The elevator descended with a heavy, groaning sound. We were plunged into a darkness that was a strange kind of comfort. Viper's all-seeing eye could not reach us here. The roar of the wind was gone, replaced by the low, steady hum of machinery. The bullet hole in the elevator door was a stark reminder of how close I had come to death. A few centimeters. A fraction of a second. That was the difference between life and termination.
The elevator stopped with a jolt. The doors opened, not to another rooftop, but to a completely new battlefield. We were in a maintenance level, a maze of dark corridors and flickering lights that connected the skyscrapers from within. Thick cables ran along the ceiling, and the air smelled of ozone and dust. It was a tight, claustrophobic space.
And it was perfect shotgun territory.
I unslung the Phantom rifle from my back and let it hang. My hands found the familiar grip of my S-12 Shotgun. In these tight corridors, it was not a liability. It was the most powerful weapon in the room. For the first time since the match started, I felt a small spark of confidence return. Down here, I was not the prey. I could be the hunter.
But we were not safe. Viper could not see us, but he was not stupid. He knew where we were going. And he still had his packmates.
My Acoustic Sensor lit up. My minimap, which had been empty in the elevator, now showed two red dots. They were in a corridor ahead of us, moving our way. They were coming to cut us off. Viper was directing them from above, using us as bait to draw them into a trap.
"They know we're here," I whispered to Anya, pointing at my minimap.
Anya nodded, her face grim. She was already scanning our surroundings, her tactical mind at work. "Good," she said, her voice a low growl. "Then we don't run. We fight. We set up an ambush. Here. Now."
She pointed to a junction in the corridor just ahead. A small server room branched off to the side, its door slightly ajar. It was the perfect spot.
This was it. We were not just a soldier and a liability anymore. We were a team. Anya trusted my skills with the shotgun in these close quarters, and I trusted her tactical commands. We moved together, without needing to speak.
I took point. My shotgun was raised, ready. The heavy weapon felt comfortable in my hands now. I moved to the doorway of the server room and pressed myself against the wall. Anya moved past me and took up a position on the other side, her assault rifle covering the corridor from a different angle. We were a crossfire waiting to happen.
My minimap showed the two red dots getting closer. My Acoustic Sensor was a life-saver. I could hear their footsteps now, the soft crunch of their boots on the concrete floor. They were moving cautiously, but they did not know our exact position.
Closer. Closer.
The first Ouroboros member appeared in the doorway. He was holding his rifle at the ready, slowly scanning the corridor ahead. He had not seen me yet.
I did not hesitate. I stepped out from my hiding spot.
BOOM.
The roar of the shotgun was deafening in the enclosed space. It was a massive, concussive blast that echoed down the corridor. The spray of pellets hit the enemy square in the chest. He was thrown backward off his feet, his body slamming against the far wall before slumping to the ground. Eliminated. Instantly.
The second enemy was good. He reacted fast. He did not try to fight. He dove for a nearby piece of machinery, using it as cover. The staccato chatter of his rifle filled the air as he laid down suppressive fire, pinning me down. Bullets sparked off the wall near my head.
But he was not fighting one person. He was fighting two.
Anya acted. While he was focused on me, she pulled a small, silver cylinder from her belt. A flashbang grenade. She tossed it with a perfect underhand throw. It landed right in front of the enemy's cover.
There was a brilliant, blinding flash of white light, followed by a painfully loud bang.
The enemy soldier cried out. He was disoriented, his senses overloaded. He stumbled out from behind his cover, firing his rifle blindly.
That was the opening I needed. I charged forward, my boots pounding on the floor. He was still trying to clear his vision. He never saw me coming.
BOOM.
Another shotgun blast. Another enemy down.
Silence. The only sounds were our own ragged breaths and the hum of the servers. We had done it. We had worked together perfectly. We had won.
My HUD flashed. It was another message from Viper. It was not calm or taunting this time. The words were simple, and they were filled with pure rage.
[YOU CAN'T HIDE FOREVER.]
As if in response to his words, the lights in the corridor flickered violently. Then, they went out completely, plunging us into near-total darkness. A second later, the emergency power kicked in. Red lights began to flash, casting long, terrifying shadows down the hallway.
Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the entire level. It came from directly above us. The ceiling shook. Dust and small pieces of concrete rained down on our heads.
I looked at Anya, my eyes wide with alarm. "What was that?"
Anya was looking up at the ceiling, her face pale in the pulsing red light. "That was Viper," she said, her voice grim. "He can't shoot us. So he's trying to blow us up instead."
He had found something explosive on the rooftop directly above our position—a generator, maybe a fuel tank—and he had shot it. He was willing to destroy the map itself just to get to me. He was completely unhinged. This was not about winning the match for him anymore. This was about revenge.
The main objective window on our HUDs suddenly flashed, bigger and more urgent than before. It took over the center of our vision.
[FINAL OBJECTIVE: CENTRAL DATA HUB - POINT B. CAPTURE TO WIN.]
The system must have detected that the match was too one-sided. It had initiated a final "sudden death" objective to force a conclusion. Point B. The central bridge. The most exposed, dangerous place on the entire map. It was now the only thing that mattered.
Anya looked at me, her face a mask of dread in the eerie red emergency light. "It's a suicide run," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "There's no way to get to that bridge without Viper seeing us."
She was right. He was up there. Waiting. He knew we had to go there. He had herded us right where he wanted us.
We were trapped. To have any chance of winning, we had to run out into the open. We had to run straight into the viper's nest.