Chapter 145

Chapter 145

Damien wasn't sure if she'd caught his hint, but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Sure. Wraith Grass is nothing compared to my life."

He walked slowly toward them, reaching into his pocket as if to grab something. Then, in an instant, his eyes went cold — his blade shot out like lightning, straight at Kendrick.

But Kendrick was ready. He dodged and released the test dog at the same time. The beast lunged at Damien, its massive jaws snapping at his arm.

Damien had to change his move on the spot. He drove the blade up through the dog's upper jaw and sliced off half its head in one motion.

"Knew you wouldn't play nice! Everyone, take him down!" Kendrick ordered with a cold smirk.

"At least you've got more brains than your brother," Damien said through gritted teeth, weaving through the attacks. "If it were him, I'd have already gotten what I came for."

His stamina was running dangerously low. He had to rely on technique to put down the test subjects one by one. But there were too many of them, and Damien was slowly getting overwhelmed.

Mona tried to help with her gun, but the dogs seemed immune to pain. Bullets barely fazed them — only a headshot could stun them even briefly.

Damien pushed through on sheer willpower and cut down half the pack, but he'd hit his limit. His body was torn up from bites, soaked in blood.

"No wonder White thinks so highly of you. If you ever became a Celestial Temple test subject, you'd be the strongest one yet."

Even Kendrick had to admit it — the fact that Damien was still standing was something.

"Take him alive. I'd love to see what he looks like after the transformation."

Once he saw Damien starting to falter, Kendrick called back the remaining subjects and sent his men in to capture him.

Mona rushed to Damien's side, raising her gun at the enemies closing in around them.

Damien managed a faint smile. He pulled Mona behind him and stood alone to face them.

Just as the enemies were about to rush in, the thundering roar of a helicopter cut through everything. A violent gust swept through, kicking up dust and forcing everyone to shield their eyes.

The helicopter hovered above. A team dressed in black tactical gear dropped down.

Falcon and Rage Tiger had arrived with the Shadow Sect forces — just in time.

"Are you alright?" The two moved immediately to Damien's sides.

"I'm fine. Good timing." Damien let out a breath.

Kendrick's jaw tightened at the sight. "Kill them! Tear them apart!"

A few test subjects charged in like mad — but this time they were up against a disciplined elite assassination squad. In under five minutes, every last one of them was down.

Falcon and Rage Tiger got Damien and Mona out of there.

On the way, Falcon gave Damien medication, but his condition was still bad. They decided to head straight back to New York.

"No. Get to Crescent City. Don't let Celestial Temple take it."

The test dogs Kendrick had brought were enough for Damien to piece it together — this wasn't just about capturing him. And Monty was nowhere to be seen.

"But boss, the way you look right now…" Rage Tiger stared at Damien's pale face, unable to hide his concern.

"Celestial Temple wants Crescent City's defense system. We can't let them have it." Damien's voice was firm.

"Then here's what we do — I'll take you back to New York. Rage Tiger, you take half the team to Crescent City." Falcon offered a compromise.

Rage Tiger had no choice but to agree. He split off with half the men.

Damien finally let his eyes close.

He'd been hit by the poison bug and mauled by the test dogs. There could be other toxins in his system too. The fact that he'd made it this far was a miracle.

Mona stayed close by his side the whole way back. Once they reached New York and Damien was wheeled into Mostad's lab, she was stopped at the door and left to pace anxiously back and forth.

Inside, Mostad gave him the antidote, then cut away his clothes to treat the wounds.

"I was bitten by Celestial Temple test subjects and hit by the poison bug. I took your medicine earlier but it wasn't enough. The shoulder wound is already infected."

Damien forced himself to stay conscious long enough to fill Mostad in.

Mostad immediately injected antibiotics, took a tissue sample from the wound for testing, and had someone start basic wound care while running a full-body examination.

Damien was lucky, all things considered. The virus had already spread through his system, but the antidote pill he'd taken earlier contained antibiotic compounds — that was the only reason he'd lasted this long.

Meanwhile, Sophia got word that Damien had been hurt. She cut her meeting short and rushed back.

"How is he?" she asked Mona, barely able to keep the worry off her face.

Mona walked her through everything that had happened over the past two days — though she left out certain moments between herself and Damien.

Hearing that Damien had been bitten by Celestial Temple test subjects hit Sophia hard. But she couldn't get into the lab. All she could do was peer through the small glass window in the door.

Mona noticed and quietly stepped aside without a word.

Ghosthand showed up soon after, looking just as shaken.

Three hours later, the lab door opened and Damien was wheeled out. His face was still pale, but his eyes were clearer.

Sophia rushed to him and grabbed his hand. "I'm okay," he said, squeezing back. "Don't worry. Mostad can fix this."

He gave Ghosthand a small nod — no words needed. Mostad said nothing either, just caught Ghosthand's eye. The two of them quietly hung back and let them be.

Back in the woods, Kendrick was finally pulling his people out. His face hadn't lost its dark look the entire time.

"Damien's got the luck of the devil," he muttered under his breath. "But getting bitten by the test dogs — even if it doesn't kill him, he'll lose his mind and turn into a monster."

He was already mentally drafting his report to White and didn't notice that behind him, the color had completely drained from Judy's face the moment those words left his mouth.

Inside Celestial Temple, White had already received Kendrick's update. Learning that Damien had survived put him in a foul mood.

"Kendrick got careless. It was a perfect opportunity." Mia remarked from beside him.

"Damien is genuinely formidable. I'd be curious to see what he'd become as a test subject. That said, the current subjects still aren't infectious enough. Tell Kyrie to increase the dosage."

"Subjects like that would be far more valuable," White said, his voice cool.

"My lord, if the subjects carry too heavy a toxin load, it could interfere with the poison bug's control over them. They might go rogue," Mia said carefully, watching his expression.

"Then we try and adjust from there. It's a shame — if Damien were here, we'd have the perfect candidate for a new round of testing." White's disappointment was plain.

But what was done was done. White sent word to Monty, telling him and Judy to move on Crescent City and secure the Light Barrier.

He wasn't about to let both operations come back empty-handed.