BEEEP! BEEP!! BEEP!!!
The alarms blared furiously and the lights turned red. It was a distress signal.
Three beeps meant security had been breached. Red meant the danger was still present but unknown.
The trained soldiers surprisingly didn't seem caught unawares. The moment the alarms went off, they geared up for battle. No one underestimated a Level Three distress signal.
Inside the room, Nash was confused.
It was too fast.They struck too fast.
At the front gates of the FAI's High-Threat Operations Facility — a compound built to withstand missiles, drones, cyberattacks, and meta-human threats — the reinforced security corridor lay eerily silent.
Silent… except for the slow, echoing footsteps approaching from the smoke.
Clove had heard those footsteps once before.Her heart instantly froze.
Through the haze, a silhouette walked in calmly, almost casually, like he was returning home after a long day.
A tall figure.Black hood.Mask reflecting faint crimson.And a katana in his right hand… dripping rainwater, not blood. Not a single drop touched the floor.
He didn't bother hiding.
He wanted them to see him.
"Director Nash!" a tech agent shouted. "We've lost all signals from Gate A! No vitals! No feeds—"
The wall of holo-screens flickered like they were afraid.
Nash didn't need more information. His bones already sensed the truth.
The Night Demon walked slowly toward the building. He was dressed in a black modern shinobi-style suit. His outfit gleamed under the night sky, sending chills through the hundred soldiers pointing rifles at him.
All they needed was the command to fire — but Nash wasn't giving it.
Director Nash activated his areacom device — a blue watch-like tool on his wrist. As he spoke, a hologram of his head appeared above the soldiers.
"Hmph," The Night Demon snorted.
Even behind the mask, the boredom in those unusual purple and gold eyes was obvious. He wasn't in the mood for negotiations.
"Stand down, whoever you are! I repeat: stand down!" Nash yelled, his hologram mimicking him.
The Night Demon, unbothered by the floating blue head, kept walking forward.
One soldier almost pulled the trigger. His heart hammered in his chest as sweat dripped from his face.
This was the same Night Demon who had wiped out an entire platoon with just a sword. Those unnatural eyes made their hearts race faster than cheetahs.
What they didn't know was that this wasn't the same Night Demon.
This one was far more brutal.
"I said stand down! Or we'll open fire!" Nash shouted, trying his best to sound calm. He took slow, steady breaths.
I have this under control
NO.
The Night Demon wasn't under anyone's control. He kept walking.
The soldiers prepared to shoot.
"I said HOLD your fire!" Nash barked.
"Night Demon!" Nash tried again. "I'm sure not even you can escape a wide-scale attack like this. The sooner you cooperate, the better."
The Night Demon finally stopped moving.
"Good reasoning," Nash said with a relieved smile.
This wasn't as hard as it seemed.
But the Night Demon wasn't looking at Nash.
He scanned the soldiers, searching for someone. Then he touched the side of his helmet.
A voice came through his comm.
"You may proceed. Target acquired."
Nash only saw the Demon talking — he didn't hear the voice. But the hairs on his arms stood straight.
They had walked into a trap.
"FIRE!"
The soldiers opened up instantly.
Gunshots roared.Explosions thundered.Sparks flew everywhere.
One weapon fired electric bolts powerful enough to turn a target to dust on contact.
Smoke swallowed the battlefield.
The Night Demon had to be dead.
No human could survive that.Or so they thought.
"CEASE FIRE!" Nash ordered.
The soldiers obeyed and waited as the smoke slowly cleared.
They expected a corpse.
But there was nothing.No body.Nothing at all.
Did he die?Or… escape?
If he survived this, the situation might require NASA's military division.
Then someone pointed upward.
There he was.
The Night Demon stood on top of the gate, perfectly balanced on a thin metal beam. His katana was sheathed. His suit blended into the darkness.
"Nice one, Director," The Night Demon said.
Nash flinched. So did the soldiers.Why did he say "Director" in such a familiar tone?
"You… who… who are you?" Nash stuttered.
"Me?" The Night Demon smiled and pulled out a remote-like device — a bomb trigger.
Nash's eyes widened. "Clove! Get—"
But Clove wasn't beside him.
The Night Demon stomped on the metal beam and gave Nash's hologram a salute.The stomp echoed loudly — loud enough to shake loose a memory.
"T-that salute… you… you are—"
Gunfire drowned out the rest.
The soldiers ignored orders now.They just wanted to live.
They unloaded everything they had.
What they saw next froze their souls.
The Night Demon drew his katana, and with every swing, bullets clanged against the blade.He deflected them all.
With just a katana.
Nash knew there was no turning back now.He had been deceived by someone he least expected.
"Curse you, Nathan…" Nash muttered, slamming his fists together just before—
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The bomb detonated.
Nash's hologram flickered and vanished.
The entire building lost power instantly.
Support beams snapped.The building collapsed.Flames burst from shattered windows.Agents screamed as they ran for exits.Soldiers outside were already dead.
The Night Demon
Nathan Cross — turned, surveying the fallen titan of an agency.
He pressed two fingers to his comm.
"Mission complete."
Static crackled.
Then came a familiar voice — cold and satisfied.
"Good."
Vorden.