“All of them, sir?” asked the controller.

  “All of them,” Connor confirmed. “We have greatly underestimated our enemy. Also, send out the drones. I want real-time footage of what’s happening.”

  Everyone quickly followed Connor’s commands. Controllers began speaking to the various squads, the reserve squadrons were sent out, and several drones were released. Holographic screens appeared above them. They showed live footage of New York from an overhead view.

  The drones began moving. Levon watched with narrowed eyes as they closed in on the location of Adam’s apartment.

  “Are we in the clear?” asked Levon.

  “Don’t worry,” Connor assured him. “The reason we didn’t send them out at first was to avoid causing a potential problem with the government, but I just informed our man on the inside about what’s happening. He said he’ll take care of it.”

  Levon nodded as he shifted his gaze to the map. Squads 3 and 4 were converging on the location of Squads 1 and 2. It wouldn’t be long before their dots overlapped.

  Just then, an explosion ripped through the video feed for one of the drones. Levon swung his head up and stared in shock as plumes of fire rose into the sky. The drone quickly oriented itself to close in on that location.

  What they saw caused every person there to suck in a breath.

  Corpses littered the streets. Levon could tell at a glance they belonged to his men, as they were wearing the camouflage uniforms of his elite units. The vehicle they had used to transport themselves was now a flaming pile of wreckage.

  Standing in the middle of this scene of carnage was a man, his silver mask illuminated by the fire’s light, body wreathed in a skin-tight dark suit. He carried a spear. About as long as the man was tall, the spear was covered in blood.

  The man whom Levon could only guess was Adam raised his head. Levon froze. The man was looking right at the drone. Could he see it? Surely not. That was impossible! But as if to disabuse him of that notion, Adam drew a gun, aimed, and fired.

  The live feed went dead.

  “Dammit! He just shot our drone! Send the other ones to that location, but have them keep their distance,” ordered Connor.

  Several other drones began moving, encircling the area where Adam was located. They kept their distance this time. Adam was using a 9mm, and while he didn’t know what type, most pistols of that caliber only had an effective firing range of fifty meters.

  And yet, once again, as if to disabuse Levon of his common sense, the drones were shot down. One by one, the screens went dead.

  “What is going on down there?!” Levon demanded to know.

  Connor’s lips were drawn into a thin line. “That’s what I’d like to know. Either Adam is a much better shot than is humanly possible, or he has someone working alongside him. Either way, we can’t use drones for this.”

  “Dammit!” Levon swore. This whole situation was turning into a nightmare. “What about our other squads? What are they doing?”

  “Several are moving to intercept Adam,” Connor said. “The others say they’ve found a pair of women fleeing the area. We’ve confirmed that one of them is Aris. We don’t have confirmation on the other, but suspect she may be the one called Lilith.”

  Levon’s eyes gleamed. “Have your men capture those two alive if possible. We can use them as hostages against Adam.”

  Connor went about ordering their troops to follow his commands. Levon gripped the seat of his chair as he glared at nothing in particular. The ember that had been burning inside of his chest was turning into a blazing inferno.

  He would kill Adam today. And if possible, he would take those two women and make them his slaves. It would be the best way to punish Adam from beyond the grave.

  Just as I thought, they had more forces in reserve.

  Adam looked at the map on his phone, which displayed the location of every one of Levon’s forces in real time. Susan was hard at work constantly sending him and Lilith data on their enemies’ movements. He would really have to thank her later.

  Maybe I should give her a kiss. She’d probably die of embarrassment.

  The thought amused him, but he shook those thoughts aside and quickly ducked into an alley just as several people in dark clothes drove down the street on motorcycles. They wore the same gear as the men he had been killing.

  Adam took to a knee and took aim. Time slowed down as he took a deep breath in, or that was how it seemed. It was, in all actuality, his perception of time that was slowing down. This was one of his numerous esper powers. The ability to perceive time more slowly. It made his reactions seem far faster than they really were.

  He pulled the trigger once. Twice. Three times. Each shot struck the gas tank of a motorcycle, igniting the fuel inside and causing the bikes to explode, taking their riders with them. Adam was too far away to feel the heat, but the other four bikers were forced to swerve to avoid the wreckage.

  Adam blew up their motorcycles too.

  He moved on after taking out the motorcycle squad, traveling down the alley as he pulled out his phone once more. Most of Levon’s forces were converging around the area he had just left. He grinned. The forces Levon employed were good and had a quick response, but so long as he was able to monitor their movements and they were unable to monitor his, they could do nothing against him.

  They were sitting ducks.

  Just as he thought that, Adam’s instincts took over seconds after he emerged from the alley. He ducked back in as something struck the ground and gouged out a large chunk of the sidewalk.

  He checked the phone and saw that there was a red blip about 1,200 meters southeast of him. A sniper. Adam furrowed his brow. That would be hard to deal with. He didn’t have the equipment necessary to shoot a sniper at this range, which meant he needed to find a way around.

  And they’re coming from behind now…

  “There’s someone there!”

  “Open fire!”

  Adam turned quickly, raced forward, and ran up the wall just as six people opened fire. He used the strength in his legs to push off the wall and leapt to the other wall. The sound of automatic rifles echoed all around as the men missed their target.

  “He’s too fast!”

  “What the fuck is he?! A spider monkey?!”

  “I can’t get a lock on him!”

  Adam closed the distance and descended just as the men ran out of bullets. His first victim was the man in front, whom he impaled through the throat with his spear. He quickly pulled it free, then swiped the spear across another man’s neck, ignoring the bloody spray splattering his mask as he moved on.

  The remaining four men tried to retreat, but Adam was having none of it. He killed his third victim by shooting them in the knee, where they had no armor, then stabbing them through the gap between their armpit. The fourth screamed in agony as Adam removed his arm, tearing through the armor with the force of his swing. He died when Adam kicked him so hard in the face that his neck snapped.

  “He’s a monster!”

  “Retreat!”

  “Call for reinforcements!”

  The last two almost escaped the alley, but Adam drew two throwing knives, channeled energy into the blades, and tossed them. He used all the strength in his arms and even put his body weight into the toss. Cracking sounds echoed as his knives penetrated the men’s helmets. Both flopped to the ground.

  I can’t go back the way I came. Reinforcements will come from that direction. But I can’t go the other way either because of that sniper. Guess I gotta go up.

  Adam ran toward the wall, then ran up the wall. His momentum soon slowed, but he leapt to the other wall, then leapt back, and repeated the process, until he reached the roof. He quickly glanced in the direction of the sniper, channeling energy into his eyes to increase his vision. He could just barely see them. Like he thought, they were looking at the alley exit.

  He took off in the other direction, traveled into another alleyway, and emerged from that entrance.

  The quietness of the street was unnerving. He tapped his earpiece and spoke into it.

  “Susan, I noticed no one has come out to see if there’s a commotion. Where are all the residents?”

  Adam had bought out his entire apartment for privacy, but the surrounding buildings were not his. This place was on the outskirts of New York City. Even so, there were a lot of people living here.

  “Hold on. Let me see if there’s a reason… I’m checking the news… ah. Found it. Looks like the government issued a gas leak warning and ordered all civilians to vacate the area about twelve hours ago.”

  “So there’s no one here. Guess making all that noise was useless.”

  Adam had been hoping to cause a commotion so the civilians staying in their homes would check out what was going on. Humans were curious. The moment they saw the fires and fighting, he didn’t doubt several would begin recording it on their phones, then upload it to the internet. That would have put some serious political pressure on Levon and would force him to divert resources toward putting out the flames.

  But they had already prepared for that.

  “This is what I get for living off the grid…”

  This was an issue of his own making. To avoid being bothered, Adam abstained from all forms of government contact. Even his phone had any and all forms of government tracking removed. They couldn’t find his location, and they couldn’t issue announcements to him, which meant he missed the warning.

  “Susan, it looks like Levon is bringing more forces to bear against me. I won’t be able to use my phone anymore, so I’ll be counting on you to provide accurate, up-to-date information. Can you do that?”

  Adam didn’t want to put more pressure on Susan, whose primary task was helping Aris and Lilith retreat to safety, but he would need support now if he wanted to avoid serious injury.

  “Of course! Please leave this to me! Oh! Several squads are coming from both sides of the road!”

  Adam had Susan hack the security of a nearby building and ducked inside. It looked like he entered a clothing store. A variety of handmade clothing hung from racks along the walls. Adam remained low to the ground and crept toward the back, where a door led into the employee room. There should also be a door through there leading out to the back. Light appeared just outside of the window. The two squads had already converged and were searching the area.

  “Thanks. By the way, how are Aris and Lilith? Have they escaped?”

  “Aris and Lilith? They’re…”

  Light Up the Night

  Aris followed closely behind Lilith as they ran down a long tunnel.

  They had taken an underground passage that brought them several about a kilometer away from their previous location, but Levon’s blockade was much larger than they had first assumed. On top of bringing out his elite squadrons to deal with Adam, he had brought out several thousand members of his forces to create a net that would prevent his escape.

  Aris and Lilith had run right into one of the patrolling squadrons mere moments after opening the hidden entrance. The two sides had stared at each other in surprise for several long seconds.

  “Hey, don’t those two girls look familiar?”

  “I don’t know about the masked woman, but that petite chick is Aris! I recognize her from the description!”

  “We were told to capture her alive!”

  “Get her!”

  “Get back inside that passage and don’t come out until I tell you to,” Lilith commanded as she pushed Aris into the passage and shut the door behind her.

  “Lilith?! Don’t take them on by yourself! Let me… let me help!” Aris shouted as she banged on the hidden exit. Yet no amount of banging and shouting would get the door to open. She tried using the access panel to open the door like Lilith did, but she didn’t know the code. All she could do was wait and worry.

  The hidden entrance eventually opened. Aris smiled when she saw Lilith standing in the doorway, but she gasped when she noticed the blood running down her face.

  “Y-you’re injured!” she exclaimed in shock.

  “It’s just a minor injury,” Lilith assured her.

  “A-are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yes. Let’s keep going.”

  Aris had no choice but to follow Lilith. She stepped outside and grimaced when she saw the corpses littering the street. All of them had died from either bullet wounds or a slit throat. The amount of blood pooling on the ground made her want to vomit.

  This was her first time seeing a dead body in real life, and it was an honestly terrifying experience. Aris didn’t want to ever see something like this again. She knew, however, that this might not be the last time it happened, especially tonight.

  They moved on, slipping into an alley.

  “Susan, where do we go from here?” asked Lilith.

  Static crackled in Aris’s ear before she heard Susan say, “Your rendezvous point is Montefiore Cemetery. You’ll want to head south down Springfield Boulevard. It will be on your right.”

  “Got it.” Lilith ended her communication and looked back at Aris. “Follow me.”

  “M-mmm.” Aris nodded and raced after the woman.

  They soon reached the end of the alley, but they didn’t head out immediately. Lilith removed a device from a pouch at her hip. It looked like one of those bendy straws. Attached to one end was a flatscreen, which Lilith quickly turned on.

  The device turned out to be a camera. Lilith used it to look around the corners for signs of passing patrols. It was dark out, so the camera had been switched to night vision mode.

  “They’ve blockaded the area, so we won’t be able to head that way. We need to find another route,” Lilith said.

  “Um… what if we went through that door? Could we bypass their forces by traveling through the buildings?” asked Aris, pointing to a door off to the side.

  “Maybe. It’s worth a shot.”

  Lilith went over to the door and removed something from her pouch. It looked like a small square. She placed it next to the door. Then she hacked into the door’s security, opened it, and slipped inside. She gestured for Aris to follow her.

  This building was a general store. Aisles filled with rows of food supplies and basic necessities lined the store. Lilith crouched low to the ground and used those aisles for cover, and Aris tried her hardest to mimic the woman as she followed. They soon reached the end of the store, exited, and entered another building. This one was a clothing boutique.

  It looked like they might be able to travel past the blockade. Aris felt like they might really make it without having to fight anymore.

  Because she wanted to make sure there wasn’t anyone near them, she looked out the window near the store entrance. A light chose that moment to shine into the window. It froze on her, and Aris felt a moment of panic as she and a person holding a flashlight stared at each other.

  “Get down!”

  Lilith grabbed Aris’s arm and yanked her down just as gunfire shattered the glass and filled the room. Aris screamed and tried to cover her ears, but Lilith quickly pushed her toward the counter, which they hid behind.

  The gunfire soon stopped. It happened so fast that Aris could still hear the sounds of gunfire in her mind. Her ears were ringing.

  Lilith took a deep breath as she grabbed the SMG slung around her shoulder. She checked the ammo and the suppressor. Her calm actions served to help Aris settle down. The younger of the two took a shaky breath.

  “Lilith… I’m…”

  “It’s okay. It was just bad luck that a patrol was passing by at that exact moment,” Lilith assured her.

  “Mmm. So, what do we do?”

  “They’re going to call reinforcements, so we’ll need to get out of here quickly. I’m going to provide a distraction. I want you to head for that door. I’ll follow you once you have safely exited.”

  Aris thought this plan wasn’t fair to Lilith, who would be taking on much of the burden, but she also understood how useless she would be. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. In Age of Gods, Aris was a valued member of Destiny’s Overture. She was just as good as the other members. Real life was much different. She couldn’t do anything here. She couldn’t protect herself, her friends, or the man she loved.

  She hated this feeling.

  “I want you to move when I say now,” Lilith said. Aris clenched her teeth and nodded as Lilith did one last minute check of her weapon. The muscles in her body coiled before she sprang into action. “NOW!”

  Aris bolted as Lilith opened fire. Startled screams echoed from outside. Aris tried hard not to pay attention to them as she put all her effort into running. She needed to move as quickly as possible.

  Perhaps it was just her perception of time dilating, but she felt like she was moving much quicker than she normally did. Barely a second seemed to pass before she reached the door. She exited and traveled down the alley, hiding behind a large garbage can to prevent anyone from finding her.

  The wait felt like forever. The sounds of gunfire filling the air didn’t help. Aris pressed a hand to her chest and tried hard to regulate her breathing, but the anxiety filling her left her unable to keep the panic at bay. What if Lilith was killed? What if she died protecting her? Aris didn’t think she would be able to handle that kind of guilt.

  Fortunately for Aris’s sanity, Lilith eventually emerged from the door. She looked around as though looking for something. Aris realized the woman must have been looking for her. She was just about to stand up when a flash of movement caught her eye. There was someone at the opposite end of the alley, a man peeking out from behind the wall with a gun pointed at Lilith.

  Aris didn’t know how she could see the man, but that hardly mattered. Lilith hadn’t spotted him yet.

  Something seemed to happen inside of Aris. Everything was moving in slow motion. She could see the man’s finger as though she had the ability to zoom in on objects. It was slowly moving as he prepared to pull it.

  Panic erupted from Aris as she ran out from behind the trash can and attempted to reach Lilith, even though she knew the woman was too far away. There had to be at least a dozen feet distance between them. She would never make it in time.