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  Amelia quickly arrived at his side, her voice full of eagerness. “Is it from one of your men?”

  “No, it’s from one of his captors.” Without hesitation, he hit a button on the computer. William’s voice changed from the slightly empathetic voice Amelia heard after his mask came off. Instead, it became the voice that millions recognized in a single syllable: the voice of The Guardian. “I was wondering when you would call.”

  From the other end, an eerie and almost inhuman voice spilled from the computer’s speakers. “The great protector could not even protect his friends.”

  “I’ll give you one chance to let my men go. Do that and you won’t die.”

  “You sound just like your predecessor.” The voice was full of mockery. “Did he give you his handbook for this intimidation act?”

  “He taught me how to put scum like you down for good.”

  The eerie voice let out a cackle. It echoed throughout the warehouse and made Amelia wince in fear. “You and Ethan are too much fun.”

  William took a silent breath. He needed to remain in control. “You have two of my men.”

  “And you have the princess. Seems like we both have something the other wants.”

  “If you think I’m giving up the princess—”

  “I don’t think you’ll give her up, but I do think that you’ll trade her.” In the next instant, the playfulness in the voice disappeared, replaced by a vile cruelness. “Top of the Wyatt building. One hour. Come alone with the princess or I’ll gut your men like pigs.”

  The line went dead.

  Amelia stood there in disbelief. That voice was so merciless. It was the voice of a monster. How could somebody be that sadistic? She looked at William. If the call had thrown him off, she did not see it. After a long moment, he took out the ear-piece and slowly set it back down.

  She broke the silence. “What are you going to do?”

  “Not give you to them.”

  “But your men! They’ll die.”

  He looked over at her. “They knew the risks and both of them are willing to lay down their lives to protect yours. They won’t break and give up our location. Our enemy knows that and that’s why they want to trade.”

  “So you’ll let them die?”

  “Have I ever?”

  “…what do you need me to do?”

  “You?”

  “Your men are willing to give their lives for me, but I’m also willing to risk my life for theirs.”

  He could hardly believe what he was hearing from this girl who had been completely helpless the night before. After a long moment, he slightly nodded.

  ***

  Veila watched as Ethan quickly packed his necessities into his large bag. He had not spoken a word and neither had she. His back turned to her, his limbs moved as quickly as possible. Since hearing the news of Katrina and Ivan only minutes ago, his physical and mental states had not changed. His breaths and heartbeat remained quick. He was drenched in even more sweat than before. And his mind could only see one thing.

  “You’re not thinking straight, Ethan.”

  On the bed, his tactical suit, cloak, and hood were laid out. Next to them were his five belts that sheathed countless knives and two long daggers. Like always, they would be last to go in. Ignoring her, Ethan took the first belt and put it into the bag. Then the next.

  “You’re playing right into his hands.”

  Ethan packed away the third and fourth belts.

  “You need to calm down and look at this objectively.”

  The last belt, the longest one that wrapped around his waist, was put into the bag.

  “Why aren’t you listening?”

  Ethan took his red and black mask into his hands, but suddenly stopped. For a few moments, he stared at it. “I am listening, Veila. I am finally listening.” He looked back at her. His eyes were no longer full of fear. Instead, there was something else: conviction. “The only time I was not listening was when I followed your instructions to hide away in here and let others die for me—when I let people like Ivan and all the innocents who have been killed by Daken’s army get caught in the crossfire—when I decided to let others fight the battles that are mine to charge into. But now, I’m not listening to anything or anyone except for my heart. And it’s telling me to fight.”

  “If you go out and fight, you will fail.”

  He put his mask into the bag.

  “You are guaranteeing Daken his victory.”

  “Don’t you think I know the risks? I’ve been fighting this war for what feels like my entire life. I’ve been fighting the wicked. I’ve been fighting injustice and evil. And do you know what I’ve found, Veila?”

  She was silent.

  “The light of one courageous act can vanquish an ocean of evil.”

  Veila did not reply.

  “All I have to do is show some courage, and Daken will be vanquished.”

  “Your words will do little for you when you are facing the monster. You have a decision to make, Ethan. You have to decide what’s more important. Is Katrina worth the risks?”

  “When I married Katrina—when I married my wife—I made the commitment to protect her no matter what the costs were. No matter what the costs were. The last time I saw her, I promised her—I promised her that if anything ever happened to her, I would do everything—I would risk everything—to bring her back. And right now, I need to fulfill that oath.”

  “And so you will trade billions of lives for her? Don’t you see that whether or not you try to save her, she will die? The only difference is that trying to save her will seal the end of your world.”

  “I’m not trading billions of lives for hers. I’m trading my life for hers.” He turned away. His next sentence was low enough to where Veila barely heard it. “My life for hers… a fair trade.”

  Chapter 16

  Reinforcements

  It was a cloudless night. The air was still. Millions of stars dotted the sky and glimmered as they looked down at the city below. The moon was a few days from being fully visible. From up here, the sounds of the nighttime Crown City remained faint.

  But this night would be far from peaceful.

  On the rooftop of the Wyatt building, six guards were armed with rifles and pistols. Body armor covered their chests as they spread out and patrolled the rooftop. Their weapons stayed loaded and readied. Their two prisoners were at the center of the rooftop. With their hands and feet shackled, Jonathan and Adam sat on their knees. Behind them stood the man who had taken them both out. Unlike the other guards, he possessed no weapon.

  Not far from them rested large air-conditioning units. The sounds of their motors drowned the sentries’ footsteps.

  The guards kept their trained eyes on the lookout for any signs of their approaching opponent. They knew he was coming. They felt it in their bones. And although they tried to hide their fear, their palms sweated a little at the thought of who they would soon face. And the worst part was that they had no idea where The Guardian would arrive from.

  However, their leader’s face displayed no emotion. They could not tell if he experienced the same fear as them. When they heard him speaking to The Guardian and baiting him to come here, they all witnessed something in his eyes. It was something that none of them had ever seen before: pure evil.

  But unbeknownst to them, The Guardian was already here.

  Down below, William held onto a window ledge only two stories down from the rooftop. He was dressed in his full uniform: mask, cloak, and all. The belt around his waist carried an arsenal of weapons and devices. With one gloved arm holding the ridge, his other touched his ear as he spoke. “I’m in position.”

  After a few moments, Amelia’s voice projected out of his earpiece. She was breathing quickly after rushing to get into position not too far away. “I can see you.”

  He felt her eyes on him as she looked at the Wyatt Building through a monocular. “Tell me when you’ve taken aim, Amelia.”

  There
was a brief silence. “I’m ready when you are.”

  “At my signal fire.”

  With those words, William was off.

  ***

  William quickly aimed his wrist cable and fired off the grapple. It quietly shot up, cut through the air, and hooked onto a ledge right below the edge of the rooftop. Letting go of the ridge he held onto, his full weight came onto the cable. It quickly and quietly pulled him up to the hook without faltering.

  He swiftly and expertly reloaded his wrist cable while hanging on the ledge with just one hand. William knew that he would likely need it again once the fighting began.

  William took a deep breath. Then another. Beads of sweat formed on his face before being soaked up by his mask. This was it. He knew that up there, he would face one of Daken’s soldiers. And something told him that this man would not go down as easily as Jaing.

  In one quick move, he hurled himself over the edge. He flew over the railing before landing crouched down on the rooftop. The moment he landed, every sentry’s gun was aimed at him.

  But his masked eyes focused on the leader.

  All of the mercenaries wore expressions of either fear or determination. By the way they held their guns, William knew that they were no street thugs. They were trained mercenaries. Silently and quickly, William registered what each of their aims and lines-of-sight were. But his eyes stayed on the leader’s face. This main foe’s sadistic eyes held no surprise or fear. Instead, a slight smile formed on the edges of his lips.

  The leader’s sharp ears picked up a faint sound. It came from the rooftop across the street. It was so soft that no other man heard it, but the leader’s ears were as sharp as Ethan’s. In the next instant, the sound was followed by another. And then a third.

  Before he could digest what was happening, three canisters loudly crashed on the rooftop in quick succession of one another. Just as everyone’s eyes came onto them, something happened.

  They exploded.

  The smoke quickly covered the entire rooftop. Suddenly, the standoff erupted into a battle. Every guard instinctively fired blindly at where The Guardian had stood moments before. Their gunfire roared and dimly lit up the thick smoke. But all their bullets hit was air.

  The Guardian was already on the move. Knowing where the gunmen’s line-of-sights were aimed, he avoided the streams of bullets before they were even fired off. Bullets came within inches of him—close enough for him to feel them—but none touched him. He raced through the thick fog, his footsteps were drowned out by the gunfire.

  William sprang upon the first mercenary. Charging right into him, The Guardian threw his shoulder right into the man’s stomach and knocked the guard onto his back. The guard lost his rifle as the wind was knocked out of him. With his knee on the mercenary’s chest, William raised his powerful fist and brought it down upon his opponent. It crashed into the man’s skull with a blow powerful enough to take his senses away. With the second strike, the thug was out cold.

  The bullets ended. Enveloped by the fog, none of the guards could fire without the risk of hitting their own comrades. William heard the remaining men calling out to one another as they tried to find their foe through the thick smoke. But it was to no avail. The Guardian rose to his feet as he sprinted towards the next guard. Still shrouded in smoke, the guard did not see him until William was nearly upon him.

  Seeing his charging opponent, the mercenary tried to gun William down. But before he could take aim, The Guardian grabbed the rifle’s barrel, pointing the weapon towards the dark skies. The roar of the gunfire was deafening. But that did not distract William. His open palm connected with the man’s neck, forcing the mercenary to take a step back as he momentarily lost his senses. William followed through by grabbing the man by his head, and smashing his face into William’s knee. The unconscious man was subsequently dropped to the floor.

  Darting through the smoke, William leapt into the air and found his next foe. Leaping up, William’s shadow fell upon the largest mercenary as the mercenary swiftly turned around. But it was too late. While in mid-air, William twisted his body and his boot smashed into his opponent’s face, making him stagger backwards as he spat out blood.

  Without missing a step, William looked to his right as another mercenary took aim from ten yards away. William did a quick roll as the man pulled the trigger. Seven bullets flew by The Guardian without hitting him, instead burying themselves in the ground. William pulled out a dart from his belt and launched it at the shooter. The anesthetic dart struck the man in the stomach. Before he could fire off another three shots, the man collapsed unconscious.

  William rose to his feet as the man he had kicked moments ago came at him with blood streaming out of his mouth. Sidestepping the mercenary’s three quick blows with ease by weaving side-to-side, The Guardian stepped up before cross-facing the man with his elbow and making him spit out even more blood. The large mercenary sent a powerful kick, but William caught the boot. In the next instant, William broke his foe’s ankle in a quick move. The mercenary bellowed in pain as William yanked on the man’s leg to draw him in close. His fist collided with the mercenary’s face before the man fell onto the hard ground as pain rang through his body. Standing above his dazed foe, William stomped on the mercenary’s face and knocked him out cold.

  The last two guards were not far. They stood side-by-side, right behind the prisoners. Their guns stayed aimed at the captives’ skulls from point-blank-range. Their eyes scanned the thinning smoke that surrounded them as they looked for any hint of their foe.

  “Come out!” One of them called out. “Or we’ll blow their brains to bits!”

  A stoic voice projected out of the smoke. “No. You won’t.”

  They saw The Guardian’s dark outline slowly emerge out of the fog. But by the time they noticed him, it was too late. Two anesthetic darts came hurling out of the mist and towards them. The first guard was hit by a dart in the arm, the second struck in the leg. Before either of them realized what was happening, they violently crashed onto the ground.

  But the leader was nowhere to be seen.

  Arriving by Jonathan and Adam as all the smoke dissolved, The Guardian tossed a lock pick at Adam. “Where’s the leader?”

  “He went after your shooter,” Jonathan said.

  “Get back to the base.” William took off.

  ***

  Princess Amelia hid behind a large air-conditioning unit. With her back against it, she tightly clenched a pistol. It had not been long since she had fired off the gas canisters. But soon after she did, she horrifically witnessed the leader of the mercenaries somehow leap out of the thick smoke from the nearby rooftop and onto this one in a single bound. When soaring through the air, his eyes had changed.

  They turned red.

  Her heart now raced like a madman. Dressed in the black uniform William had given to her, sweat ran down her body and the gun quivered in her hands. This was no ordinary man. She knew that if she was found, this pistol would be of little use.

  The hunter’s eerie words travelled through the still air. It was the same voice that had threatened William. Every syllable was filled with his brutal enjoyment of the hunt, filled with wickedness. “You think you can hide, princess? I know you are here.”

  His footsteps drew nearer.

  “I can smell your fear.”

  They were getting closer.

  “I can sense every ounce of it.”

  He was almost on her.

  “And it draws me to you.”

  This was it. This was the end.

  “It’s time for your death.”

  Hearing something, Amelia looked up as a grappling hook latched onto the building’s lightning rod. In the next moment, The Guardian swung towards the building, right at his foe. Coming onto the building, he disconnected his cable and let his momentum carry him down to the rooftop.

  “Today’s not the day for her death.” William perfectly landed right beside her. “It’s yours.”

 
; Raising his closed fist, the leader fired a bolt of lightning. But William was ready for it and sidestepped the assault. The bolt of lightning flew past him by mere inches and into the night sky. Unsheathing two pistols, William took aim and fired.

  William repeatedly pulled the trigger and streams of bullets flew towards their target. The Guardian was already expecting the man to dodge the bullets, and had his next three moves planned out.

  However, the man did not move.

  As they came a foot within their foe, the bullets suddenly hit something. An electric force field surrounded the leader. It was a field that had remained invisible until now. But as the bullets struck it, the shield momentarily revealed itself as it knocked the bullets away.

  William could not believe what he witnessed. And by the time he digested it all, his guns ran dry. He took a step back while he casted them aside and as his foe took a step forward. William pulled out two throwing knives. He felt the princess standing behind him as she backed up with him.

  He launched the two explosive knives. They both erupted as they hit the force field. The deafening blasts could be heard almost all the way down to the street level and were bright enough to momentarily blind the untrained eye. But when the explosions ended, their target continued to advance undeterred.

  Another two bolts of lightning were fired. William sidestepped the first and did a quick flip as the second came within inches of his face. He and Amelia were almost at the edge of the rooftop now. He pulled out a few small pellets from his belt. Without hesitating, he threw them at his foe. As they struck the force field, the pellets exploded with a loud hiss, releasing the knock-out gas inside of them.

  But it did nothing.

  William’s foe walked out of the smoke, unharmed and unhindered. Less than ten meters separated the two men now. The Guardian’s arsenal was running dry of options. Knowing what he had to do, William threw two more exploding knives. As he released them, he turned around and grabbed the princess.