Good. I'm writing **Chapter 29: The Shadow in the Underground—The Assassin No One Saw**. It will be long, dark, full of action and psychological tension—like the best parts of this novel. --

 

# **CHAPTER 29

The Shadow in the Underground—The Assassin No One Saw**

The shadow that moved deep in the underground didn't resemble an ordinary silhouette. It was too large, too massive, too… inhuman. As if it didn't belong to a human, but to a creature woven from darkness itself.

Jakub instinctively tightened his grip on the gun. Argo stood before him, growling low, ready to pounce, though the tension practically quivered in the air.

Marek Olbrycht backed away slowly, as if he knew exactly who—or perhaps *what*—was approaching them from the black depths of the tunnels.

"Marek," Jakub hissed, not taking his eyes off the terrifying shape. "Who's there?"

Olbrycht wiped his sweaty forehead with a trembling hand.

"Someone… someone I never wanted to meet again," he whispered. "A man who hid behind Radecki his whole life. Someone who did for him what Radecki didn't have the courage to do himself."

Jakub frowned.

"An accomplice?"

"A contractor," Marek corrected him. "The man who did the dirty work. The one we never found because no one knew he existed."

A boot emerged from the darkness. Heavy. Military.

Then a leg.

And then the rest of his figure.

When he stepped into the sliver of light, the commissioner felt a chill run down his spine.

It was a man. Huge, almost two meters tall. His muscles were like stone, his neck so broad it looked like it had grown from concrete, and his face… his face was scarred with scars that looked like fire marks.

The man had no weapon. He didn't need one.

His body was one giant weapon.

Argo barked a warning—loud, wild, growling—as if instinctively recognizing a threat greater than any he'd encountered before.

The stranger stopped a few steps away. He looked first at Jakub. Then at Argo. And finally—at Marek.

A smile played on his lips.

Cold. Mocking. Inhuman.

"There you go," he said in a deep voice. "All three of you in one place. You're saving me a lot of work."

Jakub flexed his finger on the trigger.

"Not a step further," he said firmly.

The giant snorted.

"You think you'll stop me, Commissioner?" A mocking tone permeated every syllable. "You? All alone?"

"I'm not alone," Jakub replied, and Argo moved forward an inch, as if to make his presence known.

The giant looked at the dog with slight contempt.

"I pity the animals," he muttered. “But if he stands between you and me, that will be his choice.”

Argo growled so low that the echo shook the tunnel.

Jakub moved to the side to get a better angle.

“Marek,” he said without taking his eyes off his attacker. “Who is he?”

Olbrycht swallowed.

“They call him **Barabash**.”

Jakub frowned.

“A nickname?”

“No. His real name.” Marek took a step back. “A former security guard at the factory before it was converted into a library. A man who followed Radecki’s every order. Whatever that was.”

Barabasz smiled wider.

“And I would have continued following them… if you hadn’t started digging around.”

Jakub gritted his teeth.

“Are you responsible for the disappearances of people connected to Radecki? For all those victims?”

“Me?” The man raised his eyebrows. "No. I was just a tool. Fire and steel aren't responsible for what they're told to do."

Argo suddenly lowered his body, ready to pounce.

Barabas looked at the dog.

"If you try," he muttered, "I'll break your ribs with one blow."

Jakub raised his gun.

"Try it, and I'll shoot."

Barabas shrugged.

"Shoot. You'll miss anyway. And even if you do… we'll see who falls faster—you or the dog."

Jakub felt his heart rate increase, but his breathing remained steady. That was the effect of adrenaline—it didn't paralyze him, but sharpened him.

Barabas suddenly took a step forward.

Argo jumped.

Everything happened in one, exploding second.

---

## **Duel in the Twilight**

Argo lunged forward, with the surprise and precision one would expect from a dog trained for special operations. He leaped straight at Barabasz's hand, aiming for his wrist.

But Barabasz was indecently fast.

He grabbed the dog by the scruff of the neck in midair and threw it against the side of a metal shelf.

"ARGO!" roared Jakub.

The dog bounced off the structure but immediately got back up, wobbling but ready to fight.

Jakub aimed at his attacker.

Barabasz was already at him.

In one movement, he pushed the gun aside.

The shot ripped through the air, echoing off the walls.

Sparks flew from the pipe where the bullet had struck.

Jakub felt a strong hand grab his wrist and twist his arm in an unnatural direction.

He dropped the weapon in surprise, and it clattered to the concrete.

"You're fast," Barabbas muttered. "But not fast enough."

Jakub tried to elbow him, but the man was too strong. His grip was like an iron hoop.

Argo lunged again.

This time, he aimed for the leg.

He grabbed Barabbas by the calf, clenching his jaw so tightly that he

As hard as he could.

Barabas roared. He released Jakub and tried to kick the dog, but Argo held on like a vise.

"Let go, you mongrel!" he yelled.

Jakub lunged for the gun.

Marek—seemingly passive—suddenly moved, as if breaking out of an internal lethargy. He grabbed a metal pipe lying on the ground.

"Marek, don't!" Jakub shouted.

But Olbrycht was already acting.

He swung and hit Barabas squarely in the shoulder.

The metal struck bone with a dull thud.

Barabas staggered. Argo pulled harder.

Jakub reached for the gun.

He raised it, aimed.

One second.

Long. Frozen in time.

Barabas looked at him, no longer mocking. Now something else appeared in his eyes.

Anger.

Rage.

But also…fear.

“It's over,” Jakub said, squeezing the trigger.

The shot ripped through the darkness.

Barabas fell to his knees, clutching the side of his shoulder where the bullet had entered.

Argo immediately jumped back, ready to charge again.

The attacker collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. Blood darkened his clothing.

Jakub kept the gun aimed for a few more seconds. His breathing was rapid but steady.

“Drop your weapon…if you have one,” he said firmly, though the attacker lay helpless.

Barabas laughed weakly.

“I don't need…a weapon…to be…a monster…”

“Not anymore,” Jakub replied.

Suddenly, a sound came from the depths of the tunnel.

Quiet. Suffering.

Like…a moan?

Olbrycht flinched.

"It's... him," he whispered.

Jakub looked into the tunnel, which was being swallowed by darkness.

"Who?"

Marek swallowed.

"Kamiński. He... isn't dead... but he's not himself either..."

Jakub froze.

Argo barked softly, as if in confirmation.

"He's... here?" the commissioner asked sharply.

Marek nodded.

"In the very heart of the underground. In the place where it all began."

Jakub looked into the black abyss of the tunnel.

The darkness answered him with another long moan.

And after a moment—with words that froze the blood in his veins:

"*Please... help me...*"

---

If you want, I'm writing **Chapter 30: In the Labyrinth of Madness - Finding the Living Dead from the Past**." Long, intense, full of emotion and terror.