Mikael slowly withdrew his hand, and the man stayed quiet, too scared to try anything. Mikael began, “I want to know the number of soldiers in this Bastion, along with the strength of all the nobles.”

The man thought hard before hesitantly replying, “I’m not sure of the exact number.” Seeing a frown appear on Mikael’s face, he quickly added, “But I know there are at least 1,000 armed soldiers. As for physical enhancers…”

“We probably have between 100-200 Tier 1 physical enhancers, approximately 80 Tier 2 physical enhancers, and for Tier 3, which I’m part of, I don’t think there are more than 20-30 of us.”

Hearing that this man was a Tier 3 physical enhancer, Mikael was incredulous. ‘Seriously, they give serums to people like him, who clearly have zero combat experience and no willpower?’

The man continued, unaware of Mikael's thoughts. “As for Tier 4… I’m not entirely sure, but I believe we have around 5. And finally, for Tier 5, we have 2—the leader, Aaron, and Colonel Aaliyah.”

Mikael noted this information, then continued his interrogation. “And where are the serums kept?”

The man hesitated but answered, too fearful of the consequences to stay silent. “They’re in a secured room near the leader’s house—the biggest house north of here. The room is about 200 meters north of the leader’s house and is always guarded by two Tier 4 enhancers.”

Mikael gave a cold smile. “I’ll end the interrogation here, but I plan to question other nobles. If their answers differ from yours, I’ll be back to kill you—and not before making you wish for death. If you told the truth, I won’t harm you, but if you lied, I guarantee you’ll regret it.”

The man shook his head fearfully. “I swear, I told the truth!”

Mikael studied his expression, then nodded, seemingly satisfied. In one swift motion, he drew his sword and decapitated the noble.

The man died with an incredulous look frozen on his face.

‘Better to kill him,’ Mikael thought. ‘If he stayed alive, he could report me minutes after I left. But if he’s dead, it could take hours before anyone finds his body and raises the alarm.’

Mikael stepped over the headless body and looked out the window. He noticed that the number of soldiers outside had dramatically increased since he first arrived. ‘Have they discovered me?’ He observed the soldiers’ actions and saw that none were approaching the house specifically; it just seemed like there was a stronger presence in the streets.

‘Hmm, maybe they think there’s an infiltrator. One thing’s for sure—I won’t be able to move as freely as before.’

Sigh.

‘Looks like I’ll have to move as quickly as possible, rush to the room where the serums are stored, and try to escape before the strongest fighters in this Bastion close in on me.’

After deciding on his next move, Mikael opened the window, slipped outside, and quickly climbed onto the roof. He began moving northward at a fast pace, staying on the rooftops and using the darkness of night to remain hidden.

Some soldiers glimpsed a “shadow” out of the corners of their eyes, but by the time they looked, he was already gone.

Soon, he reached a heavily guarded mansion. The guards wielded cold weapons instead of firearms—likely enhancers. After a quick scan of the area, he spotted a steel building behind the mansion.

This time, there were no dark spots he could use for a stealthy infiltration, so he decided on a direct approach.

He leaped from the roof and dashed forward at incredible speed, passing by the guards in a blur.

“INTRUDER!”

The guards, being enhancers, were able to spot him despite his speed.

In seconds, Mikael reached the steel building and swiftly slashed his sword toward the neck of one of the guards.

The guards were taken aback. When you guard the same place for a long time without incident, you don’t expect to be attacked suddenly…

Even so, these guards were Tier 4 enhancers with physical abilities slightly superior to Mikael’s, allowing the first guard to tilt his head back just in time.

However, Mikael’s element of surprise allowed him to press his attack, decapitating the guard. The second guard, now the only one left, reacted quickly, slashing at Mikael.

Mikael parried with superior swordsmanship, then slashed again toward the guard’s neck. The guard raised his sword to block, but, unfortunately for him, the quality of Mikael’s sword was far superior.

Mikael’s blade cut through the guard’s weapon like a knife through butter, leaving him defenseless. In a quick motion, Mikael decapitated him as well.

The entire encounter had lasted only a few seconds, and the guards at the leader’s mansion were just beginning to respond to the ‘intruder.’ Mikael didn’t waste a second; he opened the door and slipped inside.

The interior of the building was a sterile, white lab filled with advanced technological equipment. Being the middle of the night, the lab was empty. He quickly searched the lab and found a glass cabinet containing multiple small syringes filled with a blue liquid.

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The syringes were labeled by tier. On the bottom shelf were dozens of Tier 1 serums, on the shelf above that were around 10 Tier 2 serums, followed by 6 Tier 3 serums on the next shelf, 3 Tier 4 serums on the fourth shelf, and, on the top shelf, a single Tier 5 serum.

Crash.

Mikael punched the glass cabinet, shattering it into small shards. Ignoring the glass, he quickly grabbed one serum from each tier and safely stuffed them in a well isolated pocket of his backpack.

As soon as he secured the serums, Mikael didn’t waste a second. He opened the building door, then immediately stepped back.

Ratatatata

A hail of bullets hit where he’d been standing just a moment before. ‘Damn, just as I thought—they’ve got a whole group waiting. I was too slow… I need to find a way out of this trap. Every second that passes, more enemies are closing in.’

‘I should rush out when the gunfire stops and escape at full speed. The ones firing at me are probably regular humans, so if I get out of their range, they won’t be able to do anything.’

Ten seconds passed, and Mikael realized something. ‘Damn, they’re taking turns firing so there’s always someone shooting...’

A determined glint appeared in his eyes. ‘I can’t dodge all these bullets, so I’ll have to take some hits.’ With that thought, he moved to the back of the lab, gathering all his strength in his legs, then launched himself forward like a rocket.

He charged straight through the rain of bullets, some of which struck him. Since his arms were raised to shield his head, the bullets only grazed his skin or lodged just at the surface of his muscles.

The problem was that with his arms covering his face, he couldn’t see clearly, and at the speed he was going, he crashed directly into the line of soldiers shooting at him.

CRASH

He felt the soldier’s body collapse under the impact, though even Mikael took some damage from colliding at that speed. But he kept going, breaking through the encirclement while bullets continued to whiz past him.

"He's escaping!"

"Catch him, or the boss will have our heads!"

Mikael heard them but focused solely on his escape. He quickly approached one of the walls but, knowing he couldn’t jump the full 20 meters and had no time to climb using his sword, he made his way toward an entrance in the wall with a staircase inside.

Before he began to climb, he glanced behind him and saw some soldiers running after him, still at a distance. He was faster. In seconds, he was on top of the wall.

The soldiers at the top were surprised to see him appear, but Mikael didn’t give them a chance to react. He leapt over the wall.

Whump.

He had intended to roll to soften his landing, but his backpack got in the way, forcing him to land directly on his legs. Pain shot through them, but it wasn’t enough to cause real damage. Without hesitation, he began to run.

After several kilometers from the Bastion and relatively safe, he felt an attack coming. He dodged, tilting his head.

A foot swung through the space his head had occupied a second earlier. Mikael countered with a slash aimed at the leg, hoping to cut it. Unfortunately, his attacker was quick and pulled her leg back in time.

Mikael stepped back and looked at his assailant—a striking woman in her mid-twenties, wearing a military uniform with a sword at her waist.

He assessed her briefly and started to back away while keeping his eyes on her. He needed to put as much distance between himself and the Bastion as possible to avoid getting surrounded.

Seeing him retreat, Aaliyah clicked her tongue. "This isn’t fun. You need to fight me!" When he ignored her words, she shrugged. "Never mind. I'll come to you." Then she charged.

Mikael was taken aback by her speed—at least twice as fast as he was, maybe more. A thought flashed through his mind: ‘She’s a Tier 5... probably the Aaliyah the noble mentioned.’

As she closed in, she slashed at him. Mikael raised his sword to block, but her superior strength pushed him back. Using his swordsmanship skills, he managed to deflect the force of her attack.

Her blade slid off his, exposing her left side momentarily, and Mikael seized the opportunity to deliver a powerful kick to her ribs.

Thud.

The kick connected, drawing a small grunt from her, but she was barely fazed.

Mikael used the distraction to continue moving away from the Bastion in a random direction, making it harder for anyone to track him.

Meanwhile, Aaliyah touched her aching ribs and smiled. ‘Good. He’s strong enough to actually hurt me. This will be fun.’ She looked up, seeing Mikael retreating again, and her expression twisted with frustration. "Oh, stop running and let’s have a good fight to the death!" she shouted, a battle-hungry grin spreading across her face.

As he backed away, Mikael thought, 'I can't outrun her. She's faster than me, and I’m still close enough to the bastion that search teams could eventually reach me with reinforcements.'

A determined glint flashed in his eyes. 'I need to kill her before they arrive.'

While he was strategizing, Aaliyah closed in on him, now within range to strike with her sword. Mikael quickly parried, diverting her blade.

Their swords clashed multiple times per second, moving at a speed that would appear as a blur to a normal human. In this exchange, Mikael was at a disadvantage, but he held his ground with his superior skill.

Clang!

He slashed toward her neck, but she parried his attack easily. What she didn’t notice, though, was that small cracks were starting to appear on her sword.

Seeing his lethal intent, Aaliyah smiled. ‘Ruthless—just as a warrior should be! He’s not swayed by the fact that I’m clearly a beauty; he goes straight for the kill. Too bad he’s weaker than me… but at least he has some skill, which makes this fight more interesting.’

The battle continued, Aaliyah wearing a twisted, 'happy' grin. But Mikael wasn’t concerned with her enjoyment; he cared only that her sword was nearing its breaking point, presenting him with an opportunity.

Their blades clashed again—this time, however, her weapon shattered. Mikael’s sword continued its path uninterrupted, slicing toward her neck.

Feeling her blade break, Aaliyah's eyes widened. Seeing his sword aimed for her throat, she could sense death approaching. She threw her head back just in time.

A thin cut appeared on her neck, deep enough to cause serious bleeding but not enough to decapitate her. Blood poured from the wound, and Aaliyah instinctively pressed her hand to her neck, pulling it away to find it soaked in red. Her face grew a shade paler. As battle-hungry as she was, staring death in the face left her shaken.

Knowing her life was hanging by a thread, she abandoned her "fun" fight and sprinted back toward the bastion, hoping for medical attention.

Mikael remained still, watching her retreat. He wasn’t here to kill her specifically; he only needed to secure a safe place to consume the serums. Even if he wanted to finish her off, she was faster and would escape.

With that thought, Mikael began to run in a diagonal direction, opposite the bastion.