Edited by: Waning_Crescents

While Sigal tried to find his way around this dark maze, at last he found a secret stairway that also led into the basement. However, the basement consisted of different floors, and it took him a while to get to the bottom layer.

I must hurry! He thought. This took way too long.

After he moved down the last pair of stairs, he carefully opened the door at the end of the corridor. He leaned against the wall, took out his gun and peeked around the corner. From within scream-like-noises echoed in the distance.

I was right, they are here. Hang on, I am almost there!

Sigal entered the room wary of anything around him, while the screaming dwindled until it stopped. He gritted his teeth and quickened his pace as rapid footsteps drew closer.

Clang!

A baton collided with his gun, followed by a kick to his chest. Caught by surprise, Sigal let go of his weapon and stumbled back.

“Dammit!” he cursed under his breath.

“So, there was another,” Ian grinned, while he placed the baton on his shoulder.

Sigal’s eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, and he eyed the man in front of him. “Where is my partner?”

“Very close, but the screaming stopped, so he might be dead already. Poor fella, he must have been in so much pain.” The criminal said. “He was so terrified, it was amusing.” He laughed. “If only you had come sooner.”

“Tsk...I have no time listening to your nonsense!” Sigal clicked his tongue and stormed at the criminal, who dodged and swung the baton at the Conciliator again, but Sigal intercepted the attack and ripped the weapon out of Ian’s grip.

“Wha…?” surprised by Sigal’s quick reaction, the criminal dodged to the side and gritted his teeth. Although their heights and physique almost matched, Sigal’s swift and precise movements outplayed the criminal.

Therefore, the investigator wasted no time and sent more blows Ian’s way, who blocked and dodged until he found himself pushed into a corner.

The criminal dropped to one knee, while blood dripped down from the corner of his mouth. “Are you angry that we killed your partner or are you angry at yourself that you were unable to avoid it?” He grinned. “You are not still thinking that you can save him, right? I already told you it’s too late. No one ever survived as soon as they got injected with the drug, why should he be an exception?”

Ian got back up to his feet, “Accept it, he is dead!” He roared and dashed at Sigal, who seized the criminal’s fist and firmly squeezed it. The criminal let out a cry as his bones cracked.

“You know you talk too much.” With a grim expression, Sigal let go of the criminal and in the next second sent a roundhouse kick to his head. Ian’s eyes shot wide open, and he slumped down to the ground. Blood gashed out from his mouth, nose, and ears, while his eyes lost all color.

Sigal turned on his flashlight, picked up his gun from the ground and dashed deeper into the room until he reached a dead-end. There was no door!

Since the criminal mentioned that Cal was nearby, that could only indicate that somewhere around the walls a mechanism existed that led to another room. Sigal scanned the walls in a hurry, but he found no switch or anything else to trigger the wall to move.

Dammit! Where is it?

He checked the walls again and again, but to no avail.

Sigal gritted his teeth and smashed his fist into the wall. He panted, but then took a deep breath. I have to stay calm.

“Lester, did you hear that?” a voice reached outside from behind the walls.

“Guess Ian found the other intruder,” Lester commented. “Give him a helping hand…we are done here anyway.”

As soon as Sigal heard that, he retracted to the side and not a second later, the wall moved, revealing a spacious room along with a bright light that shone from within. The light not only brightened up the hidden room, but also partly illuminated the outside of the basement. A bulky guy stepped out and his gaze fell on his companion’s dead body.

“L…Lester…Ian is—” he stuttered but froze as he felt something cold and metal-like pressed against his temple.

“What?” Lester exclaimed in shock, but then he relaxed again. “Ooh, you managed to get rid of one of us, how amazing. Seems like I underestimated you.”

“L…Lester, please help me,” Sam’s face turned pale.

In the next moment a horrendous noise filled the basement. Sigal pulled the trigger!

Blood splattered on the investigator’s face as the criminal beside him sank to the ground. Then he took a few steps closer to face Lester. “Lester Brown, a sick bastard with a nasty tendency of killing people out of joy, right?”

“Can’t deny that.” Lester shrugged, who stood in front of one of the modified operating tables. “But even if I underestimated you, you also underestimated me because your partner is only hanging on by a thread right now, but don’t worry his struggle will be over soon.”

He took a step aside, revealing the young investigator behind him. Freed from his restraints and in no state to resist anymore, he laid on the operating table, barely conscious.

Blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth, while he gasped for breath. His eyes swept with an unfocused gaze at the entrance as he discerned a familiar voice.

Sigal?

The corner of his eyes dampened.

He came…

“Isn’t it a nice drug? First the pain overflows you, you’d wish to die instantly, but you can’t cause it will drive you into a slow painful, struggling death. Haah~ this joy, this feeling, I love it.” Lester grinned overjoyed.

Sigal's eyes widened in shock as his gaze met his partner’s. His heart rate increased, sweat formed in his palms… this sight awoke some unpleasant memories; thus, he lost his inner cool for a moment.

Am I really too late? Can he still be saved?

“What are you going to do? Bring me down…or trying to save your partner? Although the latter is impossible anyway,” Lester asked and took advantage of Sigal’s lack of concentration. With a swift movement he took a gun out from underneath his white mantle and aimed it at the older investigator. “I wanted to drug you up as well, but it seems like I have to do this quickly now.”

A clicking noise pulled Sigal out of his daze and with a swift motion he turned his head back to the criminal where a muzzle greeted him. He gritted his teeth as another dreadful noise echoed through the room, which originated from behind Lester.

Lester froze. “...Wha...” His hand trembled and he lost his grip on the gun which fell to the ground with a thud. Blood trickled down from his chest as he stared with eyes wide open at his wound by the heart. “Im...possible…”

“Also...don’t under...restimate...me...” Cal panted.

Even in his pitiful state, he mustered any remaining strength to stop Lester from shooting Sigal. The older investigator stared at Cal in surprise. He didn’t expect this turn of event either.

“Da…mn...brat,” Lester uttered with his last breath as his body sank down and hit the cold stained floor.

Another thud echoed as Cal let go of his gun. He coughed out a mouthful of blood before he dropped back on the table.

This…feeling…

“Cal!” Sigal snapped out of his stupor and ran over.

Through his clouded vision, Cal glanced at his partner, “Seems like...I...really…got in your...way...huh?”

Right after, his eyes shot wide open as piercing pain penetrated his body. He convulsed, while his whole body broke out in cold sweat. He coughed and gasped for breath.

“Stay awake!!” Sigal put his coat over him and picked him up, but Cal’s condition worsened by the second.

What are you saying?

While the younger investigator blurringly caught sight of his partner moving his mouth, he lost his ability to perceive the message.

“Don’t fall asleep!” Sigal ran out of the room while holding onto Cal in hope that the young man held out until he reached the hospital.

I can’t hear you…

“Stay awake, you have to, you hear!?”

However, Cal reached his limit. With all his strength drained, the exhaustion caught up to him. He eyed his partner as he drifted off into the darkness.

“Dammit! I told you to stay awake!” Sigal said through gritted teeth. He noticed that his partner’s condition hit a critical point and he sped up, “Newbie idiot, don’t you die on me now!”

As Sigal reached the entrance of the building, the corps division ran towards them. Their duty consisted of supporting Section 2. Sigal contacted them as he found out what happened to Cal, but for some reason it took them longer than expected to arrive.

“You are damn late!” Sigal yelled at them in anger.

“Mr. Crawford and Mr. Vaughn…what happened?” one from the members of the corps division asked.

“No time to explain now, clean this up, I have to hurry!” Sigal just replied, ran past them and to his car.

“It’s really him!” a man exclaimed happily by watching from a safe distance as the two Conciliators withdrew from the run-down building. The unknown figure had short silver hair, was tall and had a slender, yet strong physique.

Beside him stood another figure, with mid-long black hair and his appearance appeared not as intimidating as the other one, but he emitted a mischievous aura. “You almost lost your precious toy, Axis.” He chuckled.

“Heh, he won’t die that easily. It’s just a pity we lost Lester like that, but I already have an idea how to compensate for the loss,” Axis casually said. “Let’s go Killian, I did what I came for, but now the real fun can start!” The man grinned in satisfaction.