Ripping off the choking tie, Danan tossed it aside. Blue-hot vernier flames erupted from the assassin’s boosters, closing the distance to Danan in an instant. The black-iron exoskeleton roared, its right arm raising a pile bunker, firing a steel stake with an explosive crack.

  Empty casings flew as the stake aimed to crush Danan’s skull. Dodging with preternatural reflexes—his cheek scorched—Danan swung his high-frequency blade, grazing the exoskeleton’s armor. “Gloria! Run!” he shouted.

  “Danan—” Gloria started.

  “Move! Wanna die?!” Danan yelled, kicking Gloria aside.

  Hiding behind the bar counter, Danan evaded the chain gun’s barrage. The assassin’s sole target was Danan—sent to kill the “black snake,” an undercity relic hunter, erasing his existence. The crimson mono-eye swiveled, ignoring Gloria, pulverizing the counter as it cornered Danan, spinning its gun.

  The evil snake must die. This serpent, seducing the one-winged holy angel, obstructing the White Lord’s salvation—its cells must be eradicated. The assassin’s left arm whirred, gears turning. A single bullet loaded into the chamber, a barrel extended from the armor, aimed at Danan’s heart.

  ALB—Anti-Lumina Bullet. A special warhead to halt the cell-fusing nanobots, Lumina, in Danan’s heart. No hesitation; this was for her. As the assassin’s neural-linked trigger engaged, it saw Danan’s steel-coated body, unleashed a chain gun salvo, and reloaded the pile bunker.

  “Black snake!” the assassin roared.

  “Shut up, assassin!” Danan snarled.

  Activating his bio-fused metal, Danan barked, “Nephthys, find weapons! Anything!”

  “System restored. Scanning for armaments… Complete. Danan, weak plant signals detected. Shall I guide you?”

  “Fast!”

  “Affirmative. Initiating navigation via Lumina-fused cornea. Warning: ALB detected in enemy exoskeleton. Exercise caution.”

  The AI’s flat voice steadied Danan. No time to wipe sweat, he followed the HUD’s arrows, firing his shotgun despite knowing it was futile. The exoskeleton’s armor, a fortress, took only scratches, the assassin charging unbothered.

  Sacrificing Gloria could’ve bought time, tipped the fight. A mid-city elite as a shield was logical. Danan should have crushed his foolish emotions, killed the strange friendship he felt. But he couldn’t. Betraying someone who called him friend, who trusted him, was beyond even Danan.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Deflecting chain gun rounds with his bio-fused steel, cornered against the bar’s wall, Danan pounded it twice. The assassin deployed palm-mounted armor, charging a laser weapon.

  “Danan! Hold on, security’s almost—” Gloria shouted.

  “…Gloria,” Danan muttered.

  “Just a bit longer, they’re coming!”

  “Find the gate guard… bored-looking guy.”

  “What are you—”

  “We’ve got a drink planned. After I handle this, we’ll meet up. Don’t worry, I—”

  Won’t die. As Danan spoke, a blinding flash engulfed his vision, his bio-fused body charring. The laser’s compressed energy melted steel, searing Danan with unimaginable pain, his body dissolving. Burning alive, he fell through the wall, Lumina’s regenerative nanobots straining to save him.

  “Danan!” Gloria screamed, reaching out.

  He must’ve thought Danan was dead—any normal human would be, incinerated by a laser. But the assassin knew better. The black-iron figure didn’t believe Lumina’s host would die so easily. Despising the “black snake,” tasked to kill Danan, the assassin peered into the green-lit space beyond the wall—an illicit bioplant—and leapt down, baring murderous intent.

  Rows of test tubes filled with yellowish-green liquid lined the plant, part of a cell-culturing system. Scanning the jade-glowing facility, the assassin dismissed countless bio-signals, deactivated sensors, and spun roller-dash wheels.

  Danan—the black snake—fell here. Was he buying regeneration time or awaiting full repair? Suppressing irritation, the assassin caught writhing flesh in its peripheral vision, lips twisting into a warped grin.

  Kill. Kill everything. Any who obstruct the White Lord, deemed unnecessary, must be erased—undercity scum or mid-city elite, irrelevant. A devoted saint, the assassin would atone for sins at death. Until then, loyalty was absolute.

  Heavy steel clanged as the ALB-loaded gun aimed into the plant’s shadows. A faint tch escaped as the assassin parried a sudden blade, verniers flaring.

  “Monster… you’re no longer human,” the assassin hissed.

  “—”

  Black smoke poured from Danan’s grotesque form, muscle fibers exposed. Severing his own left arm for a surprise attack, Danan clicked his tongue. “Nephthys… next plan…” Speeding Lumina’s repair, he unleashed the plant’s contents.

  Culture fluid gushed, malformed flesh—lacking eyes, brain, or skeleton—writhed. Bare muscle and glistening fat, a sludge-like lifeform driven by instinct, clung to the assassin’s leg armor.

  A ghastly sight. Most would go mad, lose composure. But the assassin, accustomed to slaughter and horror, crushed the flesh, hunting Danan.

  “…”

  Too many malformed signals overwhelmed the bio-sensor.

  “…”

  How did he know the plant’s location? Why fall into a useless bioplant with no weapons or materials?

  “…”

  No—! Bullets struck the assassin’s armor, sparking.

  “Danan, the weapon-forging plant requires iron. Instructions?”

  “Draw my blood, feed the plant. Nephthys, don’t slack on Lumina’s tuning.”

  “Affirmative.”

  “…Madman,” the assassin muttered.

  Tubes pierced Danan’s body, siphoning blood into the plant. Nutrients from his blood fueled weapon and ammo production—a lunatic’s act.

  Raising an assault rifle, his bronze skin ashen, Danan gritted his teeth, fighting unconsciousness, peering through the sights.