Hezekiah held a purple-edged card, lining its trajectory toward the center of the door. The deck had four types of cards, but he never had the chance to test out the other two.

  “Three should be a fine number, right?” he asked.

  “Want to risk losing a limb? In that case, be my guest.”

  Hezekiah shrugged before flinging it at the doors. A three-meter portal manifested upon impact, the outside now a couple of steps away. Hezekiah didn’t waste a single second and leapt across.

  The portal vanished quickly afterward as soon as he touched the floor. Three seconds was plenty of time. Does she think we have all day?

  The hallway was long, doors lined up on each side as if one were in a hotel. By the elevator, a sign displayed they were on Basement Level 1.

  Hezekiah retreated from the elevator, holding his breath, prepared to throw the next card. “I’m only giving you five seconds, and you better not forget the knockout gas—traces of it escaped out the portal!” he reminded her after reaching a safe distance.

  “Just throw it already!”

  She’s getting a little too comfortable, he noted, lining his aim.

  “No doubt you’re Hezekiah, and of course you escaped,” a voice called from behind. Hezekiah quickly turned, faced with a man with long brown hair. He adjusted his tie with a disgruntled cast. “And it looks like you’re having fun with Irva. Meanwhile, I’m stuck cleaning up your mess.”

  Hezekiah drew a red-edged card from his pocket. “It’s more accurate to say the Organization was already a mess, Konathan.”

  “How ignorant.” A black rod slid from his sleeve and was caught within his grasp. “Step down; you’ve put enough work on my table already.”

  “Should I care? If my death was handled properly, then maybe the Black Flowers wouldn’t be suspicious of you guys.”

  Konathan sighed, tapping a couple of buttons embedded in the rod. “Never thought we would agree for once, but it’s never too late to fix that.” Mechanical clicks came from the rod as it separated itself into seven parts. Each piece levitated in the air as neon lights pulsed through them.

  What bad luck to run into him. Another Huska Tool? Aren’t those fun.

  With a thought, Hezekiah wished to see his information.

  —Name: ???—

  —Age: ??—

  —Blood Type: ?—

  —Occupation: N/A—

  —Public Status: N/A—

  —Do you wish to perform a deep search?—

  How convenient for these damn lens to be useless when it matters most.

  “Someone looks disappointed. Don’t bother; you won’t find us in any databases.”

  “Databases? I see, so the X-lens uses a facial recognition feature while it attempts to find their information on public records. Would’ve been great if I had this during my recon missions.”

  “Stop complaining.” One of the seven pieces was suddenly engulfed in flames before firing toward Hezekiah.

  Thanks to the X-lens, he avoided the strike. The heat kissed his skin as it flew by. Shit! That was way quicker than expected. I have to counterattack now before he uses all seven simultaneously.

  Hezekiah’s iris rotated like a reverse clock. Red floral patterns bloomed in his eye. Another one of the floating pieces turned ice cold, frosted spikes piercing from its sides as it rotated at high speed.

  It bolted off in an erratic path, reaching Hezekiah’s blind spot. He threw himself forward, barely catching sight of it at the last moment. As he landed in a handstand, the fire fragment was already racing back towards him.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Shit!!” He twisted his body and flung the red-edged card toward Konathan’s neck before dropping flatly to the ground. Konathan swiftly tilted away as they both missed their targets. Konathan kept track of the card, watching as it reversed its trajectory.

  Not only did he counterattack in a tough position, but he even anticipated me dodging it. But we’re not as dumb as you think.

  Not willing to dodge again in this narrow hallway, he moved another one of the rod fragments to shield himself from the card while commanding the last four to protect his front side.

  It doesn’t matter how destructive the cards are; the black rod is composed of a highly durable material. Furthermore, its auto-defense capabilities prevent any harm from coming my way.

  The card struck the fragment, not leaving so much as a scratch. “You were quite a skilled tool, but your resistance is pointless.” As soon as he turned to set off the other fragments, he no longer felt the floor. His pupils dilated as he saw the other basement level beneath him.

  “You should’ve just stayed behind a desk.”

  After frowning at his words, the portal he was descending through suddenly vanished, severing his head.

  The carpet was stained as his eyes continued to settle into stillness.

  All seven fragments halted their movements, reverting to their original states before dropping to the ground and reassembling themselves afterward.

  What the hell was he thinking? Did he think I would lose just because I’m still unfamiliar with Huska Tools?

  Hezekiah rose to his feet, turning back toward the elevator. “No point preparing to ambush him, Irva. He wasn’t worth it.” Hezekiah threw another portal card at the doors. She quickly rushed her way out with Ghiza floating by her, holding her breath to avoid inhaling the gas remnants.

  “Konathan was way over his head. What’s the point of using this Huska Tool if he couldn’t trust it to protect him? He should’ve kept his eyes on me instead of the stupid card.”

  Irva watched Konathan’s blood spurting from his head as she approached Hezekiah. “In his defense, I did the opposite, and look where that got me.”

  “Fair point. In any case, I doubt they’ll capture me alive now. And it won’t be too long before you’re discovered as well.”

  Irva bit her lip. “Are you planning on killing all the Directors?”

  Hezekiah rubbed his chin. “That’s not a problem, is it?”

  Irva looked again at Konathan’s severed head. Although they interacted with each other quite a bit, she was never really fond of him. But there was a sense of oddness in seeing someone dead who had been with her since she was a child.

  He never really did much for her. Although he handed her leftover snacks from his breaks, it didn’t mean anything when he kept looking at her as if she were a pitiful dog.

  “Would it matter?”

  Blaring alarms sounded throughout the hallway, startling the two of them. “Lockdown initiated, lockdown initiated. A prison escape is suspected to have occurred. Locate and neutralize the target,” a mechanical voice spoke through the ceiling speakers.

  “Took them long enough. Though I’m curious why this happened only after he died,” Hezekiah stated.

  “Each Director has a device chip implanted in them. If one of them dies, it immediately notifies the others.”

  Hezekiah drew another portal card from the deck, tossing it away from them. A ten-meter portal appeared as soon as it touched the ground. “Then let’s not waste any time. Destroy the elevator doors. The knockout gas can still be useful for something—you’ve got ten seconds.” Hezekiah took the black rod with him before jumping through the portal.

  “Hey! Are you serious right now!?” Gritting her teeth, the metallic doors crumbled in moments. Bolts burst out of sockets as sparks sent up smoke. After she was done, she rushed after him with Ghiza, jumping through before the portal disappeared.

  She rose with a stern look. “Stop doing that! Are you trying to kill me!?” If it wasn’t for her will being restricted, she would never have dared to take such a risk on short notice.

  “Quit crying about the idea you came up with. And we shouldn’t stay on a floor too long; Black Flowers can arrive any second.” The card reappeared in the deck.

  “You’re not the slightest bit worried? You should know that they’re aware you’ve been captured. They probably suspect it’s you they’re looking for,” she added.

  Unlike the floor above them, this one was more spacious and pure tile. The room was circular, with dozens of arched-shaped doors. Some had green or red fluorescent lights above them, signifying whether or not they were occupied.

  Instead of waiting for them to open, Hezekiah dropped the card beneath their feet, immediately falling through the portal.

  It’s clearly going to be impossible to escape by normal means when I rescue Falina.

  After repeating the same process for a couple more floors, he summoned the rules sheet. Irva observed him, curious why he was seemingly looking at nothing.

  “Aren’t we in a rush!? Make up your mind already, DAMN IT!! If not, don’t you DARE jeopardize my life again!”

  She’s doing it again… wait, no, I think she’s just simply upset this time.

  “Don’t forget you’re only a slave. And we’re changing plans—I’ll bring Falina to us instead. Although I’d rather go to her, what Ghiza said still annoys me.”

  Irva rested her hands on her hips. “Bring her to us? You’re able to do that?” she asked doubtfully, her tone still tinged with frustration.

  “You’ve been getting cocky lately. And here I thought I did enough to scare you last time. Or maybe you really can’t control your emotional outburst.”

  Hezekiah resummoned the pen.

  Irva’s chest shot cold. She backed away with her hands up. “Wai—wait—I spoke out of line! I get it now, please! It won’t happ—”

  “Zip it, will you? I need to focus so I don’t write something I’ll regret.”

  Irva sealed her lips, suppressing her fear as she saw him writing in the air.