The wounded Phobos loomed over his defeated opponent. The man could no longer move the wounds left by the killer had completely drained his strength.

  “Go on. Finish it already. What are you waiting for?”

  “Just curiosity,” Phobos replied. “Why did you want to die specifically in a fight with me?”

  The enemy exhaled heavily and said:

  “For honor. I, my ancestors, my people we are born to fight. In my world, according to the elders, every day is filled with slaughter and battle. That is why we live. That is why we breathe. We...”

  He didn’t finish. Phobos delivered the final blow.

  “Not interesting anymore,” he said coldly. “Fighting for the sake of fighting is the dumbest reason imaginable.”

  He leaned on the floor, trying to catch his breath. Andok’s voice rang in his ears.

  “Well done. You dealt with the opponent. Now head to the top floor as fast as possible, your help is needed by the other three.”

  “They already handled their enemies?”

  “Yes. Faster than you, in fact. But now they’re facing the boss. You need to use the element of surprise and assist them.”

  “Heh. Let him kill those three useless idiots. I can handle it alone.”

  “I don’t care what you want. The enemy has a strange and extremely powerful ability. Even all four of you might not be enough. This is an order: go and help them, or I won’t count the mission as complete.”

  Phobos paused for a moment.

  “I repeat, this is an order.”

  “…Understood. Give me a moment to catch my breath, and I’ll move out.”

  At the same time, Namkhai, Dalila, and 1991 were fighting Lightfix. Without pause, he kept sending illusions at Namkhai and Delilah. They tried to break through to him, but every attack proved useless. Dalila struggled to sense his real position, but the gunshot wound in her leg prevented her from focusing.

  1991 came to after Namkhai’s blow and saw several Lightfixes around him, along with the insane things they were doing.

  “I don’t care how many of you there are,” he said. “I’ll destroy all of you.”

  He straightened all his fingers, preparing to crack them at once.

  A command immediately sounded in Namkhai’s and Delilah’s ears: find a safe distance immediately the explosion will be massive.

  A tremendous explosion shook the room. Namkhai and Delilah tried to dodge, but the force was so great that it shattered walls, ceiling, and floor. All three were thrown down to the lower level.

  Delilah nearly fell onto the debris because of her injured leg, but Namkhai managed to grab her cloak with one hand and a protruding chunk of concrete with the other.

  Without rushing, they descended and made it to the lower floor. Dalila looked at the monk and gave a short nod. He smirked.

  “It’s fine. Your former boss abandoned you too. Just like me.”

  Delilah frowned, not understanding what he meant.

  “Later. When we finish the mission and get released, you’ll show me where your old group operates. I’ll show them what happens when people don’t watch their words.”

  Delilah looked at him seriously.

  “I can tell by your eyes you want revenge too. Fine then. The two of us will wipe them all out,” he said, turning away to scan the room.

  At that moment, Delilah grabbed his robe and sharply pulled him toward her.

  “Hey, what do you want now?”

  She took out her notebook and wrote:

  “If you try to do anything bad to my team, I’ll kill you here and now.”

  “What? You’re protecting traitors?”

  Delilah sharply raised her palm, making it clear she was ready to attack. Namkhai stepped back a pace.

  “So you’re the same, huh? Your boss offered me a deal: he’d help me escape, and I’d do something for him. And in the end, he just left me to die.”

  Delilah looked surprised and wrote:

  “Did Samson tell you that himself?”

  “Samson? Yeah, I think that was the name of that pretty blond guy.”

  Delilah was shocked and quickly wrote:

  “He wouldn’t do that. There were reasons.”

  “Yeah, reasons. Save his own ass and leave me for slaughter. Sad, really. Looked so respectable, but turned out to be a coward and a loser who can’t keep his word.”

  Those words struck Delilah deeply. She lunged at him instantly, trying to touch him. Namkhai began to dodge.

  “Hey, idiot! Stop it! You’re already wounded. If you keep this up, I’ll have to hit you. And I don’t want to hit girls.”

  At that moment, 1991 crawled out from the rubble between them, raising his hands.

  “Phew! Almost died! So, did I kill him?”

  “You almost killed us with that explosion, you moron!” Namkhai shouted at him.

  “So what? The important thing is the mission’s done!”

  “Nope…” a voice echoed through the room, and Lightfix appeared a few meters away.

  “Huh? How’s that possible? I used my whole body—I won’t be able to blow anything up for several minutes…”

  “And why are you telling that to the enemy, idiot?” Namkhai snapped.

  Lightfix lifted his head. Sunlight poured in through the shattered ceiling and roof.

  “Your explosion managed to break through all that. Truly impressive power,” he said, lowering his gaze to them. “And the two of you, wounded, survived it… Are you sure you don’t want to join me? You’re very promising fighters. You only lack experience.”

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  “No,” 1991 replied.

  Delilah simply shook her head.

  “Depends on how much you’re offering. Call me when I get out of prison,” Namkhai said.

  “Sad to hear that…” Lightfix began, but suddenly a katana pierced his back.

  The three froze in shock. Phobos stood behind Lightfix.

  “Kgh-” Lightfix coughed up blood.

  Phobos said:

  “You should’ve watched your back instead of running your mouth, bastard.”

  Lightfix only smiled.

  “So the fourth one finally arrived.”

  In the next instant, he vanished. His body and the blood on the katana dissolved.

  Phobos stared in shock and looked at the others.

  They no longer looked surprised.

  “How many times has he done that already? Fourth or fifth?” Namkhai asked.

  “No idea. I was knocked out for most of the fight,” 1991 shrugged.

  Delilah held up three fingers.

  “Three? Fine… Phobos, you’re the third. Nothing to be ashamed of you were late, after all.”

  “Shut up and look for him!” Phobos barked.

  “Relax, he’s right there,” Namkhai said, pointing upward.

  Phobos looked up. Lightfix was standing on the ceiling in a strange pose.

  “What the hell is he doing?” Phobos frowned.

  “No idea. But it looks like he’s following the ‘Bible,’” Namkhai replied.

  “Bible? Where did he even get it? That book is one of the rarest in our world. It’s impossible to find.”

  “Oh, come on, you’ve heard of it too?” Namkhai smirked.

  “No one has ever seen it. Only rare rumors circulated about it,” Phobos cut in.

  “Heh, well, we have seen it. Hey!” Namkhai called out to Lightfix. “Show this gloomy latecomer your Bible!”

  “Hm… so he too is an admirer of beauty,” Lightfix chuckled. “Very well, I’ll show it a second time. So you may die after realizing the greatness of this masterpiece.”

  He once again slipped his hand into the inner pocket of his cloak.

  Phobos didn’t take his eyes off him.

  “Look,” Lightfix said, once more displaying the manga.

  “…”

  “Heh, no words, huh?” Lightfix said smugly.

  “See, Phobos, this is what it looks like, the Bib..” Namkhai began.

  “Idiots!” Phobos shouted. “That’s not a Bible at all! It’s just an ordinary children’s comic!”

  “A comic… for children?.. How dare you,” Lightfix hissed.

  “I don’t know,” Namkhai muttered. “I’ve never seen it before. Doesn’t really look like a comic… it’s black and white.”

  “Possibly books from a past civilization,” Phobos said coldly. “Trash for people without lives of their own. They invent heroes and elevate them to absolutes because they themselves are nothing.”

  Lightfix flew into a rage. The veins on his neck bulged as he straightened up, taking his usual stance.

  “You dared to defile the meaning of my life. For that, you will all die. Not one of you will escape.”

  All four instantly took combat stances.

  A monster appeared behind them. Phobos lunged to cut it down, but in the next moment he was stabbed in the thigh.

  “Watch your back, bastard!” echoed through the room.

  Attacks rained down from all sides. Lightfix struck each of them in turn. Complete chaos erupted no one could tell where reality ended and illusion began. Blows came from everywhere: above, below, right, left. They had nothing to counter them with.

  Suddenly, Namkhai felt his robe tugged again. He spun around sharply and saw Delilah.

  “What? Decided to kill me? Not the time, we’re about to die anyway!”

  She silently pointed to a corner where there seemed to be nothing. At first he didn’t understand, but then it clicked.

  “About damn time you did that!” he roared and turned to 1991. “Hey! Can you still explode things?!”

  “I feel like I can manage one charge.”

  “Then blast it there!” Namkhai pointed to the exact spot Dalila had indicated.

  1991 aimed and struck the marked spot with an explosion. In the very next second, the entire illusion shattered like glass.

  Before them stood a wounded Lightfix. He tore off his scorched leather cloak and immediately checked the book.

  “It’s fine…” he whispered and hid it under his T-shirt.

  Phobos cut him in half.

  But Lightfix’s body simply vanished.

  “Damn it! When did he manage that?!” Phobos cursed.

  “Fourth time already…” Namkhai said wearily.

  “Shut up, animals!” Phobos barked.

  Somewhere in space, Lightfix’s laughter echoed.

  “You were merely lucky enough to touch me once. You won’t manage it again.”

  Namkhai had finally had enough. He took a stance, and his fist began to glow with a transparent, soft light. He prepared to strike.

  “Hey, creepy,” he addressed Delilah. “Tell me where he is. I’m going to kill him for real now!”

  And at that moment, the light went out.

  “What…? What the hell? Where did it go?! Why did it vanish?!” Namkhai breathed out in confusion.

  Phobos smirked.

  “Looks like your power has left you… Hey, girl, you’d better show me where he is. I’ll reach him through a portal.”

  He tried to teleport, nothing happened. Phobos froze, staring at his palm.

  “Heh,” Namkhai snorted. “And what about you? Where’s your power now?”

  Phobos didn’t answer right away. He turned toward the monk.

  “What is the essence of your power?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What do you do right before your strike becomes that powerful?”

  “Yeah right, like I’d tell you.”

  “My portal is my native dimension. There is darkness there. Endless darkness. Only I can pass through it. I’ve always been able to open it. And you?”

  “Well…” Namkhai hesitated. “I concentrate all my aura into my fist. Like… all the light aura. That’s why it glows.”

  Phobos narrowed his eyes.

  “I see. That idiot’s power isn’t illusions.”

  “Then what is it?” Namkhai asked, surprised.

  “Light.”

  “Light?” All three stared at him.

  “So what, the trick is he just turns the light on and off?” 1991 asked.

  “Not only that,” Phobos replied. “Reflection, refraction, direction, intensity, spectrum, light correlation. He controls all of it.”

  “…No idea what you just said,” 1991 admitted honestly.

  “You don’t need to understand it,” Phobos said with a crooked smirk. “You only need to know one thing: that bastard isn’t as stupid as he pretends to be. To do things like this with light, you have to be a genius. It’s an absurdly powerful ability… and hellishly difficult to control.”

  “Thanks for the compliment…” a voice echoed from all directions at once. “But since you’ve already defiled the meaning of my life, I’ll kill you. And your friends too.”

  Namkhai clenched his teeth.

  “Fine, let’s say his power is light. So what?” he snapped. “What does that even give us?”

  “Nothing. We have no direct counter to his ability. Except…” Phobos glanced briefly at Delilah. “Except for that girl. We just need to reach him first. Before we completely drop dead ourselves.”

  And the battle flared up with renewed fury.

  Namkhai, Phobos, Delilah, and 1991 dashed across the hall, attacking blindly, shattering floors and walls, trying to catch even a shadow of their enemy. But it was all useless. Their strikes passed through emptiness, explosions hit reflections, and Phobos’s blade cut through nothing but light, again and again.

  Meanwhile, government analysts and Andok were observing the fight.

  “No matter how you look at it, they’re doomed,” one subordinate said quietly. “But at least we’ve learned his ability, sir.”

  Andok remained silent, staring at the screens. He could see the four rapidly running out of strength.

  “Hm…” he finally said. “Contact the overseer of the Eighth Sector immediately.”

  The officer flinched.

  “Sir? You want to request their help? But that’s… extremely expensive. The budget...”

  “To hell with it,” Andok cut him off sharply. “Those four are far too valuable to die now. We have much more important missions for them. Inform them this is an emergency.”

  “Understood. Do you already know who exactly to request?”

  A faint smile appeared on Andok’s lips.

  “Of course. We’ll simply use his own power against him.”

  Time passed, and the four were still fighting Lightfix. It was clear their strength was nearly gone.

  “You really did well. You held on until the very end, survived all of my lethal attacks, and even remained mostly intact. But everything has its limit,” Lightfix said.

  At that moment, Namkhai stepped into a stance.

  “Go to hell… I’m not dying that easily,” he said, beginning to gather power for a final strike.

  “Fine. I’ll give you some time. Purely out of respect for your stubbornness,” Lightfix replied.

  Suddenly, a capsule fell from the roof, dropping through the gaping hole left by the explosion.

  “What is that?” Lightfix muttered, just as surprised as all four of them.

  Namkhai continued to stand still, concentrating power into his fist.

  “Another enemy?” 1991 asked.

  At that same moment, a voice sounded in all four of their ears:

  “This is reinforcements. Do not be afraid. The mission is complete.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Phobos asked, confused.

  Lightfix appeared beside the capsule, eager to see who was inside. A small, wrinkled old woman with a cane stepped out.

  Not understanding what was happening, Lightfix asked,

  “Who are you, granny? And what are you doing here?”

  She simply smiled and opened her palm toward him. Lightfix looked - there was nothing there.

  “Hm.... You need money or something?” he said, rustling through his pockets. “I think I’ve got some change.... give me a second, grandma.”

  A small dark sphere appeared in her palm, as if it were pulling something into itself.

  “What is that?” Lightfix blurted out.

  The sphere began to grow rapidly, sucking everything around it inward. The four were immediately ordered to grab onto something and retreat to a safe distance. But Namkhai didn’t move he remained where he was, continuing to charge his punch.

  The sphere expanded even further and began pulling Lightfix in.

  “Why…? Why can’t I use my power?” flashed through his mind.

  Lightfix couldn’t use his ability not because of panic, nor because of a loss of concentration. With his experience and training, he could easily control his power even while falling into an abyss. It was simply that his light his power was being blocked by something that would not let it pass.

  The only thing capable of doing that was what the old woman was using.

  That grandmother...... and her black hole.