(Julius Argenti POV)

I pulled the bodies up to the fly system, checking for any equipment they had. I found nothing interesting as they only had the standard soldier equipment.

I picked up an assault rifle and analysed it. In both of my lives, this was the first time I've held a gun. I was tempted to fire it but that would scare everyone and alert the incoming forces.

'Should I use the gun? Nah, I'm not could with it so my accuracy would be terrible. It also produces a ton of noise.'

"Officer, what do see?"

I heard a noise coming from the radio they had on their bodies.

"Don't see anyone, sir. Scouting the room further."

I replied to the commander. I hoped this would get them off our trail for a couple of minutes. The life signals wouldn't notify the commander about their deaths until a bit later.

I sensed that the men outside the front entrance were moving further away. The commander must've suspected that we escaped into the forest.

'This confirms my suspicions. These aren't criminals. They this is a military operation.'

I cross-checked the dead bodies with the names I received on the USB.

'It's them.'

With the way they spoke, these men were trained professionals.

I extended my senses so that I covered the entire building. Though I couldn't accurately pinpoint everyone, I got the general area that they were in.

The C ranks had bigger mana signatures than the others so I searched for them first.

'There.'

I found them all far above our position. I presumed they were on the rooftops. I could sense other attackers exploring other floors. If I enhanced my ears, I could hear them kicking down doors.

It was moments like these I appreciated the fact I had amazing mana sensing. I was able to see my opponents while no one could see me.

'I should reduce the number of enemies.'

After sending a quick message to Violet through Ashley, I jumped down. James, who was the walls noticed me and reduced the gravity, allowing me to land without making a sound.

I mentally thanked him, before hiding behind the entrance of the stairs. After peaking behind the walls and seeing no one climbing down the hole, I went to the first floor.

I sensed 5 people on this floor. I hid just below the floor and saw them distracted, checking the rooms.

I quickly ran into an empty room with its door open and hid on the ceiling. I held onto the ceiling by creating some water, covering my hands and placing it on the wall. I then froze the water, allowing me to stick to the ceiling.

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I named this technique {Freeze Climbing}. This technique probably already had a name, but I don't know it.

I produced some noise, which attracted some mages. I saw two enter the room with their guns up. Normally this would be the time I would ambush them, but I sensed another outside the door.

'They're too careful.'

The third mage wouldn't come inside the room. These guys would eventually notice me on the ceiling, so I formulated a plan. My greatsword was too big to swing properly in this room so I had to be careful.

'I only have one shot at this.'

I created a {Water Spear} before jumping down. I enhanced my perception of time so I wouldn't miss this.

In what felt like slow motion, I threw my {Water Spear} at the mage outside the door midfall, aiming for the head to instantly kill him.

I landed on the floor and pulled my greatsword out from behind me and used {Mana Slice} to decapitate the two inside the room.

They all died before they realised what happened.

Still, it wasn't over yet. One of the mages rushed out of the room because of the noise I produced. He saw the dead body of his comrade and was about to inform his superiors.

But I wasn't going to let him. I used two {Burst Steps} to get closer to him before snapping his neck. He didn't have enough time to react. The last mage saw all this, but I killed him with another {Water Spear}.

I dragged the bodies into an empty room and hid them in the corner. There was still a lot of blood spilt, so I collected it with my liquid attribute.

Using it I created two {Blood Spears}. I sensed two mages standing in the second-floor hallway while others were checking the rooms.

At this point, the commander was probably informed of the death of two who came to the second floor. So I didn't have to be subtle about killing anymore.

I climbed the hole that was stairs and got to the second edge of the second floor. I then used the two {Blood Spears} to kill the two standing in the hallway before jumping down to the ground floor.

I informed Ashley that I was coming down from the stairwell and not to attack me. I re-entered the dining hall before climbing to the fly system.

'It's your turn commander. What will you do now?'

***

(Commander POV)

"How are nine of our men dead without us knowing anything!?"

I got a report from the second floor that the two guarding the hallway were dead. The life signals reported that the five on the first floor and two scouts were dead.

"Where are their bodies?"

"Commander, we've searched the forest and cannot find any trace of the students. If we go any closer, we'll get caught in the battle between the A ranks and B ranks."

I got a report from my men I sent to the forest.

'They may be able to escape the detection of our men, but the B ranks would sense them immediately and report it to us. They must still be the dining hall.'

"Return to the front entrance of the hotel."

I rubbed my head as I gave those commands.

'To be able to kill these D ranks so easily, they must be a C rank or above.'

I checked the names of all the students. Only four of them had achieved the C rank. Violet Storm, Amina Moria, James Schwarz and Julius Argenti.

The first three came from prominent noble families whose backgrounds could be accounted for. They were also a few of the main targets that must be killed in this operation. However, Julius Argenti's background was practically unknown.

All that could be found was that he was an orphan that the Moria family took in at the age of 8. He is affiliated with the Moria family because he is Amina Moria's attendant. Nothing prior to that was found.

There were rumours of the Moria family having some sort of secret army or organisation so I suspected Julius Argenti was a part of that.

Plus the two on the second floor were killed by an attack that required the liquid attribute. Of the four that were mentioned, only he had the liquid attribute.

'I told my superiors that I only need half the amount of soldiers to complete the mission. They may be D ranks in terms of power, but they have none of the experience that we have. They are just brats.'

I also didn't understand how he was able to kill us so easily. He may be C rank, but my men should have at least shot at him a couple of times or be able to inform me before they died. Yet nothing happened.

That was only possible knew our positioning. We couldn't detect theirs as thermal imaging cannot see through these thick floors and the mana imaging doesn't work properly because of the mana fluctuations from the battle of A ranks.

I analysed the situation and prepared my next move. I will not fail this mission. I felt bad for the kids involved, but this was for the greater good of humanity.