Chapter 24 · The 99% Deadline

"Get your head down or lose it!" I screamed, grabbing Lilith by the collar of her tactical vest and slamming her behind a reinforced carbon-steel pillar.

Concrete exploded above us. A high-tier thermal charge had just turned the upper balcony into a rain of molten shrapnel. I could feel the heat searing the back of my neck, the smell of ozone and burnt polymer filling my lungs.

Lilith didn't even blink. She shoved my arm off her, her eyes scanning the perimeter with that cold, predatory precision. "I had the shot, Kai. You just blew my line of sight."

"You had a death wish," I snapped, my voice rasping. I wiped a streak of blood from my cheek and glanced at the HUD flickering in my right eye. The Reaper Plugin was screaming. Red digits were scrolling across my vision, calculating trajectories in real-time.

*Enemy count: 12. Distance: 40 meters. Probability of survival: 14% and dropping.*

"Twelve of them," I muttered. "High-tier hit squad. Not the usual corporate goons. These are the Erasers."

Lilith shifted her weight, her combat knife sliding into her hand with a metallic hiss. She stepped closer, her shoulder brushing mine.