The mutant’s fist struck Vicky, and the blow stunned her instantly.

  Her senses shut down to spare her from the end—to keep her from hearing the sickening sound her body would make when the giant stomped on her. She was thrown backward.

  And in the moment she accepted her death as inevitable, a jolt in her back yanked her back to life, snapping her out of that fatalistic spiral—though it knocked the air clean out of her lungs.

  She saw Adam running toward her, frantic. Her vision was blurred, and she was in a lot of pain. But she was alive.

  “You idiot!” he shouted. “You’re lucky he didn’t see you!”

  Wait—had the monster’s swipe not been a deliberate attack? That would explain why she was still breathing. That, and the fact that she’d landed in one of the swampy patches of ground, which had cushioned the fall. Her back was covered in mud.

  Kneeling in front of her, Number Three came to her aid. “Let me take a look.”

  Meanwhile, Number Four and Number Five were drawing the attention of the mutated Number Two, firing wildly.

  Activating the B-Pulse on their rifles, they switched assault modes and unleashed hundreds of explosive rounds. They stopped firing, ran through the underbrush to reposition, pulled new cartridges from the inside pockets of their coats, ditched the spent ones, reloaded, and attacked again.

  The giant pursued them, crashing into the dense forest. But its immense size worked against it. Like an explorer hacking through uncharted jungle, it had to push aside thick clusters of leaves and branches. Explosive rounds burst against its legs, hairy abdomen, and barrel-like chest, causing little more than irritation.

  Annoyed by the stinging barrage, the beast sought a way out. It twisted sharply, flinging droplets of violet fluid from its gaping wounds as it moved.

  Below, the men in morning coats cut off its escape and kept firing. The mutant howled with animalistic fury, strands of black drool dripping from its mouth.

  For the exhausted Number Four and the injured Number Five, fighting in the forest had become a far more dangerous endeavor than they had imagined. The dense trees provided better cover, but as the jungle grew thicker, running ahead of the troglodyte, turning from time to time to get a good shooting angle, and lining up a clear shot without a tree blocking their view became increasingly challenging.

  The unstable ground didn’t help either. Not only did the giant’s stomps cause tremors, but the terrain was riddled with hidden roots, dips, and rises, all concealed by shrubs and ferns. And then there were the branches and debris the creature tore down in its path. Dodging those was a skill in itself—and an exhausting one.

  Perched atop the araucaria, Broga laughed, mocking them.

  Occasionally, Number Four would shift his aim and fire at Broga.

  “You son of a bitch!” Four shouted, more infuriated by the taunts than the mutant itself. “If you’re so tough, why don’t you come down here and face this?!”

  Broga’s laughter turned into a full-throated cackle. “You can’t kill something that’s already dead, you fools! All you can do is slow it down until it gets back up again!”

  Vicky pushed herself up, ignoring Number Three’s insistence that she stay still. She fought to remain standing, her body rebelling with every step. Her back throbbed with pain, a high-pitched ringing pierced her ears, and a crushing weight seemed to drag her legs back to the ground.

  Adam helped her steady herself.

  “Adam, listen to me…” she said. “When Broga talked about eliminating it, he wasn’t referring to the creature. He meant the substance. That dark sap… it’s the reason we’re trapped inside this bubble.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Of course! That makes sense!” Number Three chimed in. “Maybe the Ita-Hu’s force field wasn’t a protective mechanism but a containment one. Once the substance escaped its container, the radiation reformed the shield, this time isolating an entire section of the jungle.”

  “Exactly, and the radiation will keep its defenses up until that thing is destroyed,” Vicky confirmed. Gripping Adam by the shoulders, she pointed at Broga. “That bastard already made it clear—you and he are the only ones who have the power to get us out of here.”

  “But my powers didn’t work against the invisible bubble! You saw that!”

  “Damn it, Adam, listen to me! I’m not asking you to destroy the bubble; I’m telling you to destroy the reason it exists: that liquid amethyst. That monster is its vessel now—destroy it!”

  “But I… If I…”

  Frustrated by his hesitation, Vicky shook his arm. “What the hell is wrong with you?! Attack with everything you’ve got! Vaporize it and that damned substance, and we’ll be free!”

  Adam swallowed hard, nervous. The troglodyte’s growls, the buzzing of rifle rounds, the crashing of trees, and Number Four’s furious shouts all came at him at once, drilling into his head. It was too much pressure.

  “Why do you think Broga’s still here if he doesn’t plan to help us?” Vicky pressed, trying to make him see reason. “He wants to watch you do it.”

  Adam knew she and Number Three were right. Broga had said it—it was his DNA, not anyone else’s. If there was any doubt left, he just needed to remember the strange reaction the sap had when exposed to his Fotia. But to succeed, he would have to use the full extent of his powers—and there lay the threat of Al Shaula.

  A shot whizzed past him and slammed into a tree.

  “Hey, you bastards!” Number Four bellowed. He and Number Five were keeping Number Two busy in a shoot-and-hide game, but they had burned through two full cartridges and were on their third. They’d run out of ammo soon. “Are you just gonna stand there like idiots, or do I have to shoot you myself to get you moving?!”

  Vicky didn’t bother responding; she locked eyes with Adam and grabbed his arm. “Adam, this is an order. Do it!”

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  Fear held Adam back. Fear and doubt—a horrendous combination.

  “Vicky…” he said, his voice catching in his throat. He wanted to tell her what was happening, what the specter had said. “Al Shaula…”

  It wasn’t long before she realized there was a deeper reason behind his hesitation.

  “Something’s wrong, isn’t it? That’s why you don’t want to attack.”

  “I…” Adam began. But then—click—something cold pressed against his ribs. He looked down and found the tip of a rifle digging into his stomach.

  Number Three, hardly standing with his injured ankle, was aiming the weapon at him.

  “You’ll do it… and you’ll do it now,” the agent commanded.

  Vicky shoved the rifle aside and faced her partner.

  “Adam, tell me what’s going on. If something’s wrong, now is the time to say it.”

  “I…” Adam faltered. In the background, he could hear gunfire, the agents’ shouts, and the groaning of the jungle, shaken by the monster.

  “They’re right,” Broga called down from above. “But you could leave them and come with me.”

  Vicky ignored Broga and Number Three, her eyes fixed on Adam, waiting for him to confess.

  But it was true—he was the only one who could take down the mutant and evaporate the purple tar. Vicky knew it. Number Three knew it. That damn Broga knew it.

  Because against that nearly thirty-foot-tall abomination, there was nothing else to try. No weapon could stop it. Numbers Four and Five had already used their best tactics and nearly exhausted their ammunition, from pellets to small missiles, and cycled through all their firing modes, from Pulsation-A to C. The sole reason they were still alive was that they moved faster than the giant, though even that advantage wouldn’t last much longer. The trees the beast toppled had turned the jungle into a treacherous maze of fallen trunks and branches that the agents had to dodge or climb over to stay ahead.

  Only Adam could save them now.

  But what would happen when Juzo awakened deep in his consciousness and they combined? Would Al Shaula dissolve them with his tentacles like he had with the bullets, or would he turn Adam into a monstrosity like the one they were now facing? Was this a curse to seal his true potential? Or was the specter’s warning just a ploy to stop him from using his energy and eliminating the sap once and for all?

  Adam had promised himself he wouldn’t find out. But now, there were two options: leave with Broga and abandon the others to be killed by the monster or dissected by the radiation, or take the risk and see if Al Shaula kept his promises.

  “Adam…” Vicky said again, gripping his arm. “Tell me what’s going on!”

  “Nothing,” he said, turning toward the troglodyte as it moved away, intent on hunting down Number Four and Five.

  The creature’s protrusions no longer disgusted him, nor did the ooze seeping from its wounds. The giant had stopped being a monster in his eyes, stopped being the grotesque image of a guy who might have once had a promising future among the Satellites. It was no longer a person. It was an object—an object he had to destroy.

  ‘…And when thou summonest him, I shall be there to eat thee both.’

  “I’m sorry, Juzo,” Adam muttered. And hoping those words wouldn’t end up as his epitaph, he summoned a Fotia in his right hand, letting it swell with power.

  He needed to draw the monster’s attention. The moment its massive back came into view, unobstructed by trees, he repeated the baseball pitch he had barely managed to refine during his all-too-brief training with Vicky and hurled the sphere.

  Without waiting, he repeated the move, this time with his other hand. The fiery orbs danced through the air like twin comets, merging into a single spiral of white fire that struck Number Two’s lower back, carving out a smoldering crater in its flesh.

  No eardrum could withstand the creature’s screech of pain. Adam had just ignited the battle with a bang.

  Enraged, the troglodyte spun around to locate its attacker. Beneath its bushy brows, its pupils adjusted, locking onto its target. It bared its tar-stained teeth and sniffed the air like a predator zeroing in on its prey. It took a few seconds, but it fixed its focus on Adam. Its hands balled into fists, as though preparing for a deadly embrace.

  Its first step was hesitant; the second, more confident. By the third—when it shattered a fallen palm tree underfoot—its speed had increased dramatically. What had seemed like a lumbering, clumsy beast transformed into a creature of surprising agility and speed, shocking everyone.

  The ground shook with every stomp. Vicky and the agents staggered, grabbing hold of anything they could to avoid falling.

  Adam stood firm, waiting for his opponent’s charge. The image of the colossal being rushing toward him, its shadow enveloping him, blocking out the sun streaming through the still-standing trees, burned itself into his memory like a snapshot. The primal hatred etched into its face pierced his soul, and he thought, Maybe this face will be the last thing I ever see.

  ‘…And when thou summonest him, I shall be there to eat thee both.’

  Fearing what might happen to him, fearing for Vicky and the others if something happened to him, Adam summoned Juzo. He opened the gates of his subconscious, letting the spirit of his brother—the reactor of his energy—resurface so he could channel it.

  Adam ceased to exist as an individual, and the being that was Adam/Juzo came to life. His body became a volcano, spewing streams of white fire that crackled like lightning in a raging storm. In an instant, the frightened man transformed into a godlike entity with extraordinary powers.

  Defying the gravitational force imposed by the Kappa radiation, just as Broga had earlier, Adam/Juzo ascended into the air, soaring high above the giant. Raising his arms, the heavens cracked with thunderous booms, sharp enough to split the world in two.

  The troglodyte didn’t react in time.

  Adam/Juzo intensified his fiery aura, blinding everyone, and then, with his fists leading the way, launched himself at the enemy like a human missile.

  Vicky saw a flash before everything dissolved into a searing white. When the explosion subsided, and the crackling flames still rang in her ears while the heat brushed against her cheeks, she opened her eyes to a shocking sight. She could see a portion of the jungle through the beast—through an enormous hole blasted through its chest. A nearly perfect circle outlined by lingering white flames and scorched flesh, revealing shattered ribs and other bones within.

  The giant’s dark blood poured from the wound, a viscous cascade running down its abdomen and legs. Its face was rigid, expressionless, as if defeat had drained it of all pain or surprise. Behind it, facing the opposite direction, was Adam/Juzo, kneeling on one knee, steam rising from him—like a meteorite that had just crashed into the earth, carving out a mountain as it fell.

  With a dry throat, Vicky watched Adam/Juzo rise to his feet, lift off the ground again, and turn toward the beast, ready to finish it once and for all.

  Another explosion was imminent—Vicky knew it and shielded her eyes.

  Extending his arms, Adam/Juzo unleashed the power surging within him, engulfing the abomination that Number Two had become in a fiery torrent, consuming it along with several nearby trees.

  The firestorm slashed white-hot streaks across the forest, and the sizzling roar of the blaze—just as intense as the heat it radiated—faded as the troglodyte was reduced to ashes. All that remained were the crackling thunders, sounding like whiplashes, heralding the grand finale.

  Then—silence.

  The blinding light extinguished. What was left were threads of fire clinging to the charred, leafless palms, burnt trunks, and a pungent stench of scorched earth.

  Vicky and Number Five—the only agent without his sunglasses—rubbed their eyes to rid their retinas of lingering flashes.

  Where the mutant had once stood, now lay a mound of ash and smoldering embers: the remains of the beast and the purple substance dissipating into the air.

  Something warm trickled out of Vicky’s ear, and she knew it. Number Five, and surely the other agents, had it too: blood in their ears. If there had been any doubt before, now it was clear—Adam/Juzo was emitting Kappa radiation.

  She looked up at her partner, hovering above like a demigod, his eyes devoid of humanity, his hair crackling with raw energy. A wave of unease gripped her heart, something telling her they were far past the point of no return.

  She shifted her gaze toward the araucaria tree, but Broga was gone. Now that the show was over, the bastard had vanished.