Isaiah exited the building; he didn't bother getting invisible and directly headed towards his next target. It was indeed a busy day.

The reason for his carefree attitude regarding Masked Duke was rather simple. Even though he hadn't killed him, he had managed to show that he could hold his own grounds against the man, but more importantly, that next time they could just pack him up.

While Jax didn't bring any backup due to the uncertainty of the situation, Isaiah had rather vague replies and the difficulty in mobilizing Rank 2s, as each one of them had important matters to handle as the backbones of an empire. Next time he signaled Jax, he would be sure to bring multiple backups, especially now that the battle arsenal of Masked Duke was uncovered. Unless Masked Duke could kill Isaiah in a single clean shot, he would find it hard to escape like he did previously.

As he was walking the streets leading up to his next target, he caught a delicious smell emanating from a rather inconspicuous-looking coffee shop. It only had a window with a beautiful lady on the other side, that was how the sales were made.

She was a dark brunette with unique shiny brown eyes. To say that she matched her profession would be an understatement; she got Isaiah's gaze, responding to it with an amiable smile.

Isaiah slowly approached the window with a smile on his face. He took in the entire small shop, then turned to look back at her, "You have a nice shop," he took a whiff of the smell emanating and added, "And if the scent I'm breathing is believable, even better coffee."

The woman chuckled, "My coffee is one of the best around," her energy was bright. She added with a wink, "Situated for someone of your stature, Mr. Isaiah," giving him a bright smile with her pearly white teeth.

Isaiah laughed, hearing her, "Seems like you keep up with the news, since you know my name. It would be a shame if I didn't learn yours," his gaze locked onto her shiny brown eyes.

The woman extended her hand, "My name is Arabella. My parents named me after their love for coffee." Isaiah took her hands and shook it. Due to her being Rank 0, her hands were softer than he was accustomed to on this planet, a nice change. "Such a beautiful name," he said and retreated his hand.

As Isaiah retreated his hand, Arabella found his business card in her hand. He must have passed it during the shake. She turned to look back up at him. In his hand was already a coffee cup he was sipping. As their gaze met, Isaiah winked, then turned around to leave, "Visit me in my casino sometime."

As Arabella's eyes fell on his departing figure, many questions swirled around her mind. The first one being how did he get the coffee, but more importantly, what did he have in mind for her? She took the card and put it in her purse, going back to her day.

As Isaiah continued on his way with now a coffee in his hand, its mouth was covered in a layer of mana. Since mana could act as matter, it contained the smell and the heat while still allowing Isaiah to easily drink from it.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Isaiah made his way to a tall building made fully from silver. It was in contrast with the rest of the establishments, which were more colorful with various lights and entertainment going on under the moonlit night sky. This gang building was in a rather populated street, unlike the others he hunted down.

He simply made his way inside through the main entrance without even bothering to turn invisible. He first sensed the lobby of the building with his mana, then laid down a soundproofing formation.

This formation worked similarly to how he covered mana to let the heat and scent stay in place with his coffee inside the cup, but it covered a larger range and used mana's material-like properties to contain sound instead. It didn't need to be a formation, obviously; it would also work well as a spell. Isaiah just wanted to save a bit of mana by increasing the efficiency, that's all.

As soon as he entered the lobby, he alerted the guards stationed inside, which rushed at him using various abilities, only to hit a bunch of fleeting particles of light. SWACH, with his fingers covered in condensed mana, he appeared behind a guard. His fingers easily went through his neck, and as he retreated his fingers, the body fell, gargling in his own blood on the floor.

They once again attacked to face the same fate. At first, there were three men, now only two remained. Their panic was visible on their faces as horror took form. One of them even got on to his knees, smashing his head onto the hard floor, "I apologize! Please let me g-!" TUCK, his vision switched frame by frame; he saw the floor, ceiling, floor, ceiling alternating at high speeds. Isaiah's kick, covered in condensed light mana, had cleanly severed his head, sending his head flying as his decapitated body fell onto the cold floor.

Isaiah lifted his gaze to look at the last man standing. Despite the dread that Isaiah's gaze gave him, the man rushed at Isaiah. He swung his arm back, twisted his entire body, and let out an intense punch traveling directly for Isaiah's face, "RAAAGH!"

This time, however, Isaiah didn't disappear like he had expected. Isaiah easily took the force behind his entire punch with his face covered in condensed light mana. Before he could retract his hand, it was pierced by a spike that came out of Isaiah's face armor, "AHHHG!" the man screamed in pain. The spike left his hand, but he didn't respond with any more attacks, having lost all the fight he had in him.

Isaiah shook his head, disappointed in the man before him. SLAH, with a clean slash of his hand, his life ended just like the rest of them.

Isaiah obviously didn't have any problem dealing with a few low-ranking individuals. As he moved through the corridor, he saw a receptionist lady hiding in the corner of her room, shaking in fear as her head was buried between her legs.

Isaiah smiled and moved to the counter. DING DING, he pressed the bell on the counter, his gaze locked onto the woman on the ground. He was going to kill her if she didn't answer, but decided to let her go if she did.

Seeing the woman unresponsive, he decided to give her another chance. DING DING DING, the sound of the bell rang inside her mind as if signaling the end of her life. She sniffled, tears dropping from her large eyes, as she took a look at the man who was the source of her horrors. He was simply gazing at her with a seemingly gentle smile.

She mustered all her strength and got behind the counter. She couldn't gaze at the man's eyes and instead focused on the wall behind him. She spoke in a shaky voice, "Y-yes Sir? Please don't kill me, I have no relation with their activities, I'm a simple receptionist."

Isaiah chuckled and flicked her forehead. As she saw the finger approach between her eyebrows, her entire life flashed through her. Tears ran down her cheeks as her body shook.

Thumb, all the flick did was sting a bit. She looked up at Isaiah, who was already halfway out of the reception room, "Let this be a lesson to you," with those words, he simply left, leaving behind a confused woman who didn't know if she should be glad or if she should keep sobbing.