Shifting to John Walker, he had left the side of Ada to pursue a task of his own. For the first time since undergoing his body modification, John had reunited with one of his super soldiers. It was none other than the Deathbringer, Claw.

Well, well, well. It's been a while, huh, Claw?" John remarked as he met Claw in an emergency room. Claw seemed to be in optimal health, however, as the reason they met in the hospital was because of his boss, the Queen Deathbringer.

Lying unconscious in the hospital bed, she remained in the emergency room as a patient. Most of her face and her body were wrapped with bandages, suggesting that the Queen Deathbringer found herself in a terrible incident. Claw sat on a chair, close by his boss.

He too donned bandages from his fight against the battle-crazed killer.

"Oh, so you finally finished your modifications, huh?" Claw stated as he shifted his gaze to John. "You survived it despite your age..."

"Hatred is what kept me going," John replied. "Hatred for the damn Hayes family."

"...Why did you come here for?"

"Well, I did want your help, but the sight of you and the Queen Deathbringer disgusts me," John remarked. "It made me remember how far the super soldiers have fallen."

"What? Aren't you a super soldier now!? Those scars on your face are proof of that! You're no longer in any position to belittle me! You're one of us now!" Claw retorted. "After hearing what you did to the S-Class criminal Nathan Hayes and his parents, I've already lost respect for you. You're making it even worse now!"

"Tsk, don't forget I was the one who created you! I did!" John angrily retorted. "I created the Anti-Blessed Malefactor Corps to be an unstoppable power, and yet you were massacred by a few criminals. Who would have imagined I'd be meeting two blessed hunters in a damn infirmary now!?"

"Tsk, don't speak ill about my boss. She lost two of her subordinates to the battle-crazed killer and has been on the edge ever since," Claw said. "...She wouldn't even be here now if she didn't go find Charles on her own accord..."

*

Rewinding to an unspecified point in the past, where Charles was alone in a forest. He used the trees as punching bags as he repeatedly struck them, destroying the branches.

The frantic chirping of birds was audible as they quickly fled the forest trees upon hearing the ruckus Charles had created.

"Sigh, I can't believe I'm back to punching trees to pass the time. The last time I did this was when I trained to face the blessed slaughterer, but now there's no reason for me to continue training," The depressed Charles remarked as he looked at the destroyed trees littered about the ground. Charles's fists steamed from the force and speed he struck the trees. "It's not like I can get stronger like this now. The only potential fun fight would be the Amber woman who killed Jack, but I have no idea when I'd get to fight her..."

"...Charles Warner."

"Huh?" Charles uttered with a raised eyebrow before shifting his gaze to the direction of the voice. His confusion intensified as he witnessed the source of the voice approaching him. It was none other than the Queen Deathbringer, and she seemed rather angry.

"I finally...found you. I'm sure you remember me, right?" The Queen Deathbringer questioned. "You murdered two of my close subordinates and comrades. I will murder you for it!"

"...I remember you. We fought back in the United Kingdom," Charles responded. "I gave you a chance to live because I think you'd be a better fight if you get stronger or try something different, but it seems like you're doing something dumb right now!"

"Tsk, your battle-crazed personality is purely sickening, and will be your downfall!" The Queen Deathbringer retorted. "I will kill you right here!"

BANG!

Their fight encompassed the massive forest they occupied, which was pulverized. While an intense battle was enjoyed, the victor was quite obvious.

"See, I knew you were doing something rather stupid!" Charles berated as he held the Queen Deathbringer by the head and pushed her up into a tree. "You relied too much on those razor-sharp threads, but I already got used to those since the last time we fought!"

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They both had suffered extensive injuries. Charles had deep lacerations and bruises all over his body, but he had a smile on his face which contrasted with his condition. His muscle mass was much greater, and pulsating arteries on his body were rather pronounced. He was utilizing his physical enhancement - stacking currently.

The Queen Deathbringer was far more bruised, though. She sustained black eyes, discolored bruises on her face and profusely bleeding. The super soldier also suffered extensive broken bones from this fight.

"You can't kill me, but I'll give you one final chance since you didn't do so bad although you were alone!" Charles continued. "I'll let you live this time, so don't you dare come again and challenge me until you can truly entertain me!"

The Queen Deathbringer had no choice but to listen to his words and gaze at Charles with a murderous glare as her face was gripped.

*

"...After that, she managed to return to base before passing out," Claw stated as he gazed at the sleeping Queen Deathbringer. "Sigh, I understand she wanted to protect me, but couldn't she have relied on me, too?"

"Why do you think she didn't tell you? The last time she had you and Shadowgun on her side when fighting Charles, right?" John questioned. "You two just couldn't keep up with the Queen Deathbringer who couldn't keep up with Charles. You useless dogs truly have fallen too far."

"Would you be quiet--"

"Don't you want to prove your worth?" John asked. "Or will you keep failing at what you were created to do?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The president wants to finally clean up this damn country, which means eliminating the rest of the S-Class criminals," John remarked. "But we have to defeat the brains, Nathan Hayes."

"Tsk, you're saying this because you just hate Nathan," Claw replied as his eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"Just face it, Nathan is a criminal now. My grudge is meaningless in this situation," John replied. "In any case, President Ada requires your help. Are you willing to finally fulfill your role of eliminating blessed criminals?"

Hearing that, Claw took a glimpse of his sleeping boss.

"Sigh, okay," Claw agreed. "What do you need?"

*

With the attempted assassination and the torture and killing of a Silverdust member, any semblance of camaraderie the two illegal organizations possessed was now destroyed.

After receiving their man as a 'package,' the two Silverdust brothers began deliberating on what they should do.

"Damn it! How the hell did Steve get caught!" The panicked Noah yelled. "We're screwed!"

"...Tsk, it's all my fault. I was the one who came up with the risky idea of trying to bomb them," William responded. "I'm sorry, brother."

"There's no time to worry about that," Noah yelled. "We should move countries while we can!"

"Hmm, that's true. We have the time to pack our stuff and leave," William said. "They likely won't want revenge today, but will attempt something very soon. We should get out of here while we can."

"...Sigh, I wish we didn't have to leave this mansion," Noah said. "Bringing women and hosting parties...I loved this home."

"Yeah, but we'll quickly get our bearings in another country. All we have to do is lay low for a while," William responded. "It won't be hard for us to set up business elsewhere."

Although they decided to leave rather quickly, it was still too late. The director had already made his move.

The Silverdust headquarters lay amid the forests, and vrooming sounds were audible as a sedan approached the outskirts.

"Huh, whose car is that? I don't remember anyone owning a red sedan," A man donning silver overalls uttered as he witnessed the sedan approaching. "What's going on?"

Other silver overall-wearing members minded their own business as they moved about the headquarters. No one had any clue what would happen in the coming moments.

The man who witnessed the car approaching observed it parking at the gates of the headquarters.

"Tsk, who the hell are you?" The man questioned as he approached the car. "You cannot park here--"

The gang member's expression morphed into surprise as he witnessed the entire vehicle starting to gleam.

"Wha--"

BOOOOOOM!!!!

The car expanded into a devasting explosion, which decimated the gates, and surrounding forest trees were destroyed or blown away. Several of the warehouses and other infrastructures were reduced to the ground by the blast's yield.

"What the hell was that!?" Noah loudly questioned. His bewilderment was matched by his brother as they looked out their window. They quickly gathered what occurred, as they witnessed many of their land and property destroyed and up in flames.

"W-What!?" William stuttered with fright. Noah was too speechless to respond.

The cause of the explosion was none other than the wielder of the volatile manipulation blessing, Zack Isaac. With Rose and Octavius, Zack approached the severely ruined Silverdust gang.

"Damn! That was a pretty powerful explosion!" Octavius remarked with a bright smile on his face. He also covered his ears, likely to shield his external organs from the loud blast.

"It looks like they really wanted to kill us, huh," Rose added. "To think their bombs were actually this strong."

"Well, Zack's blessing does give explosions a bit of a boost!" Octavius replied. "But they're still strong either way."

"Sigh, I can't believe I got roped up into this," The visibly annoyed Zack remarked. "This ain't even my battle..."

"What the hell are you talking about? You're a Blueblood gang member, and one of the only powerful blessed users, so, of course, this is your battle," Rose responded. "And besides, the director knows you're good for missions like this. Even more so now that you can control your blessing a bit better."

"Yeah..."

"Remember, we don't have to kill everyone. If there's any we can recruit in our gang, we should allow them," Octavius stated. "But the Silverdust brothers will die today."

"Of course, they will," Rose responded.

"...Sigh, let's get this over with, I guess," Zack responded as he slipped his hands into the gloves the developer handed him. This will be a good test of how strong I am right now.

Like a pack of wolves hunting prey, the trio hastily marched into the Silverdust gang.