Dan and Li stood beside each other, their shoulders almost touching as they stared down the two female Bloodknights slowly walking toward them. Dan narrowed his eyes toward Ada. Even in the darkness of the desert and the minimal red-shaded lighting from the sky, he could make out Ada’s blank expression.

  “You should put your helmet back on Ada,” Natalia said. “Even you cannot resist radiation sickness.”

  Ada gave her teammate a sideways glance. But she remained silent.

  Judith gave Dan a wave. “Before you both die, I’ll offer one last gift to you. I will show you a glimpse of what you could have been if you trained under me.”

  Dan gripped the hilt of his Conservative tightly while his other hand curled into a fist. He had lost both his nailgun and pistol, leaving him without any firearms. He knew that just one of these Bloodknights alone would give him trouble. Dan had fought Ada under controlled conditions and he knew she still remained his superior in both level and skill. Natalia was also within the same league. He also figured that the Bloodknight would be looking for payback for getting her thrown into a windshield after their motorcycle chase.

  “I hate to spell out the obvious,” Li began. “But we’re outmatched here. I don’t see a conceivable way for even one of us to walk away from this.”

  “What do you think Li?” Dan asked. “You’ve been an agent longer than me. Give me the truth. How do you think this will play out?”

  The stealth specialist turned his helmet toward the impending wall of sand and lightning sweeping through the desert and closing in on their position. Then he tilted his helmet at Dan.

  “The gap isn’t too big between us and Judith’s two subordinates in front of us. Realistically, I think we can take them on and win. The problem is what comes after. Once Judith sees us kill off two of her own, she will simply rush in and crush us both. You saw what she could do, what she did to Adam. In a head on fight, there’s no way we could take her on even if we weren't fatigued and low on corrosia. How much reserves do you have left?”

  Dan’s HUD showed him his corrosia bar. Looking at the empty sections on either side of the bar gave him pause. If he wasn’t already sweating from the desert heat and how hopeless their situation was, he was now.

  “I’m down to maybe thirty percent corrosia left. Anything I do after that will break down my body until I keel over and die,” he answered bluntly.

  Li nodded his helmet. “I’m not much better off. I’m at less than half capacity, about forty percent. If Judith doesn’t instantly kill us, then we have the incoming sandstorm to deal with. Our worst enemy had turned our tank into a fiery wreck. We have no shelter to protect us from the radioactive storm. And since you have no helmet and I got punctures throughout my armor, well it’s going to be a painful death once the radiation hits.”

  Dan had nothing to add to Li’s assessment of their current circumstances. He had no witty jokes or remarks he could make to lighten the mood either. In the past, they had overturned everything thrown at them as a team. The heist, the Combat Games, even their escape from the city. But now, Dan couldn’t help but feel that he and his teammate were sunk this time.

  He continued keeping his eyes on the two female Bloodknights who stood and stared back at them. About fifteen meters of sandy ground separated them. He guessed that Ada and Natalia were privately discussing tactics on how to crush them. He began to regret giving Ada the Bloodluster as a gift.

  Dan felt a tap on his arm from Li.

  “In the grand scheme, neither of us had known each other for that long,” Li said coldly. “But even so, if we both die here, know that I will never forget the blood we’ve drawn together against our enemies. Live as agents, die as agents.”

  Dan closed his eyes then slowly opened them back up. He took a long breath of the dry desert air. Luckily the filters in his mask still prevented him from snorting sand.

  “Well said, Li. I couldn’t have chosen a better teammate to spend my last minutes with.”

  Dan thought of when Michael Cynosa rescued him from a mortal wound back in New York. It was a miracle he was given a second chance and became an agent for the Alpha Corp. But now, he doubted anyone was coming to save him.

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  The stealth specialist placed one of his pistols back on the side of his coat. “I’m going to spend my last breath killing Judith Blight. I have a plan but I need your help Dan.”

  Dan glanced at his teammate. “Let’s hear it.”

  “Recall that I learned how to summon a shadow blade? So far, I could only form small daggers. But if I had some time to charge up my corrosia, I could summon a much longer and more potent blade. Overlord came to me one last time right before our prison escape while I was in my cell. That entity walked me through a nice little tutorial.”

  “Wow. Must have been helpful. But wait a second. Doesn’t that mean Overlord is working against Judith by powering you up so much?” Dan said.

  “It might look that way in hindsight. But it was a failed gamble on their part. They thought we had no choice but to join them. So they put the hard sell on us, giving us breadcrumbs and planting seeds that hint at what could come tomorrow before Judith called us one last time to recruit us. I guess neither Judith or Overlord counted on us being loyal to Alpha to the bitter end.”

  “Okay then. So you have your shadow blade and you can make a longer one just for Judith. Can you kill her with it?”

  “Yeah, I made sure to be thorough with my questions for Overlord. The shadow blade is similar to her golden blade in the sense that it ignores conventional durability. Nothing man-made could stand up to the cutting power of a corrosia-generated energy blade. I was in that grey realm that Overlord has always pulled us into in our dreams. I can extend my shadow blade to the length of a regular sword. I could slice Judith in two no matter how tough she thinks she is.”

  Dan widened his eyes at this information, but then quickly squinted as stray grains of sand still irritated him.

  “That sounds way too convenient. What’s the catch?”

  “The catch is that at my current level and with my degree of control over corrosia itself, I need time to gather the corrosia to forge the shadow blade into real space. And I can only keep the blade with me for about ten seconds. You see how Judith can just effortlessly summon her golden blade? Neither of us have that level of control.”

  Dan glanced back and forth between the silver-clad agent and the two female Bloodknights still standing across from them.

  “So while you’re taking your time getting that attack ready, it’ll be me against those two. A two on one to buy you time,” Dan said.

  “Exactly. I had a hiding spot in mind. My death step should take me behind that smouldering wreck of the strider in just a single bound. I’ll be out of sight to gather my corrosia. Then I’ll strike her from behind.”

  Dan exhaled at this risky idea. “Well, I got nothing better than that. I guess I’ll just suck it up and fight those two ladies by myself.”

  “Make it as entertaining as possible. Judith loves her theatrics. Any normal agent in a command position would have had us killed ages ago. She just can’t resist watching a good show. We’ll exploit that and kill her for it. I don’t think you need any tips. Just fight them as you normally would. Though, I think you could add a little bit of spice if you leverage your bond with Ada.”

  Dan opened his mouth under his mask. Did Li know?

  “Before you ask, yes I’m aware you and that girl have developed feelings for each other that go beyond professional partners. Judith has to be aware of that as well. That bitch will eat up whatever melodrama bubbles up between you two.”

  He narrowed his eyes at Ada. The young Bloodknight mostly focused her gaze on Natalia, most likely having a conversation over a private channel. He caught a brief movement of her eyes in his direction.

  “It’s… it’s not that simple,” Dan admitted. “I don’t know how I could explain falling for a girl who’s from a rival shard. It’s probably a love story I won’t have time to tell you. So, are you disgusted with me?”

  Li’s silver helmet didn’t reveal anything that revealed his reaction. All Dan saw was Li’s helmet turning and tilting slightly in his direction.

  “I do have an opinion on whether or not you should act on such emotions, but we don’t have time to discuss that. All I said was that you could leverage your bond with Ada to keep Judith’s attention glued to the fight in front of her. And while she’s enjoying a good sword fight, I’ll be preparing my attack from the shadows and destroy her.”

  Dan glanced down and saw the dark orb of energy forming in Li’s gloved palm. “Are we clear on our plan?” Li said.

  He rested his eyes on both Bloodknights in front of him. “Crystal clear, Li. Go get ‘em.”

  The stealth specialist lifted up his arm and held it up. Dan looked at his friend for what could be the last time. He raised his fist and knocked knuckles with his teammate, an improvised fist bump.

  Li crushed the black ball of energy in his palm and instantly disappeared. But Dan knew the stealth specialist was preparing his attack. He pulled his Conservative out of his scabbard, ready to take on the two Bloodknights on his own.

  “Alright then ladies,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve seen either of you two go all out yet. Here’s your chance to prove yourselves to Judith.”

  Natalia lifted her katana and pointed at him. “I have no clue what our commander sees in you. You’re nothing special. And your victory against the cult master was only possible thanks to Ada’s intervention. Your skills are overrated.”

  Dan grinned under his mask and stuck out his index finger, curling it toward him. “Come here and find out bitch.”

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