SPARTAN WARLORD SYSTEM: CONQUERING EMPIRES AND BEAUTIES

Chapter 6: The Last Bullet

Strong winds swept the roof of the skyscraper. They carried raindrops that hit the face like ice needles. The nine remaining Black Dragon members formed a half-circle. The muzzles of their automatic rifles locked onto Cleo, who stood on the one-foot-wide concrete ledge.

Beneath the soles of her feet, the dark abyss of New Jersey City yawned a thousand feet deep.

Adam stood stiffly. The barrel of his Glock slowly lowered a few inches. It wasn't out of pity, but out of the panic creeping up the back of his neck. The ancient text from the Persepolis site translated by the consortium's research team rang clearly in his head. The destroyer relic required a voluntary biological transfer. If the physical host died from suicide or extreme violence before synchronization, its metal structure's resonance would collapse and enter a dormant phase for two hundred years.

Two hundred years meant his adoptive father's multi-billion dollar bio-genetic research would turn into a pile of lifeless junk.

"Get down from there, Cleo," Adam hissed. He tried to suppress his voice to sound as friendly as possible even though the veins on his temples throbbed wildly. "We can talk. You know I am not a monster. All I want is the compound sample from that artifact. You and Nathan can walk out of this building alive."

Cleo laughed softly. Her soaking wet black hair stuck to her pale cheeks. Yet, her eyes radiated a terrifying cold calmness.

"You are a terrible liar, Adam," Cleo's voice cut through the thunder. "Order all your dogs to fall back into the emergency stairwell. Right now! If even one person steps forward, I will throw myself backward!"

Cleo tilted her heels off the edge of the concrete. Her body leaned a few degrees toward the drop.

"Fall back!" Adam roared as he turned to his men. "All of you, fall back behind the stairwell doors! Hurry up, you bastards!"

The nine masked mercenaries exchanged glances. But seeing the murderous glint in Adam's eyes after he just executed their comrade, they were forced to step back slowly. They disappeared into the darkness of the emergency stair landing. Adam himself shifted five steps back. He created an open space between Cleo and Nathan, who was sprawled on the concrete floor.

"I have done what you asked, Cleo," Adam said while spreading his hands. "Now, give me the box."

Cleo stared at Adam with a slight smirk full of contempt. Her hand holding the black velvet box swung forward. Then, with a hard flick, she threw the box straight toward the emergency stairwell door!

CLANG!

The box hit the floor and rolled into the darkness of the stairs.

"The ring dropped into the stairs! Go get it!" one of the Black Dragon members shouted from inside. The sound of rushed footsteps was immediately heard scrambling for the box.

"Damn it!" Adam gasped in shock and reflexively turned his head toward the stairs.

In that split second, Cleo jumped down from the ledge to the roof floor. But she didn't run toward the exit. The woman lunged toward the blood-soaked Nathan.

"Cleo. What are you." Nathan coughed. Thick blood seeped from the corner of his lips as Cleo knelt in the puddle. She pulled his broad body into a tight and warm embrace.

"That box was empty, Nathan," Cleo whispered quickly into his ear. Her warm breath panted against Nathan's freezing neck.

Cleo pulled a thin titanium chain from inside the collar of her dress. At the end of that chain hung the real Persian gold ring. The cuneiform engravings on it were no longer dim. Instead, they glowed with a blinding blood-red light. It pulsed in rhythm with Nathan's weakening heartbeat.

With quick and steady movements, Cleo looped the chain with the ancient ring around Nathan's neck. The cold metal of the ring touched Nathan's torn chest skin, right above his heart. Instantly, the sensation of static electricity shot through Nathan's entire nervous system. It made him gasp sharply.

Cleo looked into Nathan's steel-gray eyes. Her soft hand stroked the man's rough cheek, wiping away the dried blood on his temple.

"My father said this thing seeks the right vessel. Not a greedy person like Adam, but a soul who knows how to survive in hell." Cleo's tears dripped onto Nathan's lips. A final smile was etched onto her beautiful face. "Take this with you, Nathan. Avenge me. And live."

"THIS BOX IS EMPTY! WE'VE BEEN TRICKED!" 

A shrill, angry scream echoed from the emergency stairs.

Adam flinched. He snapped his head back toward the center of the roof. His eyes widened wildly when he saw the real gold ring now hanging around Nathan's neck. It emitted a red light that began piercing through Nathan's tactical vest fabric.

The veins in Adam's neck tensed like steel wires. His face flushed bright red, hit by the ultimate humiliation of his life. He was played by a woman he considered helpless, right in front of the comrade he always hated for being better than him.

"YOU DAMN BITCH!" Adam roared as he pulled his Glock's trigger without hesitation.

BANG!

The bullet pierced Cleo's back, right between her shoulder blades. The woman's fragile body jerked forward. Fresh blood spurted from her mouth. It soaked Nathan's chest. 

Nathan's breath felt like it stopped instantly. All the sounds of the storm, the rumbling thunder, and the howling wind suddenly vanished from his hearing. All that remained in his world was the weight of Cleo's lifeless body going limp in his arms. Her eyes slowly lost their spark of life. 

The last remnants of Nathan Cross's humanity, trust, sacrifice, and moral bonds that he had guarded his whole life shattered to pieces on that wet concrete floor. All that remained in his chest cavity was a black hole of emptiness that froze into pure hatred toward Adam.

"Cleo," Nathan screamed hoarsely. His voice was no longer a lament, but the deadly hiss of a monster that had just awoken from its slumber.

Combat boots crunched over the puddles. Adam stepped closer. His breathing was ragged with explosive anger. With one brutal kick, Adam booted Cleo's lifeless body out of Nathan's embrace. He left the woman's corpse lying stiff on the concrete floor.

Adam stood right above the helpless Nathan. The still-smoking muzzle of the Glock pistol was now pressed right into the center of Nathan's forehead. It dug into his skin until it bruised.

Adam's eyes were bloodshot. He stared into Nathan's eyes, which now showed absolutely no fear. There was only a cold emptiness that sent shivers down Adam's spine.

"Look at me, Nathan!" Adam roared hysterically. His spit splattered onto Nathan's face. "Who do you think you are?! You always acted so self-righteous! You were always the best in the field! Why... WHY DO I ALWAYS LOSE TO YOU IN EVERYTHING?!"

Nathan did not answer. The corner of his bloodied lips actually curled up slowly. It formed a faint, mocking smirk. It was the smirk of a predator who knew his enemy was nothing but a pathetic clown controlled by an inferiority complex.

"In the next life, Adam," Nathan whispered coldly. His voice pierced right into his best friend's eardrums. "You will still be living in my shadow!"

Adam's eyes narrowed savagely. "Rot in hell, Nathan!"

BANG!

A deafening explosion went off inside Nathan's skull. The hot lead projectile tore through his forehead bone. It burned his brain tissue at supersonic speed. 

Instantly, the world exploded in a blinding flash of white light before finally collapsing into the abyss of silent, eternal darkness. Nathan Cross's heartbeat stopped. His pulse flatlined. Biological death stripped away his consciousness completely.

However, amidst that timeless absolute nothingness, the ancient ring around Nathan's corpse's neck released a wave of blood-red energy. It tore through the fabric of space and dimension. Nathan's soul was forcibly pulled through an endless cosmic vortex.

Right as his consciousness floated on the brink of the void, an incredibly squeaky, sarcastic, and extremely annoying buzzing voice exploded loudly inside his head:

[HEY. Who dares to interrupt my nap!]

The voice yawned lazily. It was followed by the sound of a tongue clicking in utter disgust.

[By the Gods and Goddesses. What kind of fate is this? Why is the quality of my new master such hot garbage, damn it! Wake up, you piece of trash! Are you planning to lay around in a graveyard forever?!]