"First blood," Ace radioed in, watching through his scope as one of the Sky-tier solitudes was erased. His mischief bullet had done its job perfectly. Meanwhile, Dame Wasp continued charging the power chamber for the next shot.
Evil Eyes and Delores stared at the static trail left in the air by Ace's bullet, dread creeping into their expressions. The sheer power and speed of the shot were staggering.
Delores felt bullet was even stronger than the one Ace had used to rescue her. 'Was it just the distance making it seem that way?' she wondered.
No—it wasn't just perspective. Ace was better prepared this time, with a proper power supply allowing him to harness enough electricity to take down a Sky-tier curse master outright. And thanks to the nature of the Leprechaun Scope, he had been able to aim directly at the enemy's core, annihilating them at the root.
"Shit, incoming! Two Sky-tier, two Ocean-tier," Ace reported, his eyes fixed on the scope. A beat later, he tensely updated, "There are two Sky-tier at the resort and more low-tier curse masters."
Turns out, three more Sky-tier curse masters and a lot more lower-tier curse masters were in the resort hiding their curse energy, evading the scope's detection—until now. The moment they activated their curse energy in alarm seeing one of them fall, the scope immediately revealed them to Ace.
"Intercepting," Evil Eyes responded without hesitation.
Evil Eyes, Delores, and Mrs Martins moved immediately. Through his scope, Ace watched as a veil of curse energy engulfed the entire highway resort. Just like that, the enemy had vanished from his sight being dragged into Matthew's Dusk Dominion, securing the civilians in the resort.
He exhaled sharply. No longer lingering on Mrs Matthews—she could handle herself. His priority was the incoming threats. Adjusting his stance, he recalibrated his aim. The fight was about to get real—his targets were no longer stationary or slow. Ace didn't panic. Thanks to the passive effect of his Apex Earring, he remained patient and confident—his next shot would land.
Still, he couldn't help but wonder what the S.S.S. was up to. Five Sky-tier curse masters gathered at the resort? Last he checked, only low-level members were supposed to be there, looking to take advantage of the chaos caused by the sudden influx of Oil Mercenaries flooding the county. Something wasn't adding up.
"MountainOfSwords and Aztec are here—I need backup, quick," Mrs. Martin's voice crackled through the comms, urgent but composed.
Having crossed paths with the S.S.S. many times, the C.I.B. had managed to identify most of their core and high-ranking members. Even if they only had their codenames, it wasn't surprising that Mrs. Martin recognized them on sight.
Evil Eyes cursed under his breath before updating, "You'll have to hold on. MindBug and Demon7 are here too."
That changed everything. They had severely underestimated the S.S.S.'s presence. But it wasn't their fault—never before had so many infamous Sky-tier members of the S.S.S. gathered in one place. This was completely unexpected. Nobody had expected that their hunt for a few capable innate curse tools would turn so serious so fast.
Mrs. Martin didn't miss a beat and immediately instructed over the comm, "Janice, contact Layla and update her on our situation. She'll know what to do."
"Got it," Janice agreed.
Ace took aim again as the 30-second down period ended and Dame Wasp finished gathering power. But there was a problem—the Sky-tier and Ocean-tier enemies were too fast for his eyes to track.
So, he immediately radioed them in, "Evil Eyes, can you hold them down for a couple of seconds?"
"Sure. Just don't miss," Evil Eyes responded, making a snap decision to engage one of the Sky-tier, Demon7, head-on. He needed to stall them long enough for Ace to take Demon7 out.
But if Ace didn't land his shot, Evil Eyes would be trapped between MindBug and Demon7. Therefore, it was a dangerous gamble to make. However, he was prepared to take such a huge risk by putting his trust in Ace.
Seeing Evil Eyes present himself, Demon7 and MindBug took the bait. They wanted to wrap this up quickly and regroup at another hideout before the McSuile and C.I.B. reinforcements arrived. Just as they thought they had Evil Eyes cornered—Bang!
A streak of lightning ripped through the air.
MindBug watched in shock as Demon7's chest burst open, his body jolting before he began to freefall, lifeless. His form slowly dissipated into nothing leaving behind his innate curse tool.
Panic seized her. She instinctively pulled back from Evil Eyes, scanning the battlefield. She turned to check on her Ocean-tier allies—only to find Delores had already finished them off.
Her breath hitched. Before she could process what was happening, Evil Eyes and Delores closed in, cutting off her escape.
"Fuck…" MindBug hissed, her eyes darting between them. They weren't attacking yet—they were waiting, cautious, trapping her in. But her real concern was elsewhere. That sniper. That attack was too fast—it came out of nowhere.
She scanned the area, searching desperately—until her eyes locked onto the electrical pylon. She couldn't see or sense anyone there. But her innate curse tool could feel a mental field active there.
"Found you," she muttered, realization dawning. The sniper was hiding up there.
Then—she vanished from Delores and Evil Eyes' field of vision. One moment, MindBug was in front of them. The next, it was as if she had never been there at all.
Delores tensed, her eyes scanning the surroundings, ready to hunt her down—but was warned otherwise by Evil Eyes.
"Don't," Evil Eyes warned sharply. His voice was low but firm as he said, "She's still right where she was."
Delores froze in confusion, as she wasn't able to sense anyone in front of them. Evil Eyes continued, his tone grim, clearing her confusion, "Her innate curse tool messes with her targets' brains. It can make your senses feel things that aren't there… or erase things that are. Remember your training, stay on alert."