Nicolai streaked over the ground, and he was Nicolai again. The Zero-Twelve state had faded from its peak as he escaped their field of fire, and he’d been unable to cling onto it. However, he was still merged with the others, almost one mind, but not quite on the same perfect level.

  He hungered to regain that state of ultimate combat ability, and grasped greedily at what remained of it, seeking to grow it and return to the peak.

  He knew that he was pursued, but he judged the speed of his pursuers wanting. These Level 1 Cyborgs were pretty fast, but the legs they’d invested in were primarily designed for close engagements. Good for jumping and climbing, and rapid movement over short distances, but they weren’t long-distance runners, and couldn’t quite compare to the speed he reached via slingshotting himself with the Grasping Finger and Pegasi ring.

  But it wouldn’t do to actually get away. Not now when he was having so much fun. So Nicolai slowed down a little. The grin stretching his face had been there for some time. He felt the beat of a hunger within him, one that was connected to the world, from the Thrill and the Dark he was merged with. A desire for combat and blood that could be never sated.

  All he wanted, was… more.

  His path took him past undead and bugs, through trees and over rocks. He made his way between the two towers, heading towards the castle. He kept himself low so as to avoid being shot at by his pursuers, who were slowly drawing closer.

  He slowed himself down a little more, and judged where he wanted to be. His eyes searched ahead, the entrances and exits and windows of the castle.

  There, he saw what he was looking for.

  Shots sounded behind exactly when he’d expected, and Nicolai slotted himself behind a rock, taking cover. Through Soul Sense, he watched them coming. They dashed fluidly from rock-to-tree-to-rock, and as they went their arms were always raised and almost-entirely stable, assault rifles fixed on his position.

  He saw one of them pull a grenade, and the moment it was thrown Nicolai pulled himself to another position, shield raised between him and them as he went.

  Bullets caught at his shield. Without the Zero-Twelve state and the close link with the Dark, he was unable to sense the exact moment of their shooting and dodge the shots. He reached cover and the grenade exploded behind him, some distance away. The Local was once more mutually denied, and thus any grenades could only be set with a timer.

  Nicolai pulled his own grenades and threw them in turn, and saw the enemy diving behind their own rocks. In this moment he leapt into the air, floating with the Pegasi ring until he was peering over the large rock, and took aim. When they emerged, he fired, one handed, while keeping the shield out, gun barrel tight against it.

  The one he shot at ducked back towards cover, but not before they had taken two shots to the shoulder. The shots stripped a few ceramic plates, but the Cyborg didn’t lose any functionality.

  Meanwhile, the other fired on Nicolai, and the highly accurate fire rapidly splintered his shield. He sunk down and was back behind cover before it broke. The moment he was back on the ground, via Soul Sense he spotted one of them streaking rapidly to the side, reaching an area of rubble and taking cover there.

  These Cyborgs were no fools. They already had a plan. One of them would exchange fire with him. While he was pinned, the other would move and work to flank him. Once he was surrounded, he would be an easy kill.

  Not particularly creative, but a reasonable enough plan. It wasn’t going to work out.

  ‘Kill them,’ he said over Link, and his voice was broadcasted to the area of castle he had led the pair to.

  A hail of gunshots sounded as the group, who were in hiding over there, rose up and fired.

  The cyborgs, in position to take cover from Nicolai, had been manipulated into moving into a place where they were now entirely exposed to the others.

  One of the cyborgs died in almost an instant, as Nicolai had labelled him to be shot. He was hit by numerous shots including two sniper rounds that blew great holes in his chest, the ceramic not up to the task. The other fled, took hits, but kept going, quickly getting into an area of jungle that hid him from the others.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  Nicolai followed. Around his body, lightning crackled.

  He moved into the area warily. The Cyborg was hiding somewhere in the trees. This was the one with a hole in his head, who he’d identified as the leader. The hunger within Nicolai drew him forwards. He felt at the air. I smell you.

  There.

  The Cyborg erupted from behind a tree, already firing full-auto, not only with his assault rifle but also with his PDF, two sprays of rounds straight at Nicolai.

  Nicolai was ready, deflecting the rounds with a long and curving shield, and the Cyborg had entered within range of his Soul Sense. Two quick movements of the Grasping Finger pulled both magazines free from the weapons, and the guns fell silent.

  The Cyborg’s shock only caused a brief hitch in his movements before the man’s Combat Drive reacted, and he kept running, hurling the weapons at Nicolai.

  Nicolai lowered the shield, swayed out the way of the hurled guns, raised his arm and the Blue Hornet blasted the Cyborg. As the Cyborg jerked and trembled, frozen in place, he took a step forward and levelled the AA-12, its barrel almost pressing into the centre-left of the Cyborg’s midsection.

  ‘You fought well,’ he acknowledged, and squeezed the trigger.

  A spray of blood emerged from the back of the Cyborg along with chunks of metal and synthetics, as his brain was annihilated by the single perfectly aimed round.

  The Cyborg collapsed in a heap.

  Nicolai raised the AA-12 and rested it on his shoulder, drinking in at the air which was sweet and pure. The taste of survival. The taste of victory. As glorious as ever.

  In the cyborg’s crumpled form he saw another of a long, long line of enemies. They’d been trying to kill him his whole life, and they’d not succeeded yet.

  If he had his way, they never would.

  But around him there was a chill in the air. In his current mental state, something that approached Zero-Twelve, Nicolai remained in control. But the dark was reaching all through him, pulsing and throbbing as energy and entities reached out from the hole.

  Nicolai settled onto the ground, cross-legged, posting Threat Analysis to keep watch, and his mind moved within. In this state of mind, he found himself better equipped to manage the cage and the dark. He grasped hold of them slowly but surely. The thrill burned as he told himself this was a fight, the most important of his new life.

  He had to master himself and remain in control, in spite of everything. It was harder than ever, after he’d let the dark loose for so long and so easily, but in this state he was able to pull himself back into order, slotting everything into its proper place. The hole was blocked as the cage wrapped the dark tight, but it was a difficult fit.

  The dark had grown, fat and full from the strange energies, and slowly but surely it was changing, changing into something that was no longer wholly Nicolai’s. He could see the strange energies moving through it, and he saw no way to remove them. It had grown and spread through his body, to the extent where it no longer fit into the cage. He gathered it together as much as he could but bits of it remained floating within his Soul.

  Everything was coming to a press, but Nicolai told himself that he was the Governor, and the Dark was merely a Module. A Module which would obey. What did the Governor do when its Modules strayed? Nicolai knew this well, as he had experienced its response many, many times.

  He flexed, and squeezed, and enforced submission on the Dark. Within him, the Mask and the Thrill and the other Modules drew together, all pieces of his composite mind, moving as directed. All together, they worked on the Dark and the Hole.

  It was a calming, satisfying experience. He had learned something, mastered something. In this moment, he was Zero-Twelve, and no task was beyond him. But as he worked he felt the state fading. It was slippery, difficult to hold onto. Now that the fight was over, it was beginning to fade back into him.

  He clung tight, seeking to hold himself in the state as long as possible. In that time he was able to thoroughly reinforce the Cage, more than he had ever managed before, and he tied the Hole up tight. The Dark was controlled like the part it was, made to stay inside of its own accord.

  In this moment the Dark also seemed less aggressive than normal. The fight and the use of it had vented some of it and now it was sated, more willing to be laid to rest in the Cage. This was something he needed to keep in mind. In order to prevent himself being overwhelmed, venting it was a workable strategy.

  He was managing to hold himself together. But he knew that if this continued without something changing, inevitably, he would begin to fail. The Dark was only growing and growing, and this new way of being, the Zero-Twelve state, was not a certain thing, not something he fully understood.

  He did not think about what the Angel had told him, what he had worked out. The chill in the air slowly faded, and as it went he showed no reaction. It was simply something he let himself be dimly aware of, below the level of conscious thought. When dealing with the issue before him, thinking was dangerous. He was able to feel at the emotions and even thoughts of those who were not yet Cultivators easily, the gap in spiritual strength giving him an advantage.

  Doubtless the same advantage was possessed by those who were higher up the spiritual food chain than he.

  Gradually, the mental fusion within him faded, his mind coming apart, but he’d bought himself some time. The cage was tight, more solid than it had been for a long time. Even if there were strands of darkness all through him, and he was sure that in some way they were effecting him, with the cage closed, he was still in control. Nicolai let out a slow breath and opened his eyes, his mind stabilising. He rose to his feet, looking at the weapons on the ground by the slain cyborg.

  These guys had had some decent kit, snipers and assault rifles and tactical gear. Then the matter of their augments, some of which looked like they could be removed and made use of. Worth claiming.