The eyes of the new enemy locked onto him as the smoke from the explosion began to dissipate. The man's figure emerged from the remains of the destroyed laboratory: cables still hanging from his back, tubes torn from his skin, the reddish liquid slowly running down his ribs.
The woman frowned.
Her left eye was human.Her right was a mechanical lens, softly humming as it analyzed his body.
—"…A test subject?"—she murmured, with a mix of disdain and curiosity.
Her voice carried no emotion. It was the voice of someone trained to kill.
She wore light armor made of metallic plates over a dark suit, with cables running along her neck and embedding themselves at the base of her skull. A short-range rifle hung from her back, and an energy weapon rested against her thigh.
She was no ordinary soldier.
The man did not respond. His muscles still felt stiff, and his breathing was unsteady, but something inside him told him that this woman would not waste time with questions. Nothing could have been further from the truth—he was right.
In an instant, her mechanical arm moved with a hydraulic snap. A retractable blade shot out from her wrist and flew straight toward his throat.
His reflexes took over before his mind could process it. He dodged on instinct, his body leaning backward at the last second. The blade whistled through the air, passing mere centimeters from his throat before embedding itself in the wall he had collided with earlier behind him.
He had barely managed to steady himself when the ninja was already on top of him.
—Fast… too fast.—he thought.
The enemy's leg rose in a brutal spin, aiming for his side. He couldn't evade it completely. The blow struck his ribs, making them crack, and sent him crashing into the wall with a dull impact.
—"Damn it…"—For the first time since he had awakened, a groan escaped his mouth.
His body was still weak. He couldn't keep up this pace, and no one knew that better than he did.
The woman gave him no respite. In one fluid motion, the blade returned to her hand, and she lunged forward again, this time aiming to drive it straight into his heart.
Knowing his chances were slim, the man ran in the only direction available, pushing his body with what little strength he had left. He needed time—just enough for an idea to form, a way to counterattack and seize victory despite his current state.
Unwilling to let him escape, the woman grabbed one of the cables hanging from his back. Perhaps she thought it was some kind of medical device. She pulled hard, trying to immobilize him, slam him to the ground, and finish him with a decisive stab. But the moment she yanked with force and the cable tore free from his flesh, a considerable amount of blood came with it and splashed onto her arm.
Her scream of pain was immediate.
A horrible sound—like flesh hissing as it melted—echoed through the corridor as the man's blood touched the woman's skin. Dark vapor rose from the point of contact, and a burning wound opened instantly on the enemy's forearm, as if pure acid were eating away at her flesh. The stench of rot filled the air with overwhelming intensity.
The ninja leapt backward, her face twisted in confusion and pain, her eyes never leaving her arm.
—"What the hell… what did you do to me?!"—she screamed, staring at the massive wound on her arm.
The man stared as well, shocked. He didn't understand what had just happened, but he wasn't about to waste the opportunity. The chance he had been searching for was right in front of him.
Still unarmed, he charged forward at full speed.
The woman tried to react, but the injury to her arm hindered her movement. He dodged her desperate attack and, in a swift motion, drove his fingers into her throat.
He did not have the strength he once possessed in his past life. His body was still unstable. But it was enough.
A gurgle of blood spilled from her mouth as her hands desperately tried to pry his fingers away.
—"Gh… ah…"—her gasps grew weaker by the second.
He didn't give her time to fight back. He twisted his wrist, and with a dry, brutal crack, her trachea collapsed.
Her body crumpled to the ground, without another sound.
The man stood over her, breathing heavily. A smile crept across his face, though confusion still lingered as his mind processed what had just happened.
His blood… his own blood was lethal.
He reached back to the wound where the cable had been torn out, where the flesh still burned. There was no immediate scar formation—but he could feel the wound slowly closing. He had advanced regeneration… and the curse still flowed through his veins.
He looked down at the woman's lifeless body for one more second. Then he bent down and picked up the fallen blade. Now, at least, he had a weapon—one that would be invaluable in this labyrinth of death, where he had no intention of dying without a fight.
The air in the underground corridors was thick and heavy. A metallic stench permeated every corner, a silent testament to the carnage that had taken place there.
He moved forward with measured steps, the blade steady in his hand. His body still felt strange, but adrenaline kept him moving. As he descended through the rocky passages, the signs of the massacre became increasingly evident.
Dismembered bodies.Not simple deaths caused by precise cuts or explosions. No—this was far bloodier than he could have imagined.
Here, bodies had been destroyed, torn apart in unnatural ways. Some limbs lay meters away from their owners, embedded in the walls as if they had been fired with inhuman force. Blood still dripped from the ceiling in certain places, forming dark pools on the uneven floor.
He passed by a corpse whose head had been completely pierced by a white fragment… it looked like bone.
—"What the hell did this?"—he muttered to himself, unsettled.
A sound made him stop.
—Voices…?—he thought.
He pressed himself against the rocky wall, sharpening his hearing. Up ahead, a group of men were speaking in hushed tones.
—"It seems the reports were false. The informant lied to us. We were told the sect leader would be here… but there's no trace of him,"—said one of the men, wearing a white animal-shaped mask.
—"Tch… we've lost too many men over this false information. Who the hell sold us this mission?"—another man snapped angrily, wearing a white owl mask.
—Sect leader…?—the man thought. The title meant nothing to him, but it was clear these men were searching for someone. An entire massacre carried out to find a single individual—and they still hadn't found him.
Before he could process it further, a tearing sound ripped through the air.
—"W-what…?!"—a muffled scream rang out as one of the men fell.
He cautiously peeked out… and saw it.
A new figure had appeared among the soldiers. A tall, slender man with white hair and an elegant yet unnatural bearing. His clothing was strange, completely different from that of the fallen men.
He wore a white robe with wide sleeves and an opening at the chest that gave him a ceremonial appearance. Dark pants suggested comfort and mobility in battle. A gray sash adorned with a yin-yang symbol rested at his waist. His legs were wrapped in bandages, and he wore sandals common to Asian cultures, offering both support and protection. A thick purple rope was tied across his back.
In one hand, he held weapons that resembled swords, the same ivory-white color as the projectile the man had seen moments earlier embedded in a corpse, reinforcing the image of a lethal warrior specialized in unique techniques.
The ensemble conveyed authority, tradition, and danger, fitting for someone with advanced combat abilities. Yet despite his appearance, that was not the most disturbing part.
What truly made the man doubt his own eyes was what emerged from the body of the strangely dressed figure.
—"Ah… how disappointing,"—he murmured calmly.
With a grotesque crack, his right arm split in half… and from within, several sharpened bones burst forth, extending like living spears.
One of the soldiers tried to react, but the white-haired man moved at a speed impossible to perceive at first glance. Without hesitation, he drove the bony lances straight through the masked man's body.
—"Shit! He's one of the sect's pillars!"—one of the masked men shouted in terror.