"What do you have in mind?" Enak asked as Jack unsheathed Kazekiri.
"Right now? Just wondering how far Diana must've reached by now," Jack chuckled as he took positions.
The humans weren't of much concern to Jack; it was the Revenants that were dangerous here, and Jack didn't waste a second to start working on reducing their numbers.
"Well well, aren't you talking like a soldier who's fighting a dying battle here?" Enak said as he trapped Ortho Sapien bullets in the cape and threw them back at the humans with twice the force.
"Isn't that most likely the case?" Jack said, slicing off heads of Revenants and kicking them away from him.
"Fair enough," Enak chuckled.
Then silence reigned. The only sounds were gunshots and thuds. Jack dashed into the middle of the Revenants and swirled the katana around him with crushing force, clearing away Revenants in a metre radius around him.
He stood there panting, straightening up, the blade stretched out in front of him, surrounded by Revenants that were closing onto him.
"Clearly, not a good idea, was it, Enak?"
"Yes, my lord, but surrounded by at least 50 Revenants, I don't think we were gonna go out alive anyway."
"Hahaaha, fair enough. Let's see… hmm, should I just stab one of their Dantian again? They have enough energy that if one of them blasts, the others will blast too," Jack said, surrounding himself with Kana slabs, and with a mighty push, he pushed them all away with the help of the slabs.
"Not a bad plan. Had you had the Authority, we would've walked out of this without a scratch. I would've been able to handle them exploding all at once," Enak sighed.
"Well, too late to have remorse now—GRAHHHH!" Jack was saying but ended the sentence with a scream as he felt a searing pain on his abdomen and red flames of the Revenant licking his abdomen.
Meanwhile, Diana was making her way uphill, wearing her armour, running as fast as she could, in hopes that she would go help Jack as soon as she reached the top.
"Diana, Diana, this is Blake. Can you hear me?" a voice sounded in her helmet.
"Yes. So is this the Kana network?" she said back.
"Yes. No time to explain. Did you register Jack's Kana signature in the key?" Blake asked impatiently.
"Yes. What now?" Diana answered back as she started leaping and running, doing whatever she could to reach the top faster.
"I will link him now. On the count of three, when I disconnect, say his name and then link," Ethan instructed.
"Alright," Diana said as she used a tree branch as a sling to propel herself forward.
Ethan counted. Diana's heartbeat was rising. Her heart was screaming at her to leave the tent there and make her way back, screaming that it wasn't too late to turn back now.
Then there was silence, which was only broken by sounds of breaking twigs and heavy footsteps.
Diana took a deep breath.
"Link with Jack Hauston," she said.
Jack was kneeling down, clutching his sides. He had narrowly missed being killed by the Revenant. If he hadn't cut off the head, he would've been dead. The body of the red Revenant lay beside him, writhing, even though it had been a minute since its head was chopped off.
Around him were the thickest and the densest Kana barriers he had ever conjured, which were slowly getting absorbed and bitten away by the Revenants.
"Enak, I think you should remove the armour. I have no need for it now," he said, breathing heavily.
Enak obliged.
"Young lord, circumstances prevent me from accepting you as my master, but you have my utmost respect. What I see in you, I never saw in your father—probably because of the fresh peace treaty. His upbringing was too peaceful for a Kratian royalty. He always succumbed to his emotions. But you, you remind me of Rick, how he used to be in his younger days—carefree, valiant, and fearless. Our time together may be brief, but I am glad it was this way," Enak said slowly, as he manifested a black blob over the bite wound on Jack.
"Well, seems like I have your recognition. Seems like my grandpa will also praise me if we meet him," Jack said as he sensed a barrier break down.
"We will see. What's going on your mind, young master?"
"I just wished I could hear what Diana was saying before she left. I hope I could hear her voice again. I wish I could've had the chance to say 'I love you' to my mother, my father, and her. I wasn't able to do it any of the times," Jack said as tears threatened to spill over. He expanded the barrier and lay down on the ground.
"You love her a great deal, don't you?" Enak said, patting his shoulder with one of those semi-solid forms he would manifest. "You did well."
"Well, last barrier… maybe I should just absorb it. Will refill me enough energy to take down five more of them," Jack said as he touched the barrier and closed his eyes.
"Jack? Jack?"
There it is—her voice playing in my head. Well, better than nothing, I guess, he thought with a small smile.
"JACK, can you hear me? Hello?" The voice became clearer.
"It can't be… this is Kana Network! Talk to her, young master!" Enak exclaimed.
"Diana? Hey."
"Thank God you're alive. I will be right there. What's the plan?" Diana replied.
"There isn't one," Jack said, his breathing growing more ragged.
"What do you mean? Jack, no, please don't give up. You don't have to fight. Just run, please. Come here. We are safe. Don't fight anymore," she said, desperation and sadness evident.
"I am out of energy, Diana. They are my people too—I want to free them. And besides, I can't have them follow me back there, can I?"
"What are you saying? Please, please just run. We will handle them together, okay? Please, Jack, don't give up. You can't… you're the only one I have left. I will kill myself if you die!!" she sobbed, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Jack knew this. He clenched his fingers. His nails scraped the rough floor as he resisted the urge to scream—to cry out—not in pain, but regret, sadness, and anger.
"Haha… well, let's see. I'll try not to die," he gave a weak chuckle.
"What d—" Diana was saying, but Jack interrupted.
"Enak, end the call," he ordered.
There was silence in his head—but not in his heart. He wiped sweat off his forehead and eyes.
You made her cry, dumbass. You're the worst. Protect her? What a joke. You made her run and protect herself—you couldn't do it. Pathetic, a voice called in his head.
"If you die, I will kill myself." Diana's words echoed in his head, stabbing knives into his heart.
Jack sighed and put his right hand on the barrier, his left forearm thrown over his eyes. He sighed.
"You just had to call, huh? Well, Enak… seems it's not time to clock out yet," he said, breathing out.
"More than ready, young master," Enak said excitedly.
The armor reappeared—so did the desire to fight within Jack.
He absorbed the last barrier and the remnants of the other barriers. Energy crackled fiercely around him—around his blade—but it was nothing in front of the desire that burned in his heart.
He punched the floor beneath him. There was a loud crack, and the floor broke. He fell through the hole that formed.
"Fuck you. Sorry, Lady Death, but my lady just called me. Can't just come to you now, can I?" he laughed, alongside the cackle of Enak that rang aloud in his head.
He landed on the ground easily, the other revenants gaping and grumbling at him from the hole above.
He straightened up, looked around, and sighed again. The room was full of revenants as well.
"Just how many of you guys did they take in…" he sighed as he got ready to fight.