142 THE HEROES PACK OF ATHERIS
Dan caught sight of the three assassins through the multi-screen feed of his DemCoin Mining App, as they staggered across the field. They were fleeing—exhausted, wounded, and desperate after the impossible battle.
He raised a hand.
From sowhere in the dark, tranquilizer shots rang out—sharp and precise. The darts hit their marks. The assassins collapsed one by one, their bodies twitching as exhaustion overtook them.
Then ca the screams.
Their energy essence was ripped from their bodies, drawn into Dan's outstretched palm. The air crackled as their power was consud.
"Drain."
"Drain."
"Drain."
Each invocation deepened the horror.
The ta-soldiers standing nearby could only watch in silence as the once-lethal assassins withered, their strength fading into nothing.
"What is happening to the assassins?" Captain Green asked.
Dan has the perfect answer, "That is the assassins' way of committing suicide after they failed a mission. They explode from inside."
"Wow. Suicide! with this kind of commitnt these assassins should work for us in the battlefield", Green comnted.
Dan exhaled slowly, his eyes glowing faintly. Then he turned, gazing across the field toward a distant shape—Garius Zetheris.
"Are we going to kill him too?" Captain Green asked beside him.
"Maybe… if we can," Dan replied.
Through the drifting haze, Dan spotted Acyros, confident and untouched by the assassins.
Dan waved his hand again.
The ta-soldiers opened fire. Rounds clashed against shimring force fields with sparks flying as Acyros and Garius tried to defend themselves.
But the soldiers' fire was relentless.
The shields soon rippled, then finally cracked under the relentless barrage.
When the smoke cleared, Dan appeared, walking calmly toward them while his rcenaries fanning out behind him.
"We et again," Dan said coolly.
"Dan Dark… it's you again?" Garius shouted, with blood on his lips.
But Dan's attention was on Acyros.
He studied her carefully. Without her Anti-ta field fully active, she was far less intimidating than before.
Acyros raised her chin defiantly.
"Don't be so smug, you may break our outer shield," she shot back, then added, "but your rifles couldn't break my force field. Our reinforcents are on the way….you'd better run while you can."
Dan smiled faintly.
"Right. I know soone who walks around wrapped in layers of force-field charms," Dan said coolly. "But don't worry—you'll be dead long before your reinforcents arrive."
She smiled, unshaken. "My personal force field isn't so cheap charm defense. These are ta barriers—my body armor."
Dan had read about it. When ta-humans reached a sufficiently high rank, their power no longer needed external equipnt. It condensed into an invisible shell, a natural defense fused to flesh and instinct.
"Damn… Acyros' body armor is disturbingly similar to my own Blood Armor", he thought.
But armor or not, it wouldn't stop him.
He had waited for this mont.
Every move, every calculation, every prediction had led here.
Dan had anticipated the Black Cockerel would choose to strike at the governor's palace during the diation eting because that place was far less defended than the HQs of either Zetheris or Veyran…. And they couldn't bring too many bodyguards to such a eting, which makes this the perfect opportunity to murder them.
He knew either Garius or Valtor would try to escape through the east windows, and their flight paths would pass right over a particular point.
He waited there patiently.
Eventually, Dan was proven right in his predictions. And when the assassins arrived before him, he let them fight first. Then he would take everything through an ambush.
Acyros shouted, "Without ta skills, you can't break my body armor! And with my Anti-ta field active, your powers can't even be used!"
She laughed…. but only briefly.
Dan kept walking.
Then, in a sudden blur of motion, he lunged. No ta energy flared… his body moved purely by instinct and power. As he closed the distance, the bones in his hands shot forward, transforming into jagged blades.
"Fist Form Blade."
He struck. Once. Twice.
The impact rattled Acyros' personal force field, splintering it. He struck again and again, until the shield shattered completely.
"No—how can you summon a ta skill?" Acyros scread, staggering backward. "Please… don't kill !"
"Your body armor is still too weak," he said calmly. "I can crack it with ease."
For a very long ti, Acyros felt fear.
Against soone like Dan who could ignore her anti-ta fields, she was a sitting duck... to be slaughtered.
"This is the perfect ti to kill you," Dan said coldly. "If your partner Umbros was here, it wouldn't be so easy…. But only a tiny little bit harder."
Then his bone blade pierced her heart. Her breath caught, her eyes wide in disbelief.
"Drain."
Her essence tore free, spiraling into his chest as the light faded from her eyes.
Then he turned to face Garius, who was frozen in terror.
"Wait please! You don't have to kill !" Garius begged.
Dan said nothing. His blade moved once more, swiftly, and rcilessly. The strike ended him instantly.
Another "Drain."
When it was over, Dan stood alone amid the silence… his soldiers still far behind him, and the corpses of both Garius Zetheris and Acyros the Rank-B before him.
"Is it over? So soon?" the soldiers asked among themselves.
Sothing glinted on Acyros's chest, catching Dan's attention. His Vision Connect focused in automatically, and a string of data appeared across his view:
Na: Core of Anti-ta
Description: A core that dissolves the bonds between ta particles, releasing their stored energy. Generates an Anti-ta Field that disables all ta-based abilities within its range.
Dan's pulse quickened. "This is the source of Acyros' power."
Without hesitation, he tapped the command: "Assimilate."
The interface flickered then went blank. He was expecting a ssage giving him the option to bind the core to one of his ta skills.
To his surprise there was none.
"What the hell…? How do I even use this thing?" he muttered, frowning.
Still, he knew it was valuable. Whatever it was, the Core of Anti-ta was far too valuable to discard. He'd figure it out later.
He gestured for the ta-soldiers to withdraw and turned to leave.
Then the air tightened all of a sudden. A sudden heaviness pressed against his skin, like the atmosphere itself was warning him.
It was a premonition of danger.
Dan froze. An instinctive chill ran down his spine.
"Didn't I already kill Acyros?" Dan whispered.
Above him, shadows floated in the air coming towards them.
He moved imdiately, rolling into a nearby thicket and vanishing into Camouflage Mode, hoping that the shadows hadn't spotted him.
He ordered the soldiers to fall back without him on his comms. Through the branches, he watched in silence.
Whatever this new presence was, it wasn't sothing he wanted them to face head-on if he had the chance.
Soon, the figures in the sky descended into the fields, landing near the fallen bodies of Garius Zetheris and Acyros.
"How could Acyros be killed so easily?" one of them said, a man clad in a vibrant uniform and mask, a bold letter A emblazoned across his chest.
The other two were dressed the sa way, their matching insignias marking them unmistakably.
Dan recognized them at once.
They were part of a Hero pack, ta-humans from one of the major families. Judging by their insignia, they ca from the Atheris family of Silver City.
Monts later, the thunder of rotor blades filled the air. Several helicopters descended, soldiers rappelling down to secure the bodies and survey the battlefield.
Dan's pulse quickened as the search parties began sweeping in his direction.
"Why are you going that way, Thrynn?" Orya called out.
The two heroes continued advancing, their boots crunching over broken tal and scorched soil…. straight toward where Dan was hiding.
"Go away... just go away," Dan thought desperately, willing them to turn back. He scanned their energy signatures, each of them was a Rank B ta-human.
Even with his advantages, there was no way he could take on three of them at once.
"Here, I found it!" one of the voices called out.
Dan's heart lurched. "Damn it... they've found ."
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