STEP
STEP
STEP
The sound of calm footsteps rang out as a figure walked toward a building whose front door was made of cold, hard steel, its hinges slightly rusted with age.
She was cloaked in a pitch-black robe lined with crimson fur around its edges, while long, luscious dark hair flowed freely over her shoulders.
When she reached the door, her gloved hand moved toward the knob, but just as her fingers were about to touch it, they paused, curling into a fist instead.
BAAAAAANG!
A powerful explosion reverberated through the area as her fist crashed into the steel door with such force that it was violently torn from its hinges, sending dust flying in every direction.
STEP
STEP
STEP
Her footsteps continued as she entered the building, only to find herself inside a bar.
It was a simple local bar, with a couple of scrawny-looking locals sitting around tables covered with cigarettes and bottles of alcohol.
All twelve people inside, eight men and four women, turned their attention away from the crashed-in door and toward the woman who had just walked through it.
In the next moment,
PSSSCHT!
The flame of the lighter she had pulled out ignited, and a cigarette found its way between her red lips as she lit it, smoke curling gently upward.
She took a deep inhale before slowly exhaling.
"A Level 6 secretive organization disguised as a simple local bar..." Morgaret murmured, her crimson eyes sweeping across the place.
"So peculiarly obvious," she mused before taking another deep inhale.
The group watched with furrowed brows as the entire cigarette was reduced to ashes in a single breath, followed by a thick cloud of smoke drifting through the air.
"Where is the door?"
Her question shattered the silence.
"Hey, lady, you wanna drink or booze?" one of the men asked.
"That’s all we do in here."
"You in for it, or you out?" another man said from the side, causing Morg to turn her crimson gaze toward him.
"And you’re out," she replied.
"Huh?"
SHRIIIIIIIIIING!
The sound of a katana leaving its sheath rang through the bar, and in the next moment,
PSSSSSTTTCCCH!
Blood burst into the air like a broken tap as the man’s head was sent flying across the room, trailing a beautiful elliptical arc before landing directly on the table at the center of the bar.
"AHHHHHHH!"
A shrill scream of horror escaped one of the women, and all hell immediately broke loose.
Six of the men instantly drew their weapons, and in the next moment,
BAANG!
BAANG!
BAANG!
A shower of bullets rained toward Morgaret, who merely exhaled even as a bullet appeared barely ten centimeters from her face before,
BOOOOM!
Cracks littered the ground where she had been standing as her figure flashed away like a phantom.
She ran across the walls, the bullets following wherever she moved, but within seven seconds, she had already appeared before one of the men.
SHRIIIIIIIIIING!
The sound of the katana leaving its sheath rang out again, followed by another head soaring into the air as the man’s body collapsed.
SHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
"Shoot faster!"
"Damn it!"
SHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
"No, no..."
SHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
It was an absolute massacre.
The demon that had entered their bar was simply too fast.
None of their bullets could follow her movements, and once her blade left its sheath, it never returned until another head was already flying through the air.
Three minutes later, and the sound of gunfire finally faded away.
PSSSTCHT!
The sound of a lighter opening rang through the room, its small flame casting a crimson glow through the darkness.
The light bulbs had been destroyed during the battle, leaving the entire bar in pitch-black darkness.
Beneath the weak illumination of her lighter, almost all that could be seen was blood covering the walls and floor, alongside headless bodies and shattered chairs scattered throughout the room.
The only sounds that remained were the frightened whimpers of the women huddled together in the darkness, trembling where they sat.
Morgaret lit another cigarette and took a deep inhale.
Huuuuuuu.
A cloud of smoke escaped her lips, a small smile of relief appearing on her face as she turned her gaze forward.
There was only a single man left alive in the room.
It was none other than the bartender, who remained seated behind his desk, his eyes still wide open in disbelief at the horror he had just witnessed.
Morgaret stepped toward him, and the bartender slowly raised his head to look at her, swallowing in horror.
"Where’s the door?"
The bartender’s head trembled uncontrollably as he turned it toward the side, revealing a simple wall with the familiar blue symbol etched into its surface.
"Right."
Morg nodded before continuing forward.
When she reached the wall, she placed both hands against the symbol and gently pushed inward.
WRIIIIIING!
The sound of gears operating echoed through the room as the entire wall shifted inward before parting to the side, revealing an entrance that extended deep underground.
Electricity sparked through the walls as the bulbs flickered to life, illuminating a staircase that continued downward.
Without wasting another moment, she descended the stairs, leaving the bartender staring after her with widened eyes.
’She...she spared me!?’
In the next moment, as though he had only just realized it, courage returned to him, and he bolted out of the bar, while the remaining four women quickly followed after him.
________
"You shouldn’t be here."
The voice echoed through a room constructed entirely of white marble.
Morgaret finally reached the end of the long underground staircase, where a massive hall stretched before her.
Nothing but enormous tubes filled the room, and within them were the bodies of dozens of men, women, and even children, all bearing bizarre and distorted forms.
One thing was certain: They were all dead.
At the far end of the room stood a single tube whose liquid was different from the others, shimmering with a faint purple light.
And directly before it stood a man with his arms folded behind his back, his back turned toward Morgaret.
"Where is the Arcane serum?"
***
"A... A Bazooka!?"
Declan shouted in shock as he rolled away from the spot where the energy blast had torn through the roof, eventually coming to a stop at the far end of the building.
He quickly turned toward the direction from which the attack had come, and there he saw the man responsible.
He appeared to be in his late twenties, with bizarre purple hair and a pitch-black techno battle suit covering his body, but Declan could barely focus on his appearance because something far more dangerous immediately caught his attention.
Resting upon the man’s shoulder was a massive, one-meter-long energy bazooka, its barrel currently pointed directly at Declan.
"Seems like boss’s worries weren’t unfounded."
"The serum’s successful creation really did attract some pesky attention," the man said, his voice ringing loudly across the surrounding rooftops.
’That gun should weigh over five hundred kilograms, yet he’s handling it so easily. There’s no doubt...’
Declan remained crouched on the ground as he analyzed the situation.
’This man is a Nexian!’
The man’s almost robotic purple pupils shifted away from Declan and toward the two men lying unconscious on the rooftop.
"For a kid without a Core, you must be quite the fighter," he said with a faint nod before his eyes suddenly turned steely cold.
"Unfortunately, you’ve seen something you shouldn’t have, so you have to,"
VROOOOOOOOOM!
The air whistled as Declan instantly flashed away from his position.
With a single jump, he rose high into the air and landed on top of the second building before immediately leaping toward the next rooftop, and then the next.
He choose to run.
"How fast!"
The man mused silently, a devilish grin slowly crawling across his lips.
"It’s useless still."
"Activate Target Lock!"
The man lowered his arm, and the upper portion of the bazooka resting upon his shoulder suddenly rippled, emitting a single red beam that pierced through the distance and illuminated Declan’s figure.
"Target Lock Activated!"
THROOOOOOOOM!
A powerful arrow-shaped energy bomb shot forward at incredible speed.
Declan could hear its harsh whistle cutting through the air, and he immediately jumped to the side.
Yet even after dodging, he could still feel the intense heat radiating from it.
He turned around and found the projectile already ten meters away, still locked onto him by the illuminating red beam.
"A Target Lock!? SHIT!"
In the next moment, Declan roughly threw the binoculars he had picked up toward the incoming bomb.
The projectile struck them and blew them apart, but the bomb continued forward for another seven meters before finally exploding.
BOOOOOM!
The massive explosion flung Declan from the rooftop and sent him nearly a hundred meters into the air.
The wind whipped violently against his face as he twisted his head, hearing a devilish laugh ringing from far behind.
THROOOOOOOOOM!
Another powerful shockwave rippled through the air as a second bomb shot toward him at terrifying speed.
Ten seconds later, it was already right before his face, and Declan jerked his upper body downward at the last possible moment.
The bomb tore past him, its edge barely scraping against his stomach and shredding away a layer of skin before continuing another five meters and exploding.
BAAAANG!
The explosion caught Declan within its range, sending him flying through the air before he smashed through a window and disappeared into the building.
"Boss Morg, you in!?" he shouted into the earbud in his ear while rapidly tapping against it.
"Yes?" her calm voice echoed from the other side.
"I have a Nexian on my ass!"