Lionel let out a laugh.
"Me? Move?" The giant took a step forward. "I heard you're 'recovering,' Zero, but after all, a wounded dog is still a dog."
Damon felt cold sweat slide down his back, but his body stayed nailed in place and his eyes narrowed, his skill kicking in on instinct.
PING!
The world went gray. Red code-lines danced over the human tank's body.
[TARGET: LIONEL "THE WALL"]
[STATUS: ARROGANT / RECKLESS]
[GEAR: "TITAN MK-IV" PLATE ARMOR]
[DURABILITY: 98%]
[BREAKPOINT DETECTED: MICRO-CRACK IN LEFT KNEE SERVOMOTOR]
A small smile showed up on Damon's face.
"Your knee," he said, his voice bored, like he was reading a grocery list.
Lionel blinked, confused. "What?"
"The servomotor in your left leg is leaking hydraulic fluid and if you try to hit me from that angle..." Damon lifted a finger and pointed at the armored joint "...you'll break yourself."
Lionel hesitated, but his eyes dropped for a split second to his leg.
NOW! USE FEAR!
Damon didn't have mana, but he had 90 days less life and a void-stain stuck to his soul, so he let that feeling of "incoming death" leak outward.
WUUUUUUUUUM!
The air dropped like ten degrees in a second and the lobby lights flickered.
Lionel saw something, or thought he did.
For an instant, Damon's shadow wasn't human.
It spread across the ceiling, huge, with multiple eyes and a mouth full of black-static fangs.
"...!"
The giant went pale and his instincts screamed one word: PREDATOR.
Lionel stumbled back a step, but his left knee, just like Damon predicted, squealed and gave out.
CLACK!
Lionel dropped, looking like he was kneeling to a king.
"Th-thanks for the warning... sir."
Damon walked past him without stopping, hands in his pockets to hide the shaking.
"Fix it," he murmured without looking back. "Next time I won't be so nice."
The second the elevator doors closed and the metal hid him from view...
THUMP!
Damon slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor, hugging his knees.
"I ALMOST PISSED MYSELF!" he squeaked under his breath, clutching his chest.
"That guy had biceps bigger than my head! Why does everyone want to hit me?!"
[REPUTATION INCREASED]
[EFFECT: INQUISITORS NOW FEAR YOU 20% MORE]
"I don't want them to fear me! I want them to ignore me!" Damon whined at the panel.
The elevator didn't stop at his assigned floor, it just kept going up, ignoring every rule.
He forced himself up, using the cold handrail for support.
"Up, damn it, let's go," he ordered himself, slapping his cheeks.
"You can't show up crawling. If that crazy Ophelia sees even one crack in your armor, she'll cut you open just out of curiosity."
He looked in the mirror and he was pale as a mouse about to walk into a snake cage.
He fixed his suit and took a deep breath, forcing on that inhuman cold mask he had to fake for the Zero role.
As the numbers climbed, Floor 75... 80... 89, the air got... perfumed.
A sweet, metallic smell, like roses soaked in blood.
ZZZRRTT.
His peripheral vision filled with violet static.
[PROXIMITY ALERT!]
[SSS-LEVEL PRESENCE DETECTED]
[SYSTEM UNSTABLE... WATCH YOUR THOUGHTS]
Damon felt invisible fingers brushing the back of his neck.
When the display hit 99, Damon was an empty shell praying not to get eaten.
DING.
The doors slid open.
Floor 99 was a luxury penthouse, dim, lit only by the bright glow of the city under their feet.
Ophelia Valen stood by the window with her back to him, her silhouette perfect, lethal, wrapped in a dark dress that looked like it was made of liquid shadow.
Damon walked forward, but his instincts weren't saying run, they were saying submit.
Ophelia turned slowly and her violet eyes lit up in the dark, locking onto him.
"That little show downstairs..." Her voice was soft, but it made the hairs on Damon's neck rise. "It was adorable, Zero."
She didn't walk toward him, she just appeared closer.
The space between them collapsed.
Damon swallowed, keeping his eyes forward, fighting not to lower his head.
Ophelia raised a hand and traced the air with a perfectly manicured finger.
In front of them, a holographic projection came alive.
It was a 3D scan, slowly rotating, of the District Q sewers.
"My spies found something delicious in the zero zone," she whispered, stepping close enough Damon could smell her perfume. "Traces of 'Void Resonance'."
The image zoomed in, showing black particles eating reality, and right next to it, a biometric readout of Damon's right arm.
Ophelia smiled.
[CRITICAL ALERT: PASSIVE SKILL DETECTED]
[ID: LIE-EATER]
[RANK: SSS]
[EFFECT: PSYCHIC PAIN ON FALSEHOOD]
Damon's system screamed in red panic.
Ophelia reached out and gently stroked Damon's cheek. Her touch burned from the sheer density of her power.
"That's an energy signature we haven't seen in a long time." Her fingers slid down to Damon's neck, resting on his racing pulse.
She tilted her head, her eyes searching for even a hint of doubt in Damon's face.
"You have ten seconds, Zero." Her tone dropped, turning dangerously intimate.
"Tell me why you smell like Void... before I decide to open your chest and see what you've been hiding in there."