FORTY-THREE MINUTES

Bullets struck the War God and flattened against the air before touching his skin.

Ren'ō saw the field. Not its source, not its limits, only the faint distortion around the man's body. He shifted aim and fired at the floor, ceiling, coolant lines, anything that might turn the laboratory itself into a weapon.

The War God walked through the storm.

One soldier launched an anti-armor rocket. The man caught it, examined the warhead with bored curiosity, and squeezed. Metal collapsed between his fingers.

He flicked the crushed weapon away.

It passed through two walls and vanished into the city.

Ren'ō shouted for the squad to scatter.

Too late.

The War God moved once.

A black line crossed the room. Three soldiers fell in pieces. The fourth struck the ceiling hard enough to leave a human-shaped fracture and did not come down.

Ren'ō fired until the rifle clicked empty, threw it, and charged behind it.

The War God tilted his head.

Ren'ō slid beneath a casual strike, drove a knife toward the ribs, and felt the blade snap. He followed with an elbow, a knee, then a palm strike to the throat. Each impact landed against something denser than matter.

The War God caught his wrist.

"You are not afraid."

"I am busy."

The man's red pupils rotated.

Ren'ō's arm broke in four places.

Pain flashed white. He used the trapped limb as an anchor, stepped inside the man's reach, and slammed his forehead into the bridge of the divine nose.

For the first time, the War God blinked.

Ren'ō smiled through blood. "There you are."

The backhand sent him across the laboratory.

He struck a console, shattered it, and dropped beside the containment chamber. His body refused to rise. His left lung had collapsed. He could taste iron and burnt wiring.

Across the room, Laana typed with both hands. The synthesis timer read 00:00:43.

The War God noticed.

"A mortal imitation," he said. "How utterly foolish."

He walked toward her.

Ren'ō pushed one knee beneath himself.

The man did not look back. "Stay down. Your resistance has no consequence."

Ren'ō reached for the emergency pack at his belt.

His fingers closed around a fragmentation charge.

He pulled the pin.

The click carried through the laboratory.

The War God turned as Ren'ō lunged and wrapped both arms around him.

"Screw you to hell."

The man's eyes widened by a fraction.

Ren'ō held the charge between them. "Let's see you walk away from this."

The War God tore it from his hand and flicked it toward the ruined exterior wall.

The explosion bloomed over the city.

He looked down at Ren'ō.

"Let me show you true destruction."

The whole room became light.