The storm drowned the world in noise, yet between us there was silence.
Elias Drexler. The Crimson Exile.
Kade Strix. The Last Grin.
Two predators standing in the ruin of the underhive, rain sizzling against blades that glowed like scripture written in fire and steel.
The Circle didn't move. Even Clara's zealots, mad with devotion, were hushed. They all knew this wasn't theirs to fight. Not anymore.
This was between me and him.
---
His mask was cracked, chrome grin jagged, sparks bleeding from the fracture. One glowing eye stared through, cold and sharp as a rifle scope.
He tilted his head, that grin-glitch twitching wider. "So this is the Core's chosen? Not bad. Not perfect. But better prey than the gutter trash I've fed to the rain."
I rolled my shoulders, the crimson glow of the Core leaking from every crack in my scarred armor. My arm flexed, blade screeching out in a long, molten edge, rain boiling as it touched the heat.
"Prey doesn't bleed the LAW," I spat.
He chuckled, a low broken sound. "Then prove you're not prey."
And then he moved.
---
There was no signal, no warning. Just an eruption of speed.
His pale blade whistled through the storm, so fast the rain split apart in its wake. I parried high, sparks exploding across the alley. The shock rattled through my bones, steel screaming against steel.
He pressed harder, strike after strike flowing like water, seamless, perfect. No wasted motion. Each cut angled to kill, to cripple, to test.
The Core inside me howled. My body burned as it answered, every block laced with crimson arcs, every counter a shriek of molten light.
We weren't men anymore. We were weapons crashing against each other, tearing the storm apart with each clash.
---
Sofia's voice cut faint in the distance, cold and analytic. "Observation: combat speed exceeds baseline human capability. Strix operates at predictive precision. Elias—"
Gregor silenced her with a growl. "Shut it. This ain't analysis. This is war."
---
Strix twisted low, his blade a serpent, cutting for my Core. I caught it mid-swing, my crimson edge locking against his white steel. Sparks sprayed into our faces, the glow painting his fractured grin.
"You're sloppy," he hissed through static.
"You're predictable," I growled back.
The Core pulsed hotter, and for an instant, I felt his rhythm falter. My blade screamed forward, carving through his coat, splitting chrome plating beneath. He staggered, one knee dipping.
The Circle roared—Gregor pounding his chest, Clara shrieking prayers, Milo cackling like a rat drunk on fire.
But Strix only laughed.
Blood—real blood, not neon—dripped from beneath his mask. He raised his head, that grin glitched wider than ever. "Finally."
---
He came alive.
His white blade moved faster, sharper, abandoning the calm precision for something raw, feral. Every strike now carried hunger, not just calculation.
I blocked high—too slow. His blade raked across my ribs, hot blood searing into rain. The Core shrieked inside me, flooding power into my limbs. I swung wide, crimson carving a furnace arc—he ducked, the blade grazing his mask, splitting it deeper, sparks flying.
We traded wounds like gamblers trade coin. His white steel carved lines into my flesh, my crimson edge burned holes through his armor. Rain boiled around us, steam rising until it felt like we fought inside the lungs of some dying god.
---
Clara's voice cracked, desperate, worshipping. "Yes! Yes! Messiah bleeds, but he does not fall! Strix will break!"
Milo hissed through his teeth, watching the chaos. "Or he'll break him. This guy's not hunting credits anymore, he's chasing thrill."
Gregor slammed his fist against his chest, roaring over them both. "Then we make damn sure our beast bites harder!"
---
Strix feinted left, then drove low. His blade pierced through my thigh, white fire exploding pain through me. I roared, swinging my molten arm down in a vicious counter. It cleaved his shoulder plating, shearing metal, burning through flesh beneath.
We both staggered. Both bleeding. Both laughing like madmen.
"Better," he whispered. His broken mask twitched, one red eye glowing. "Now… show me why VoidNet fears you."
The Core inside me pulsed. No, not pulsed—screamed.
The neon in the puddles around us began to glow brighter, veins of crimson light spreading through the rainwater like blood across arteries. My chest burned, red cracks racing across my skin. The Core wanted to be unleashed.
I let it.
---
Crimson light erupted, a blast wave that shook the alley.
Strix staggered as his visor glitched hard, LAW code shattering into broken symbols. My blade surged hotter, longer, screaming through the storm.
He raised his weapon to block. Too slow.
Our blades collided—crimson vs pale white—and the shockwave ripped neon graffiti clean off the walls. Rain boiled midair, the street lit like the inside of a furnace.
For a moment, I saw his eye widen behind the mask. He wasn't predicting anymore. He was reacting.
And that was enough.
I roared, the Core blazing, and my blade drove through his guard, splitting his mask in half. Chrome shards flew, sparks spraying across his bloodied face.
He fell back, dropping to one knee. His rifle lay shattered in the puddles, smoking.
---
The Circle erupted.
Gregor howled like a beast, his axe raised in salute. Clara fell to her knees, zealots chanting my name as if it were gospel. Milo's grin split wide, lenses spinning. "Ohhh, boss… you just broadcasted your first legend kill."
Sofia only stared, eyes faintly glowing, voice calm. "Observation: Kade Strix is defeated. But not terminated."
She was right.
Strix knelt in the steam, breathing ragged, blood spilling through his cracked jaw. He looked up at me, and even broken, even beaten, his grin was there—human now, faint, twisted.
"You're not prey," he rasped, spitting blood into the puddles. "Not anymore. You're worse."
He coughed, laughter broken but alive. "VoidNet won't erase you. It'll escalate. And when it does… I want to see what kind of monster you become."
His body collapsed, finally, into the neon-soaked water.
The storm swallowed his last words.
---
The Circle gathered close. Their voices filled the silence: worship, laughter, vows of blood.
But all I heard was the Core, still screaming in my chest, still hungry.
And all I saw was the broken mask of Kade Strix, its grin still burned into my mind.