At the beginning, we see a part of the enemies’ base. As the platform descended deep beneath the surface, the dark chamber suddenly lit up with a cold blue glow.

  Metallic walls surrounded the room, and across them hologram screens flickered with red pulses — body temperature maps, CCTV footage, and unfamiliar chemical data.

  In the center, an enormous hall stretched outward, filled with tall glass tanks. Inside those tanks floated human corpses — bodies fitted with metal plates, wires, and black mechanical implants where their spines should have been.

  Blue fluid churned around them, releasing occasional bubbles — as if the bodies were trying to breathe again.

  Beneath the floor, countless thick pipes spread outward, carrying slow-moving, dark red liquid — disturbingly similar to blood.

  Farther away, masked members moved silently — some operating holograms, others recording data beside the tanks. High above, behind a panel of black glass, stood the Evil Scientist.

  Holograms of human anatomy and mechanical blueprints floated around him. To him, the scene below was not mere research — it was art.

  The entire lab was silent, except for the hum of machines and the slow, eerie rotation of the bodies suspended in glass.

  And in the middle of all those tanks, pipes, and machines, one person was standing — someone who was clearly different from the rest.

  It felt as if the entire system was under his command. With a cold voice, he stared at the hologram screen and whispered:— “So… someone is heading toward us.”

  At that very moment — Elsewhere, Haarun and Sa’ut were already prepared for battle, and in front of them, by the riverbank, stood that powerful enemy — silent, expressionless.

  A tall, muscular figure—yet his movements were unnaturally silent. His entire body was covered in a torn black coat, and beneath it, faint red lines pulsed through his mechanical armor.

  Haarun was about to make a move when — in the blink of an eye, the enemy suddenly appeared right in front of him, spinning a double-bladed scythe aimed to slice off Haarun’s head.

  The moment the enemy rushed forward, time seemed to slow down for Haarun. He could see the scythe descending toward his neck as if in slow motion. In a split second, Haarun unleashed his full speed.

  He vanished from his spot faster than the sound could break. Haarun and Sa’ut couldn’t understand how the attack came so suddenly — so impossibly fast.

  Seeing the black double-bladed scythe in the enemy’s hand, Sa’ut thought to himself:— “Where did he even get that weapon…?”

  The enemy spoke in a deep, sharp voice to Haarun:— “For the first time, someone has survived my attack. That means you’re far stronger than an ordinary human.”

  Half his face was hidden behind a black mask that flickered with red light every few seconds.

  His eyes were pale gray—like the dead had suddenly been given life. Haarun replied in a firm, serious tone:— “Who are you? And why did you kill all those people?”

  The enemy stayed silent for a few seconds before answering coldly:— “My name is Nerath. I have no one before me, no one after me — so you can call me the Free Killer.”

  As he said that, Nerath slowly let out a chilling, twisted laugh. Then, in a razor-sharp voice that could send shivers down the spine, he continued:— “And do you know why I killed them? Because they were all Myraan users.”

  He paused for a brief moment and added:— “My mission is to wipe out every Myraan user alive. And since you’re one of them… you’ll have to die too.”

  The moment he finished speaking, Nerath flashed forward — in the blink of an eye, his double-bladed scythe swung toward Haarun’s neck.

  But Haarun had already moved — using his speed, he sliced through the air, dodging the attack in an instant.

  Nerath didn’t stop for even a second; he lunged again, launching strike after strike in relentless succession.

  Haarun barely had time to draw his dagger or sword — all he could do was keep retreating, as Nerath’s scythe slashed at his throat, arms, legs, and torso nonstop.

  Even though Nerath’s strikes missed Haarun, they tore through everything around him — trees were split clean in half, and every strike that hit the ground cracked the earth wide open.

  Within moments, the riverbank’s entire landscape had changed. Just as Nerath was about to swing another strike toward Haarun, Sa’ut, from behind, fired a laser at him using one of his drones.

  Nerath instantly sensed it, and with a swift spin of his double-bladed scythe, he deflected the laser to the side.

  The redirected blast struck a massive tree nearby, setting it ablaze in an instant — and Nerath’s gaze slowly shifted toward Sa’ut.

  Haarun’s eyes darted toward the burning tree. For a split second, he panicked and thought:— “This fire could burn down the entire forest…”

  The moment that thought crossed his mind, Haarun didn’t waste another second — he dashed straight toward the tree, drew his twin daggers, and unleashed thousands of rapid slashes in an instant.

  His lightning-fast attacks shredded the tree into countless pieces, and the shockwave from his slashes extinguished the flames completely.

  Meanwhile, Nerath charged straight at Sa’ut.Seeing him rush forward, Sa’ut immediately leapt into the air, and from midair, he commanded his drones to fire hundreds of lasers at once.

  But Nerath didn’t even flinch — he brought his double-bladed scythe forward and began spinning it like a fan, at an unbelievable speed.

  The spinning blades deflected the lasers in all directions, striking the trees around them — and within seconds, dozens of trees caught fire, painting the entire forest in a crimson glow.

  Seeing the spreading flames, Haarun didn’t hesitate. He rushed from one burning tree to another, slashing at the fire with his daggers to put it out. But the blaze was too widespread.

  Haarun began to struggle, and as the inferno grew, Sa’ut finally stopped his attacks, watching helplessly as the forest burned around them.

  The moment Sa’ut stopped attacking, he began dodging Nerath’s relentless strikes, quickly retreating to keep his distance.

  But just like with Haarun, Nerath unleashed a continuous barrage of attacks on him, giving him barely any room to breathe.

  Right when Nerath was about to strike again, Haarun — having finally extinguished all the flames — charged in from behind, swinging his massive sword at Nerath.

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  But Nerath instantly abandoned Sa’ut and leapt back, narrowly dodging Haarun’s attack.

  Taking the chance, Sa’ut quickly rushed to Haarun’s side. As soon as he arrived, Haarun said in a cold, steady voice:— “This enemy’s too strong. And your lasers are useless in this forest. I’ll handle him — go to Nazar right now.”

  Sa’ut stayed silent for a few seconds. He was about to protest, but before he could say anything, Haarun dashed forward again, launching another attack on Nerath.

  Nerath swiftly sidestepped, evading the blow once more. Watching them fight, Sa’ut thought to himself:— “I’m not a Bloodfang Weapon… not a WarBrain either. I’m just a hacker. Right now, I’ll only get in Haarun’s way.”

  Without wasting another moment, Sa’ut turned and bolted away from the battlefield at high speed.

  He leapt from tree to tree, moving like the wind — and his drones followed closely behind, soaring through the air above him. After Sa’ut left, Haarun and Nerath stood face to face — both knew this fight would go to the very end.

  Nerath brought his Double-bladed Scythe forward, gripping it tightly with both hands. Haarun noticed the metal shaft in the middle was trembling slightly — as if something alive was moving inside it.

  Before he could process it, the Scythe suddenly changed form — it turned into a Chain Sickle. Without wasting a second, Nerath swung it in a wide arc and lunged straight toward Haarun.

  Meanwhile, Sa’ut was sprinting through the forest until he reached an open area. The surroundings were eerily silent — the only sound was the soft whoosh of the cold wind.

  Yet even in that stillness, Sa’ut felt something was off. Slowly, he began scanning his surroundings.

  At first, he saw nothing. But after a few seconds, hundreds of red eyes began glowing one by one in the darkness — silent, yet terrifyingly alive.

  A while earlier, on the other side — Riyy was standing silently in front of the gate. Around him, only bamboo groves and a heavy, unsettling silence.

  Yet even within that silence, Riyy could feel it — someone was there. Someone moving through the gaps between the bamboo with unbelievable speed, circling him completely.

  He tried to scan every direction, trying to sense who it was. Then suddenly, from behind, someone struck at him with lightning speed — swinging a sword straight toward his back.

  Riyy instantly sensed the attack, leaping high into the air and bounding off the tops of the bamboo stalks to get away.

  When he finally turned around from a distance, his eyes widened in shock — the entire bamboo forest behind him had been shredded in a single strike.

  Hundreds of bamboo stalks were sliced to pieces, fragments swirling through the air. Seeing such destruction from just one attack left Riyy stunned. And through those flying bamboo fragments… he saw someone standing there.

  His face was almost completely wrapped in bandages, only his eyes visible — sharp, crimson, and glowing with a strange, cold light from within.

  The eyes were icy blue, yet one glance felt like being sliced open by a blade’s edge. He wore light, tattered clothes that fluttered wildly in the wind, as if the fabric itself was trying to keep up with his speed.

  Riyy noticed the sword that the enemy had attacked with — it wasn’t any ordinary weapon. It was a terrifying, four-bladed, razor-sharp, flexible urumi sword.

  And the strangest part was — he wasn’t holding just one. Both his hands wielded the same kind of four-bladed urumi sword.

  Before Riyy could react, the enemy vanished from sight — and in the next instant, appeared right behind him. Riyy sensed it and thought in shock:— “That speed…! I couldn’t even see him move!”

  The enemy swung his sword. Riyy barely managed to twist his body with unnatural flexibility, slipping through the gaps between the blades and narrowly avoiding the strike.

  Even after dodging, one thought echoed in his mind:— “He’s attacking from so close… If even one strike lands, I’m done for.”

  Before Riyy could move back, the enemy spun his sword again. The moment the attack began, time itself seemed to slow for Riyy — his speed surpassing even the flow of time.

  He could feel the movement of the blades slicing through the air — like they were just inches away from tearing through his body.

  Facing death right before his eyes, Riyy didn’t hesitate for even a second. He unleashed his full speed — reacting faster than sound itself.

  This time, Riyy didn’t bother dodging anything — branches tore and snapped against his body as he charged forward, but he didn’t stop.

  Everything in his path — trees, soil, debris — was getting crushed under his hands as he moved like a raging storm.

  Just as Riyy was sprinting, the Enemy sliced through the air and appeared right beside him midair.

  With both hands gripping his twin swords, he launched a lightning-fast strike. Seeing that insane speed, Riyy’s temper flared. He muttered to himself:— “Fine then… let’s see who’s faster.”

  Without hesitation, he dodged a few attacks and lunged straight at the Enemy. Using his martial arts technique, he deflected several of the blades with his bare hands—so fast it felt like time itself had frozen.

  But in that desperate counter, Riyy’s hood tore, his mask got slightly cut, and a faint scar formed across his cheek.

  In the next instant, Riyy leapt above the Enemy, gathered his strength, and slammed down a brutal axe kick.

  The impact was explosive—the ground cracked open, and nearby bamboo trees were ripped from the earth and hurled into the air.

  Riyy quickly backed away, but what he saw next made his eyes widen — another figure, identical to the first Enemy, appeared beside him. Seeing the two of them together, Riyy whispered:— “So there are two of them… No wonder his speed felt unnatural.”

  The first Enemy spoke in a cold, razor-sharp voice:— “My younger brother, Kareth—looks like we’ve finally met a worthy opponent.”

  The second Enemy, still rising from the shattered ground, replied in a deep, bone-chilling tone:— “Big brother Zerath… killing this one is going to be fun.”

  A few moments earlier, on the other side — Rayn and Nazar were slowly descending a metal staircase. With every step, the light dimmed a little more, and the silence grew heavier.

  As soon as they reached the final step, the entire area lit up with a cold blue glow — a massive chamber, like a forbidden world built deep beneath the earth.

  Both of them moved forward cautiously. After a few steps, Rayn whispered:— “Something’s here… because it doesn’t make sense there’s no security.”

  Just a few paces later, Nazar suddenly stopped. Seeing him freeze, Rayn immediately went on guard.

  Nazar closed his eyes and placed a hand on the wall, as if trying to sense something. After a few silent seconds, he suddenly opened his eyes and said urgently:— “Rayn, get ready — there’s a huge number of enemies heading our way.”

  Before he could even finish, Rayn pulled out his dagger. And the next moment, they both saw it — countless enemies emerging from the darkness, fast and completely silent.

  Their faces showed no emotion — blank, lifeless. Bodies covered in scars and stitches, metal pieces fused into their skin like machine parts. Each one carried a different weapon, and in their eyes burned a single thing — programmed brutality.

  Rayn and Nazar didn’t waste a second. They charged straight toward the oncoming wave, and within moments, Rayn’s lightning-fast slashes tore through a dozen enemies, shredding them apart.

  Nazar charged into the swarm of enemies with no weapon in hand. Each punch he landed sent enemy bodies flying apart into pieces. When his blows struck the chamber walls, the entire place trembled with a deafening roar.

  Meanwhile, Rayn noticed something horrifying — from the enemies’ shredded bodies oozed a thick, dark greenish-black acid, the same toxic fluid they’d seen during the metro station mission.

  Rayn instantly dashed toward Nazar and shouted:— “Nazar! Be careful — they’re not human! That acid coming out of their bodies can burn through our flesh!”

  Without wasting another second, both of them jumped back into the fight. Their movements were so fast that the enemies couldn’t even see where the attacks were coming from.

  In mere moments, hundreds of enemies were torn apart — yet somehow, their numbers didn’t seem to shrink. If anything, more kept pouring in. Amid the chaos, Rayn glanced at Nazar and yelled:— “Nazar, we can’t waste any more time!”

  Then he moved closer and said in a low voice:— “You go find the boss — I’ll handle these things.”

  Nazar gave a brief nod and replied:— “Alright… just don’t die on me.”

  The next instant, he shot forward at near-sonic speed — every enemy in his path exploded with a single punch, and behind him, the chamber filled with crushed metal and shattered bodies.

  Now Rayn was fighting alone. He looked unstoppable — every strike bursting with a fiery intensity, as if something deep inside him had awakened, feeding his rage and power.

  After a while, he noticed something strange — The enemies were gradually slowing down, their attacks coming to a halt. Rayn frowned and glanced around — everyone had stopped moving at once.

  A moment later, he saw them slowly parting to both sides, their eyes blank, movements mechanical—like puppets pulled by invisible strings.

  Watching them step aside in unison, Rayn thought:— “They’re not acting on their own… someone’s controlling them.”

  Within seconds, silence consumed the entire chamber. Then, through that eerie stillness, came the sound of heavy footsteps — metal boots striking the floor, one after another.

  Rayn instantly tensed up. Out of the darkness, a figure emerged — towering, cloaked in shadow, and the very air around him grew cold with his presence.

  Slowly, he stepped out of the darkness — his entire body wrapped in black, a long hood pulled low over his head.

  His face was barely visible beneath the shadow, only two blazing eyes could be seen — crimson, burning like fire, piercing through the darkness itself.

  A faint haze of smoke drifted around him, and with every step, the metallic floor echoed with a heavy thud — as if death itself was walking closer. In his hand, he held a sword burning with a fiery red glow.