Chapter 127 Let’s End This

The screams came first.

They echoed from inside the elevator shaft, several SRC soldiers packed in tight, shouting orders, then realizing too late what the grinding metal sound above them meant. The elevator descended fast, its cable snapping under its own weight before slamming down with a wet, deafening crunch.

A fountain of blood misted out of the shaft, spattering across the floor and walls. The stench of iron filled the lobby.

The survivors didn’t stay to mourn. They scattered for cover, firing back through the haze. Their return fire sounded weak, desperate, hollow against the unrelenting storm that surrounded us.

Paleman stepped out from the ruined elevator, unbothered by the carnage. His pale form shimmered under the lights; his lack of eyes didn’t stop him from expressing the fact that he was staring right at me as if the entire firefight seemed to fade into the background.

Nope. Not interested.

“I’m not fighting that,” I muttered. Then, louder—“John! Nullblade! You handle Paleman! I got Dullahan!”

Without waiting for a reply, I phased through the nearest wall and emerged outside. Cold air slammed into my face, carrying the stink of gunpowder and ozone. I checked my gun with two bullets left. That was about right for how this day was going.

Then, out of thin air, Bunny shimmered into existence beside me, his cloaking fading away like smoke in the wind.

“I didn’t think you’d come back for me,” I said, trying not to sound too relieved.

He gave a snort through his helmet’s speaker. “No shit. Of course, I came back. But that self-destruct button? Real hassle to deal with, Nick.”

“That’s not on me. Probably one of Dr. Sequence’s clones. He hacked the entire Tenfold Keep, so there was no stopping him from doing the same to you.” I glanced back at the chaos inside. “Still, you’re in one piece. You should be fine against Dullahan, since you’re both Technopaths with similar potency.”

“Yeah, except she’s a goddamn veteran and I’m still figuring out which button does what,” he shot back.

I climbed onto the bike’s seat and grabbed the handlebars. “Then less talking, more killing. Forget invisibility or tricks, since she’ll see through them anyway.”

Bunny gave a mechanical whine that almost sounded like a sigh. “Fine. But for the record, I managed to contain the self-destruct system. So maybe we don’t blow up this time.”

“Good,” I said. “Let’s keep it that way.”

The engine roared to life beneath me. I revved it hard, tires tearing up the dirt as we launched forward. The air whipped past my face as we revolved around the base of the building until Dullahan came into view ahead, her monstrous bike idling amidst her reanimated soldiers.

I raised my handgun and fired off two quick shots. The first went wide. The second hit one of the corpses in the throat, dropping it instantly. Not bad for two bullets. I let go of the handgun.

Then I swapped to the energy weapon mounted on Bunny’s chassis. The weapon hummed with a dangerous pulse as we skidded sideways, firing a bright lance of plasma that tore through the dead ranks like a god’s whip. Five, maybe six of them dropped, their armor melting off their bodies.

I pressed the second trigger of the grappling gun. The hook shot out with a sharp thunk, embedding itself deep into Dullahan’s bike frame.

“Got her,” I muttered.

The undead soldiers turned toward us, opening fire. I ducked low behind the bike’s front plating, feeling the bullets hammer against the energy shield Bunny projected. The barrier flared blue-white, absorbing the onslaught.

“Pull!” I shouted over the din.

Bunny reversed the wheels, the motor screaming as we dragged back on the line.

But Dullahan didn’t stay passive. Her own engine roared as she gunned it in the opposite direction, her bike snarling like a living thing. Dirt and debris exploded between us. It turned into a tug of war with two machines, neither giving an inch.

“You think this’ll work?!” Bunny shouted, struggling to keep us upright.

“Not really,” I said. “That’s why… let go!”

Bunny released the tension. The grappling line snapped back like a whip.

It tore through the air, slashing across the battlefield. One SRC corpse’s head burst like a melon. The metal thread ricocheted, slicing through another soldier’s torso before snapping back into the dirt with a shriek of sparks.

We slid to a stop, stabilizers digging into the ground.

Across the clearing, Dullahan’s superbike lurched forward unexpectedly from the recoil. She tried to correct, but the massive machine veered sideways and slammed into a tree. The impact folded metal and shattered bark. The whole trunk groaned before splitting in two, crashing down over her wrecked bike.

Dullahan herself was pinned, crushed flat against the tree by the machine that had once made her unstoppable.

I exhaled, watching the debris settle. The forest went eerily quiet, save for the soft hiss of her ruined engine and the faint ticking of cooling metal.

“Good work,” I murmured to Bunny.

He chuckled weakly through the comm. “Remind me next time to let you drive alone.”

“Yeah,” I said, staring at the smoke. “Maybe next time.”

I thought it was over.

Smoke rose from the wreck where Dullahan and her bike had crashed, and for a moment, it looked like nothing could’ve crawled out of that twisted metal and splintered wood. I almost let myself relax. Almost.

Then the blue-white glare of an energy muzzle flared through the haze.

The next instant, pain exploded through my left shoulder. The beam hit me square, burning through coat, skin, and muscle all at once. I dropped from the bike, rolling to the side as the stench of my own scorched flesh filled the air.

“Son of a—!” I bit back the rest, clutching the wound. Even with intangibility, some attacks were too fast, too bright, and too damn sudden to phase away from.

Energy weapons were really my bane of existence.

Bunny didn’t wait for orders. His voice cracked through his speaker, sharp and panicked. “Hang on!”

His bike’s energy cannon fired again, a blinding lance of plasma cutting through the air toward her. But Dullahan’s ride, mangled, smoking, still obeyed her like a loyal beast. Its engine roared to life, wheels shredding the dirt as it skidded sideways to take the hit for her. The shot slammed into the bike’s frame, sending molten shards scattering like fireworks.

Through the haze and glare, I could barely make her out.

“Goddammit…” I muttered, pulling the sniper rifle from the bike’s right side. My hands were slick with blood, but I steadied my breathing and sighted down the scope.

The wreck groaned. Dullahan’s body twisted unnaturally beneath the fallen tree, with her leather jacket being torn apart, jeans shredded, revealing glimpses of pale, scarred flesh that shimmered like tempered steel. She wasn’t human anymore, not by any conventional sense.

I squeezed the trigger.

The rifle kicked against my shoulder. The round connected, tearing through her torso with a wet crack. A burst of reddish vapor followed. She should’ve gone down. She didn’t.

Instead, she reached up with trembling hands, ripping what remained of her helm away.

And there it was again, the clean, impossible stump of her neck, oozing faint blue light where her head should have been. Her body twitched, straightened, then began stitching itself back together, muscles coiling like ropes beneath her ruined skin.

“Unreal,” I whispered.

“Not for long!” Bunny shouted.

He fired another blast from his plasma gun, this one a focused burst. The energy slammed into Dullahan’s chest, engulfing her in light. Her body lifted from the ground, hurled backward like a rag doll through the smoke. She struck the ground hard, rolling across the dirt until she hit another tree with a metallic crunch.

The forest went still again.

I stayed crouched, keeping the rifle trained on the motionless wreckage. My left shoulder pulsed with pain, every heartbeat a reminder that even near-death was a luxury in this place.

Finally, I exhaled. “That should do it.”

Bunny muttered, “Let’s not jinx it, yeah?”

I nodded slowly, eyes never leaving the wreck. “Fair point.”

Bunny was right. It was too soon to celebrate.

The sound hit first. It was a wet, dull thump, followed by the sight of something tumbling through the shattered first-floor window. It hit the ground a few meters ahead, rolling until it stopped near my feet.

What was left of it barely qualified as human.

The man’s arm was missing, face unrecognizable beneath a smear of blood and torn flesh. His ribs stuck out through his clothes like splintered ivory. For a second, I didn’t even move, just watched as the heap of broken muscle twitched, dragging itself forward with one arm.

He coughed, spat something black, and whispered a single word. “...fuck.”

And then he stilled.

If it weren’t for the ginger hair matted with blood, I wouldn’t have recognized him at all. Nullblade. Poor man. I stared at him for a moment longer, then revved Bunny’s engine, eyes fixed on the building’s entrance.

Something moved inside.

From the wrecked doorway, Paleman emerged, slow, deliberate, and every step leaving a wet smear on the cracked tile. His body was less a man’s and more a living wound, the white of his skin slick with blood that wasn’t all his. His mouth opened wider than it should have, jaw unhinging with a series of snaps, revealing rows of shark-like teeth glinting in the light.

He raised his head and roared.

The sound wasn’t human. It rattled the windows still hanging on their frames. Then, abruptly, Paleman stopped. His knees buckled, and he collapsed forward with a heavy crash. Behind him, stepping through the haze of dust and smoke, was John.

He looked worse than I’d ever seen him, with blood streaming down his forehead, one arm clutching his side, breath ragged. He didn’t even look at the corpse in front of him as he muttered, almost to himself, “He said... home. Paleman has a home. That was his last word.”

I couldn’t believe it. Paleman had a better last word than Ginger here.

John’s eyes flicked to me, dull but still burning. “You know what I hate most about you, Nick?”

“Everything?” I offered.

He grimaced. “That you walk through hell without a damn scratch while the rest of us crawl out bleeding.” His voice cracked, half laugh, half exhaustion. He jerked his chin toward Nullblade’s body. “Now he’s gone, and you’re still standing.”

I shrugged, blood still seeping through my shoulder wound. “Skill issue.”

John barked out a laugh despite himself, wincing from the motion. “God, you’re an ass.”

“Yeah,” I said. “But I’m an alive ass. Also, are you blind? Don’t you see my left shoulder? It hurts like hell…”

Bunny hummed softly beneath me, his tone somewhere between relief and caution. The wind shifted, bringing the smell of ozone and blood. Somewhere inside the building, Mrs. Mind was still alive. The fight wasn’t over. Not yet.

John straightened, wiping the blood from his eyes with the back of his hand. His expression hardened.

“Let’s end this.”

I nodded once, revving the bike again. “Gladly.”