Chapter 97 (2/2)

Casey looks over at him worried ”That means that you will have to continually control the nodes Valentin won't let you do such a thing He will destroy your mind”

”Let hiround, he closed his eyes and let his h the system

Heine kneels in front of him and reaches to cup the back of Xiao's head He leans his face toward hiently touches Xiao's His breath fans out over his face ”Xiao Yan, remembernow your pursuit of Valentin is not only for yourself but for your companion Do not be impulsive, else you will pay a terrible price You can't do anything over”

Xiao took a steadying breath He understood what Heine was trying to tell hihtforward invasion will be easily intercepted by Valentin He htful and careful Xiao ihts and suppresses his ehts with the battleshi+p

”Let's go”

They all make their way forward and the channel nodes close behind the only one path

Occasionally they encounter killers, even Casey's clones A group of Surge assassins form a circle around theh Casey's chest

Suddenly Xiao stilled his hand

”Hey! Look a bit more carefully That really is Casey” Winn shoved Mark aside

”What do you mean look more carefully? They all look the same” Mark whined as he blocked an attack fro theMark

Heine e When there is no roo his blade, then he simply uses the hilt to crack the skulls of the killers before quickly turning and thrusting the blade through the throat of another

Xiao was besieged by three killers He found it incredibly difficult to navigate the s hirabbed his shoulder to push hiroup, Xiao had cut off his head and leaped toward another opponent The Casey's clone looked at hi his name

'Xiao Yan'

Xiao paused and in that h Xiao Yan's chest Suddenly a figure appeared and roughly pulled Xiao Yan away He landed hard on the ground and his left arm cracked painfully from the hard throw He looked up to see Heine in front of hi and the head of the killer was quickly severed

”Are you stupid? You can't even recognize ed roar rattled Xiao's eardru warm and wet dripped onto Xiao's cheek He looked up to see that Casey was holding onto hie of his nose to the left side of his face It was rapidly healing as he watched

Suddenly Xiao slammed into Casey's body He knocked the blade away that the clone had sneakily unsheathed Xiao pushed hiainst the wall and the instant the clone stue bodies flew as they continued to move forward Xiao Yan went to close the node behind the, but he found that, despite his efforts, he could no extend far enough into the syste another killer head toward the on? What's happened to you?”

Xiao Yan knows that he has not been disconnected fro to lure him in deeper As he extends further into the shi+ps system, he falls further into Valentin's er

Casey was the first to react ”Get his terht Now!”

”No If we interrupt his thoughts right noill darabbed Xiao yan ”Give hiet trapped”

”What about this group of 'Casey's'?” Mark yelled

As they passed a particular channel node, Casey stopped abruptly ”Give rabbed Casey but was harshly pushed away

”Are you the technical soldier or aun and he pressed it to the sliding doors, locking the node He then docked the energy converter of the other gun They all heard adoors opened Casey was suddenly struck down at the threshold and Winn's keen eyes caught the situation He rushed over to pick hi closed

Suddenly a killer rushed to the door and grabbed his ankle before Casey was clear The sliding door sla his bones In less than a second countless hands have grasped Casey legs The sliding door began to sound an alarm It attempted to close but was blocked by Casey's body

”shi+t! Mark can you guys work a little harder?” Winn yelled back and Mark grabbed Casey's waist trying to keep hi!”

Casey was still tightly gripped by the group of killers on the other side of the door Mark planted his feet on the side of the door, to ensure they don't get dragged with Casey past the threshold The killers hands hold the door, leaving a gap of more than 10 centih

The pain is getting too intense and Casey's face is ashen He speaks with great difficulty ”Cut s off! Cut them!”

”What?”

As Winn hesitated over the extre was cleanly severed The sharp difference in inertia caused Winn and Mark to fall backward The door closed instantly

Beads of cold sweat fell to the ground and blood poured from the wound that had not yet healed

”Heyyounothing” Winn helped Casey to the wall and watched as he lowered his hands and pressed them to the place where he was cut

When the wound heals, the pain finally stops

During all of this, Xiao is lost in a dark and directionless oblivion

The entire battleshi+p seems to be Valentin's brain When Xiao finally calms, he suspects that thiswarshi+p has no systehts

If this is the case, entering the hts directlyand his thoughts are the darkest fears of the world Xiao felt a strong pressure flow through his e force wraps tightly around his extending thoughts They compress and threaten to collapse

If this continues he will die

Calm down, Xiao Yan

If this battleshi+p is really Valentin'shis brain, he left the warshi+p

I knowI knowa horrible cliffhanger, but I figured better to have a chapter than waitA lot it going on so I hope that it reads well enough to follow We are so very close to the endI ao through the chapters and proof the

Did anyone expect the Surge to be this?All of the clones and such? I re really surprised when I read it the first time