Chapter 90: Agents of Darkness

  What am I even thinking?

  I can’t really fight these things. One miscalculation and I’d get marked for the rest of the time loop—Solvane and everyone in it will be doomed.

  This wasn’t a risk I could take.

  And yet…

  I was painfully tempted by the idea.

  If I killed one of these invisible dogs, I’d get an instant upgrade. Kill all five, and I’d get a whopping five.

  I knew Dolos was untrustworthy, but Déjà vu seemed to insist his previous interferences with the System had been legitimate. Unless, of course, Déjà vu itself had been tampered with, nudging me to trust him just now.

  Either way, how do I even kill them? I could barely even see them. Even the frost layer I’d managed to create was already melting away.

  “W-What are these things?” Trent stammered as he stumbled backward. “Are those Ironwatch Hounds?”

  I began lightly pushing the stunned Alice away, throwing back brief glances at the approaching Dark Hunters. There was no time for explanations.

  “No,” I said flatly. “We need to get to the Foundry Terminal. Fast.” I turned to Alice. “Miss Verldson, what’s the quickest way to get there?”

  She looked like she was snapping out of a trance. “W-What? Why?” She pointed at the approaching Enforcers and Obsidian Crows. “We just need to hide until they arrive to save us.”

  It was hard to argue with that logic. She could only see five creatures, after all.

  But something told me there were far more.

  “Erebus’ hold on Skyhaven is strong” sounded a lot more ominous than what was visible right now.

  Right on cue, I was proven right.

  In the distance, one of the Obsidian Crows was suddenly struck by something invisible. His leg was torn clean off—armor and all—and his body spun violently through the air before crashing to the ground.

  Their entire squad froze, weapons raised, searching for an enemy they couldn’t see.

  A second later, the injured Obsidian Crow was outlined with Darkness, and the Déjà vu System reacted.

  [This unit is marked by Darkness]

  Holy shit. It was practically instant.

  “But that’s an Aetherguard Mark III…” Alice whispered in disbelief.

  Suddenly, BANG.

  My head snapped toward the sound.

  Trent stood frozen, wide-eyed, gripping Casten Vorrick’s handgun awkwardly with both hands. He’d fired a single shot at the nearest Dark Hunter but likely missed it completely.

  The creature lunged at him at once.

  “No!” My body reacted on its own. Switching to Cryora, I quickly stepped toward Trent and threw a punch with my left hand toward the soaring Dark Hunter, conjuring as much ice as I could around my arm and fist as I moved, shaping it into a sledgehammer.

  The punch connected.

  The ice around my arm shattered, but the impact sent the Dark Hunter flying, smashing it against a nearby Porter Carriage.

  But despite the protective layer, agony ripped through my arm and I roared in pain.

  That thing was heavy. The inertia was insane—it felt like punching a thick iron wall.

  Damn it. I wished I’d used Kinetra before attempting this, but there was no time for it.

  As my right hand clutched my pained left, another Dark Hunter lunged at me.

  Too slow.

  I couldn’t dodge.

  It was over.

  Right then, something invisible slammed into the creature midair, knocking it off course.

  Zee came out of camouflage, jaws snapping shut around the creature’s frost-outlined head. Metal crumpled with a loud crunch as ink-like liquid exploded outward, splattering across the ground, some of it covering Zee.

  Then, unnaturally, the liquid began to move. As if alive, all of it slithered back toward a single point, pooling into a motionless black puddle.

  "W-What is that...?" Alice asked, stunned, as she pointed at Zee.

  Meanwhile, the other three Dark Hunters closed in, joined by the one I’d punched away. The frost clinging to them was nearly gone.

  "He's on our side," I replied quickly, then turned toward the danger.

  I activated Multi-Channel again, this time clapping my right hand at the ground and releasing another wave of cold.

  Suddenly, in addition to the four before us, six additional Dark Hunters making their way toward us became visible.

  “Zee, come!” I shouted.

  I grabbed Trent by the arm and turned to Alice. “We need to run. The Terminal. NOW!”

  She snapped fully back to herself and nodded.

  “Inside the building!” she shouted as she sprinted inside. “This district has rooftop walkways connecting all buildings!”

  We rushed after her through the shattered vitrina, Zee and I covering the rear as the Dark Hunters surged behind us.

  It was a small coffee shop—something we barely had down in Orlinth. Now, it was mostly abandoned, as the remaining handful of people hid beneath overturned tables.

  “Through here!” Alice shouted, rushing toward the counter. She pushed through the small double-swing service door and sprinted straight for what I assumed was the kitchen entrance. She stopped there, holding it open for us.

  Behind us, heavy thuds, the crash of shattering glass, and whistles made it painfully clear the Dark Hunters were hot on our heels.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” Trent cursed as he ran. “We’re done for!”

  Not a chance.

  I’d taken this risk instead of choosing the easy path like Vorrick. My left arm was broken, but I wasn’t failing here.

  “Keep going!” I shouted.

  Trent vaulted the counter and bolted into the kitchen. With the last seconds of my Cryora, I spun mid-run and swung my good arm behind me, forming a jagged wall of ice that rose between the Dark Hunters, Zee, and me. Then Zee and I vaulted the counter and followed Trent through.

  The Dark Hunters barely slowed. Their bladed heads broke right through the ice with little problem.

  I slammed the kitchen door shut behind us and shoved Trent forward, urging him to move faster and follow Alice.

  For a brief moment, as I caught sight of his sheer terror, doubt crept in.

  What if I was wrong? What if Vorrick’s way was better?

  I crushed the thought instantly.

  The world didn’t reset when I died. If I failed here, the Trent and Alice of this world would still be torn apart by Dark Hunters.

  If I start making choices as to who I should save, how will I be different from the damn Primarch or the scummy Valdemar?!

  Resolve hardened in my heart.

  I summoned a Kinetra crystal into my broken hand, and biting back a scream as pain flared, I slammed it into the Channel Core.

  [Burn Rate lvl. 5: Kinetra is burning. Time left – 00:04:59]

  Strength flooded my body, and I could use my left arm again.

  It was temporary—I knew it. My arm didn’t heal because of the Kinetra. The crystal only numbed the pain and strengthened my bones, muscles, and joints to the point that prior damage didn’t matter. When the five minutes ran out, the pain would likely return a thousandfold—I might even faint from it—but that didn’t matter right now.

  At the same time, I could feel my COG overheating. Heat bled through the bracer on my right arm, the metal growing uncomfortably warm against my skin.

  Not good. One more crystal will kill my COG.

  Alice rushed through the kitchen and into the next room—the stairwell.

  As we ran after her, Kinetra-empowered, I grabbed stoves and any heavy kitchen equipment I could get my hands on—metal counters, burners, anything bulky enough to slow Erebus’ dogs—and hurled them behind us.

  Just as the first Dark Hunter tore through the kitchen door, a stove smashed straight into its head. The impact seemed to stagger it briefly, yet also shattered the frost coating it, rendering the creature invisible once more.

  Not willing to take the risk, and also recognizing an opportunity, I shouted, “Zee, attack this one!”

  My instinct proved right. Zee could see them even when they vanished from sight. He lunged, jaws snapping shut around empty air, and then…metal crunched. The ink-like substance exploded outward before snapping back together into a puddle just like before.

  My COG chimed at once.

  [Civic Omni-Gear System: You have 1 Upgrade Available]

  [Déjà vu System: 1 Level Upgrade Available]

  What? So because I gave Zee the command the System credited me with the kill?

  More importantly, the quest was…legit.

  With my COG nearing overheat, and Déjà vu tingling in my mind, I decided to wait with the COG upgrade for now. I’ll save it for Overheat once my COG actually hits it. That should overturn the process. Or at least that’s what I seemed to recall…could be Dolos’ tampering too.

  Either way, I refused to burn Timeline to rewind the overheating state. I needed it as backup in case Zee suffered damage that couldn’t be undone otherwise. And so, this was my best bet.

  As for the Déjà vu System, seeing the tense situation I was in, I decided to invest in the practical skills.

  [Skill Upgraded: Slow lvl.2]

  [Next Level: lvl.3: Cooldown is reduced to 1 hour]

  One hour?! For fuck’s sake…

  That means that level 2’s cooldown is probably two hours. The only reality I used Slow again this run was the one where I survived this chase in one piece. And unmarked.

  Through the shattered kitchen doorway, I caught a glimpse of the café beyond. I couldn’t see them, but it was clear that even more Dark Hunters were flooding in.

  I swallowed hard, then spun on my heel.

  “Zee, follow!”

  We burst into the stairwell, Alice and Trent holding the door open just long enough for us to run through.

  “Dude, what the fuck are those?!” Trent shouted, panic heavy in his voice. “Some Ironwatch project gone rogue?!”

  Alice looked just as shaken—equally terrified, but just as morbidly curious as he was.

  “No time to explain!” I barked, shoving both of them toward the stairs. “Keep moving. Up!”

  “R-right,” Alice stammered, already taking the lead as we sprinted upward.

  We barely cleared three floors before the stairwell doors below us practically exploded. The metallic crash echoed upward, followed by a flood of sharp whistles—far more than I could count.

  “Keep going!” I urged Alice and Trent, a plan already forming as my gaze locked onto the metal stairs and railings.

  I waved Zee past me and came to a stop. Summoning an Umbrium, I slammed it into my COG, bracing myself for agony.

  [Burn Rate lvl. 5: Kinetra’s burn paused. Time left – 00:03:49]

  My eyes rolled back in my skull. I nearly blacked out from the sharp pain, but I forced myself to remain conscious.

  [Burn Rate lvl. 5: Umbrium is burning. Time left – 00:04:59]

  [Memory Slots lvl. 2: Kinetra is saved for repeat use – 00:24:59]

  [Memory Slots lvl. 2: Aero was discarded]

  [Multi-Channel lvl. 2: Dual-Channel available – Kinetra + Umbrium]

  I didn’t actually need Kinetra for what I was about to do. Still, I activated Multi-Channel again, purely to dull the pain before I fainted.

  [Multi-Channel lvl. 2: Dual-Channel ACTIVE – Umbrium + Kinetra. Time Left – 00:00:29]

  Then, as expected, the dreaded message hit my COG.

  [OVERHEATED]

  [COG Channel Core overheated – Cooling Cycle initiated]

  [Estimated Downtime: 00:14:59]

  “Viktor, what are you doing?!” Trent shouted from above, stopping. “Why did you stop?!”

  I didn’t respond. Instead, just as planned, I finally allocated the Upgrade Point into Overheat.

  [Overheat lvl. 6: Internal Cooling System improved. Estimated Downtime reduced]

  And not a second later:

  [Cooling Cycle Completed]

  [Device no longer overheated]

  With no time to waste, I placed one hand on the railing and the other on the stairs themselves, unleashing a thick cloud of decay from my palms.

  It poured through the stairwell, metal screaming.

  The steps and railings began to dissolve, chunks breaking free and crashing downward as the corrosion spread along the stone walls as well, though slower.

  “Don't overdo it!" Alice shouted from above. "You’ll bring the entire building down!”

  I turned and resumed sprinting.

  “We just need to get to the roof!” I yelled. “Quickly!”

  With the bottom part of the stairwell steadily disintegrating, the entire staircase began to creak and shudder beneath our feet. Below us, the Dark Hunters’ whistles shifted until they took almost a falling cadence.

  I hoped some of them would plunge to their deaths and grant me another Upgrade Point, but the absence of any System notifications told me that hadn't happened.

  We reached the rooftop access doors. Alice scanned her COG to open it, and together with Trent and Zee they burst through them and onto the roof.

  Meanwhile, I didn’t.

  I got greedy.

  For a split second, I considered stopping and using an Ignis to pour fire downward in an attempt to get more kills on the bastards before retreating again.

  Eventually, I didn’t. But not because I came to my senses…

  The whistles below suddenly unified into a single, piercing shriek.

  Instinctively, my hands flew to my ears. The sound was so sharp, it felt like my eardrums were about to rupture. My knees buckled, and I collapsed centimetres from the access doors.

  Glancing through the stairwell void, I saw what was happening below.

  The Dark Hunters—dozens of them—were no longer invisible.

  They revealed themselves fully: grotesque mechanical hounds, their frames bound together by what looked like flowing liquid Darkness. Their bodies convulsed violently before they began leaping at one another.

  Every three hounds merged together, collapsing into a single, writhing form.

  The amalgamations slowly reshaped themselves, Darkness flowing like flesh beneath metal.

  Humanoid shapes emerged. They were tall and broad. Their heads were metallic with three glowing red eyes. In one hand, each held a massive pole—no, a blade—that was longer than them.

  Then, all four at once, snapped their heads toward me and began vertically running straight up the decaying walls.

  The Déjà vu System reacted again.

  [Dark Predator, lvl. 110]

  Now I finally understood what “Erebus’ hold on Skyhaven is strong” meant.