Erik turned to Lucy, his gaze a tacit order for her to remain where she was. She nodded, realizing the gravity of the situation and the value of silence in such a dangerous situation. Erik sat back against the cool stone wall, bracing himself for what would happen.
Erik could see by the gap in the door that the guards' attention was intensely focused elsewhere. They were still looking at the torchlight's shadows and watching for any unexpected noises. Their stances were stiff as if they were expecting an attack.
Erik's chest thumped; each beat was a countdown to his impending attack. Adrenaline surged through his veins, raising his spine and concentrating his attention. He plotted his strategy, calculating the quickest and most efficient manner to dispatch the guards while not alarming the others.
Erik noticed his opportunity when one of the guards stepped away to examine the place further. He burst through the door in the faint light, a silent predator. He was on the first guard in the blink of an eye, a fast and lethal shadow. His hand flew out, his fingers latching around the metal neck of the guard. Before the robot went limp in Erik's arms, there was a dazzling instant of struggle and a startled flicker in its robotic eyes.
The hushed whisps of the wind outside nearly drowned out the sound of the first guard's collapse. Almost. Erik ran at him, and the second guard turned barely in time. However, it was too late.
Erik instantly bridged the gap between them, his other hand gripping the second guard's neck. The shadow behind Erik's grip was sufficient to quiet any alert the guard might have sounded.
It hadn't been going well till now, the young man reflected.
Both guards were out of commission in less than a minute, their steel bodies frozen on the wooden floor. Erik stood amid them, his breath coming out in slow puffs in the warm air. He'd finished it.
Erik turned around and returned to the room where Lucy was waiting, casting one last glimpse at the fallen guards.
The corridor fell silent once more, and the tension was quickly dispelled. For now, at least, the threat had been neutralized. On the other hand, Erik knew better than to relax and that it was better to keep his vigilance high. They still had a long journey ahead of them.
Worried and on high alert, Erik motioned for Lucy to follow him. She did, striding after him as they moved silently into the eerily quiet corridor. His keen senses scanned the environment like a radar, alert to any slight movement or sound that could indicate danger.
The pair quickly ascended the winding staircase towards the familiar corridor where Erik had previously walked.
As they neared the corridor, the sound of a door creaking open echoed in the silence. As a robotic guard appeared from one of the chambers behind them, they paused, with Erik reflexively placing himself in front of Lucy.
The robot's metal eyes caught onto them, and it quickly began screaming that there was an intruder, prompting all the other robots in the adjacent rooms to rush out to take care of him. Erik could also hear some others beginning to ascend the stairs from the first floor, ready to meet them.
<Shit, everything was going well!> Erik thought.
Erik pushed Lucy towards the stairs he had previously come from, his gaze never leaving the robots. "Lucy," he said, "Go upstairs. There's a window in the storage area. Use it to get to the rooftop. Go, now!"
Lucy, trained as she was, instantly responded, her eyes widening in a perfect imitation of fear. "But..." she stammered, her voice trembling with feigned terror. Yet, despite her act, she began moving away, her footsteps echoing in the silence as she ascended the stairs.
Erik remained focused, his attention fixed on the robots charging at him. His muscles curled in anticipation of action. He knew the moment he'd dreaded had arrived. There was no sneaking around this time. The battle lines had been drawn. All he could hope for was that Lucy would safely make it to the rooftop.
<Destroying them will not be hard; I just need to give Lucy time to reach the rooftop.>
Erik unleashed a torrent of energy as he launched himself at the approaching robots. His fists swept through the air, blurring the barrier between human and superhuman. Each attack was fatal—a barrage of brute force that destroyed metal bodies and short-circuited synthetic brains.
Under his unrelenting assault, the wooden floor beneath him turned into a cemetery for the mechanical guards. Their shattered remains crunched like discarded toys as he continued his assault. He was a whirlwind of destruction, a solitary force that turned into a one-man army.
The fire of ferocious determination burned brightly in his eyes, indicating that he was in a predatory state.
From the corner of his eye, he could see more robots approaching him. At this moment, there were two of them, and both of them were heading in his direction like moths to a flame. As he bravely charged headfirst into their lines, he let out a rage-filled cry.
Any onlooker would have a hard time keeping up with his lightning-fast hands and pinpoint strikes. The entire hallway was engulfed in sparks, and the sound of metal shattering could be heard. Skeletal metal bodies were strewn across the floorboard, often hindering the other robots' movements.
It seemed like time was moving more slowly than usual as the seconds ticked away in a cacophony of destruction. But amidst the chaos, Erik never forgot his mission. Every second he fought was a second more that Lucy had to escape.
So, he engaged in combat. He battled with the ferocity of a man possessed, his body a channel for unbridled force. A dozen robots stood in his way, but he saw them all as nothing more than foes to be smashed beneath his iron will. He was the wave that would wash them away.
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