The Boss
Lothe turned back to where Rosa had pointed. Running his hand along the cold concrete wall, his fingers searched every inch until they found a slight depression hidden beneath the rough surface.
Hum...
A low vibration echoed through the room as the wall slowly slid apart, revealing a narrow corridor concealed behind it.
The passage was swallowed by darkness, but that meant little to Lothe.
With his heightened senses, every crack in the concrete, every rusted pipe, and every dried bloodstain stood out clearly before his eyes.
The deeper he looked, the stronger the metallic stench became.
Blood.
Enough blood had been spilled here that the smell had seeped into the walls themselves.
Without a word, Lothe stepped inside.
Five reinforced steel doors lined both sides of the hallway. A few damaged fluorescent lights flickered overhead, casting a dim glow across the bloodstained floor.
Before he had gone far, faint sobs reached his ears.
One voice.
Then another.
Soon, the entire corridor seemed to be filled with quiet cries.
Lothe stopped before the nearest door and pushed it open.
The room was filled with girls.
Some sat silently in the corners with their knees drawn against their chests. Others lay motionless on thin mattresses, staring blankly at the white ceiling with hollow eyes.
Eyes that had long since given up on living.
The sound of the door opening startled them.
Several girls instinctively shrank backward, believing another one of the men had come to drag someone away for the same daily ritual.
When they realized the person standing at the doorway wasn’t someone they recognized, the fear in their eyes eased slightly.
Even so, none of them spoke.
None of them moved.
Lothe quietly swept his gaze across the room.
He could already imagine what they had been through, but he wasn’t here for them.
Without wasting another second, he closed the door and continued deeper into the corridor.
The second room was neatly stocked with supplies.
Shelves were packed with sealed food, bottled water, medicine, clothes, blankets, and other daily necessities.
Everything had been arranged carefully, leaving almost no wasted space.
Lothe looked around for a brief moment before closing the door again.
The third room contained kitchen utensils, portable stoves, plates, cups, cooking supplies, and stacks of bedding.
Even he found himself slightly surprised by how thoroughly the place had been prepared.
"They planned this well." His voice was barely above a whisper.
Walking past the remaining door on the left, he stopped before the last room on the right.
His hand had barely reached the handle—
Bang!
The steel door exploded outward.
Lothe calmly shifted one step aside.
A man flew out of the room before slamming shoulder-first into the wall behind him. Concrete cracked beneath the impact as his body slowly slid onto the floor.
"You bitch!" the man roared, forcing himself back up. "I’m gonna kill you!"
"Too bad." A girl’s calm voice echoed from inside the room.
"I’m gonna live."
The man’s expression twisted with rage.
Before he could take another step, his body suddenly stiffened.
His muscles convulsed violently.
Blood burst from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth.
Instead of splattering onto the floor, every drop hovered in midair.
Lothe’s eyes narrowed slightly.
The floating blood began twisting together before rapidly condensing into two crimson daggers.
The daggers shot forward.
Pfft!
Both plunged straight into the man’s eyes.
His scream ended before it could fully escape his throat.
The body collapsed lifelessly.
Lothe looked into the room.
Two corpses already lay on opposite sides of the battlefield. Deep cracks covered the concrete floor, while slash marks scarred the walls and shattered furniture lay scattered everywhere.
His gaze quickly settled on Seana.
Her breathing was uneven, and fresh blood stained parts of her clothes. Whether it belonged to her or her enemies was impossible to tell.
Standing opposite her were three men.
The one in the middle appeared completely relaxed.
With both hands resting behind his back, he watched the battle unfold with an amused smile, showing no intention of joining the fight.
The two beside him moved almost simultaneously.
One slowly raised his right hand.
Immediately, every knife scattered throughout the room began to tremble.
Broken blades buried beneath chunks of concrete.
Even shattered pieces of steel lodged inside the walls ripped themselves free before floating into the air.
Within moments, dozens of blades surrounded him.
Every sharpened edge pointed directly at Seana.
Seana remained calm.
Just as she shifted her footing, an overwhelming force suddenly crashed down on her shoulders.
Her knees bent slightly.
Cracks spread beneath her boots as the invisible pressure tried to force her into the ground.
She immediately turned her eyes toward the other man.
He hadn’t moved an inch.
A smug smile slowly spread across his face.
Gravity.
Without saying a word, the telekinetic evolver flicked his fingers.
The floating knives whistled through the air as they shot toward Seana from every direction.
The knives cut through the air with shrill whistles.
They came from every direction, leaving Seana with almost no room to evade. At the same time, the invisible force pressing down on her body grew heavier, causing the cracked floor beneath her feet to sink even further.
The gravity evolver folded his arms, the smile on his face growing wider.
"You can struggle all you want," he sneered.
"The more you struggle, the harder I’ll crush you."
Seana didn’t answer.
She gritted her teeth as veins bulged across her neck, forcing every strand of qi through her body.
The pressure threatened to pin her to the ground, but her gaze never left the blood scattered across the room.
The telekinetic sneered before flicking his fingers.
The knives accelerated. Just as they were about to reach her, the blood on the floor suddenly trembled.
The gravity evolver frowned.
"What is she doing?"
The next moment, the blood shot upward.
It didn’t form a shield as they expected.
Instead, it condensed into several blood swords that lunged directly at the gravity evolver from different directions.
His expression changed. Without thinking, he poured more power into his gravity field, attempting to stop every incoming sword.
That instant...
The pressure on Seana weakened.
Her lips curled into a faint smile.
"Got you."
She rushed forward.
The knives barely missed her as she slipped through the narrow gap between them, several blades slicing strands of her hair before burying themselves into the wall behind her.
The telekinetic’s eyes widened. "Impossible!"
Seana ignored him.
She slashed her sword downward.
Two crimson arcs tore through the air, crossing one another before striking the blood pooled behind the gravity evolver.
The blood rippled violently.
Then countless crimson chains burst from the ground.
They wrapped around his ankles first.
Then his waist.
Finally, both arms.
The gravity evolver’s eyes widened in panic.
"No—"
He tried to strengthen the gravity field again.
Too late.
Seana stepped in. Waving her hand one of the blood-forged swords shot forward.
A crimson flash passed across his neck.
His head separated cleanly from his shoulders.
Even as it rolled across the floor, his eyes remained wide open.
He had never expected to die so quickly.
The telekinetic froze for only a second.
Then rage consumed him.
"You bitch!"
Both hands shot upward.
Every knife buried throughout the room trembled violently before ripping themselves free once again.
This time, there were even more.
Broken blades. Steel fragments. Rusted kitchen knives.
Anything sharp became part of his attack.
With a wave of his hand, the storm descended.
Seana’s breathing had become uneven.
Using so much qi in such a short time had already pushed her close to her limit.
She raised her sword, preparing another attack
Before she could move—
A streak of condensed black qi shot toward her.
The boss had finally made his move.
The black projectile tore through the air with frightening speed.
She twisted her body just enough to avoid it.
Unfortunately...
The movement carried her directly into the path of the incoming knives.
Her pupils contracted.
The blades were already inches away. For the first time since the battle began...
She didn’t know how to escape.
Then—
A figure appeared beside her.
An arm wrapped firmly around her waist.
Her vision blurred.
The next moment, she found herself standing several meters away.
The knives that had almost reached her suddenly slowed before losing all momentum.
One after another, they clattered harmlessly onto the floor.
Seana turned her head, Lothe stood beside her, his left arm still around her waist while his spear rested casually in his right hand.
For a brief moment...
Neither of them spoke.
She found herself staring at him from only inches away.
The distance was so close she could clearly see the calm look in his eyes.
A faint blush crept onto her cheeks before she quickly looked away.
Lothe noticed.
A teasing smile appeared on his face.
"Well," he said, "I know I’m quite handsome, but we’ve got a bigger problem."
Seana shot him an annoyed look before stepping away.
"You’re unbelievable."
"I get that a lot."
A slow clap interrupted them.
The boss smiled as he stepped over one of the corpses.
"It seems your lover boy made it just in time."
His gaze shifted toward Lothe.
"Gloth and Rosa really are useless."
Lothe casually spun his spear once before resting it against his shoulder.
"I wouldn’t say that." His tone remained calm.
"They managed to bypass my perception. That’s not something just anyone can do."
His smile faded. "They simply needed to try harder."
The boss laughed.
"You really are arrogant."
"No." Lothe lowered the spear until its tip pointed toward the ground.
"I’m just confident."
Silence filled the room.
Neither of them moved.
Yet the pressure between them steadily grew.
Even the telekinetic instinctively took several steps backward.
He could feel it.
These two were on a completely different level.
The boss slowly raised his hand. Dark qi poured from his palm before condensing into a pitch-black sword.
The blade gave off a sinister hum as streams of dark mist coiled around it.
Lothe tightened his grip on the spear. Purple qi quietly flowed along the shaft.
The faint aura gathered around the spearhead, causing the surrounding air to shimmer with barely noticeable heat.
Neither of them said another word.
They disappeared at the same time.
Clang!
Spear met sword in the center of the room.
Purple qi and dark qi exploded outward, shattering the already cracked floor.
Lothe’s wrists twisted.
The straight thrust instantly became a sweeping strike toward the boss’s ribs.
The boss rotated his sword just enough to deflect it.
Instead of forcing the attack, Lothe slid one hand down the shaft.
The butt of the spear shot toward the boss’s knee.
The boss shifted half a step backward.
His sword immediately slashed downward. Dark qi extended beyond the blade, forcing Lothe to lean back.
The black edge narrowly missed his face, cutting several strands of hair before slicing deep into the concrete wall behind him.
Lothe stepped in again. His spear danced like flowing water.
A thrust. A sweep. A feint.
Another thrust.
Every movement linked naturally into the next, forcing the boss to defend without pause.
For the first time...
The smile on the boss’s face disappeared.