Jera was out cold.
He had hit the hangar floor in a dead faint, the combined trauma of the S-Rank Disruptor Bolt, his million-ton punch, and the mental shock of Seraphina's revelation finally overwhelming his body.
"He's... he's unconscious," Velocity said, her voice a mix of disbelief and panic. "S-Ranks don't faint."
"He's not an S-Rank, you idiot!" Aegis-7 barked, his military discipline snapping back into place. "He's a Level 88... whatever that means. And he's our only asset. Velocity, med-kit! Now!"
Velocity was a blur, her speed-skill activating. In less than a second, she had crossed the hangar, retrieved the S-Rank emergency med-kit from their transport, and was back at Jera's side.
Seraphina was already there, kneeling, her small hands hovering uselessly over Jera's bloody, ruined back. "He's... he's burning up," she said, her voice shaking. "His regeneration... it's fighting something... it's not working right!"
Conduit, the team's tech and mana-specialist, knelt. "The Disruptor bolt... it's not a normal weapon. It's designed to unravel a Hunter's mana core. It's anti-magic. His S-Rank regeneration is trying to heal a wound that is actively rejecting magic. He's at war with himself."
Aegis-7 looked at the closed hangar doors, hearing the distant, muffled shrieks of the Corrupted outside. "Conduit, get to the 'Archangel' and get her powered up. We're not safe here. Velocity, stabilize him. We leave in five."
Velocity opened the high-tech med-kit. "I can't treat him with this... thing... on," she said, gesturing to Jera's black helmet. "His vitals are... they're off the charts. I can't get a clear reading. I have to take it off."
Aegis-7 hesitated. It felt wrong. It felt like... dissecting their new, terrifying god.
"Just... do it," he grunted.
Velocity's hands, trained for S-Rank combat, were surprisingly gentle. She found the release seals at the neck. With a soft hiss of decompression, the iconic, terrifying "Cain Walker" mask came free.
The three S-Rank Hunters froze.
They had expected a monster. A demon. An ancient,-wrinkled, millennia-old entity.
Instead, they were looking at a kid.
He couldn't have been older than 24. His face was pale, drenched in sweat, and boyishly handsome. A stray lock of dark, matted hair had fallen over his forehead. His brow was furrowed in agony, his breathing shallow. He looked less like a world-ending threat and more like Velocity's younger brother.
"...Gods above," Aegis-7 whispered, his voice cracking. "This... this is Cain Walker? This is the man who... who ate my shield?"
"He's just a boy," Velocity said, her hands shaking. The cold, professional Hunter was gone, replaced by a horrified woman. "What... what happened to him?"
Seraphina just stroked Jera's hair, her expression one of profound, aching sadness. "He's just Jera," she whispered. "And he's in pain."
The shock broke. Velocity's training took over.
"His skin is... super-dense. I can't get a needle in," she said, her voice all business now. "I'll have to use the nano-gel."
She activated a pressurized canister and sprayed a thick, blue, glowing gel over Jera's ruined back.
Jera's unconscious body arched off the floor, a strangled, agonizing groan tearing from his throat. His eyes snapped open.
They were blurry, unfocused, and wide with pure, human panic.
His first, instinctive, terrified thought was: Seraphina!
His vision cleared. He saw her face, inches from his, her violet eyes swimming with tears.
Then he saw the other faces. The S-Ranks. Aegis-7. Velocity. Conduit.
All looming over him.
All staring at his real, unmasked face.
"NO!" he yelled, a raw, weak sound. He tried to scramble back, his hands flailing for his helmet. He tried to activate his Inventory. He was exposed. He was weak.
"Walker! Jera! EASY!" Aegis-7 put a massive, armored hand on his shoulder, not to hurt, but to pin. "You're safe! You're with us!"
"Get... off me!" Jera panted, his strength gone. He was just a wounded man, and the humiliation was a physical, burning shame. "My... my helmet... give me my helmet!"
Seraphina picked it up. She didn't give it to him. She just held it. "Jera, it's okay. We're... we're safe."
"Give it to me," he snarled, his voice a low, pained growl.
He was the Overlord. He was Cain Walker. He couldn't be... this.
She slowly handed him the mask. He jammed it back on his head, the familiar hiss of the seals a comfort. The black, empty faceplate was back.
The digital voice returned, but it was weak, strained, and undercut by his own pained breathing.
"...Status."
"Status is, you're a mess, Walker," Aegis-7 said, his voice surprisingly gentle. He was no longer talking to a demon. He was talking to a kid. "But you're a tough-as-nails kid. My nano-gel will stabilize the wound, but your regen is doing most of the work. It's just... costing you. You're exhausted."
"Conduit, get us in the air!" Aegis-7 yelled. He and Velocity hauled Jera to his feet. Jera's legs buckled, and he had to lean on the S-Rank tank for support. The shame was suffocating.
"I don't... need help," Jera hissed.
"Yeah, you do," Aegis-7 grunted, pulling Jera's arm over his shoulder. "You're our only weapon, kid. So, shut up and let us carry you."
They half-dragged, half-carried Jera into the sleek, black, S-Rank transport jet: the 'Archangel.'
Conduit was in the pilot's seat, his hands flying over the glowing controls. "Hangar doors sealed, engines hot! We're green for vertical liftoff!"
Aegis-7 strapped Jera into a crash-seat. Seraphina immediately took the seat next to him, her hand finding his armored, gloved one. He didn't pull away. He didn't have the strength.
"Aegis," Jera's digital voice was quiet, almost a whisper. "The... my... ammunition."
Aegis-7 looked at his empty sheath, then at Velocity.
Velocity sighed, exasperated. She walked over and unclipped her last S-Rank dagger, the one remaining of her prized set. She held it out to Jera.
"You are so high-maintenance," she said, her voice tight, but the corner of her mouth twitched. "You lose this one, Walker, and you're buying me a new planet."
Jera just looked at her, then at the blade. "Store," he whispered.
The dagger vanished. He was reloaded.
He leaned his helmeted head back against the seat and let the darkness behind his eyes take him. He wasn't unconscious, but he was gone. His body was focusing every scrap of his multiplied power on one thing: healing.
"He's out," Seraphina whispered.
"Good," Aegis-7 said, strapping himself in. "Let him rest. He's going to need it."
Conduit hit the throttle. The 'Archangel' jet's engines ignited with a silent, blue-white light. The transport shot straight up, blasting through the hangar's roof doors, and rocketed into the diseased, purple-green sky, leaving the burning, screaming city of Chicago behind.
Aegis-7 looked out the viewport at the world on fire.
"Commander Kane," he said into his comm. "We're airborne. Jera Walker is with us. So is the Oracle. We are... a team."
He paused, looking at the exhausted, bleeding "god" passed out in the crash-seat.
"Target: St. Louis. May God, or whatever's left, help us all."