Namkhai turned to Phobos, whose body looked twice smaller than his own.

  “Hey, listen…” Namkhai began, but didn’t finish.

  Phobos pulled out his sword without hesitation and dashed forward, aiming at his throat.

  Namkhai, acting on instinct, dodged sharply and avoided the strike.

  “He’s too fast, I need to be careful,” flashed through Namkhai’s mind as the blade passed right by his face.

  The second quick strike from Phobos was supposed to cut him in half, but the monk dodged again.

  Namkhai tensed his muscles, put strength into a counterattack, and slammed his fist into the floor.

  The hit echoed through the room, the stone tile cracked and formed a deep hole — but Phobos managed to jump away.

  “He’s too strong, I need to be careful,” Phobos thought in return.

  The killer straightened up. At that moment, the captain let out a rough shout:

  “Be careful! That bastard can move through his dark sludge!”

  “ What can he do?” Namkhai clenched his fists and took a stance. “Alright whatever, let's do it!”

  Phobos slowly raised his hand, a gun glinting in it, and aimed straight at Namkhai’s chest.

  “Hey! That’s not fair!” Namkhai yelled, quickly shifting his body to the side.

  Phobos smirked and pulled the trigger.

  A shot rang out, and Namkhai instinctively raised his arm. The bullet dug into his flesh and got stuck in the muscle. The pain stabbed him, but it was bearable. Phobos lifted a brow and fired again.

  Blocking with his thick forearm like a shield, Namkhai charged forward. Bullets tore through his skin and meat, but he kept walking, step by step, closing the distance.

  Namkhai swung his other arm and punched. Phobos managed to duck and the fist smashed through the wall behind him. Another loud crash shook the room. Namkhai didn’t give the killer a chance to escape, he pushed forward with his whole weight, pinning Phobos to the floor. One arm was shot full of bullets and bloody, the other was stuck in the wall, but he held on. The killer was trapped under him, completely unable to move.

  Feeling his bones crack under the monk’s weight, Phobos gasped for air, eyes darting around. “How… how could I get caught so stupidly?!” Rage burned inside him.

  Then Namkhai felt a cold touch on his neck. Something wet, sticky, and slippery wrapped around his throat. It was the dark substance, coming out of Phobos’s body. It thickened, turning into a rope-like shape, slowly tightening around Namkhai’s neck.

  “Gh… what a nasty thing…” Namkhai choked out.

  The dark rope tightened even more, squeezing the air from his lungs.

  Both were pushed to their limit one of them was about to break. But suddenly the building itself reacted. The cracks and huge holes left in the walls, ceiling, and floor by their fight finally gave way. The ceiling collapsed right on top of them, stones and concrete crashed down, and the broken floor gave way beneath them.

  They both fell through, hitting the lower floor with a heavy crash.

  For a short while, everything was silent. Both of them crawled out from under the rubble almost at the same time, pulling in air. Namkhai was the first to look up, Dinar and girl were still on the floor above, only part of their room had collapsed.

  hobos stared at him with eyes full of hatred.

  “Who the hell are you?”

  Namkhai turned his head toward him but said nothing.

  “A mercenary?” Phobos narrowed his eyes. “You weren’t on the list or in the report. Personal guard?”

  “Heh, no, I’m a monk,”

  “A monk?! What is a monk doing in a place like this?”

  “Earning money.”

  Phobos quickly looked him over and recognized him.

  “I remember you. You’re the one who was praying at the water cooler.”

  “Oh… you saw that…” Namkhai answered awkwardly.

  “Thanks to you, it was easier for me to reach my target. Almost all the guards were watching you. But…” he smirked, “I didn’t expect someone like you to protect the daughter of a crime boss.”

  “Crime boss?” Namkhai smiled. “Then they really must have a lot of money.”

  Phobos raised a brow, then quietly laughed.

  “A monk working for a criminal, all for money?”

  “Hey, I’m not a hero. I need money to live too.”

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  Phobos scratched his chin, then looked straight into the dust-covered monk’s eyes.

  “If all you want is money, then just leave. If you’re after money, you can earn it somewhere else. You got in the way at the worst possible moment. I don't need any problems at work right now.”

  Namkhai met his gaze.

  “And you’ll kill the girl?”

  “Of course. She’s my target.”

  “And how much do they pay for her?”

  Phobos paused for a second, surprised by the blunt question, but there was interest in his voice.

  “Hah… I’m starting to like you. But I’m not here for money.”

  “Not for money? Then for what?”

  “That’s none of your business,” Phobos said shortly.

  “So there’s no reason?”

  “Call it whatever you want. Just leave.”

  Namkhai was quiet for a moment, then spoke in his usual calm voice:

  “If it’s not for money, and there’s no real reason, then I won’t let you kill her. Killing someone ‘just because’ is stupid.”

  Phobos stared at Namkhai, not fully understanding what he just heard.

  “Listen, kid… are you really a monk?”

  Standing in a fighting stance, Namkhai calmly replied:

  “Of course. Why, got doubts?”

  “I don’t want to kill a monk… like I said, I don’t need extra trouble.”

  “You talk like you won’t be the one smashed into the floor.”

  “If you say so…” Phobos said and disappeared, dissolving into the air.

  Namkhai barely understood what was happening when something twitched behind him a dark, thick mass quietly appeared right at his back. Phobos jumped out of the shadow and, without wasting a second, threw his blade at him. Namkhai managed to pull away, but not fully the edge cut across his collarbone, leaving a wound.

  He leaned on the ground with his hand, feeling the blood soaking into his clothes.

  Phobos stepped out of the black substance.

  “Now you get it? You should’ve left.”

  “I’m sick of your tricks… fight like a man.”

  “These aren’t tricks, this is my power. You might be strong for a normal person, but you have no chance against this.”

  But Phobos’s confidence faded when he noticed something strange: Namkhai’s fist began to glow with a clear, see-through light, and some pure substance gathered around it.

  “What is that?” Phobos raised a brow in annoyance. “You said you were a monk, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah, I did.”

  “Then how are you doing this?”

  Namkhai snorted.

  “What are you talking about? I’m a magician too, so just die already!” he barked and punched the air.

  The air exploded. A shockwave rolled across the room, tore apart the concrete, ripped through the wall, and blew a giant hole straight out of the ninth floor. Debris rained down, and a sharp gust of wind burst into the room.

  Phobos dodged by dissolving into the air and slipped out of a portal right behind Namkhai.

  “How?! Did I miss?!”

  “You lied to me,” Phobos growled. “You’re not a monk. That means I can kill you without holding back.”

  “And why do you think that?”

  “You lying piece of shit…” Phobos cursed and rushed forward, swinging his blade.

  Namkhai tensed, ready to block the strike, but Phobos disappeared instantly.

  “Again behind me,” flashed through the monk’s mind. He quickly turned around, but no one was there.

  He didn’t even have time to be surprised when he felt a shadow above him. Phobos was already falling down on him from above, aiming his blade at Namkhai’s head. Dodging was impossible.

  And then….. BAM!

  Phobos’s blade split in half, knocked aside by a bullet that came from above. On the ruined floor, barely standing and leaning on the wall, Dinar stood with a smoking pistol. His shot saved Namkhai from instant death.

  “Devil… missed,” Dinar rasped, lifting his gun again and aiming straight at Phobos’s head.

  But the killer reacted faster. He pulled out his own pistol and fired. Two shots rang out almost at the same time. Dinar’s bullet went off to the side, and Phobos’s shot hit the captain in the shoulder, throwing him back.

  Phobos tried to retreat, but Namkhai moved faster and grabbed him by the clothes, saying mockingly:

  “Ha! You like flying, freak? Let me help you!”

  Putting all his strength into it, the monk threw the killer into the gaping hole in the wall. Phobos flew out, and as soon as he started to fall, black tendrils burst out of his body.

  They wrapped around Namkhai’s leg, pulling him down with brutal force.

  “Oh fu-?!” was all the monk managed to yell before the floor under him gave way and he was dragged into the void after his enemy.

  Phobos couldn’t use his teleportation while falling, and they both crashed down onto the parked cars below. Both wounded and stunned, they barely crawled out of the crushed roofs and, staggering, ended up in the middle of the street, surrounded by panicking people running away. They were breathing heavily, barely standing, staring straight at each other.

  Namkhai straightened his robe and tried to get into a fighting stance.

  “That was too much...... I thought it was the end for me.”

  Phobos pulled out his gun and pointed it at him. The crowd screamed:

  “He has a gun!”

  “ Come on, let's not do this anymore, calm down,” Namkhai said, tiredly.

  Phobos pulled the trigger click. No more bullets.

  He angrily threw the gun onto the asphalt.

  Just then, a military unit arrived. Officers and soldiers surrounded them both, weapons raised.

  “Get on the ground! Lie down now!”

  Namkhai gave a big smile, still breathing hard, and pointed at Phobos:

  “Oh, you’re just in time! Please arrest this bastar----”

  He didn’t finish. Someone hit him. Phobos was tied up then. Both of them ended up in handcuffs, and without ceremony they were loaded into an armored vehicle.

  ________

  Dinar, barely standing, stood by the hole in the wall that Namkhai had made. He held a stranger’s phone found in the rubble. He dialed the reception on the first floor.

  “No unnecessary questions. The police are already on the way. We can’t get out with the lady. So surrender without resistance. That’s an order.”

  He hung up and caught his breath. A few minutes later the phone vibrated with an incoming call. Dinar closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and answered.

  “Yes.. Yes. No, all the mercenaries are dead. Your daughter is alive but wounded.... Yes. No, we’re about to be detained.. No, don’t worry. I have it under control... Understood. Yes.”

  He hung up. His fingers were shaking, but his gaze stayed hard.

  Dinar took a deep breath, gripped the phone, and dialed another number. The line rang until a single-word voice came from the other end:

  “Is that you, Captain?”

  “I don’t have time to explain. I need you, so listen carefully.”