SSS-RANK: Super Extraction System-Chapter 25: [] A Three-Second Gambit
The silence in the throne room was fragile, like thin ice over a deep, black lake.
Kain stood by his throne, a smirk playing on his lips, confident in his trap. Twelve hostages. Twelve knives at twelve throats.
Leon stood twenty meters away. His breathing was steady, but inside, his core was a churning storm.
"Justin. Rhino," Leon’s voice was barely a whisper, carried only by the squad comms in their ears. "Three seconds. That’s all I need."
"You’re crazy," Justin hissed back, though his hand drifted to the flash-bang on his belt. "He’ll kill us before we cross the room."
"He’s arrogant," Leon said. "He wants a show. Give him one."
Rhino, battered and bruised, wiped a streak of blood from his eye. He looked at the little girl trembling against the pillar.
"Three seconds," Rhino growled. "I can give you three seconds."
Kain tapped his foot. "Tick tock, little shadow. My pets are getting hungry."
Leon closed his eyes for a heartbeat.
[ SYSTEM STATUS ]
[ SHADOW ESSENCE: 18/100 ]
[ CORE ENERGY: 30% ]
[ WARNING: MULTIPLE HIGH-LEVEL SKILL ACTIVATION WILL CAUSE CORE STRAIN ]
He ignored the warning. He looked at Iron, his Shadow Knight, standing silently in the gloom.
Protect the child.
The command was silent, pushed through their bond. Iron didn’t move, but the blue flames in its eyes flared.
"NOW!" Leon shouted.
The room exploded into motion.
Rhino didn’t run; he launched himself. With a roar that shook the crystals on the ceiling, he activated his [ Berserker Rage ]. His muscles swelled, tearing his stealth suit. His skin turned to jagged, charcoal stone.
He charged straight down the center aisle, a juggernaut of pure violence.
"KAIN!" Rhino screamed, drawing every eye in the room.
At the same instant, Justin threw the sphere.
BANG.
A blinding flash of UV light erupted in front of the throne. It wasn’t enough to kill a Marquis, but it was enough to annoy him.
Kain hissed, shielding his eyes with a velvet-clad arm. "Insolent pests!"
The Vampire Spawns guarding the hostages flinched, their heads turning toward the flash.
One second.
Leon vanished.
[ SHADOW GLIDE ]
He didn’t run. He became a streak of black lightning, tearing across the room. He bypassed Rhino, bypassed the throne, aiming for the perimeter.
He appeared behind the Spawn guarding the little girl.
Slash.
The Spawn’s head separated from its shoulders before it could tighten its grip on the knife.
Iron materialized from the floor shadows, his greatsword swinging in a horizontal arc. He decapitated two Spawns standing near the girl in a single blow.
"Run!" Leon shouted to the hostages. "Get to the corner!"
Two seconds.
Kain lowered his arm. His vision cleared. He saw Rhino barreling toward him, a massive stone fist cocked back.
He didn’t dodge. He caught the punch.
CRACK.
The sound of stone hitting an immovable object echoed like a gunshot. Kain stopped Rhino’s charge with one hand. He didn’t even slide back.
"Disappointing," Kain sneered.
He twisted his wrist. Rhino screamed as his arm snapped. Kain kicked the giant in the chest, sending him flying back across the room like a ragdoll.
But the distraction worked.
Leon was moving.
He sprinted along the line of pillars.
[ SHADOW MANIFESTATION: SPIKE ]
He didn’t stop to stab. He slammed his hand on the floor as he ran. Spikes of solid shadow erupted from the ground beneath the remaining Spawns, impaling them through the chest.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Three more Spawns fell.
The remaining six panicked. They saw their comrades dying. They saw the black blur coming for them.
"Kill them!" a Spawn shrieked, raising its knife to execute a weeping man.
Leon threw his dagger.
It flew end-over-end, a blur of shadow-steel. It took the Spawn in the throat, pinning him to the pillar.
Three seconds.
Kain realized what was happening. He saw the dead Spawns. He saw the hostages scrambling to safety behind Iron’s shield.
His face twisted. The mask of boredom shattered.
"ENOUGH!" Kain roared.
He vanished.
He reappeared behind Justin, who was lining up a shot.
"Too slow," the vampire whispered.
He backhanded Justin. The veteran flew through the air, crashing into the stone steps of the dais. His revolver skittered away.
Kain turned his gaze to Leon.
Leon stood panting, his last dagger in his hand. The hostages were free. Iron stood guard over them, a wall of black armor.
But the squad was broken.
Rhino lay groaning near a pillar, his arm twisted at a sickening angle. Justin was coughing blood on the steps.
"You saved the cattle," Kain said, his voice dripping with venom. "But you lost the game."
He raised his hand.
[ DOMINION: GRAVITY CRUSH ]
The air screamed.
Leon fell to his knees. It felt like the ceiling had collapsed on him. He gasped, his vision swimming.
Kain walked toward him, slow and deliberate.
"I offered you a place at my side," Kain said. "I offered you power. And you chose... this?"
He stopped in front of Leon. He looked down, his red eyes glowing.
"You are a failed vessel, Leon Vale. Broken. Weak."
Kain reached down. He grabbed Leon by the throat and lifted him into the air effortlessly.
Leon clawed at the vampire’s hand, his legs kicking. He couldn’t breathe. The gravity field was crushing his organs.
"I will extract your core," Kain whispered. "And I will feed your husk to the spiders."
Leon’s vision went black at the edges.
He looked past Kain. He saw Justin on the steps.
The veteran was broken. Dying. But his hand was moving.
He was reaching into his coat.
Not for a gun.
For a small, silver cube.
[ ANALYSIS: ACTIVE ]
[ ITEM: FEDERATION CONTAINMENT FIELD GENERATOR (PROTOTYPE) ]
[ RANK: A ]
[ EFFECT: CREATES A BARRIER OF HARD LIGHT. SINGLE USE. ]
Justin met Leon’s eyes. He smiled. A bloody, defiant grin.
"Hey, ugly!" Justin wheezed.
Kain turned his head. "What?"
Justin activated the cube. He didn’t throw it. He slammed it onto the dais.
HUMMM.
A cage of blinding, solid white light erupted from the cube. It expanded instantly, catching Kain and Leon inside it.
The light burned.
Kain screamed, dropping Leon. His skin sizzled where the light touched it.
"A light cage?!" Kain roared, shielding his face. "You think this can hold me? I am a Marquis!"
He began to pound on the barriers. Cracks appeared in the light.
Leon hit the floor, gasping for air. The gravity field had broken.
"It won’t hold him long!" Justin shouted, his voice fading. "Leon! Finish it!" 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
Leon looked at Kain. The vampire was trapped, burning, distracted.
He looked at Justin, whose body was dissolving into particles of light—the backlash of the prototype device.
"It’s all yours, kid!" Justin gasped.
Leon scrambled to his feet. He picked up his dagger.
Kain was still screaming, trying to break the cage.
Leon gripped his weapon. The shadows swirled around him, angry and dense.
The final duel was here.
