The echo of Thanatos Protocol's footsteps resounded with an almost ritualistic cadence in the wide corridor of the hidden base. The raw concrete floor vibrated slightly with each impact, as if the entire structure could sense the presence of that being. The walls, coated in a cold, time-worn metal, reflected the sound in waves that crashed against the metal columns, creating a mechanical symphony that filled the space with a low, sinister tone.
Thanatos advanced in almost absolute silence, like a living shadow gliding through the rubble of the old military installation. The mask that covered his face, molded in the menacing shape of a skull, was at the same time his emblem and shield, with eyes that glowed an intense, pulsating amber, seeming like windows to a torn soul, or perhaps to a machine programmed to kill.
Seraphina watched him stand there, motionless as a living statue, her sharp eyes fixed on her opponent. She absorbed every little detail: the way his shoulders moved slightly before each step, the slight tremor that ran through his arm as he prepared the next attack, the muffled sound of his breath escaping beneath his mask. He was no amateur; she could feel it in every fiber of his body. Someone who had seen death up close, and had already inflicted it on others.
His heart was not beating fast, at least not on the outside. Inside, however, each beat seemed to be marked in time with the enemy's steps, like a mortal clock counting down the time until the start of combat.
The silence was broken by the sharp creak of concrete under the impact of the first movement. Thanatos advanced with a brutal thrust, the metal claws in front of him aiming directly at Seraphina's throat with surgical precision. The blade of her steel fingers felt like a lightning bolt, ready to tear through flesh and vital blood vessels.
Seraphina tilted her head to the side at the last possible moment, dodging by a split second that could have been fatal. Her body moved with the deadly grace of a predator, dodging the attack with almost superhuman agility. Just millimeters from contact, she countered with an upward uppercut, a quick, explosive strike that exploded against Thanatos's armor.
The impact sent sparks flying in all directions, illuminating the dim room with tiny flashes of gold and red. The sound of metal clashing against metal was deafening and piercing, reverberating through the base like a rumble of suppressed thunder.
Seraphina took a step back, her eyes narrowed as she assessed her opponent. A faint metallic scent permeated the air, a barely perceptible aroma that leapt to her trained mind, a trademark.
It was titanium. Reinforced, customized, a rare alloy used in high-tech armor capable of withstanding violent attacks while still maintaining mobility. That meant one thing: Thanatos was no ordinary mercenary she could easily dispatch. He had sponsorship, access to advanced equipment, and, by the looks of it, enough skills to justify it all.
Seraphina slid sideways with a fluid, calculated movement, dodging a rapid flurry of attacks. Thanatos slashed with razor-sharp claws, trying to rip and unbalance her. But she countered with a ferocious combination: straight elbows, roundhouse kicks that swept the air with force, and short, precise punches. Her style was brutal and direct, a lethal mix of Muay Thai and the wild unpredictability of Rough and Tumble, a street martial art that required courage and aggression.
As she fought, Seraphina began to notice patterns in her enemy's movements. A slight delay in certain strikes, a barely perceptible repetition in the sequence of attacks. Each dodge, each impact, triggered flashes in her mind. Memories? No, they weren't hers. They were data, information gleaned from past missions, fragments of classified files.
"Echo has compiled a list of D- to S-class hostiles… Villains with unique abilities, in hiding, hired by shadowy groups…" Echo's voice, in the mental communication, came clear and steady in her head, a constant reminder of the complexity of the mission.
Then, something clicked inside her. A flash of recognition, a sudden connection. Her eyes widened, her muscles tensing, almost freezing for a moment. "This attack pattern… I've seen it before."
Thanatos didn't wait. He lunged again, this time with a more refined technique. He crouched, pushing himself off the ground with his free hand, and spun with a cross attack from above, his sharp claws aiming for a killing blow.
Seraphina used her forearms to block firmly in the form of a shield, the sound of metal on metal reverberating like a contained explosion. The force of the impact threw her backwards, forcing her to jump to gain distance.
She was breathing deeply, sweat running down her temples, her face marked by intense concentration. She knew that this was no ordinary confrontation, this was a mental, physical and strategic battle, a fight where every mistake could be fatal.
She took a few steps back, not out of fear, but to gain time for analysis. In her mind, several pieces of information were mixing together, forming a complex puzzle.
Thanatos Protocol, code name, an identity created to spread terror. But the man behind the mask was much more than that.
'Real name: unknown. Class C villain. Former enforcer for the Moscow Government. Missing for seven years after eliminating his own infiltration team…' And then it hit her. A mental snap, as if all the pieces finally fell into place. She recognized him.
"I know who you are," Seraphina said, her voice firm and sharp, wiping the blood from the corner of her lips with the back of her hand. The villain stopped, surprised by the certainty in her voice. "You're not just a brute with claws," she continued, her tone icy. "You're Mikhail Drekanov, code name: Thanatos Protocol."
The silence was heavy, almost palpable. His amber eyes flashed with a mixture of surprise and anger.
"Former soldier of the Russian 9th Reconnaissance Battalion," she continued, "known for carrying out orders without hesitation… until the day he exterminated his own superiors after discovering they were to be used as bargaining chips."
Thanatos stood still for a moment, as if digesting each word, processing the unexpected revelation. Then his body pulsed, the amber aura radiating through the metal joints of his armor.
"Your EVP is a form of neural induction combined with a reinforced exoskeleton," Seraphina continued, her voice firm, each word a blow. "You convert pain into neuromuscular acceleration. The more damage you take, the faster and stronger you become."
At the back of the room, Ethan's eyes widened in surprise. "Where… do you know all this from?" Seraphina just stared at her enemy, responding with a slight smile of disdain. "His data was archived in the records of the Advanced Intelligence Division. A group that knows villains like him very well."
She paused dramatically, savoring the irony of the moment. "And honestly, I expected more."
Thanatos growled, the sound distorted by the mask's modulator, a mix of anger and challenge. "You'll regret provoking me, girl."
Seraphina didn't back down an inch. "You'll regret underestimating me, you fucking bastard."
The two advanced simultaneously. The clash between their bodies was like the impact of two titans. The concrete beneath their feet crumbled with the impact, cracks appearing in webs that spread across the surface, like scars from the battle.
Seraphina swung her elbow, hitting his temple with a dry, dull impact that made Thanatos stagger. She used the momentum to deliver an arcing sweep, knocking him down momentarily.
But her opponent was no pushover. With surprising strength, he pushed himself off the ground and threw his weight onto her, trying to immobilize her arms with an iron grip.
Seraphina remembered Elysian's words, echoing like a mantra in her mind. "If your opponent is physically stronger, break the rhythm. Don't try to win with strength. Win with technique."
With the agility of a snake, she slid her body, creating a space that forced his collarbone to dislocate. With a quick and brutal movement, typical of Krav Maga, she pressed his thumb against his wrist, applying enough force to break the bone's socket. Thanatos roared in pain, but did not retreat.
Wasting no time, Seraphina advanced with a quick sequence, firm punches to the abdomen, strong knees to the chest, and a spinning elbow that made her enemy stagger back, colliding violently with a metal pillar.
He smiled, a dark, cruel smile that made his amber eyes shine even brighter. "Now… this is getting fun."
Thanatos Protocol regained his balance with frightening speed. His body arched, absorbing the impact, while an aura of amber energy began to pulse around him. Sparks of light ran through the metal joints of his exoskeleton, like small electric bolts that announced the storm that was to come.
"You don't understand anything…" he murmured, his voice distorted by the modulator. "Fighting me one-on-one is suicide."
The air around him became thick, almost suffocating, vibrating with an invisible but palpable energy. "My EVP is not like the others. It is unstable, aggressive, and completely adapted to the battlefield."
The ground shook with a low, deep sound, as if the very foundation rebelled against the presence of this monster.
Thanatos' armor began to vibrate violently, while an aura of amber energy expanded around him, forming an invisible thermal shock that made the air seem to ripple like the heat over a summer road.
"Average EVP rating, but with a unique specialization," Seraphina explained quietly, almost to herself, as if trying to decipher a riddle.
Thanatos slowly raised his arms in a threatening gesture. "Neural feedback."
His voice became low, animalistic, filled with fury. "The more damage I take, the faster, stronger, and more resilient I become. Every wound I take… becomes an advantage."
Thanatos continued, his gaze filled with murderous intent. "Pain is the fuel of my power. And now, girl… I am on fire." Ethan, in the background, stood guard, ready to act if anything got out of hand.
But Seraphina stood firm, her body leaning forward slightly, her hands clenched into fists. Her razor-sharp eyes fixed on her enemy. And then something changed. A cold, cutting smile appeared on her face.
"If I used my all..." she thought, as a golden glow flickered briefly beneath her disguise, a glimpse of her true energy. "This guy would be as fragile as an old pencil."
Thanatos ran with a speed that seemed to tear the air around him, his amber aura intensifying like a living flame. Seraphina did not move. She knew that dodging would be a waste of energy.
The attack came hard, direct, brutal, aimed at her chest like a hammer that would crush any resistance. But she didn't dodge. In the final instant, her right fist closed in a different way. Her breathing stopped for a second, time seemed to freeze.
She focused her EVP not on an explosion, but on absolute precision. Her hand flashed with a dull white glow, almost invisible to the common eye, a dry movement, without spectacle, but devastating.
The punch hit exactly between the third and fourth ribs on the left side, in a vital spot. Thanatos froze. His body went rigid, like a machine whose circuits had been abruptly cut. He tried to take a breath, but the sound that came out was a muffled, hoarse hiss.
"Left lung… paralyzed," Seraphina whispered with surgical precision. "And the right is about to collapse as well if you try to force breathing with neural assistance." Thanatos fell to his knees, coughing up scarlet blood that stained the dark floor.
The mask, already cracked, was shattering further, a reflection of the fragility hidden beneath the armor. Before he could react, Seraphina moved like a shadow, too fast for normal eyes to follow.
With an elegant twist, her hand slid down Ethan's back, but he didn't even notice until it was too late. She pulled out the pistol he always carried in the inside holster of his jacket, a compact but precise weapon.
Thanatos looked up at her, trying to find some glimmer of hope. But before he could act, two well-aimed shots hit his right shoulder, right at the connection that controlled movement, and his left knee.
The neural connections in his joints were destroyed with surgical precision, not killing him, but leaving him devastated. Thanatos fell to the ground, slumped like a puppeteer who had lost control of his strings.
Ethan stood motionless, eyes wide, unable to react as the villain's immense body convulsed like a fish out of water.
Seraphina walked slowly toward him, now completely paralyzed, staring at him with a cold, determined gaze. "His neural connections have been deactivated," she stated, crouching down to the enemy's level, her eyes fixed on his.
"The blood channels in his upper and lower limbs are unusable." She paused to let the message sink in. "If the Order wants to ask questions, he will answer… even if he's drooling into a breathing tube."
Thanatos tried to open his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. Seraphina turned her face to the side, wiping the blood from her cheek with her sleeve.
Ethan swallowed, still stunned. "You did it with a single, precise blow... and then you shot like you were knocking down paper targets..." he said.
Seraphina gave him a sharp look. "I told you the soldiers in the army were pathetic," she replied with cruel irony. "And you should be thankful you're not the next target."
Ethan raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay... I'm on your side, Lieutenant Marshal."
She snorted, a bitter laugh escaping her. "Don't call me that. I killed that officer along with half my soul in that war."
An awkward silence fell between them, heavy as a leaden veil. Thanatos still lay dying behind them, motionless and helpless.
Seraphina walked over to the documents that had been dropped at the start of the battle. Her hands shook slightly as she reread the bloodstained papers.
There were too many names. Too many words. And among them, two sentences in red throbbed like bells of doom, vibrating with a menacing energy.
OPERATION FINAL THRESHOLD Targets: RUINS REMNANTS AND ORDER OF EREBUS
She narrowed her eyes, her thoughts immediately turning to Elysian. Him. With her razor-sharp mind, she needed to know this in order to come up with effective countermeasures. But right now, it wasn't time to reveal everything. "Ethan, get the communicator," she ordered, her voice firm.
"We need to get this out to the higher-ups in the Order. And Thanatos..." She paused. "He's going to be taken away. And if he survives the trauma... maybe he'll talk."
Seraphina turned toward the base's exit, her firm, purposeful footsteps echoing down the hallway again.
Before she walked through the door, she cast one last glance at the fallen villain. A flash of contempt crossed her face. "Villains like you love to play with pain," she said scornfully. "But they don't know what it's like to live with it." And she left.
His firm steps disappearing into the darkness, leaving behind the certainty that the world outside still had much more to fear than that fallen monster inside that forgotten base.