3 Chapter 1

The first thing Nikolai did when he finished climbing the stairs to the thirty-ninth floor was to take a small grenade from one of the compartments at the waist of his suit, which he hurled into the corridor where the guards were patrolling and caused a great commotion and put all men on alert.

"Grenade!" One of the guards screamed the moment he saw the small object rolling on the floor and everyone ran to a corner of the corridor trying to protect themselves from the grenade, which soon exploded a few seconds later and released a strong electromagnetic pulse. It was an EMP grenade that destroyed all of the guards' electronic equipment including security cameras, communicators, cell phones and floor lamps leaving them all in the dark.

Even before the guards realized what was happening Nikolai was already on top of his first victim, who only saw a black shape before his neck was broken and he fell dead to the ground. Nikolai was no longer invisible with the suit's cloaking system, so it would still be possible to detect him if they wanted to. His second victim met a similar fate, but the difference was that Nikolai used his enhanced strength to deliver a killing blow to the man's neck that instantly broke his spine.

Some of the guards heard the sounds of their comrades falling to the ground and quickly activated the flashlights mounted on their M16 rifles – some flashlights were not destroyed by the EMP grenade explosion – and the first thing they saw made them very afraid. They pointed their flashlights towards Nikolai and saw what they thought was a very tall demon, completely black and with eyes that glowed lilac and gave it a demonic look.

Due to the sudden lack of light, the guards' eyes still hadn't gotten used to the darkness and the moment they turned on the flashlight the situation became even worse causing them to hallucinate with a demon. The guards were very scared and paralyzed for a few seconds, giving Nikolai more than enough time to eliminate his third victim.

Nikolai grabbed a retractable knife from a compartment at his waist and quickly ran towards the guard closest to him who happened to be a woman, and slit his throat with ease. One of the guards fully recovered after seeing his friend killed in such a brutal manner and shouted to everyone else, "Shoot the bastard!"

That scream broke the stupor of the guards and suddenly Nikolai was being fired upon by rifle fire from seventeen trained men, who didn't miss a single shot. In the first moments he took the fire easily, with the armor protecting him and ricocheting the bullets. Nikolai was then impressed with the armor's capabilities and commented to Shen Mei, "This suit is very useful."

"I agree with you, but you need to stay focused. Time is passing and the commotion has already been noticed by Pedro Alcântara's team on the roof, they are preparing to evacuate him." Shen Mei said and Nikolai wasted no more time admiring his suit's capabilities. He drew a second retractable knife and glared at his enemies with blood in his eyes, as if he were a demon-possessed.

Nikolai ran towards the guards with insane speed and cut them down one by one with the precision of a butcher, painting the walls of the Hotel like a picture with the blood of the guards like ink. His fourth victim had his rifle arm severed, and his fifth victim tried to engage Nikolai in hand-to-hand combat and ended up with the retractable knife stuck in his forehead.

"You're losing control Special Agent Ivanovich! Calm down!" Shen Mei screamed through the communicator, but was completely ignored by Nikolai who completely lost control of his murderous impulses and started killing the guards without worrying about the consequences as fast as he could, as if he were a monster in search of blood.

They yelled and swore at Nikolai in their native language, Portuguese. And Nikolai had to admit that Brazilians are very creative when it comes to offending someone, some words he didn't even recognize however the message they conveyed was clear. He then pulled a Desert Eagle, modified by Fitz exclusively for Nikolai, from another compartment.

"Demon!" "Die!" "Son of a bitch!" "Keep shooting!" The guards tried to stop Nikolai, but nothing they did seemed to work against him and it scared the shit out of them. Nikolai then landed seven accurate shots, killing seven guards instantly before needing to reload his weapon.

"Run! He's out of ammo!" One of the guards screamed when he noticed that Nikolai's bullets had run out, but was killed shortly thereafter when he ran towards him with all his speed and landed a kick so hard in his head that he spun on his neck in a 360° angle. .

Nikolai then threw his other knife at the throat of another guard, killing him in the same moment and leaving only 6 more enemies alive which he quickly eliminated with one bullet after pulling a second Desert Eagle pistol from the compartment that was on his waist. Nikolai then finally calmed down and took a deep breath for a few seconds as he looked around, he had lost control of his actions again and made a complete mess.

His body was covered in blood and human viscera, and the entire corridor on the thirty-ninth floor was littered with blood and human body parts. He then reloaded the weapons, put them in their proper place in the suit and contacted Shen Mei who saw the whole scene through the camera attached to Nikolai's helmet. "The thirty-ninth floor is clear. Continuing with the mission."

Shen Mei didn't say anything for a few seconds, still processing what she saw Nikolai do. Unfortunately, she was already used to Nikolai's loss of control since it wasn't the first time this had happened, but it had been a long time since she last witnessed such aggression and violence. She then sighed and said to Nikolai, "Okay, continue the mission. They are waiting for you in the penthouse."

Suddenly the elevator door opened and a fat middle-aged man stepped out of the cabin. He wore a seemingly expensive suit and was currently on his cell phone talking to someone, and from his expression he didn't look happy at all. The man then, without even noticing Nikolai standing there a few meters from him, headed towards the stairs that led to the penthouse shouting on his cell phone: "Shit Carlos! You don't do anything right. What do you want me to say to the che-"

Suddenly the man stopped talking on the cell phone because he found it strange that the place was dark, with a strange smell and none of the guards had questioned his appearance. He then looked around and everything he saw made him start to tremble with fear. The hairs on the back of his neck started to stand on end and he felt very cold all of a sudden.

"- Boss? Are you there? -" Nikolai heard a male voice coming from the speaker of the cell phone, probably from Carlos who was worried about why the man stopped talking to him suddenly. The man didn't answer and kept looking around until he saw Nikolai standing a few feet away from him and hiding in the dark, the man then froze in fear as he felt the cold embrace of death close to him.

Nikolai was about to eliminate the man when he suddenly rolled his eyes and fell to the ground with his mouth open and drooling with white foam coming out of his mouth. Nikolai thought that the man had been scared and fainted from fear, he didn't expect what actually happened. Nikolai approached, crouched beside the man, and checked his wrists the result surprised him as it was the first time something like this had happened to him.

"... What?" Nikolai wondered a little confused as he looked at the face of the man who died suddenly in front of him from a heart attack, it really took him by surprise.

"Don't tell me... Did the man die of fear right after he saw you?" Shen Mei asked in a strange tone, even more impressed by the event than Nikolai who just stood there in shock. He didn't know how to feel about that, whether he was happy that he was so scared as to give someone a heart attack or sad that he had accidentally caused it.

"Should I add this to your resume?" Shen Mei asked in a funny tone, but right after that she said something that brought Nikolai back to the mission and put aside his thoughts about what just happened: "In exactly two minutes the helicopter will arrive at the penthouse and Pedro Alcântara will be evacuated. Hurry up with it."

Nikolai shook his head and got up to head towards the staircase that led to the penthouse, destroying the man's cell phone and ending the call he had with Carlos who was still screaming trying to find out what happened to his boss. Probably Carlos will send someone to check what happened, if they haven't already done so. Since Nikolai didn't worry about not attracting attention during the mission.

Nikolai climbed the stairs to the penthouse and was suddenly fired upon from all directions by the 10 remaining guards. Fortunately, the armor seemed to be holding up well, which gave him time to check the floor and see that the 15 women were safely behind the guards. Everyone thought Nikolai was the bad guy here, so there was no risk of the guards using them as hostages.

Nikolai then took out his two Desert Eagles pistols and started exchanging fire with the guards, with 4 of them dying with just one shot from Nikolai who always hits a vital point without fail. The other 6 managed to hide behind solid objects that protected them from the shots, and continued targeting Nikolai in order to buy time for Pedro to escape. There was furniture, drinks and drugs everywhere and that made trying to find Pedro Alcântara who was hiding like a mouse in the middle of all the mess very difficult.

"The target is hidden behind a table northwest of your position on the edge of the building." Shen Mei said while sharing footage from the floor's security cameras, where she showed Pedro Alcântara lying on the floor in a pathetic way trying to protect himself from the shots.

Nikolai then decided to end it soon and finished reloading his pistols and then eliminated the rest of the guards just walking towards them shooting when he had a clear view, they died easily as they did not have the necessary firepower to penetrate the armor's defenses from Nikolai. He then walked in the direction where Pedro Alcântara was hiding and decided to get it over with.

Nikolai picked up the table Pedro was cowering on and threw it away with ease, startling the girls who were hiding in the corner. He looked at the man and raised his pistol, ready to put an end to it and go home when Peter yelled, "Please! Do not kill me!"

"How much did they pay you?! I duplicate- No! I triple your pay!" Pedro was screaming in his native language at Nikolai trying to buy his loyalty since he thought Nikolai was a mercenary who was hired by his enemies to assassinate him, which in a way was true. Pedro was crawling on the floor, desperately trying to get away from Nikolai, but he was shaking badly and afraid of what Nikolai would do to him.

Nikolai didn't answer the question and prepared to shoot Pedro since he didn't want to waste any more time on this, but he realized that the Helicopter that had come to rescue the man was already above them. One of Pedro's guards in the helicopter had Nikolai in his sights, but it wasn't a pistol or any other common weapon, but an RPG-7 an anti-tank missile launcher.

Nikolai tried to run, but it was too late when the guard fired at him and the projectile hit him hard, knocking him far away on impact. Everything around him within a ten-meter radius exploded and a powerful flame spread everywhere destroying everything in its path, including the 15 women who were trying to flee the scene and were caught in the commotion. The entire penthouse was on fire, but Pedro managed to survive safely with only a few injuries.

Nikolai was in the midst of rubble and flames, he managed to survive only due to his armor and his special capabilities after being shot by an anti-tank weapon. Part of his armor was destroyed including the helmet, so it would be impossible to contact Shen Mei. He got up to get out of the rubble and felt a lot of pain, after all, it had been a long time since he was injured in combat.

His entire body that wasn't covered by armor was unrecognizable, with third-degree burns all over it. Nikolai was sure his left arm was broken, but he didn't care about that and just wanted to complete the mission and not let Pedro escape.

Nikolai was in the midst of the flames like a true demon as he watched the helicopter approach the building to try to extract Pedro, who was only limping probably because he sprained his ankle. Nikolai felt the flames consuming him, he looked around and realized that all the women who were in the place ended up dying with the explosion or with the subsequent flames and the only thing recognizable was the mass of meat being consumed and the bad smell.

Nikolai saw that Pedro was managing to escape successfully by helicopter and an uncontrollable fury took over his body, making him leave the pain aside and focus on the mission. He quickly checked his equipment and the only thing left was his right gauntlet which had the hook gun, and his Barrett M82A1M retractable sniper rifle which was still on his back loaded with only one special bullet.

Nikolai didn't have much time and tried something totally out of the ordinary he was sure Fitz wouldn't approve of the way the equipment he designed was being used, but he would surely forgive Nikolai for it. He ran with all his speed – despite having one of his legs broken – towards Pedro and caught up with him in seconds.

Nikolai then aimed his gauntlet at Pedro and fired, landing the hook right in the motherfucker's neck. The blow killed him instantly while one of the guards tried to hold him back to climb into the helicopter, but before the body fell into the vacuum between the helicopter and the building, Nikolai pulled back the hook and the pulling force ended up decapitating Pedro.

"Damn it! He is dead! Let's get out of here!" One of the guards who were in the helicopter shouted to the pilot, who obeyed the command and tried to leave the place as quickly as possible since they drew a lot of attention and the police were already on their way.

Unfortunately for them, Nikolai was very angry and would not let the men who nearly killed him get away with it. He took the gun from his back and with only one arm and a lot of skill, 'unfolded' the rifle and aimed at the helicopter that had already moved a small distance away from the building. He then approached the edge of the building and fired a shot at the helicopter, which wouldn't do any good if it was a regular bullet.

Unfortunately for them, the bullet that was in the gun was something special designed by Leopold Fitz, their team's engineer. The shot was accurate, piercing the helicopter's bodywork and providing one of the most beautiful scenes in Nikolai's life.

The bullet opened like a flower in bloom the moment it made contact with its target, releasing a highly explosive substance into the air and exploding the helicopter out of the sky. The scene was beautiful, as if the sun had appeared high in the sky on an incredible starry night in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The fire consumed the entire aircraft, which lost control and crashed to the ground after crashing into nearby buildings killing everyone on board.

Nikolai dropped to his knees on the ground as yet another aircraft appeared in the sky, but this one was different from a helicopter. It was a Quinjet and it was being piloted by Shen Mei, the leader of his team whom he was never so happy to see. She maneuvered the Quinjet close to the edge of the building and opened the hatch, expecting Nikolai to enter.

Nikolai then used the last of all his strength to jump aboard the Quinjet, which closed the hatch shortly thereafter and flew away. He finally fell to the ground and passed out, the last thing he heard was Shen Mei's voice saying something that put a small smile on his face: "You're not going to die in my Quinjet, Nik. I don't want corpse smell on it."