intensified.

“Radiance discharged, Stock Market Exchange,” he muttered under his breath as the load bar was complete.

Five Phantasm soldiers busted into the room, only to be exterminated by the prince’s protector guarding the exit. The prince unplugged the portable flash drive from the supercomputer and beckoned his troops. “Let’s get the hell out of here. This place gives me the creeps.”

General Xue Wu listened intently into his headset before advising his principle. “Extraction in five minutes. Helicopter has already been deployed.”

“Sound the alarm. We’re pulling back! Withdraw!”

The City Hunters and Rangers received the signal. All of them started a retreat formation into the building and headed for the heli-pad at the top of the building.

Pollux took cover behind a desk and reloaded his assault rifle. “What are they made of?”

Grange, Ranger Five’s platoon leader backed Pollux up, shooting down three incoming Phantasm soldiers. “I’m out,” he declared. In a hasty reflex motion, Pollux handed Grange a magazine.

“These soldiers are odd. I can’t put a word to describe it… They are not normal…” Pollux commented.

“Yeah. They don’t seem to be fighting to kill…” Grange replied. His eyes widened in shock as he witnessed one soldier bend down, placing his mouth close to a fallen comrade’s neck. “They’re killing to eat!! God damn it!”

The building gave a violent tremor. The two commanders stayed hidden from the enemy, observing the recent threat. Their eyes were scanning the surroundings. Just then, they heard a familiar voice in their headset. It was General Xue Wu.

“Heli-pad destroyed. Form up on ground floor.”

Grange sighed, “looks like we have to hold the fort for his highness.”

“Looks like it,” Pollux added.

They got up to join in the fight.

Tian Long managed to push their way down to the ground floor while Oclia’s troops were barely holding up at the main doors, providing a exit for the prince.

“Time to get out of here!” Wang Xia shouted.

Steadily, they forced their way out of the Central Monetary Administration.

“What’s going on?!”

The insertion team finally witnessed the truth of Phantasm’s power. Phantasm soldiers were feeding off their comrades body and blood. Painful wails filled the city. In the darkness, the mouths of these monsters gleamed with blood.

“We are completely trapped in,” Wang Xia said.

“No, your majesty. With the City Hunters at your service, we will wait it out till we can confirm an extraction. You won’t die here,” Pollux reassured.

Before Wang Xia could reply, he was interrupted by a black shroud which flew towards them and singled out one Tian Long soldier. The soldiers automatically took aim and fired at the shroud but it was fast. After evading consecutive shots, it came into position for another strike. It gave no time for them to react, plunging in for another round. This time, they were prepared, barely escaping its capture. It stood ten metres away from the soldiers as it bared its fangs, also stained with blood. Its hands flexed into claws.

General Xue Wu caught a glimpse of the monster’s bare neck. “Grenade!” he shouted, flinging his last shock grenade at the unknown monster. The insertion team immediately took cover in an abandoned skyscraper. They planned to use the urban maze to escape the fiend before their eyes.

“It should be safe here, let us rest here for a moment,” Pollux suggested.

The soldiers slumped to the ground as two Rangers took guard.

As Wang Xia sipped from his hydration pack, he asked, “Xue Wu, what was that about?”

General Xue Wu replied calmly, “my liege, I fear that our current intelligence regarding Phantasm may be obsolete in this battle. We tailored our strategy against Shil’Var Slandarma’an. It seems like we are up against a different commander…”

Pollux raised his eyebrow. “What are you suggesting, General?”

“For the first time in my life, my confidence wavered. I could sense an overwhelming power similar to radiance, radiating from his body source. Also, he seems like the leader of those psychotic soldiers, feasting on blood,” Xue Wu explained, “and my doubts were confirmed. I located his symbol branded on his neck…”

According to intelligence supplied by ORACLE, the unique tattoo on each soldier’s neck represented their rank in the military. The more strokes there were on one’s neck, the stronger and more powerful he was. The highest authority – Clan Chieftain – had a pentacle symbol.

“That monster had an uncompleted pentacle. Just one stroke missing…”

He gave a few minutes for that information to sink into his comrades.

“Overlord,” Wang Xia answered the soldiers silent query.

They were against the second highest command in Phantasm.

“That monster? An overlord? But he doesn’t look anything like Slandarma’an according to ORACLE’s information.”

“Exactly why we are at a disadvantage and stuck in a peculiarly dangerous position,” Xue Wu reiterated, “we don’t know quack about this blood-sucking vampire.” Xue Wu grimaced as he recalled the gruesome image of the monster feeding off his comrade.

The prince stood up firmly and concluded, “nevertheless, we are not dying here. We are going to survive and get an extraction back to Odina. Is that understood, Tian Long?”

The soldiers of the east stood up swiftly with regained confidence. “Yes, my liege!”

After all, their acting commander-in-chief had just given them a direct order to survive.

Back in the Operations Room, the princess of the Kingdom fidgeted in her seat. How was she going to answer to her father and people if her beloved brother was killed in battle? Most of all, how was she going to live with the guilt of being powerless to protect her only brother?

Wang Xin glanced at the screen displaying her brother’s current situation.

“Wait a minute… This can’t be right…” she thought.

She hurried to First Sergeant Nickael’s post. “Has anyone’s radiance been invoked, Sergeant?” she asked.

Nickael examined the display on his system in detail. The total radiance count, density, interference. He factored them into his calculations while studying the site, frame after frame. This system scanned for radiance levels every thirty seconds, recording the information into the database. Each scan was referred to as a frame.

“From frame 3609 to frame 3610, there seems to be an anomaly in the readings. Look over here.”

Nickael pointed to the region and continued, “although it is harder to perceive just based on the total radiance count, judging by the slight shift in radiance frequency in frame 3610, it seems highly possible that radiance has been invoked.”

Wang Xin nodded. She understood that when two different radiance were invoked, it would cause an interference wave to disrupt the radiance frequency. However, it would take extremely keen and perceptive eyes to spot the change.

“Are you sure, Sergeant?”

“Affirmative,” Nickael confirmed. He did not look much, but he was one of the best minds for the job.

“Can you identify the user?” she asked.

“Not when I have no information regarding the Berserkers. Oclia’s Berserkers aren’t deployed this time round. It’s got to be one of yours. If not… It may be the enemy. I cannot work on variables I do not know… But Wang Xia is the only radiance wielder, is that not?” Sergeant Nickael replied.

The princess bit her lips.

But it did not make any sense. How was it possible for radiance to be invoked and yet not have any effect on the enemy? The other Berserker deployed to field along with her brother was much more powerful. The interference would have been much greater.

“Anything unusual, Miss Princess?” Urbs asked out of concern.

“It seems as though my brother has invoked his radiance. But why is there no effect on the enemy?”

“What kind of radiance does the prince wield? Maybe the intense radiance on the field nullified his powers,” Urbs suggested.

“No, I am quite certain. After all, it was all part of the plan…”

The God of Wealth was supposed to discharge his radiance to cripple the enemy’s hold of the city. In the long run, any city under the adverse influence of his invocation would not be able to sustain. If there was no effect, it meant that the crucial function of a city has been deactivated.

“Oh no! They’re abandoning the city as well!” Wang Xin concluded.

“The harbour!” Husker exclaimed, “get a team there now!”

The plan was to retake Opolla and capture an Overlord for intelligence gathering. They were not about to let this opportunity slip pass.

Past midnight. With more than half the street lights in Opolla malfunctioning, the soldiers required night-vision goggles to manoeuvre through the dense city to the harbour.

The experienced soldiers had already taken care of most of the blood-sucking monsters. Wang Xia jogged towards the harbour. Only one ship in sight was docked at the port. Four other vessels had already made it out to open seas. The last ship made loud revving noises. It was about to set sail as well.

“Take it down!” the prince ordered.

One of his men assembled his Long-Ranged Demolitions (LRD) weapon and pointed out towards the massive cargo ship.

The LRD was one of the Kingdom’s prized inventions. It boasted enough destructive powers to crumble fortifications. The technology was similar to that of fusion nuclear. But instead of fusing plutonium atoms, the core of the LRD consisted of atom-level antimatter. Upon ignition, the antimatter would collide with matter to produce devastating results. Because of the hefty, exorbitant cost of funding antimatter research and weaponising it, only the royal family had access to the armoury. Yet even so, they had to be frugal in the usage of this technology. The cost was secondary. Most importantly, the success rate to create anti-matter and weaponise it was like shooting a sparrow in the sky while on a bullet-train, blindfolded.

The trigger was almost squeezed, and victory was almost claimed.

Almost. That was the keyword. Against a monster with powers far surpassing Oclia’s own ace, WAR could do nothing but wince. Once again, the shroud ambushed them from the left, disarming the LRD and instantly draining the soldier’s blood. They were not going to watch the gory scene and not retaliate. But this time, they had no escape mechanism. It was kill or die. And the team decided to unload everything they had upon Overlord Jee’angzsh, who appeared to be a mindless beast.

“Fortify!” Xue Wu ordered. His men surrounded the prince in a desperate attempt to protect him.

The vampire monster bared its fangs before executing a powerful forward thrust to capture his prey. It was strong and precise. But more than that, it was deadly swift. Its deprivation of blood activated his carnal instincts to prey while the taste of blood fueled his supernatural abilities. A never-ending cycle of slaughter. That was what it was. That was his forbidden mastery, the Insanity Overdrive, Blood Bath Blanche.

A technique which drives the user into a desperate frenzy, unlocking his thirst for blood and enhancing his stats tremendously. When activated, the user has the ability to shape-shift into a partial bat. The effects trickle down to allies as well.

The Operations Room watched helplessly. Wang Xin broke down to the floor and wept. “Di…” she kept repeating.

Husker bit his lip bitterly. This was not the ending they planned for. But then again, he was the one who advised the commanders to plan for the worse. Maybe he still had some faith left in humanity.

The others listened to the radio intently, picking up on every sound made, trying their best to infer the situation at hand. All they heard were the screams of death.

“Something’s wrong!” Nickael alerted. The soldiers turned to look at the First Sergeant. “The radiance density is too high! Its jamming my signals!”

The system was producing distressing ‘beeps’ while the screen flashed erratically. A single dot on the screen was now positioned in Opolla, where the Overlord was. That dot was too distinct, flashing an intense red shade. The system could no longer compute the radiance levels in that area. It started to turn sluggish.

“Report, Sergeant!” Urbs ordered.

“Hostile sighted in Opolla!”

“What the?” Urbs exclaimed, “specs?”

Urbs knew that it was a rhetorical question he asked. Whatever the new hostile’s specifications, the insertion team’s fate was sealed by the Overlord who unleashed his demonic powers.

“Crazily overpowered! It’s density is much higher than Bogey One!”

Ridiculous! Bogey One, the Overlord, had already overpowered the strongest of Heaven’s Command in terms of radiance strength. Now, it has been replaced by this small dot on the system’s screen.

But if the Overlord at the scene could already take down the operation, why was there a need to deploy one more team stronger than the current Overlord?

The Operations Room could do nothing but wait for the answer.

The badly injured general lay in a pool of blood, too weak to guard his principle. For the first time, the prince stood alone, unprotected by his men. He gripped icy pistol, aiming at the monster’s torso. His hands were shaking, it was inevitable. It was a lost cause. He knew that too. Yet what kept him standing was his immense pride.

A God cannot fall too easily.

The monster bent his knees and blitzed. The prince pulled his trigger.

BANG!

The shot missed.

BANG!

Once more. Missed. No sane person could think straight and control his crumbling body.

Wang Xia shut his eyes tight.

“Shen, now I shall rule beside you,” Wang Xia muttered with a cocky grin.

The God of Wealth bade his last farewell to the living.

SHIIIING!

As a boy of Chinese descent, he was trained in the art of sword combat. That sound definitely came from the swing of a steel blade.

Three lengthy seconds. He felt no pain. In front of him stood another man in black, broad back facing Wang Xia. The intruder was in a plain black t-shirt, tactical pants and boots. An obsidian black knife was gripped in reverse position in each hand. The blades were subtly curved at the ends. The tip of the blade in his left hand was smeared with blood, dripping down on the tarred ground.

Overlord Jee’angzsh bared his fangs as he advanced. The knife-wielder launched himself forward as well, engaging the Overlord head-on without hesitation. They exchanged blows after blows. This mysterious fighter was as fast as Jee’angzsh. Wang Xia’s eyes could not keep up with the dance.

Jee’angzsh leaped backwards, waiting for an opening. The fighter returned to Wang Xia’s side as well. He stood in front of the prince and the troops, as if indicating to everyone that the injured soldiers were under his protection. It was as if an invisible line was drawn where he was standing, and on that invisible line, an invisible wall. Each time the vampire tried to force his way in, he would be there to drag it back to the battle area, preventing it from reaching the injured soldiers and Wang Xia.

Cold breath escaped Jee’angzsh’s mouth, an animal’s growl followed. The man crouched, his knives in defensive positions, preparing for the attack. The odds were in their favour now. Against an armed fighter, the vampire was at a disadvantage, regardless of his agility.

It pounced. The uninvited guest followed suit as well. Swinging his blade using his forearm. The steel blade clashed with the vampire’s limb.

SHIIIIIIIIIING!

That sound again. It was a familiar sound of two swordsmen sparring. Steel scratching steel. It only meant that the limb of the vampire was of similar calibre as metal.

Wang Xia noticed something different about the vampire’s hands. They were covered with blood, but it was gleaming in the dark.

It can’t be! It isn’t unarmed!

It was not liquid blood. The limbs were encased in solidified blood, crystalised blood as sharp as a spear and as durable as diamond. The vampire had the ability to manipulate blood as well…

Yet the man facing it remained unbreakable, both physically and mentally. He rushed in for another round, slashing the air with insanely fast combos. Left, right, left, right. Each attempt targeted a different fatal point, at different angles. His footwork was flawless, with each step, dancing his way nearer to the enemy. Each move he made was for a purpose, none was wasteful. The vampire could only defend, bringing his crystalised forearms to block the cold steel of the man’s ruthless knives. After the forty-second strike, the ‘dancing shadow’ had his prey cornered. His right foot had encroached into Jee’angzsh’s safe-zone, right in between his two feet, aligned with his centre of gravity. With his right knee bent forward, he launched a powerful slash as he swung his left forearm upwards, diagonally to the right. It would have been the end if the slash met its target, defeated by a master swordsman with a radical blade technique… … …

…

SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGG!

His steel blade met the blood crystal and scratched through the surface with an unpleasant screech which will make one cringe. But he was not once distracted. With impish speed, he pivoted to the right, his left knee jabbed into the vampire’s side trunk. In one fluid and swift motion, he spun clockwise, left blade maiming the vampire’s arm with a slash and a stab with his right blade, plunged right into the vampire’s unprotected back after a complete turn.

Wang Xia used up all his concentration to follow the swordsman’s movement. “How could it be? When he did that swing, his left foot was behind his right. How did it end up at the front, where he has completely closed the distance between that monster and himself?” he wondered.

General Xue Wu amassed enough strength to do a high-kneel, supporting his weight using his machine gun as a walking stick. “He was never finished. His combo never stopped, that’s why,” the general answered the prince’s question.

While the skilled soldier swung his blade for the slash, while the attention was on the deadly sharp steel, his foot moved into position in preparation to overpower the enemy.

No wasted moves, as was proven.

Blood spurted out of the gaping stab wound. His left blade slashed again. This time, it was aimed for the nape. Millimetres before it touched the skin, Jee’angzsh swung his arms in a desperate frenzy. A hoard of bats swooped in as a distraction for the vampire to escape his predator’s bladed grasps. With a powerful leap, he fled to the harbour.

The man lowered his stance, bending his knees for a powerful sprint. He squinted his eyes, focusing only on his escaping prey. The knives still in reverse grip, tightly clutched in his hands. With an exploding force, he burst himself towards the fleeing black shroud. He was not _as fast as Jee’angzsh,__ _he was faster. In a matter of seconds, he would catch up with the retreating Overlord. But the Overlord was reaching the end of the pier.

The Overlord leaped.

What a jump!

He landed right on the heli-pad of the moving vessel.

He’s not going to make it…

By the time the assailant reached the end of the pier to make the jump, the vessel would have already been far away, making it impossible for an attempt. Nonetheless, he continued to accelerate. Climbing over stacks of shipping containers, he gained enough height for a burst jump. It rocketed him up to around seven stories high. It was as if time froze for a split second while hovering in midair.

“I am your desolated despair,” he muttered with conviction. With that said, he pulled his left arm backwards and launched his knife towards the enemy. The knife pierced through the strong gales, driving straight down with the speed of a bullet and force of a lance. It drilled into the ribs of the enemy. In that instant, as he was above and it was below, their eyes met. The assailant watched the weakened vampire drop to the ground, not blinking even once, seeing the light leave its eyes.

“The light had long left that animal,” he sighed. Gravity’s acceleration picked up, pulling the assailant back to land. “Ahhh… I’m still off by a centimetre. I guess I still have a long way to go,” he muttered. He took one last gulp of breath before plunging into the cold waters.

Back in Opolla, the prince was totally burnt out from the fight. He felt all the energy drain away. The world spun in his eyes and he dropped to the cracked ground.

“My liege!” Xue Wu exclaimed. He quickly supported his principle and slowly lowered him to the ground.

Grange managed to stand up, despite being wounded badly in the abdomen. The Rangers were trained to be tough. They were trained to survive. While applying pressure to his wound, he limped to Pollux. “What was that?” he asked.

“Don’t know…” Pollux managed to reply.

Grange spoke into his headset, “Ops, we need medical now. I repeat, we need medical now.”

The radio cackled with static.

“Shit,” he cursed. The signal set was damaged from the fight with the vampire.

“Don’t worry, we’re here.”

A team of soldiers in black hurried up to them. They donned customised black military uniform, balaclavas on their heads which concealed their faces and carrying standard issue M16 assault rifles.

Undetected, unheard and unseen as they approached. How was that possible?

“M16? Oclia don’t use them anymore. Where are you from?” Pollux questioned.

Those who could still stand made defensive stance against the troopers in black.

It was to be expected for the soldiers to be wary of the incoming unit. Their outfit was shady enough, not to mention the out-dated weapon models. Oclia’s military phased out the old M16 assault rifle model for the newer Odyssey 21 or O21 in short, claiming to be lighter and more efficient than the former.

If that were to be the case… Military deserters…

“SU6. Lay your weapons down, we need to attend to the injured first,” the first masked man said.

Obviously, the troopers did not. They scanned their surroundings. Enemy soldiers lying motionless on the ground, most likely dead. There were just too many dubious points regarding this team.

“Stealth Unit Six? How convenient,” Grange commented. His rifle was pointed at the men in black, finger at the trigger, ready to fire at the first sign of hostility.

The Stealth Units of Oclia were well-known and feared internationally for their hundred percent success rate in covert missions. Rumour has it that Special Operations Forces housed one, Rangers housed another and ORACLE housed two such units. They were untraceable and off the records, with no way of prove. It was the ultimate level of anonymity, which facilitated in their operations. Naturally, it meant that no one could run a check on the members in SU and come back with a positive ping.

General Xue Wu stood in front of his principle, armed and ready to strike. “Who’s your commander?” he demanded.

The first masked man dropped his M16 and put his hands in the air, trying to show them that they come in peace. His assault rifle dangled on his right as the weapon was slung on his shoulder. “My commander is not here as of now. I am the next in command, I am First Sergeant Clarkson, I.D. November Sierra niner-zero-five Bravo.” He pulled down his balaclava while identifying his military code, “feel free to check it out.” He tossed Pollux a portable transceiver.

Pollux leered at the man who claimed to be Clarkson suspiciously. After he determined the integrity of the transceiver, he set in the frequency and contacted the Operations Room.

He nodded at Grange. The code checked out.

“First Sergeant Clarkson, deployed to the 97th Oclia Infantry Regime. Doesn’t say anything else, not even a clue of your appointment,” Pollux confirmed.

“What is your commander’s identification code? Which division are you attached to?” Grange questioned.

“If we could tell you, it wouldn’t be a stealth unit, wouldn’t it?” Clarkson replied.

“Answer my question, Sergeant. This is an order!” Grange threatened as he raised his gun, pointed at the First Sergeant. His epaulette donned at the centre of his uniform clearly showed a single bar – a Second Lieutenant, lowest commissioned officer in the military hierarchy. He was still higher ranking than Clarkson. The rest of the soldiers behind Grange raised their rifles as well.

Just when it was most chaotic, a voice resonated firmly in the darkness.

“All units, stand down.”

It was authoritative and firm, compelling Oclia’s soldiers to hesitate for a moment.

A black figure walked up to the front and faced Grange at point-blank range. He showed no fear nor distress. Black t-shirt, black tactical pants, boots and a knife sheathed at his right ankle. His jet black hair was wet, as was his clothes.

He reached under his shirt over the neck-hole and brought out a translucent green pendant chained to a silver link, hung around his neck. The pendant glowed under the moonlight, and the carving on the pendant could be identified. It was a symbol they were all too familiar with.

“I think this identification would suffice,” he said calmly. It took a while for them to realise that he was not only speaking to the soldiers on site, but to the Operations Room through the transceiver.

“Nergal Satan Triple Six Lucifer,” he introduced himself. He smiled at Grange and the soldiers, with the rifles still pointed at him. He showed no sign on uneasiness.

The soldiers did not know how to react. They were also waiting for instructions from the Operations Room. But as of now, no one was shooting anyone.

Pollux received information transmitted from the Operations Room. They peered at his data on screen. It clearly wrote ‘3rd Division, 5th Battalion, 98th Oclia Infantry Regime, Nebula Company’.

They understood what all this was about. They stared at the man in black, too shocked to utter a word.

The only survivor of the Nebula Company.

His name was…

“Captain Ezerka Nyx, commanding officer of the Nightstalkers, Heaven’s Command,” he introduced, “I’m glad we made it in time.”

This was all it was about.

It was about defeating a maniac by locking him up with the epitome of evil, the devil.