“S-sir! We’re under attack! You must leave.”

“Under attack? By who?”

While dragging his fat body towards the secret exit, Colonel George’s face distorted as he reproached his subordinates. It was clear that he was afraid and didn’t want to stay here for an extra second.

Whether the invader was a single person or a group, George didn’t care. He prioritized his safety over anything else.

..

On the ground floor, Zeke, shrouded in a spider-web made of crackling lightning, was dashing forward.

Thunderbolts were illuminating the corridors as he shot any and all agents in his way. The bullets flying at him were repelled by Bibi’s magical orbs or blocked by Maxwell’s translucent white shields.

He was the vanguard of the team, taking the lead and eliminating all threats while Maxwell and Bibi supported him.

Xiao, Frederic, and Veronica separated from them to look for Azmer on the lower floors.

“Stop them!”

“Where are the Special Agents?”

Special Agents were mostly the ability-users, like Elizabeth. However, such individuals were tasked with important missions instead of guarding the corridors.

Zeke continued charging forward, the voltage spreading from his body and paralyzing his opponents.

He was like an unstoppable snowball, flattening everything in his way as he swiftly disposed of the armed agents and looked at all the rooms.

“He must be dead or locked downstairs.” Said Maxwell as shot a finger-sized projectile that ricocheted on the walls a couple of times before piercing a hiding agent.

“You go on ahead. I’ll search this floor.”

Zeke unceremoniously waved his hand at the two as he stepped out of the room and dashed away.

Bibi and Maxwell exchanged glances before heading toward the staircase.

‘I’m not feeling anything. It’s strange.’

Admittedly, Zeke had his fair share of chaotic situations. However, it was his first time doing something like this. He had actually barged into a research facility belonging to the Department of Defense and was being attacked by armed agents.

The sound of fired bullets and the unfolding chaos notwithstanding, Zeke felt a wave of tranquility and serenity. He neither felt fear nor anxiousness as he nimbly moved his body.

He appeared in front of two agents and raised his leg, using ‘One-star Side-kick’ to send them both flying to the back.

Then, he used ‘Life Motus’ to avoid the rain of bullets and throw a lightning arrow that hit the wall before bursting into a storm of electricity that incapacitated the four agents aiming at him.

Zeke was wearing a mask that covered the entirety of his face, but even with that, he knew that due to his flashy and unique abilities, they would discover his identity sooner or later. Still, he was willing to take the risk and come here.

Albeit being the younger brother of the team leader of the Secret Intelligence sub-department, Zeke’s impression of the Department of Defense was mostly negative. He had no intentions of allying himself with them, now or in the future.

Moreover, Vice-president George would try to bury this incident instead of making it public. He definitely had more than one secret experiment here, including that strange shipment, and it wouldn’t do him any good to reveal it to his superior.

Therefore, the logical response would be to turn this incident into an unfortunate accident and keep the identity of the assailants under tight wraps, or so Zeke speculated.

…

On the lower floors, Veronica’s snakes crawled on the ground and on the walls, spreading everywhere as they checked every room looking for Azmer.

Frederic and Xiao were swinging their weapons, easily getting rid of the agents.

Even when two Special Agents appeared, they were overwhelmed by the three of them.

At some point, they crossed paths with agent Elizabeth, who had cuffed Azmer again and was dragging him to a safe place.

The slim woman’s clothes had burnt marks, but she hadn’t suffered any substantial damage.

Seeing the three white-robed people blocking her path, Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed as she tightly clenched her grasp on the electric black baton.

A bout of silence flowed between them before projectiles made of white light came flying at Elizabeth’s rear. In retaliation, she stomped the ground, which surprisingly extinguished the projectiles into nothingness.

“S-sorry! We’re late!”

Bibi gasped for air while Maxwell stood at the back, glaring menacingly at the Special agent.

Eventually, Elizabeth pushed Azmer toward Veronica while saying,

“I’m at a disadvantage so I will not fight.”

She walked to the side and stood still, clearly having no intentions to fight the five of them together. Yes, she was particularly strong, but so were they all, especially Frederic and Xiao.

As Veronica supported the barely conscious and heavily wounded Azmer, Elizabeth snorted and said,

“This will end badly for all of you.”

“We will take our chances.” Retorted Veronica as she backed away while Fred and Xiao were protecting her.

In the end, they swiftly left the scene while Elizabeth sped towards the ground floor.

…

Five minutes later, after fighting several dozen agents, Zeke finally came face to face with the Special Agents. These were the real threat, the ability-users, and the real strength of the Department of Defense.

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Zeke stood at the center of a large intersection, surrounded by no less than 6 Special Agents.

[Urgent Mission: Survive and escape the Research Facility.]

[Special Mission: Destroy the Aether Reactor]

‘Oh?’ Although he expected to see a mission, Zeke was pleased nonetheless to see the System notification appear.

He spotted Veronica and co appear from the stairs and head toward the exit.

“He’s surrounded. There might be even more on the way.” Muttered Bibi as he gritted his teeth.

They all saw Zeke at the intersection, but they also saw the Special Agents blocking all the escape routes and closing in on him.

“Fuck! She’s also here! Let’s go!”

Maxwell pushed the hesitant Xiao as they ran away. The last thing they saw was a swirling shroud of black fog enveloping Zeke.

Elizabeth had used another path to reach the intersection, aiming to surround the invaders along with the other Special Officers. However, she was a tad too late and ended up crossing paths with Zeke.

She saw a long scythe appear in his hands and his appearance slightly change. His eyes turned jet black and his white robe change into a black one shredded at the bottom.

A sinister and ominous aura emitted from his as he grinned and shot at the targets.

One of the Special Agents swung his thorny whip at the youth, but, much to his surprise, it was cut in half by the scythe.

Before he could react, Zeke was already upon him, grabbing his head and smashing it into the wall. Right after disposing of the fist, Zeke kicked the wall and somersaulted while diagonally slashing with his scythe.

The scythe clashed with a flying shark made of water, slicing it just like with the whip before it descended on the agent, piercing his chest.

Just as Zeke eliminated the second one, a buzzing sound entered his ears, followed by pain from his flank.

Elizabeth’s baton struck his side and blew him to the side, but he managed to stabilize his body mid-air and safely land on his feet.

For a moment, Elizabeth was surprised that Zeke was unaffected by the electricity, but she didn’t stop her rampage.

She, along with the remaining Special Officers, all jumped at the youth enveloped in a dense black fog.

…

“Huff huff…”

Zeke looked at the timer, which was almost about to hit ‘0’. The intersection was completely ruined as there were slash marks on the walls and the ground. Most noticeably, there was a massive hole on the ground, caused by [The Baleful Gallows], which was a skill that accompanied ‘The Reaper’.

Exhausted, Zeke walked to the last surviving Special Agent. He looked at the wounded Elizabeth, who had a grievous bloody wound across her chest, which was the result of taking ‘The Baleful Gallows’ head-on.

Zeke too, had suffered a fatal wound to his chest, but thanks to ‘Body-damage’, which activated despite being in the Reaper Form, Zeke was able to avoid dying.

No words were needed as Elizabeth picked her baton and faced him. Zeke had confirmed that her ability was different from the rest. It was similar to Julia and Maxine, as her body was unusually tenacious as well as monstrously strong.

Were it not for that, she would have died under his onslaught.

Electricity crackled around Zeke as he leaned forward and transformed into a lightning bolt.

He used ‘Over-drive’ to end this prolonged fight, however, Elizabeth retaliated by simply quickly taking a deep breath and then swinging her baton.

The azure lightning clashed with her strike, causing a shock wave that cracked the walls and caused light tremors.

Zeke felt overpowered for a second, but he succeeded in bypassing her defense and piercing the side of her abdomen with a spike condensed from voltage.

Blood gushed out, followed by a groan of pain. Still, Elizabeth didn’t falter as she half-turned her body, let go of the baton, and punched the ground, causing it to shatter into pieces.

The hole in the middle of the intersection spread and the underground floor revealed itself.

Zeke swiftly backed away using ‘Life Motus’ and saw the agent fall down. He was certain that she did it on purpose, not to harm him but to survive, which meant that she prioritized her survival over catching him.

Feeling annoyed that he had failed, Zeke snorted and left.

Although the rest of his escape wasn’t as dangerous, Zeke still had to face a couple more normal agents, all of which were incapacitated using ‘Voltage Zap’.

As much as he wanted to also complete the ‘Special Mission,’ Zeke didn’t have the strength to delve deeper into the facility and find the Aether Reactor.

Even with the use of ‘The Reaper’, fighting against multiple ability users at the same time was extremely difficult.

The Reaper Form significantly increased his stats… which was the reason behind his confidence and why he agreed to help Veronica. Simply relying on ‘Self-Injection’ and ‘Over-drive’ wasn’t going to cut it.

‘Still, that woman was really strong. Maybe as strong as Katrina.’

Zeke kept looking behind as he ran through the darkened forest. Fortunately, he had no pursuers, but that was only because he used the Aether stored in Voltage Rune to teleport non-stop with ‘Life Motus’.

An hour later, Zeke stopped near a creek and splashed cold water on his face. His charred and blackened right arm was shaking, his body was numb and fatigued, and his breathing was uneven.

‘It felt a bit thrilling, if not exhilarating.’

Maybe his thinking was affected by his young age, or maybe it was the thought of successfully breaking out someone from a heavily-guarded research facility, whatever the reason was, Zeke felt proud of his accomplishment.

He had become considerably stronger, so much so that wanted to train even more meticulously. With the use of the Paths of Extinctions System, he knew he could reach the epitome of power and achieve all of his goals.

He would get he hear back from the Ascetic Blasphemers, learn the truth behind his mysterious birth, and protect those whom he held dear.

…

“Shit! It was here all along!”

“Aaaaah!”

Jack, who saw a rat appear out of nowhere, freaked out and hugged his bald friend.

“What a wuss! Come on.”

Sulong smacked Jack’s head before entering the hideout.

Jack tentatively followed him only to see the container and the girl inside.

“Seriously, what’s with shady experiments and kids?”

Sulong shrugged as he approached the ‘shipment’ and carefully examined it. It was large than him in size, but the problem wasn’t simply taking it out of here, it was taking it back home without attracting attention.

“S-shouldn’t we just leave it alone?”

“Hell no!” Sulong shook his head while cracking his knuckles, “We’ve come this far. So… might as well try this!!”

He punched the container and broke the glass, which caused all the water to flow outside. Sulong caught the girl in his thick and burly arms.

“She’s very light.”

“You’re crazy! Fuck me! Zeke’s lunacy affected you.”

“Come on, man. This is nothing.”

Sulong beamed at his friend while strolling out of the hideout while humming joyfully. Jack, on the other hand, cursed under his breath and followed his friend.

…

Two hours later, after grouping up with Zeke, they all returned to the hideout only to see the broken container.

The moment he saw this, Frederic rushed toward Zeke and held him by the collar.

“What did you do?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Retorted Zeke while shrugging.

“Where’s the shipment? You backstabbing bastard!”

He was about to unsheath his sword and stab him but Xiao interfered. The quiet man solemnly shook his head.

“Bring it back. Right this instant!”

“As I said, I have no idea what you mean. Could you perhaps elaborate?”

“You motherfuck-”

“Fred.”

Veronica also pulled him back as she glared at Zeke.

“This is not what we agreed.”

“Why are you assuming it’s me? You came to me for help and I helped. Unconditionally. Rather than threaten me, aren’t you supposed to thank me?”

“...”

Seeing them give him menacing looks, Zeke chuckled, “Your hideout has been exposed. I suggest you find another place.”

After saying his piece, he glanced at the unconscious Azmer before leaving.