As Nemesis's razor-sharp fingers thrust toward Liam's throat, time seemed to slow down. Liam braced for the impact and closed his eyes.
So this is how it ends, Liam thought bitterly. What a terrible cliché. I finally get a girlfriend, and now I'm about to die.
A harrowing scream ripped through the office.
Liam opened his eyes. Nemesis was still standing in front of him, but his hand was gone—severed cleanly at the wrist, spraying crimson across the marble floor.
Before the villain could recover, Liam whipped his boot forward, planting a heavy kick directly into Nemesis's face and sending him crashing into the wall. Asher stepped into the light, calmly reeling in a high-tensile wire with a razor-sharp blade attached to the end.
"Let's even the odds," Asher said, his eyes locked on the target.
Liam nodded, wiping a splash of blood from his cheek. "Right behind you."
Nemesis snarled, clutching his bleeding stump as he forced himself to his feet. "Damn you both!" he roared, pointing his good hand at Asher.
"Do you have any idea who I am?!"
Asher shook his head casually. "Nah. Not really."
Nemesis's eyes practically burst from their sockets. "What the hell, man?! Weren't you listening to my monologue earlier?!"
Asher shrugged. "I tend to tune out background noise."
Nemesis was practically vibrating with rage. He opened his mouth, his chest heaving. "I am—"
"Look, I really don't want to know," Asher interrupted, raising a dismissive hand. "Don't trouble yourself."
With an animalistic screech, Nemesis exploded forward. He closed the gap instantly, driving a brutal punch straight into Asher's abdomen. Asher managed to intercept the blow with his arms, but the sheer, monstrous velocity launched him backward, sending him flying across the room.
He's still this strong with one hand? Asher thought as his back collided violently with the concrete wall.
Nemesis was already bearing down on him, but Asher flicked his wrist. The monomolecular wire whipped through the air, the blade slicing mere millimeters from Nemesis's eyes, taking a clump of white hair with it.
Nemesis caught the wire with his bare hand, ignoring the metal cutting into his palm, and violently yanked it. Asher was pulled off his feet, flying straight toward him. But just as Nemesis raised his fist to crush Asher, Liam blindsided him from behind, driving a devastating punch into the base of Nemesis's skull.
Nemesis's vision blurred for a crucial second, leaving him wide open. Asher utilized the momentum of his flight to plant a brutal, double-legged kick directly into Nemesis's jaw.
The white-haired commander snapped his head back, clearing the cobwebs, and retaliated with a blinding elbow to Asher's face. Blood sprayed from Asher's mouth as he staggered back. Liam moved in again, hammering a heavy right hook into Nemesis's spine.
Nemesis coughed blood. Completely fed up with the flank attacks, Nemesis roared, "Get lost!"
He spun on his heel and unleashed a terrifying barrage, using one hand. He punched Liam squarely in the face, absorbed a counter-strike to his own jaw, and fired back with a devastating left hook that slammed Liam bodily against the reinforced glass wall.
Seeing an opening, Asher lunged forward and buried his blade deep into Nemesis's shoulder. Nemesis didn't even flinch. He kicked Asher backward, reached up, and brutally ripped the blade out of his own flesh.
Asher recovered instantly, flicking his wrist to manipulate the attached string. The weapon tore out of Nemesis's grip, spinning through the air and slicing a deep gash across Nemesis's chin.
Before the Number Two of Loop could deduce the trajectory, Liam materialized from the shadows of the broken office. Channeling every ounce of his remaining strength, Liam delivered a flying axe-kick to the back of Nemesis's head, smashing him downward with such force that the floorboards gave way. Nemesis crashed through the concrete, plummeting two stories down into the dark.
Asher and Liam leaned over the jagged hole, catching their breath as they stared at the motionless body below.
They turned to regroup—but a split second later, a blood-soaked hand shot up from the abyss. Nemesis, fueled by pure adrenaline, grabbed Liam by his throat. With a demonic roar, he slammed them downward, dragging him three stories straight into the lower foundations of the building.
Before Asher could act, Nemesis's foot pressed against him sending him in to the wall. Before Asher could even stand, Nemesis was above in the air and landed his both feet on Asher sending him three floors below.