[[[ The Tunnel Guarded by Five Men ]]]
The prisoners' transfer had already been completed before the engagement began, and the last to exit now were Zeus, Beatrix, Surai, and Marwan.
Suddenly, flares were thrown along with gas bombs, forcing the five men to lose sight of the tunnel due to labored breathing and complete lack of visibility.
Amidst this chaos, a shadow emerged from the smoke and killed three men, and when he moved to kill the other two on the right, Beatrix intercepted him in a swift exchange with her sword.
A strike from the man's weapon—whom it was realized too late he was carrying a wide-range handheld weapon… specifically a spear—met with her.
It was deflected toward the wall, and Zeus noticed that its energy gauge on the team's display had dropped by 12 percent, even though the spear had not hit her directly in a proper manner.
(Zeus hurriedly): What are we dealing with!?
(Surai anxiously): A level-four genetic fighter… Be careful… Marwan, you are not to participate in the fighting; just lead everyone out.
It did not seem that the smoke greatly hindered the enemy's vision, as he headed straight to eliminate Beatrix, and Zeus launched his daggers—which forced the enemy to retreat, disappearing into the thick smoke.
Suddenly, Zeus sensed danger; he gathered his spinning disc and his daggers to form a shield on his left side. Indeed, Zeus received a blow from nowhere, which his weapons managed to deflect with relative difficulty as they scattered everywhere from the impact.
Zeus immediately changed his position and placed his back against Beatrix's back so that they would automatically protect each other—and Zeus had no time to realize that he was reverting to old habits while fighting alongside his partner.
Zeus's eyes were wide open without even the courage to blink, until suddenly he noticed a flash of clashing metal nearby and could hear Surai's groan of pain through his earpiece.
(Zeus): Surai, what happened!!?
(Surai, in pain): We need to retreat immediately.
Zeus received the message and rushed with Beatrix toward the exit, with the previously hidden Surai running behind them as well.
(Beatrix): Are we going to run?
(Surai): No, we're just changing position… That smoke is not normal… It gives him some advantage for some reason and blocks all advanced means of sight, including thermal imaging—did you notice that?
Zeus observed Surai's energy meter and found it below 30 percent, so he anxiously asked:
_ You don't look well… Did you lose in the confrontation?
_ I told you he sees us, and we don't see him… Also, he's fast.
Less than a minute later, the trio exited the tunnel, and they could see a group of prisoners fleeing along with nearby fighters.
Zeus and the others waited for the enemy to exit the tunnel; however, the man did not come out of this tunnel but from another nearby tunnel whose existence no one had known.
They were able to see him clearly in the daylight, though they did not see his real form due to the combat suit he was wearing—but it was clear that he was tall and his gleaming white spear was covered in red blood.
The man charged, and Zeus charged to confront him directly, as the enemy launched a wide-range spear strike, which Zeus was able to dodge easily thanks to the daggers that clung like rings around his limbs.
The enemy was astonished by Zeus's illogical movements.
"Integrated flotation system! … Amazing technique," the man thought, before immediately evading a bullet that had passed by him—a bullet that Beatrix had fired.
His gaze remained fixed on the other two targets the entire time, enabling him to pull his head away from the sniper's barrel held by the girl before she could even fire again.
Meanwhile, Surai—who had attacked alongside Zeus—had retreated as a result of the previous wide-scale assault.
(Enemy): Let's finish this.
The man vanished, and Zeus and Surai realized that he hadn't truly disappeared, but rather had become absurdly fast, as Surai's combat suit and stomach had been penetrated by the spear, and Zeus was able to react because he was the second target.
Then, his daggers and spinning disc defended against the man's assault; however, unexpectedly, his defense was not able to fully divert the attack but only slightly weakened it.
When Zeus realized that he was about to take a direct hit, he used an explosive energy burst from his right hand to launch a ball that exploded in front of the enemy's face, causing him to lose focus in his attack and hurl him toward the rocky wall.
Zeus did not stop there; he unleashed the rest of his energy to direct explosive spheres at the enemy who had used his spear. The enemy spun very quickly to deflect all the spheres and neutralize them so that they would explode far away.
The enemy intended to rush in to kill Zeus—to surprise him with an extremely heavy downpour of giant bullets from the sky.
There was a Union mecha attacking him, as it had detected the village men and prisoners fleeing; the pilot decided to secure their escape after ensuring they were not enemies.
Elsewhere, the rest of the mecha were excavating the sealed tunnels to extract the Union forces from the hell of the tunnels in which they were trapped.
The level-four fighter was forced to enter the tunnel to escape the mecha, and Zeus and Beatrix seized this opportunity to carry Surai and also escape.
The trio rejoined the group—with Surai being carried on Zeus's shoulder—and despite his injuries and the blood he was constantly spitting, his eyes and awareness were at their peak, so he asked:
_ Why don't I see Marwan?
One of the men answered him:
_ He returned immediately after getting us out… He went through another tunnel.
Zeus halted his steps, and Beatrix stopped following him as he stopped.
(Beatrix): Let's continue—we cannot go back to help him… Zeus, what's wrong with your eyes!!?
Zeus fell to the ground, feeling as if his head were burning, and meanwhile his eyes were completely overtaken by blackness, as if he were no longer human due to the sight.
In another moment, Zeus saw himself returning to search for Marwan after leaving Surai for one of the men to carry, and he insisted that Beatrix remain with Surai and the others for protection.
Indeed, he entered the tunnel and found Marwan emerging, fleeing using a flying mecha with a broken wing. He was running on its legs, and on its back were two young men.
Behind them, a level-four spear warrior was chasing them and would catch up at any moment… Zeus decided to slow him down a little; however, the man gave him no time at all, using his acceleration skill and decapitating Zeus immediately.
Zeus woke from the vision, and his eyes returned to normal. He asked in pain:
_ How long have I been down?
(Beatrix): What's happening!!?
Surai realized the seriousness of Zeus, as the man's once-smirking, joking look had completely vanished, and Zeus's eyes were piercing enough to show his determination… He was a man who risked his life, and Surai was able to perceive that.
(Surai): You've been down for about ten seconds… Well, that's now forty-one seconds, and the timer is still running… Tell me, what are you thinking?
(Zeus): I have a set of bombs—can they kill that bastard with the spear if I hit him directly?
(Surai): Almost… He has very rapid reflexes; I'm not sure.
(Zeus, in a commanding and dangerous tone): I have a winning chance that does not exceed 70 percent—either I take it or Marwan and my brothers will be killed.
Surai remained silent, as making that decision was entirely up to Zeus, and Surai would support his decision no matter what.
As for Beatrix, she was even more emotional and astonished.
_ Why are you speaking as if you're so sure of it!!… What nonsense are you spouting? Nothing you say makes sense!?
(Zeus): Leave quickly—I will return and catch up with you soon.
Zeus took two steps and suddenly collapsed, as an immense pain equivalent to several previous blows pounced on him. His eyes turned black once again—and more than that, blood began to pour from them profusely.
His screams filled the place, and his consciousness lived in a mysterious dream.
He was able to see himself sabotaging the place to which the spear-bearer was heading, and indeed he detonated the bombs.
A thick dust spread as a result of the explosion, and from the dust the spear-bearer emerged like a bullet. Zeus could see his destroyed suit and his bloody body; the man delivered a quick strike that managed to penetrate the spinning disc that Zeus had used for defense.
It pierced his heart, and at the same time, Zeus's daggers pierced the man's body.
It was death for both sides.
Suddenly, words appeared at the end of this vision in the same mysterious language as the inscriptions. Zeus understood their meaning—they told him that his body could not endure another vision… so if no vision appears to him, it does not mean that he will not die.
Zeus returned to reality with his hearing disturbed and his vision even more troubled and hazy.
He saw how Beatrix was shaking his body and screaming without being heard.
Zeus signaled to Surai with his hand, and Surai understood that Zeus was asking about how much time had passed, so he indicated to Zeus that three minutes had passed.
Zeus noticed that his physical capability was still relatively intact despite the severe pain he was suffering, so he decided to fight.
He signaled to Surai to keep Beatrix with him and ran toward the mountain.
Beatrix tried to catch up with him, only to find Surai clutching her leg tightly, preventing her from leaving despite her pain and injuries that were starting to threaten with bleeding.
This was because Surai had used an advanced healing dose that primarily works to close wounds to conserve blood—a temporary measure that would not last more than a few hours… unless something prompted reopening the wound or applying pressure.
When Beatrix saw Surai's determination and his worsening injury, she could not free herself from his grip by force, and she asked in her trembling, terrified voice:
_ Will he come back?
(Surai, seriously): I promise you he will… We must trust him.