Chapter 172: Escape Route

Colonel Rourke had barely finished speaking when a shadow moved behind them. One of the soldiers turned, weapon snapping up instantly.

"Who’s there?!"

A figure slowly stepped out from the darkness, silver hair catching the faint light, black shadows curling lazily around his boots. The soldiers immediately raised their weapons as Nykos walked forward as if he had merely been taking a leisurely stroll, and the atmosphere changed--several soldiers tightening their grips as Colonel Rourke’s eyes narrowed.

Nykos stopped several meters away, an expression of faint amusement on his face, like a man who’d just walked into a rather entertaining situation. One soldier standing near the Colonel stared at him, then his eyes widened.

"You..."

Nykos glanced at him, and the soldier’s face tensed. "Is this your doing?"

Nykos slowly raised an eyebrow. "That’s bold of you to accuse me."

"It’s not an accusation... Who else could do this but you? And you’re here..." the soldier said, his voice growing firmer as though his initial shock had hardened into certainty. "You did this."

Nykos stared at him for several seconds before scoffing. "That’s quite an impressive spectrum of delusion." The corner of his mouth lifted. "I almost envy you. To be able to look at a facility full of corpses and imprisoned people and somehow conclude that I have time to build it." His gaze swept over the soldier. "Truly remarkable."

The soldier’s face reddened. "You—"

He raised his weapon.

"Stand down!" Colonel Rourke’s shout came immediately, but the soldier had already pulled the trigger mechanism halfway.

Nykos lifted one hand, and the shadow beneath the soldier’s feet shot upward before anyone could react, wrapping around his throat and lifting him off the ground. His weapon clattered to the floor as he clawed at the darkness circling his neck, boots kicking uselessly in the air.

Colonel Rourke’s expression darkened. "Nykos."

Nykos glanced at him.

"Let him go."

Nykos’ eyebrows rose. "Is that an order?"

The Colonel’s jaw tightened, and for a moment neither man moved. Then Rourke exhaled deeply.

"No," he said, his voice calming. "It’s a request."

The soldiers around him looked stunned, but none of them questioned it. They all understood why the Colonel did this. This wasn’t an ordinary wanted criminal standing before them. Nykos was an SS-rank Sentinel, one of the most dangerous individuals in the galaxy, and they were standing inside a contaminated zone filled with unstable miasma, surrounded by machinery and civilians who needed to be extracted. A fight here could kill everyone.

Nykos’ gaze shifted toward the soldier still struggling in his shadow, and a faint chuckle escaped him. "Much better."

His fingers loosened, and the shadow released the soldier—though Nykos didn’t bother lowering his hand completely, and the man was thrown backward, slamming into the wall. His head struck the metal surface, and he went limp. A few soldiers instinctively stepped forward.

"Don’t." Colonel Rourke raised a hand, and the soldiers stopped.

Rourke looked at Nykos, then noticed something else—a faint rumble coming from somewhere behind him.

"What’s back there?" The Colonel frowned, staring at the hidden passage.

Nykos turned his head slightly, then smiled. "Don’t you know that curiosity kills the cat?"

Rourke’s eyes narrowed. "Is that a threat?"

Nykos looked back at him.

"Threat?" His smile turned strangely unreadable. "That all depends on what you do next."

He slowly lifted his chin. "Either capture me... or save the people in this place first."

The soldiers exchanged uneasy looks. A young man standing beside Colonel Rourke, Lieutenant Kael Mercer, his right-hand man, one rank below him and responsible for coordinating the soldiers under his command, leaned closer and dropped his voice low enough that only Rourke could hear.

"Sir, we can do both."

Rourke didn’t answer.

Mercer pressed on carefully. "We can send one group after Nykos while the others secure the civilians."

Rourke looked at him. The suggestion wasn’t unreasonable. But it won’t work on a man like Nykos.

He looked at the SS-rank Sentinel standing several meters away, then around the cavern: the old ceiling, the unstable walls, the miasma concentrated throughout the area, and the hundreds of civilians who might still be trapped inside the facility. If they fought Nykos here, the entire place could collapse.

Worse, if they cornered him, Rourke had no doubt Nykos was insane enough to bring the whole contaminated zone down around them to escape—and if that happened, there was a very real possibility he’d be the only one who walked out alive.

Rourke slowly raised his hand.

"Stand down."

Mercer looked at him. "Sir?"

"We’re not engaging him."

"But—"

"We will prioritize saving the civilians." His gaze hardened. "Secure the facility. Extract every surviving victim. Record everything in here. And nobody touches Nykos unless he attacks first."

The soldiers lowered their weapons at his order.

Nykos’ smile widened, genuine appreciation in his voice. "Smart. At least someone here knows how to think in this situation."

Rourke didn’t respond. He watched as Nykos turned around, and the shadows around him suddenly expanded, crawling across the ground and climbing the walls until the entire entrance behind him disappeared beneath a thick layer of darkness.

Then, Nykos looked over his shoulder.

"No one is allowed to come in here... unless you want to be killed."

Rourke frowned. "What’s in there?"

"You’ll find out soon."

The darkness sealed completely.

On the other side of the darkness, Aisha heard the soldiers moving outside, who was still holding Zenick. His body was frighteningly still against her, so she held him closer.

Amar stood nearby, his expression grim as he looked toward the blocked entrance.

"We’re trapped here."

Vince rolled his eyes. "Really? More like they’re trapped here with us."

Aisha looked at Nykos as he got closer to them. "Are they coming here?"

"They can try. But they won’t do it right now. They’re busy handling what’s been left behind in there." Nykos walked toward her, then his gaze lowered to Zenick.

Amar frowned. "And how exactly are we leaving?"

Nykos’ eyes shifted toward the enormous room behind them, and he pointed ahead. "Well... don’t we have a Teleportation Array here?"

Amar’s expression darkened immediately. "You can’t be serious."

"Do I look like I’m joking?" Nykos glanced at him.

"But we don’t know where it leads." Amar’s gaze stayed fixed on the array. "If we step onto it, we could be transported directly into enemy territory."

Aisha looked toward the array, the enormous structure occupying the floor ahead of them, its intricate lines glowing faintly beneath the dim light. Murderous intent slowly surfaced in her eyes. Nykos noticed, and before she could glare at the array any harder, his hand covered her eyes.

Aisha froze.

"You’re going to hurt your eyes if you keep glaring at it like that."

Amar looked at the two of them and said nothing. Nykos finally lowered his hand and gestured toward the massive array. He said, "The ship has multiple destinations."

Aisha’s eyes moved toward him.

"We just need to redirect the destination that’s currently programmed." He pointed toward the control system beside the array.

Aisha’s expression shifted. "Where?"

Nykos’ gaze settled on her. "There are multiple Teleportation Arrays across Gaia. So all we need to do is change the ship’s direction and send ourselves back to one of them." His voice remained calm despite the chaos outside. "For now, we don’t have to know where this one was originally supposed to take us."

He glanced toward the array once again. "We only need to make sure it takes us back to Gaia."