The black light wave cloaking Heres’s blade sliced through Damocles’ electromagnetic barrier. As the multi-layered shield reformed, Danang’s machine gun blaster seared the black iron armor with laser bolts.

  One strike, two, three—igniting his back boosters, Danang circled behind Damocles with thruster, Danang endured a barrage from anti-air turrets.

  Sparks flew from Danang’s crimson armor, his vision dazzled by laser beams and tracer rounds. Closing in risked the electromagnetic claws’ deadly swipe; retreating made him prey for the auto-tracking turrets. Damocles, wielding all-range weaponry, shot down the airborne Danang, closing in with terrifying speed.

  A bluff. Damocles had no intention of fighting fair. In a split-second realization, Danang saw Damocles’ thrusters backfire, retreating as fast as he’d approached, his arm armor opening to reveal micro-pulse warheads aimed at Danang.

  “Blow apart, Danang!” Damocles roared.

  “—!”

  Electromagnetic pulses could disable all electronics and machinery. If the pulse warhead fired, even Lumina might shut down temporarily. A chill ran through Danang’s burning flesh as he deployed his high-caliber blaster rifle, recharging its energy.

  “Danang,” Nephthys called.

  “What?!” Danang snapped.

  “Suggest evading upward.”

  Danang was about to curse when Eve’s silver wing flashed in his view.

  “That’s the best move, Nephthys?!” he shouted.

  “Yes, maintain energy charge. I’ll assist with barrel and targeting.”

  Danang soared toward the silver wing, scanning the battlefield mid-air. He confirmed the positions of Eve’s wings and glared down at Damocles, priming the pulse warhead on the ground.

  “Enemy mechanoid firing pulse warhead. Engang’s blaster rifle charge complete. Code Animus sustain time: one minute remaining.”

  The rifle’s barrel locked onto a silver wing, firing a destructive laser. The beam ricocheted off one wing to the next. Spotting it, Danang kicked the pulse warhead—now inches away—back toward Damocles, diving at him.

  “Have you lost it, Danang?! I’ll carve you up—”

  No, wrong. Damocles, twitching his electromagnetic claws, glanced at both the ricocheting laser and the redirected pulse warhead, igniting thrusters and roller dash to evade.

  A fatal misjudgment. Fixated on Danang’s approach, Damocles missed his intent—a critical error. An ordinary person would’ve given up, bracing for death, accepting defeat and yielding to Danang’s attack.

  But he was Damocles—gangster leader, personal fortress, a hyper-dangerous figure feared from undercity to upper city. Even with Heres shredding his electromagnetic barrier and stripping his defenses, he gripped Danang’s throat, slashing his crimson armor to ribbons.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Gonna die with me, Danang?!” Damocles snarled.

  “Only you die, Damocles!” Danang roared.

  A pale blue pulse wave pierced their armor, forcing prosthetics and nanomachines into partial shutdown. Damocles crumpled to his knees. Danang, his crimson armor collapsing, bled from his neck but kept fighting, severing an electromagnetic claw before staggering and collapsing.

  Victory. If the laser, reflected by Eve’s wings, pierced the defenseless Damocles’ power core, Danang’s win was assured. A decade-long battle could end. He could kill this madman with his own hands—

  “Enemy mechanoid restarting. Emergency evasion recommended.”

  “…What?” Danang gasped.

  The hum of a power core rumbled.

  Damocles’ mechanical eyes, supposedly offline, swiveled. His massive, steel-clad frame reignited with madness.

  “Means… they’re for achieving ends. Don’t you think, Danang?” Damocles sneered.

  Unfazed by the pulse wave’s chaos, Damocles overclocked his power core, twisting his mouth into a warped grin. Opening his right chest armor, he revealed a red-hot auxiliary power source spinning gears and engines.

  “Get up, Danang… Stand and kill me! Quick, precise, do it! Or I’ll kill you!” he roared.

  “…Damocles,” Danang muttered.

  A short gunshot and a shrill metallic clang. A 9mm Parabellum round fired from Danang’s mechanical arm ricocheted off Damocles’ armor, bouncing into the rubble.

  “Think that pea shooter can kill me?!” Damocles laughed.

  “I’ve won,” Danang said.

  “What are you—”

  “Blaster laser targeting enemy mechanoid’s chest… notebook.”

  In that instant, Damocles twisted as he lunged at Danang, the notebook flying into the air. The laser pierced it mid-fall, scorching the asphalt and grazing Damocles’ armor. The paper notebook burned to ash, dissolving into light particles.

  If only… Damocles’ restart was an anomaly even Danang hadn’t foreseen. He’d hoped the laser would pierce the power core alongside the chest armor while Damocles was immobilized by the pulse wave and stripped of his barrier.

  But expectations and predictions were treacherous daggers. If Damocles’ restart was his backup plan, the laser burning the notebook was Danang’s insurance. Losing the fight but winning the battle, Danang smirked, reached for a cigarette rolling in the rubble, put it to his lips, and leaned against the debris.

  “Damocles, got a light? Lend me one,” he said.

  “…Use it yourself,” Damocles grunted.

  Where had his madness gone? Clicking his tongue in boredom, Damocles tossed Danang a steel lighter, lit his own cigarette, and smoked.

  “…”

  “…”

  The curling purple smoke brought silence, the devastated ruins wafting a desolate scent.

  “…I’m done with you. The notebook’s gone,” Damocles said.

  “That so?” Danang replied.

  Flicking away his burned-out cigarette and brushing dust off his armor, Danang forced his pain-racked body to stand.

  “Can I ask one thing?” he said.

  “What?”

  “When did you start targeting the notebook? Didn’t want to kill me?”

  “If I could’ve killed you, all the better. But if I failed, burning the notebook avoids future trouble. Get lost. I don’t want to see your face for another second.”

  Glancing at the notebook’s ashes, Damocles, free from the pulse wave’s effects, spat with a look of pure disinterest.

  The notebook Danang burned was a vengeance ledger, carried by gangsters. It meticulously recorded shame, sins, debts, betrayals, and lessons—a memory device for those bound by their code.

  Gangsters exacted catastrophic violence on those crossing forbidden lines, settling grudges. Many carried ledgers or notebooks, hunting targets for retribution. Those uninvolved in vengeance were more reasonable, often serving as shop guards or turf protectors.

  The notebook was a memory device, proof of vengeance. Damocles’ burned notebook meant his reasons to hunt Danang vanished. With no cause to fight or kill, he glanced at Danang with disinterest.

  “See ya, Danang. Next time, it’s twenty. Kill twenty of my men, and I’ll come for you. This time, I’ll burn you to nothing. Be ready,” Damocles warned.

  “Get lost, scrapheap,” Danang shot back.

  No need to be told. Muttering, Damocles ignited his thrusters, leaving the rubble-strewn ruins behind. Danang collapsed, closing his eyes.

  Killing the man who killed the old man didn’t extinguish the smoldering embers in his chest. Maybe… no, this was just lashing out. His anger and hatred, like a child’s tantrum, clung to his heart like rust-tainted sludge, unyielding.

  Surrendering to overwhelming sleep, Danang breathed faintly, sinking into slumber with unburned killing intent.