They died because of you, Miss Amau

The wind howled, and sparks flew as blade clashed against blade.

The girl's hair fluttered in the wind. Standing before Kinoshita Ren, she looked so small.

Yet despite that enormous contrast, she held her own against the burly man.

Bullets had riddled Kinoshita Ren's armor, and blood kept seeping from the holes.

Their exchanges gradually lost their initial ferocity.

Kinoshita Ren's injuries grew worse, making it impossible for him to focus fully on fighting the girl before him.

Although Esnie had the upper hand, her inferior physical conditioning meant she was gradually showing signs of exhaustion as well.

As the two remained locked in a stalemate, Esnie seized an opening. Her gaze sharpened in an instant, and the Thermal Sword in her hand hummed.

Kinoshita Ren had no way to evade the upward slash. The Thermal Sword's edge struck a part of his body left uncovered by armor.

The blade hissed the instant it touched flesh. Kinoshita Ren reacted quickly, retreating the moment she swung, but even so, the edge caught him, leaving a vicious gash.

Kinoshita Ren grunted and immediately raised his blade, ready to trade wound for wound.

But Esnie seemed to have anticipated it. She dodged to the side, and Kinoshita Ren's powerful slash struck empty air.

[Demon Samurai] panted, his towering body now covered in wounds.

He looked at the girl before him, confusion and bewilderment in his crimson eyes, and asked in a voice muffled by his mask:

"Why are you acting as the conglomerate's lapdog?"

A vicious slash was her answer. Esnie had never made a habit of talking to dead men.

Their blades clashed again.

Kinoshita Ren's strength failed him, and his blade was knocked clean out of his hand.

He looked up as the Thermal Sword loomed larger in his vision.

Shhk-

Clean and decisive, without a single wasted motion.

Esnie slowly drew back her blade.

Before her, the burly body, nearly two meters tall, dropped to its knees. Blood flew along with his severed head.

[Demon Samurai] was no more.

The battle ended in an overwhelming rout.

The Destiny Organization's task force had walked straight into a trap, losing half its strength before the fighting even began.

The fourteenth-floor corridor of the Alt Branch Building.

The few who had escaped the ambush by sheer luck leaned weakly against the wall, their tactical suits largely destroyed by the explosions.

The man leading them suddenly stood and grabbed the collar of the visibly flustered Ian beside him. Staring into his eyes, he demanded:

"Where the hell did you get that intel?!"

Ian struggled, but couldn't break free of his grip. Looking into the man's eyes, he said through gritted teeth:

"I don't know why this happened either. This was all the Wetting Conglomerate's scheme. They deliberately leaked false intel!"

The member of the Destiny Organization's special operations squad stared into his eyes for a long moment before speaking:

"It had better be."

He released Ian's collar. Ian breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his head, conflicting emotions flickering in his eyes.

The squad leader, Knight, turned to the man beside him, whose thigh had been slashed open and was bleeding profusely, and asked:

"Can you still walk?"

The man shook his head, pressing a hand against his wound as he answered:

"Go without me. I don't think I can walk anymore."

A trace of sorrow flashed in Knight's eyes.

They had all once served directly under Amau Sueko, and they had volunteered for this mission.

Who could have imagined that they would lose more than half their people without even catching a glimpse of Amau Sueko?

Neither of the two men talking noticed Ian's furtive movements beside them.

Die!

A crazed look flashed in Ian's eyes.

If these two kept following him, sooner or later something would come to light. Better to eliminate the risk here and now.

He drew a gun from his waist, aimed at Knight's back, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Bang.

A gunshot rang out, and blood sprayed as the bullet tore through flesh.

But the man who fell wasn't Knight of the special operations squad. It was Ian behind him, just as he was about to fire.

Bewilderment still lingered on his face as he died, as though he had never imagined someone would shoot before he could.

The other two men looked stunned as well, unable to process the sudden turn of events right away.

Off to the side, smoke still curled from the gun Amau Sueko held in both hands.

The white-haired girl stood at the corner of the corridor, looking disheveled, as though she had only just escaped.

In fact, she had. The moment she heard the building's alarm, she had used the access privileges she had hacked to open the door of her confinement cell.

She had picked up a gun from one of the dead security guards along the way. Just as she was about to join up with the Destiny Organization's people, she had witnessed the scene before her.

Thank goodness I made it in time...

With that thought, she looked at Knight, took a deep breath, and said calmly:

"Ian betrayed the Destiny Organization... He deceived you."

"Miss Amau... How did you..."

Knight couldn't wrap his head around it for a moment. He had thought the mission was about to fail, only for their rescue target to appear before him.

But he didn't dwell on it. A glance at Ian's body and the gun in his hand told him that Amau Sueko had saved his life.

He collected his thoughts a little, then spoke urgently:

"Miss Amau, please come with us right away. If we leave now, we still have a chance to esca-"

Before he could finish, another gunshot rang out.

Bang.

Blood splashed across Amau Sueko's face.

The man's words cut off as a sudden bullet blasted through his head, punching a hole between his brows. He stared at the girl before him with a bewildered expression.

Then his body collapsed to the floor.

The squad member with the injured thigh sensed something was wrong and struggled to get up and reach his weapon, only to take a bullet to the head as well.

Watching it unfold before her, Amau Sueko's mind went blank.

From deep within the corridor, a man's figure slowly emerged to the sound of applause.

Her cheeks covered in blood splashed from Knight's body, Amau Sueko's hands began to tremble around her gun.

Her lips parted as she looked at that figure, whose presence loomed ever larger in her mind like a nightmare.

He smiled as though he had witnessed a deeply satisfying scene, clicking his tongue as he spoke:

"Even at death's door, he was still thinking about how to get Miss Amau out of here. What admirable loyalty... Tsk."

"So, how does it feel to see them die because of you..."

"Miss Amau Sueko?"

PS:

[Confidential corporate files]:

Wetting Conglomerate Tactical Type III autonomous drone.

Its exorbitant production cost was prohibitive, but it came equipped with the latest-generation Small Energy Shield, capable of blocking physical bullets in most circumstances.

It possessed some combat capability, but was extremely prone to damage.