Sabrina dashed out of the room, a blood-red spike narrowly missing her. She didn't want to leave, but deep down, she knew staying would only make things worse.
Her heels pounded against the ground, each step echoing through the halls as she sprinted, fingers pressed to her earpiece. Still nothing.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"
She headed straight for the control room. No time to waste. She needed the location of every available first-grade exterminator. Elendira couldn't handle this alone.
The metal door flew open, slamming against the wall, its handle almost snapping clean off. Inside, Garter and Cassa were crouched beneath the consoles, shaking.
"Where are the first grades?" Sabrina barked, striding in.
Garter scrambled up, fingers trembling as they danced over the keyboard. "The relay towers are still down, we have no idea."
Sabrina gritted her teeth as the ground rumbled beneath them again. "Cassa! Go to Sever! Get me that damn scythe!"
Cassa bolted from the room without a word.
Sabrina stepped closer to Garter. "How many myutants are left? When was last contact?"
"Lovecraft was last seen engaging one of them, and at the time of contact, five had been killed. Elendira and Osiris got in touch after you left, but then the towers went dead." He hesitated, squinting at the screen. "Enoch, Isolde, and Lille are unaccounted for... no contact from them since the start."
"Weren't they paid?!" Sabrina screamed.
Garter flinched. "No. The myutants likely hit the Grand Central terminal. All credit transfers have been frozen mid-transit for twenty minutes now."
Despite her seemingly close relationship with the company, the first-grade exterminators were different. They were handled differently as well. They operated on a separate set of rules. If they weren't paid, they didn't move. Only a few were exceptions to this: Lovecraft, Elendira, Osiris.
The rest? They wouldn't lift a finger if the world was burning, not until their cards beeped.
And she couldn't even blame them. In a world like this, risking your life for moral satisfaction was the fastest way to get buried.
Sabrina exhaled, her mind spiraling.
There would be no more backup. The relay towers were down. They couldn't get credits to the first grades, and the second grades had their hands full with the remaining myutants. She had prepared for scenarios like this, or so she thought. But this... this was too much.
The ground trembled. Metal screeching.
Then the door burst open again—Massiah flew through it, a giant blood tendril hot on his heels.
"Sabrina, I'd really appreciate that scythe right about now!" Massiah shouted. As the tendril lunged, he slammed his fist into it, the blood splashing apart on impact. "This isn't exactly easy with my hands!"
"I'm trying!" Sabrina snapped, watching him dash out and kick the door shut behind him.
Elendira followed in a blur, her leg whipping through the air and smashing into another tendril. It burst into liquid on contact, splattering across the walls and floor.
Everything was happening too fast.
They had already understood the effective range and density of Knox's blood attacks,
Even before they'd asked themselves how exactly it was even possible.
Knox stood calmly in the center of the hallway, his blood creeping from the floor, the walls, their wounds, re-entering his body like leeches.
Five meters. That was its range.
Beyond that, the blood weakened. Lost density. Became easier to break, easier to survive. But even with that knowledge...
How the hell were they supposed to kill him?
"You're probably wondering how I'm manipulating my own blood, right?" Knox said, raising his fingers. Each fingertip bore a small, unnatural hole. "It's a mutation—a trait of mine. I have full control over my blood. I can shape it into anything."
Blood seeped from his fingertips, forming a crimson blade mid-air. Then, just as quickly, it reverted to liquid and flowed back into him.
"And all of you can learn to control your traits too. You're my siblings, after all. You've strayed far, but if you stop now... you can still be reclaimed."
Elendira shot forward, almost seeming to teleport. She swung with everything she had, only to be caught mid-strike. Two thin strings of blood snapped from behind, latching to her wrists.
Knox sighed, almost disappointed. "Your trait is hardened bone density—denser than steel, stronger than most metals. So why do you rely only on brute force?"
With a growl, Elendira ripped through the restraints and swung again. She only missed his head by mere inches but it was enough, and in that same moment, Knox pivoted, slamming a kick into her face and sending her crashing through the wall with a metallic clang.
"So much potential... wasted."
Massiah lunged.
"And you—"
Massiah was already there, fist cutting through the air. Knox caught it mid-swing, the two locked in a brutal flurry of blows.
"You're more seasoned than her," Knox said, ducking and slamming a fist into Massiah's jaw. "But your mutation... it's unimpressive. Dull, really."
"You talk too much." Massiah said, catching Knox's fist inches from his face. "That's why you don't hear what's behind you."
Obsidian cut through the air.
Dahlia swung with both hands, her hammer crashing through the blood shield Knox quickly raised behind him, sending him hurtling down the corridor like a ragdoll.
Massiah staggered, nearly collapsing. Blood soaked his coat, dripping freely, blurring the whites of his uniform. His vision flickered at the edges, darkening—but not yet. Not now.
"Don't get close," he warned, holding Dahlia back. "His blood is deadliest in close quarters. If you're in range, it's over."
She stopped beside him, eyes darting from the red trail on the floor to his trembling frame. "You're bleeding out, Massiah. Are you sure you can—"
They both leapt back as two blood spikes impaled the floor where they stood.
"I'm more worried about Ansel," Massiah muttered, his breath's fast. "If Diamantis was telling the truth... Knox might be here for him."
"He wants Ansel?" Dahlia echoed, remembering Knox's words. "Why though?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "But I need you to do something."
Dahlia nodded,
And then Elendira burst through the chaos, charging straight for Knox, who stood poised at the far end of the corridor. Blood tendrils flared around him, sharpening mid-air into crimson spikes.
"ELLIE!"
Dahlia shouted, panic swelling in her chest as Elendira sprinted through the barrage. The spikes cracked harmlessly against her skin, shattering like brittle glass on steel. Her fists tore through the bloodsickles one after another, unfazed.
"GO!"
Massiah bellowed, pushing forward, his feet pounding the soaked floor. Dahlia sprinted in the opposite direction, casting one last look at Elendira's silhouette as it blurred in the rain of blood.
This wasn't like the Raval myutant.
This wasn't a case of hardening skin and a controller. Knox could be hit. Probably even hurt. But what he lacked in durability, he made up for in his absurd regeneration speed and an annoying technique.
Still, Massiah had seen it. When Ansel struck, when Knox's head had nearly come off—he dodged before it was fully severed.
He was fast, yes, but that reaction... that moment of panic...
That was his weakness.
But that was asking a lot. Neither he nor Elendira had any cutting weapons, and Knox didn't give many opening's.
They were just stalling. Waiting. For someone. For something. The scythe. A miracle. But he couldn't hold out long like this—not bleeding this much.
"Jökull would love you," Knox said, slipping past a blow and raising his hand. Blood erupted from beneath Elendira, curling into chains that snapped around her arms and legs, locking her in place.
"But I'm no mindless brute."
Two tendrils whipped up, aiming for her ears, sliding into her canals like serpents aiming for the brain.
"Overreliance in your strength has become your downfall," he whispered. "Your bones might be dense... but is your heart? Is your brain?"
"Are yours?" Osiris said.
The voice came from behind him.
Knox barely turned—just in time to see the glint of a massive blade slicing through the air. No time to block. No time to breathe. The blood couldn't rise fast enough.
The sword came down.
But the blade swung low, a deliberate choice meant to avoid Elendira while still cleaving into him. It sliced clean through his wrist.
Knox only smiled.
His severed hand hit the ground with a wet thud, then two blood tendrils lashed out, snatching it up, reattaching it as he blurred backward down the hall.
"Brother!" Elendira shouted, snapping the chains around her limbs with brute force.
"Give me the rundown," Osiris said, never taking his eyes off Knox as blood coiled like snakes back into the man's fingers.
"He's got extremely quick regeneration, probably as fast as the Raval myutant," she panted, brushing a bruise on her cheek. "maybe even faster. He's stronger too—but not nearly as tough."
"Figured." Osiris flicked his blade to the side, blood splattered, trailing into the pull of Knox's retreating stream.
"And the blood stuff?"
"Five meters. That's the range," she said. "Inside that? It's really durable. But outside, it breaks pretty easy."
"Good," Osiris cracked his neck. "Anything else?"
"Nothing worth knowing."
Osiris was gone in the next second.
His blade flashed—a blur. Knox moved to dodge, but was too late. Instead he dipped under the strike just in time to avoid losing his head, the sheer force of the swing carving into the wall behind him, crunching metal and dragging the hallway inward like the aftermath of an implosion.
Knox's grin widened. Blood sizzled across his fingers.
"You're good!" he said, laughing, eyes wild. "Now keep going, entertain me even more!"
Still in the same fluid motion, Osiris twisted his blade downward, the tip now angling straight for Knox's skull.
BOOM.
A geyser of blood erupted from Knox's fingers, splattering against walls, floor, and skin. Before they could even react, he snapped his fingers—
The blood ignited.
An explosion roared through the hallway like a thunderclap. Doors tore from their hinges, molten metal hissed and warped from the heat. Their clothes singed.
Forced back by the blast, the exterminators staggered toward the far end of the hallway.
Through the smoke and scorched air, Knox stood unfazed, smiling.
"Getting close is going to be a problem," Osiris muttered, slapping soot from his shoulder. A part of his shirt was already scorched through.
"His head," Massiah said beside him, teeth grit. "It's the only thing he dodged. We cut it off—we win."
Osiris rolled his eyes with a grunt, moving past him.
Blood tendrils lashed out again, snapping like whips toward them. Elendira surged forward, boots hammering the floor, striking the tendrils aside with sheer force.
"I want you!" Knox's voice rang out, manic. He pointed at Osiris. "Such speed, such strength! I haven't felt anything like that in ages! Show me more!"
Elendira charged, her body blurring forward. Knox didn't move—until she was close enough.
Crack. Her knee drove into his ribs, collapsing them like paper.
He didn't flinch.
Instead, his hand clamped down on her shoulder, dragging her in close.
"Why do you interrupt your older brother?" he whispered, voice almost whimsical but laced with undeniable anger. "Can't you see I'm busy?"
"You're not my older brother—!"
Crack.
The sound reverberated through the hallway. Elendira dropped to her knees, gasping, her shoulder crushed in his grip.
"Don't say that again," Knox said, eyes wide with frenzied joy, pupils twitching under the flickering emergency lights. "Your older brother's busy. So don't interrupt me again... okay?"
"You're unstable," Osiris said, already next to him, blade swinging in a clean arc.
"The existence of your kind is grating after all," Knox replied, raising his arm. The sword clanged against bone for a breath—then sliced through it clean.
Knox retreated, his severed arm hitting the ground with a wet thud. Blood tendrils immediately slithered from his fingers, wrapping around the fallen limb like snakes, lifting it, aligning it with the stump. With a sharp pull and a hiss of flesh, the arm fused back into place.
"I see," Knox said, flexing his fingers. "You're far stronger than I expected. I can reinforce my bones with blood, and you still cut through. Delta, would love to see your insides—something about you must be... exceptional."
"I'm as pure as they get," Osiris said, stepping forward. "And I didn't miss my last strike. I only took your shoulder because of what you did to Ellie."
He paused. His eyes locked on Knox, calm and cold.
"The next one will kill you."
Knox grinned, "Is that so? Then by all means... TRY!"
Osiris lunged.
Knox raised his hands. Blood spilled from his fingers, shaping midair into crimson claws.
One slash.
Two.
Three.
Sparks flew through the corridor. Osiris was forced back, his boots tearing grooves in the floor, then he launched forward again.
Knox's grin widened. He spun his arms outward, claws unraveling into tendrils, their trajectories curving midair, tips hardening into serrated spikes.
Osiris pivoted mid-step. His blade whipped around, cleaving through each tendril in a single, fluid motion.
Massiah and Elendira stood just beyond the chaos, clutching their injuries, watching with wide, helpless eyes.
They couldn't see the movements. Couldn't track them.
This fight was beyond them.
Osiris was a first-grade exterminator, one of the very best.
And as the two monsters clashed again, blades shrieked and blood flew.
First from Knox.
Then from Osiris.
In any regular battle—against any man, any other myutant—Osiris would've won ten times over.
But Knox had an ace up his sleeve.
He parried and returned a flurry of vicious strikes. He wasn't faster than Osiris, but he didn't have to be. With every blow, every slash, he bled himself into weapons—spikes, spears, blades. An arsenal of fluid war.
But Osiris didn't back down.
Every attack met a counter. Every feint, a shift. He read Knox like a page—his timing spot-on, his footwork exact. His blade wasn't just fast, it was inevitable.
But inevitability didn't matter when the floor turned against you.
Tendrils snapped to life just behind him and drove through his back, piercing deep.
Blood sprayed. His stance faltered.
But even then, Osiris didn't fall.
The exterminator pressed on. His blade cleaved, carved, slaughtered, until it was caught—held in the iron grip of Knox.
"There's only so much you can do as a pure being," Knox muttered, prying the Elucadite blade from his hands. It clanged to the floor. "Maybe in another world... you would've been one of us."
Blood swirled up, curved and sharp, then drove clean through Osiris's chest.
He staggered, blood spilling down his clothes.
"Maybe in another world," Knox repeated, already turning away.
"BROTHER!"
Elendira burst through the ruin, shoulder still cradled, her good hand swinging.
She didn't reach him.
A single slash. Knox's fingers hardened into claws—tore through her throat. She fell gasping, eyes wide, reaching for nothing.
Knox passed Massiah next, dragging blood like a brushstroke across tile. "Don't move. I'd rather not kill two of my siblings today, regardless of how much you infuriate me."
Massiah moved anyway.
He couldn't let him through. Dahlia was still in the building. So was Ansel.
Letting Knox pass was as good as killing them himself.
"I won't let you—"
A blood spike punctured him through the side.
He collapsed, coughing crimson.
From the control room, Sabrina clawed at the door. The melted knob seared her palms. She slammed, shouted, screamed.
But the walls were soundproof.
And all she could do was watch.
As Knox slaughtered all three of them.
As he strolled down the corridor toward the interrogation room.
"I wonder what kind of person he is," Knox said aloud, his voice echoing through the halls. "Does he like sandwiches? Or is he more of a burger guy? There's just so much to uncover!"