Joel hit the lower level hard, his armour taking most of the impact but still leaving him winded. He rolled to his side, coughing as pain lanced through his ribs. Above him, the shattered remains of the floor hung precariously, pieces still crumbling and falling.

  Joel groaned, forcing himself upright as his armour hummed faintly, stabilizing his battered body. Each breath burned, his ribs protesting the strain. Around him, the lower levels of the station revealed a ruined space-age laboratory, its sleek, futuristic design now twisted and broken. Glass containment chambers lay shattered, their contents spilled and hissing into the air. Tables with advanced diagnostic equipment were overturned, their screens flickering erratically. Sparking wires dangled from the ceiling, casting brief flashes of cold, sterile light illuminating the chaos.

  Joel staggered to his feet, gripping his hammer as he glanced up at his team. Ren’s pale face appeared at the edge of the hole, her voice frantic. “Joel! Are you—?”

  "Stay up there!" Joel barked, cutting her off. His voice was sharp, uncompromising. "I've got this."

  The words reverberated louder in his mind than they did in the stale laboratory air. He didn't need to see them to know the others would falter, uncertain whether to believe him or defy him. His fists clenched, the metal of his armour grinding faintly against itself.

  “It's better this way,” he thought. “If I fail, the blame falls squarely on me. No one else needs to get hurt.”

  Joel's heart hammered against his ribs, not from fear, but from the gravity of his decision. He understood the stakes. He'd witnessed firsthand the system's cruelty and the monsters it unleashed. Kevin and Alex were grim testaments to that. If he failed now, it would merely add another name to the list of those he mourned, another body to consign to the earth. But if he succeeded...

  He ruthlessly banished the thought. There was no room for uncertainty.

  "Just trust me," he called back, his voice softer now, but unwavering. He pivoted towards the creature, adrenaline surging through his veins. The void energy within his armour throbbed, eager, demanding release. Joel wasn't certain if he was prepared, but that was irrelevant.

  The acrid tang of void energy mingled with the sharp chemical bite of spilled reagents, creating an oppressive atmosphere. Shards of translucent panels crunched underfoot as Joel steadied himself, his eyes scanning the labyrinth of destruction for movement.

  A deep, guttural growl reverberated through the lab, vibrating through the shattered remains.

  The Behemoth loomed in the dim light, its massive frame pulsating with void energy. Black ichor oozed from jagged wounds Joel and his team had inflicted, hissing and corroding the metal floor wherever it fell. The creature's glowing eyes, twin orbs of malevolent intelligence, locked onto Joel with unnerving focus. Tentacles whipped and crashed around it, smashing walls and scattering debris in its wake.

  Joel tightened his grip on his hammer, his knuckles whitening inside the armour. A diagnostic overlay blinked on his HUD, highlighting damage across his chest and legs. The numbers were grim, but they weren’t red. Not yet. He could have laughed at it all, in a dark humour sort of way, his energy levels were dropping just as fast.

  “Come on,” Joel muttered under his breath, the tremor in his voice barely masked by his resolve. The Behemoth roared, charging forward with reckless abandon. A massive tentacle arced toward Joel, the air vibrating with its momentum.

  Joel threw himself to the side, the tentacle slamming into the ground mere inches from him. The impact sent a shockwave through the floor, scattering shards of machinery like shrapnel. He rolled, coming to his feet in one fluid motion, and lunged forward.

  With a powerful swing, Joel drove his hammer into the Behemoth’s flank. The blow reverberated through the creature’s massive body, eliciting a deafening roar of pain.

  But the Behemoth was unrelenting.

  It twisted, another tentacle snapping toward Joel with blinding speed. He barely had time to raise his hammer, deflecting the strike, but the force sent him stumbling backward into a collapsed console. Sparks erupted as his armour collided with the machinery, and his HUD flickered briefly before stabilizing.

  “Focus,” Joel whispered to himself, pushing off the console.

  The Behemoth’s movements grew more erratic, its injuries fueling its rage. Joel scanned its thrashing form, looking for an opening. He spotted a wound near its torso, void ichor spilling from a jagged tear.

  He darted forward, weaving between the wreckage. The Behemoth lashed out, its tentacles smashing into walls and floor alike. Joel ducked under one strike, sliding across the slick ground to avoid another.

  He closed the gap, his hammer glowing faintly as he channelled his strength into a single, devastating blow. The hammer struck true, slamming into the wound with a sickening crunch. Void ichor sprayed outward, splattering across Joel’s armour. His HUD blared warnings as the corrosive liquid began eating away at his outer plating.

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  HUD System Notification:

  Warning: Corrosion Detected. Compensating.

  Joel staggered back, shaking off the ichor. The Behemoth roared again, this time with a hint of desperation. Its tentacles flailed wildly, smashing into the floor with reckless fury.

  The ground beneath Joel trembled, cracks spidering outward from the Behemoth’s frenzied strikes.

  Joel’s eyes darted to the floor. “No, no, no—”

  With a final, earth-shaking crash. Joel felt the air rush past him as he dove into darkness, the Behemoth’s enraged roar following close behind. However, the mechanic refused to give in.

  “I am not done, you bastard.”

  Joel’s hammer slammed into the Behemoth’s side with a force that reverberated through the shattered lab. A crack echoed across the space, accompanied by the sickening hiss of void ichor spraying from the creature's wound. The corrosive liquid splattered against the floor and the broken machinery, leaving trails of sizzling destruction.

  Joel staggered back, his breath ragged, trying to regain his footing on the uneven surface. His armour pulsed with an eerie light, a low hum resonating as though responding to the void energy around him.

  HUD System Notification:

  Absorption Activated!

  Void feature detected: Adaptive Stealth Coating

  Integrating…

  On Joel’s HUD, his heart card blazed to life, the intricate design on its surface shifting as if alive. Tendrils of inky black energy spiralled from the Behemoth’s wound, snaking through the air and latching onto his armour. The void energy twisted and melded into the metallic plates, causing them to ripple and shimmer like liquid mercury.

  Joel gritted his teeth as a cold wave of energy surged through him. His armour vibrated, adjusting as the new ability embedded itself into its framework. The HUD blinked again, this time displaying a new notification.

  HUD System Notification:

  New Temporary Ability Gained:

  Void Coating – Enter a stealth mode to evade detection or slip through confined spaces.

  The armour on Joel’s forearms flickered, darkening into an oil-slick sheen. He flexed his fingers, watching as his hand blurred and disappeared into the air when the stealth feature engaged. For a moment, the ambient sounds of the lab dulled, the void energy cocooning him in an unnatural stillness.

  Joel exhaled sharply, forcing a grim smile. “Your turn to be surprised.”

  The Behemoth roared, its glowing eyes scanning the room with rage-fueled intelligence. Tentacles flailed, smashing into walls and scattering debris in their desperate attempt to locate their prey. One tendril lashed dangerously close to Joel, but the Void Coating held; he moved soundlessly, cloaked in the shadows of the ruined lab.

  He crept around the Behemoth, his hammer now cradled low as he assessed its movements. His armour shimmered faintly as he blended into the chaotic surroundings.

  The creature’s bulk shifted, its tentacles smashing through a row of advanced consoles, sending sparks and shards of glass raining down. The Behemoth’s wounds continued to ooze ichor, its movements sluggish but no less dangerous. Joel noted the pattern: each time it lashed out, there was a brief pause, a moment of vulnerability.

  “Time to make it count,” he muttered, gripping his hammer tightly.

  With a quick mental command, Joel disengaged the Void Coating and lunged from the shadows. His hammer, charged with momentum, crashed into the base of one of the Behemoth’s tentacles, shattering it completely. The creature shrieked, its pained wail vibrating through the lab.

  Black ichor sprayed again, coating Joel’s armour, but this time it didn’t corrode—it slid off harmlessly, repelled by the Void Coating’s new resistance. Joel grinned despite the sweat dripping down his face.

  The Behemoth turned, its remaining tentacles smashing toward him in a fury. Joel dove into the narrow gap beneath a sparking console, activating the stealth mode mid-roll. His form blurred and vanished, leaving the creature thrashing aimlessly.

  “Come on, big guy,” Joel whispered, repositioning himself. “You can’t hit what you can’t see.”

  As the Behemoth continued its rampage, Joel used his new ability to slip through the confined space, emerging behind the creature. He swung his hammer with everything he had, targeting the ichor-spewing wounds. The impact sent a fresh shockwave through the lab, and the Behemoth faltered, collapsing to one knee.

  Joel didn’t stop. With each calculated strike, he pushed the advantage, his armour glowing faintly with the absorbed void energy. The creature’s movements became erratic and weaker.

  Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the Behemoth let out one last, guttural roar before collapsing with a deafening crash. Its body spasmed once, then stilled, void ichor pooling around it.

  Joel leaned against a broken console, his hammer slipping from his grasp. His chest heaved, the adrenaline wearing off and leaving behind a sharp ache in his ribs. He glanced at his HUD, which displayed a final notification.

  HUD System Notification:

  Void Creature Defeated!

  Experience Gained: +1500

  Level UP!

  Joel allowed himself a grim smile before collapsing onto the floor, the dim lights above flickering as if in silent applause for his victory. His chest heaved, the adrenaline slowly fading, leaving behind a heavy ache in his limbs and a deep exhaustion that reached his very core. He barely registered the faint hum of machinery around him until the monitor across the room suddenly crackled to life, the static-laden screen casting an eerie glow in the gloom.

  He forced his eyes to focus, expecting another system notification, maybe even a reward for his triumph. But what he saw made his jaw drop. The screen displayed a figure—a man clad in a sharp, vintage suit, his hair slicked back in a way that screamed 1950s charm. He was smiling, but it wasn’t a smile of joy or welcome. It was a predator’s grin, all teeth and malice.