The armory had changed.
Moments ago it had been a fortress within a fortress, rows of steel racks packed with rifles, ammunition crates stacked like walls, weapon lockers sealed with reinforced locks.
Now it looked like the aftermath of a storm.
Empty floor spread across the chamber where entire weapon racks had once stood. Blood pooled across concrete. Bodies of elite soldiers lay scattered in disciplined arcs where they had fallen fighting.
But the remaining elites were still standing.
And they had adapted.
The first phase of the battle had belonged to surprise.
The second phase belonged to professionals.
The soldiers no longer tried to maintain their original firing formation. They abandoned the rigid line entirely and split into smaller assault pairs, pistols drawn, knives ready, moving through the widening spaces left behind by the disappearing weapon racks.
They had understood the situation.
The armory was already lost.
Their job now was delay.
Every second they bought brought reinforcement closer.
Across the chamber, Amina moved past another rack of carbines.
Her fingers brushed the metal shelf.
The entire structure vanished.
Steel frame.
Weapons.
Ammunition crates.
Gone.
The soldier nearest her fired instantly.
The pistol shot cracked through the chamber.
Amina twisted aside just enough for the bullet to pass her shoulder. The spear in her hands snapped forward in the same motion.
The blade entered beneath the edge of the man's helmet.
He collapsed.
Behind her, Jin moved through the remaining elites like a shadow that cut.
One soldier lunged forward with a knife, aiming to jam Jin's sword arm before the blades could move freely.
The mistake lasted less than a second.
Jin caught the man's wrist mid-thrust, twisted the arm outward, and drove one katana clean through the gap under the soldier's chin guard. The second blade ripped sideways through another guard who had tried to close from behind.
Blood sprayed across the empty racks.
The elites pressed harder.
Three of them rushed Amina at once, pistols firing in staggered rhythm to cut off escape angles.
Amina stepped forward instead of retreating.
The spear rotated in a tight arc.
One pistol hand shattered under the impact.
The returning blade drove through the chest of the second attacker.
The third soldier almost succeeded.
His shot cracked past her temple close enough that she felt the air split beside her head.
But she had already moved.
The spear's butt slammed into his ribs, breaking his stance. The blade followed a heartbeat later, punching through the seam between vest plates.
He dropped.
Across the chamber, Jin moved faster now.
The aura around him had shifted again.
The careful restraint he had maintained earlier was gone.
The elites felt it.
This was no longer controlled violence.
This was execution.
One guard fired twice, forcing Jin to turn his shoulder aside.
Another rushed forward with a knife.
Jin stepped into him.
The first blade cut the man's wrist.
The second opened his throat.
Two more elites advanced carefully, pistols raised.
They had learned the danger of closing blindly.
Their shots came disciplined and patient, forcing Jin to angle his blades to deflect the rounds as sparks scattered from steel.
One bullet grazed his sleeve.
Jin did not slow.
He closed the distance in two strides and buried both swords into the first man's torso before the second could realign his aim.
Across the chamber, Amina continued moving.
Every rack she passed vanished.
Every crate.
Every weapon.
The armory was being erased piece by piece.
The remaining soldiers understood the horror of it now.
They were not defending weapons.
They were defending time.
Then the system spoke.
SYSTEM ALERT
Auxiliary units alerted by control center.
Armory security failure confirmed.
Estimated arrival: 10 minutes.
Amina's spear tore free from another fallen guard.
She glanced toward Jin.
"Ten minutes."
Nothing more.
Jin understood immediately.
His killing speed increased.
The elites felt the shift instantly.
The intruders were no longer pacing the fight.
They were finishing it.
Two soldiers attempted to flank Amina from opposite sides, trying to trap her between crossfire.
One raised his pistol.
The other charged with a knife.
The pistol fired.
The bullet came straight for her left eye.
For a fraction of a second the soldier believed he had the perfect shot.
Then Amina moved.
Not fast.
Precise.
Her head tilted just enough that the bullet tore through empty space beside her face.
The soldier froze.
Impossible.
Jin appeared beside him.
The katana entered through the base of his skull.
The body collapsed.
The final few elites fought harder after that.
They understood the truth now.
Reinforcement would arrive.
But they would not live to see it.
One guard rushed Jin with reckless commitment.
Jin met him head-on.
Steel flashed.
The soldier's body split open as the blades carved through armor seams.
Another fired wildly at Amina before she stepped inside the shot and drove the spear straight through his sternum.
Two left.
Then one.
The final elite stood alone near the last untouched weapons rack in the armory.
His pistol remained steady.
His breathing did not falter.
Professional to the end.
He fired once.
Jin knocked the barrel aside.
Amina's spear struck first.
The blade slid through the gap beneath the man's chest plate.
The last soldier collapsed silently.
The armory fell quiet.
Bodies lay scattered across the chamber.
The racks were gone.
The weapons were gone.
Everything of value had already vanished into Amina's system space.
Then the system spoke again.
SYSTEM ALERT
Auxiliary units breaching armory corridor.
Estimated arrival: 3 minutes 42 seconds.
Amina turned toward Jin.
He met her eyes.
A single nod.
Enough.
They began moving toward the exit.
Halfway through the doorway, Amina stopped.
She looked back once more.
The elite guards lay where they had fallen, scattered across the empty chamber they had tried to defend.
Competent fighters.
Disciplined soldiers.
They had understood their duty.
Amina lowered her spear slightly.
Then she gave a short bow.
Acknowledgment.
Respect.
Behind her, Jin was already walking.
Amina turned and followed him.
By the time the reinforcement troops burst into the armory, the chamber would be empty.
And the fortress would already be bleeding.