Chapter 39 — The Final Corridor
The staircase from Level Six was narrow.
Steel steps.
Concrete walls.
No lights except a thin emergency strip running along the side of the floor.
Each step echoed.
The Knights moved upward in silence.
Below them lay broken machines, dead hunters, shattered walls, and burned streets. Every floor of the tower had tried to stop them.
None had succeeded.
Crow checked his scanner while climbing.
"Levels above us are smaller," he said quietly.
Sam looked over his shoulder.
"How many?"
Crow studied the signal map.
"Four more floors."
Jack cracked his neck.
"Good," he said.
"I was getting bored."
Nyra gave him a look.
"You say that every time you nearly die."
Jack shrugged.
"Still alive."
John walked in front of them all.
He said nothing.
But everyone could feel it.
The building was almost finished.
And somewhere above them—
Scar was waiting.
Level Seven
The staircase ended at a reinforced door.
John pushed it open.
The next room was different from the previous floors.
No city simulation.
No industrial machines.
This level was a training ground.
Concrete walls.
Combat dummies.
Weapon racks.
And waiting in the center—
Twenty fighters.
Real ones.
Not hunters.
Not mercenaries.
Professional killers.
They stood in a tight formation wearing black tactical armor.
Each carried modern rifles and combat blades.
Their leader stepped forward.
"You made it far," he said calmly.
"But nobody goes past this floor."
John walked forward.
"Move."
The man smiled slightly.
"Or what?"
John didn't answer.
The Knights attacked.
The Training Ground Battle
Gunfire exploded instantly.
The killers opened fire as a single unit.
But the Knights had already spread across the room.
Hawk sprinted left and climbed a support beam, firing downward from an elevated angle.
Bishop and Jack advanced together behind overturned metal tables.
Nyra moved through the center like a shadow.
John ran straight through the gunfire.
Bullets struck his titanium suit but didn't slow him.
One killer rushed him with a blade.
John caught the attack, twisted the man's wrist, and threw him across the room.
Another fired point-blank.
John struck the rifle aside and slammed his elbow into the shooter's throat.
Nyra appeared behind two enemies and dropped both in seconds with precise blade strikes.
Jack tackled one fighter through a training dummy rack.
Bishop cleared the right side of the room with controlled rifle bursts.
Within two minutes—
The floor was quiet.
Twenty killers lay on the ground.
Jack wiped sweat from his forehead.
"Professional killers?" he said.
"Looked more like warm-up."
Crow checked the scanner again.
"Next floor."
Level Eight
The next level was darker.
The lights only activated when the Knights entered.
Rows of metal cages lined the walls.
Inside them—
Attack dogs.
Huge ones.
Military breed.
The cages opened automatically.
Thirty animals rushed out at once.
Jack sighed.
"Oh come on."
Nyra stepped forward, already moving.
"Focus."
The dogs attacked in a wave.
Hawk fired carefully from the back line.
Bishop kept the animals away from Crow and Sam.
Nyra moved through them quickly and efficiently, never wasting motion.
John fought differently.
He grabbed the first attacking dog mid-leap and threw it into another.
Two more lunged.
He stepped aside and drove them into the steel bars of the cages.
Within minutes—
The floor fell silent again.
Crow exhaled slowly.
"Scar really wanted to slow us down."
John looked toward the next staircase.
"He's running out of ideas."
Level Nine
The ninth floor was small.
Just a single long hallway.
At the end of the hall—
Six heavy machine guns mounted on rotating turrets.
Automatic defense system.
The moment the Knights stepped in—
The guns opened fire.
Bullets filled the hallway.
Concrete exploded around them.
Crow shouted over the noise.
"Motion tracking!"
John looked at the walls.
Then at the ceiling.
"Cover me."
Jack raised his machine gun and fired at the turrets, forcing them to adjust targeting.
Nyra sprinted along the side wall.
Hawk shot out one camera sensor.
John ran straight up the wall using the metal railing for momentum.
Before the guns could adjust—
He jumped onto the turret platform.
His mechanical saber cut through the first gun's control arm.
He moved immediately to the next.
One by one—
The guns stopped firing.
Silence returned to the hallway.
Jack walked forward slowly.
"Well," he said.
"That was fun."
Crow checked the scanner again.
His voice became quieter.
"Last floor."
Level Ten
The final staircase was wide.
Almost ceremonial.
White lights illuminated each step.
No traps.
No enemies.
The Knights reached the top together.
At the end of the hallway stood a massive door.
Black steel.
No windows.
No markings.
Just a small panel beside it.
Crow scanned it.
Then looked at John.
"This is it."
Jack leaned against the wall.
"So the boss room finally shows up."
Nyra stared at the door.
"Scar is behind that."
John walked forward.
The others followed.
He stopped directly in front of the door.
For a moment—
Nothing happened.
Then the speakers in the hallway activated.
A calm voice echoed through the corridor.
Scar.
But still unseen.
"Impressive."
The Knights looked around.
Cameras hidden in the walls watched them.
Scar continued.
"Ten floors."
"Hunters."
"Machines."
"Killers."
"And yet…"
A small pause.
"You are still standing."
Jack smirked.
"You sound surprised."
Scar chuckled softly.
"No."
"Just… interested."
The door in front of the Knights slowly unlocked with a deep metallic sound.
But it did not open yet.
Scar spoke again.
"You wanted to reach me."
"Now you have."
Silence filled the corridor.
John stood directly in front of the door.
His hand rested on the handle.
Behind it—
Scar waited.
John looked back at his team.
Everyone was ready.
He turned back to the door.
And pushed it open.