CHAPTER 9:- Struggles Of a Low ranker

Colon forces himself to breathe evenly the sharp pain in his arm a constant reminder of his vulnerability. He ignores the throbbing and sprints towards a distant red light - a flickering emergency sign at the far end of the warehouse. The darkness seems to press in on him, the unseen enemy's presence a suffocating weight. He reaches the exit, but the door is locked, it almost seems like the darkness mocks him for his pathetic escape attempt, he glances back, scanning the gloom but sees nothing beyond the swirling shadows.

The voice however is still there chilling as always compared to the harsh metallic clang of the emergency exit door as he tries in vain to force it open. "Such haste." It murmurs, the amusement laced with a chilling undercurrent. "Are you afraid low ranker". " Stop calling me that" Calon says through gritted teeth. " Oh ?" the voice said sounding genuinely amused "is that not what you are trash that could not awaken past level 3 ,what are you if not a low ranker"

Calon ignores the taunting. He doesn't need to understand the enemy's views on rankers; he only needs to survive. He stays by the exit his back directly to the door, the cool metal providing a sense of comfort." "Who are you" Calon demands trying to stall for time his voice tight with suppressed panic. The voice chuckles again a dry rasping sound that seems to scrape against the edges of his sanity, "Bored" the voice responds the air heavy with an unspoken threat and the shadows seem to press even closer. He could hear the distant sirens, it was only a matter of time before the authorities arrived. But even if they do he would have already been a corpse by then. "Sleep now low ranker" the voice whispered Calon was enraged if this person thought that he would just roll over and die they had another thing coming. " I said stop calling me that!!!" Calon shouted then with fast reflexes honed over the years, throws the flash bang from his pocket directly at the darkness.