Marcus sprinted up the staircase and charged through hallways, while Janette shouted directions from behind. His heart was beating louder and louder, he could hear screaming and the sound of destruction getting closer and closer. "STOP!" Janette shouted, and Marcus made a hard break just in time to see the wall left of him explode and something came rushing through. Two figures smashed against the next wall and Marcus could see a man in black-golden armor and with two swords forcing another man, in shaded red armor down. One of the swords was stuck in the stomach of the desperately resisting man, the other sword was pressing against his neck and blood was dripping onto the floor.

In a single moment Marcus knew the man was about to get killed and nobody on their side had corny black-golden armor. Marcus rushed forward, Carapace and arms prepared for defense.

MARCUS! He is dangerous! The blade from the neck moved, but Marcus couldn't see it. Pain rushed through him as the murderous weapon cut through his arm trying to reach the neck it protected. Armor and muscles failed and only his bones managed to stop the progress of the weapon. The power and speed of the attack was devastating and yet, it was exactly what Marcus had hoped for.

Carapace caused an equally powerful backlash. At speeds beyond human perception the weapon twisted and buckled as an unstoppable force translated through it reaching the hand and arm that held the weapon. Flesh and bones tore, were shredded as payment for the damage done to Marcus. In the same moment Grace jumped forward two glowing blades reaching for the body of the enemy.

A lightning fast exchange followed. In spite of his wounds and the surprise, the black warrior managed to increase his distance to Grace, leaving her with bleeding cuts on her neck and left leg. Marcus had barely realized what happened and was still aching with pain as Achara appeared behind the man forcing her black blade into his back. The weapon failed to penetrate and the still working arm of the executive shot in her direction, hitting Achara in the chest and throwing her backwards against the next wall. Kou, the vigilant supporter, controlled her movement with his telekinetic ability and protected her from further harm.

Marcus was moving again, or maybe he had never stopped moving in the first place. His legs propelled him in the direction of the overwhelming enemy, his undamaged arm stretched out. The man moved, avoiding Marcus' hand as if he was moving in slow motion, a thin sharp knife was in the hand of the killer. He aimed for Marcus' eyes and his attack was too fast for Marcus to even see it coming.

Barely three seconds had passed since Marcus had first attacked, but three seconds was a long time in a fight of this caliber. Leaving his original opponent unattended for so long turned out to be a deadly mistake. A bloodied sword flew past Marcus, missed his head by millimeters and buried itself in the head of the enemy. Such was the momentum of the weapon, that it tore the head off and shattered the wall behind the enemy too.

The headless body dropped to the floor, finally Marcus had time to think again. His brain still tried to process the events, when the injured man said, "Help!" And pointed at the direction he had come from. They rushed forward, only Candis stayed behind to save the life of their ally. Marcus followed the trail of destruction until they entered a large, wrecked room.

A single woman in red armor was beset by three enemies clad in black armor. She was bleeding from several deep wounds. Marcus did the only thing he could do. Without hesitation he Burst charged the closest enemy in the back. This one was much slower and very surprised to see enemies coming from the direction of their leader, but he still got his thick shield between Marcus and his own body. Impulse Hammer smashed him into the ground, shield or not.

Marcus moved onto him, trusting his teammates to take care of the others. A fist crushed against Marcus' helmet with the force of a cannon and shattered much of it. Carapace said thank you and turned the arm into red paste. Marcus recovered from the hit and pressed both hands onto the chest of the fallen man. Whatever class the bastard had, it didn't protect him from double Jack Hammer, not even for a second. Bones shattered, organs and tissue turned into gore.

Marcus took a deep breath and rose from the shattered body of his enemy, prepared to support the others. But there was no need, Grace and the unknown woman had sandwiched one of them and the other was the first victim of Janette's lethal weapon. Marcus checked his surroundings, while he dropped his broken helmet. The room was filled with corpses in red and black armor, the woman had tears in her eyes and spoke with Grace.

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Seconds later the wounded woman rushed in the direction of her clan leader.

Take a breather Marcus. You did well. All of you did well. Marcus looked into the faces of his friends and saw the same feelings he had inside of him. These were terrifying enemies. Without the advantage of numbers and surprise…. As the adrenaline in his system was slowly fading, his hands started to slightly shake. Marcus clenched his fists a few times and the sensation finally passed.

"Let's secure the perimeter and see to the survivors," Marcus said with a firm voice, and the others nodded. "We can't stay long. The others aren't doing much better," Janette said, with her eyes focused on the ceiling. Marcus nodded and sprinted back to Candis. There was no time for an emotional talk with the survivors, only a few words of thanks and Candis' professional opinion, "He will make it." "There is another survivor!" Achara's voice came over thecom system and they were running again.

Candis stayed with the other wounded man, after she had declared he would die without her attention. Marcus could neither ask her to abandon the heavily injured man nor could he stay to offer his vitality. The team moved on without Candis, but the other survivors promised to protect her in case of another attack. Everything was happening too fast and Marcus felt he had no time to think about his decisions. But he couldn't afford to move any slower, Janette's facial expression hurried him along.

They moved through several more levels without hindrance, but soon found corpses of friend and foe along the way.

Your enemy knew you were coming. That is the only explanation for these events.

It was exactly what Marcus had feared, this had been a trap.

Stay calm, you and your team are much stronger than your level would suggest, or you would not have been able to confront the man before.

What level do you think he had?

Roughly level 120.

Marcus felt a cold shiver running down his spine.

They passed a long hallway next to a window front and Marcus could see the illuminated city outside the building. Streets and houses filled with people, who had no idea what was happening in here. This short moment of distraction had caused Marcus to fall behind the rest, who were already moving faster thanks to their dexterity crests. He started running and nearly caught up to them when the hallway made a turn towards the inside of the tower.

A sudden pain shot through his back and before he could say anything fingers of steel grabbed his throat. He hadn't seen or heard anything before, but now a woman whispered into his ear, "I like buff men." Her soft voice made Marcus' hair stand up. The first who realized what was going on was Grace, who had just turned to Marcus. "Na, na, na. No fast moves, or I will fill your friend with enough poison to kill ten elephants," the woman behind him giggled.

Marcus could feel her long, sharp fingernails cut into his throat, easily overcoming his vitality and even now she spread poison into his body. A Viper (rank 66), Marcus thought. How strong is she Xeen?

She is not far off the other man, maybe level 115. The team stood still, trying to work out how to take her on. The only reason this wasn't a total disaster was the fact the bitch didn't know his body could fight off poisons extremely well. But if she so much as grazed one of the others… Viper poison is horrifically deadly on higher levels. She was fast and strong, too.

"If you don't want your tasty little friend to die a horrible, horrible death, you better put down your weapons," the Viper said, and Marcus could hear in her voice how much she enjoyed this moment. She pushed her finger in his back and Marcus moaned in pain. From here on out, things would only get worse, Marcus thought. He had a way out of this situation in mind, but it was a bit reckless.

While the others slowly put their weapons down, Marcus slightly transferred his weight to his heels and pressed against the woman behind him. "Don't even try," she breathed into his ear, clearly hoping he would give her a reason to kill him most painfully. Marcus looked into the eyes of Janette and smiled. Without warning he Burst jumped backwards catapulting himself and the Viper towards the reinforced glass wall. They broke though with ease and gravity dragged them towards the thirty floor deeper pavement. The woman screamed and tore out his throat and unleashed a wave of toxins into his body, but a few seconds later they hit the ground.

Most likely, the woman would have survived such a fall, even with Marcus' weight upon her, but as they kissed the pavement Carapace reacted to the impact and smashed the Viper into the ground with equal force. The shock wave cracked the street and made cars in the vicinity jump. Marcus wanted to scream out of pain but his throat was still missing.

The pain of the impact wasn't as bad as the toxins that liquefied his organs. He closed his eyes and listened to the Xeen's calming words. Seconds past, his throat repaired and the toxins were consumed inside of his body. Under great pain Marcus rose from the pavement and looked at the smashed body beneath him. Unbelievable, there was still some life left in that snake. One eye stared at him with endless hatred. "Go to hell," Marcus said, and buried her even deeper.

"You okay?" Kou's voice came from above. Marcus looked up and his friend softly landed next to him. "Alive, does that count?" Marcus joked. "Good enough to get back up again?" Kou asked, visibly worried, but Marcus nodded. "Why did we not fly up right from the start?" He asked, while Kou concentrated on levitating both of them. "Because there aren't many classes that can fly in the first place, and this isn't really very safe," he said, with an awkward smile.

Half a minute later Grace and Achara pulled them through the destroyed window. It was a happy reunion, Marcus only feared Janette's reaction, but she laughed, "The face of that bitch when you dragged her down was so amazing. She hadn't seen this coming in a million years." Marcus felt relieved, but she kicked him against his shin anyway.

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