11:42 AM, In the main staircase of the first floor.
Inspector Wright and Officer Dole finally stepped off of the staircase and managed to get to the first floor safely without encountering any problems.
"This is tiring. Why would they make a 50-floor building when they could just make this hospital horizontally." Officer Dole said.
"Shut up. Go back in time and complain to the builder, and stop being funny. You just became a serious and respective man earlier but now you're being stupid again. We're in serious trouble if there's a few more terrorists besides the woman earlier here." Inspector Wright said seriously.
"Yeah, yeah. Your words hurt, man."
They soon began walking through the silent corridor which was connected to the main hall.
A few moments later, the scent of the explosion began to go through their nose as they exhale.
They immediately became serious and let their guard on by raising the picked-up daggers in both of their hands while sneakily walking forward.
Cracked ceiling, burnt floor and walls, broken and disoriented decorations were appearing from a few meters afar from them as they walk.
The main hall was obviously in a complete mess.
Several seconds later, they stopped their movements and left a puzzled expression on their face.
Officer Dole looked down at the floor where an unconscious, injured woman lied.
"This... This is the lady earlier isn't it? Derek?" Officer Dole said as his glance turned from the woman on the floor to his partner.
"Yes. She fainted and obviously got hurt. A dagger was thrown, pierced inside her leg deeply, making her lose consciousness due to the intense pain or something worse." Inspector Wright said with a straight face as he intensely looked at the woman's body.
"Ah. Your ability is really good at this stuff, huh." Officer Dole said, surprised by his partner who's using his ability to the woman, but suddenly his expression turned serious as he opened his mouth again.
"Anyways, who in the world could throw a dagger into a dagger throwing expert's own body part. Surely, it needed another expert to do that, right?"
"Hm. I know one and I know you're thinking of a certain someone that can do it too."
The Inspector said calmly as he moved his head and looked at his partner.
"Damn right. Of course, I know him! Haha~ Yeah... It's... He is... Uh..."
"You... It's the kid earlier, you airheaded man!"
"Huh...?"
Officer Dole frowned before eventually recalling that the kid was the one who threw the combat knife at their enemy's face.
"Ah! Yeah, the kid! Now that I think about it. He hit the big guy with a knife right in the eye! But... It turned out he's alive. And then he died because the kid's already here! HAHAHA! I'm a genius right? haha. I think he did all the rest of the terrorist without us backing him up."
"Hah... The rest, huh."
Inspector Wright paused for a moment after hearing his partner's realization.
"Come on, let's go. This area is too quiet, he might still be there waiting for us or the other police."
Officer Dole immediately agreed then they walked forward together.
After a moment of their marching, they soon reached the entrance to the main hall and...
!?
Inspector Wright and Officer Dole took another few steps forward towards the main hall before suddenly stopping all their movements.
"Hu-Huh? What–...! Is that–!? Am I seeing wrong? Hey... Derek?" Officer Dole stopped mid-sentence and glanced at his partner.
"Evan, the one being lifted in the air is the kid," Inspector Dole said then continued, "I know he's in danger right now but that guy is, no doubt, stronger than us, or even worse, he's probably one of the Neow-"
"Yes, the kid. It's the kid. He's being held in his neck! What are we still doing here? Let's go!" Officer Dole said hurriedly as he immediately ran towards the middle of the hall.
"What the–! Hey! Evan! Wait!"
﹏ ﹏﹏﹏﹏ ﹏
A few minutes earlier.
The wooden barricades in the entrance of the hospital fell off and a tall man came in with both of his hands laying inside his pants' pocket as the dust dissipates.
"Its here, the strong vibe that's been frequently bothering me," Liam said inwardly the moment he felt the heavy and thick aura spreading behind him.
He instinctively turned around and saw a guy wearing a dark-red coat and with a handsome face as good-looking as Rynn, the guy he just fought a minute ago.
'Don't tell me... they're somehow related?'
Rynn also turned his head to look at the direction of the entrance as he felt a familiar presence in there, then his eyes suddenly widened.
"MASTER! You're here-"
FWOOSH!
"You should train more."
THWACK!
"!"
Liam's body stiffened as he heard an unfamiliar voice behind and not only that, but the guy who was standing in the entrance earlier, was gone.
"H-Huh!?" Liam said inwardly.
'Did he just teleport behind me? No, that's basically impossible. It must be the [Dash] skill, right? But if it is, I could sense and barely able to see it with my high perception. Did he mastered it?'
Countless thoughts swelled in his mind and soon began to deem his enemy's strength.
'Ah. A master. He's that great? He is incredibly powerful then. Even stronger than the terrorist in the VIP Floor. He is... Dangerous. He's dangerously strong.'
Liam did not move a single bit as he was currently overthinking and analyzing the situation but quickly regained his composure when he heard a footstep.
And then...
!!!
An immense pressure immediately surrounded his entire body. He suddenly remembered the eerie feeling when he was still fighting Rynn earlier. It was the sane, but right now was several times worse that he can't even move an inch though he was forcefully giving his full strength.
"I... I can't resist! What the hell is this!?" Liam shouted inwardly with only his eyes shivering.
AHK!
'Now my chest! And my head hurts!'
"Hm. Impressive. You can survive a mass of my 'Forced Aura' without losing consciousness. That means, it is you who defeated my disciple." The tall guy said as he pointed the body of Rynn beside him lying on the ground with his finger.
UGH!
Liam moaned in pain when the guy somehow made the pressure heavier on him as he said his words.
"What is this!? I can't breathe! 'Forced Aura'!? It's... heavy! It... It just... HURTS!"
"WHY... CAN'T I MOVE!!!"
The guy wearing a dark-red coat slowly walked towards Liam before stopping beside him.
He glanced at Liam's face from the side as he opened his mouth and said, "You look younger than Rynn but he actually lost to you. It seems that you have great potential in fighting. From strength to skills."
The guy gave an earnest look before lowering his body to Liam, who was a head shorter than him, and whispered something.
"Would you like to turn yourself stronger and be one of us...?"
Liam, who can't budge an inch, suddenly widened his eyes as heard the guy's statement, soon after that...
He continued.
With a centered but serious expression he says, "If you like to come and be my disciple, I shall personally lead you to our organization..."
He stopped his words that lit a proud look in his eyes before continuing, "...called 'The Dark Society'."
"HNG! KEUK!"
Liam once again lost control of his emotions as he recalled the hard time he had to suffer, the instant he heard the words that came from the guy's mouth.
He unconsciously put all his strength to his upper body up to his face and forcefully moved it towards the guy with a grim and murderous look.
Rynn's master was slightly surprised when the kid in front of him moved even though his Forced Aura was still in effect to pressure him.
As Liam's own eyes met with the guy's eyes, he forcibly opened his mouth and said, "I... WILL NEVER... MAKE MYSELF INTO THE LIKES OF YOU ALL... YOU DIRTY... MOTHER!!KERS!!!"
"Hm. As I thought. You do have a strong will."
Rynn's master moved his hand towards Liam's neck and clutched it uptight.
"I'm afraid I might have to kill you before you became a hinder to us."
His aura, that was pressuring Liam, was slowly fading away but Liam was also being lifted up in the air.
UGH!
Liam immediately tried to get out of the guy's grasped as soon as the pressure disappeared from his body but the gripped hand on his neck didn't budge no matter how much struggle he did.
His legs flailed as strived to escape. He even tried to kick his enemy but it was easily blocked.
"Your body seemed strong but it's still too untrained and undeveloped. It's like you just ate something to make it contain power then leave it as it is now. If you didn't continue enforcing the wall that blocks the power from leaking outside, the wall will break. It will be awful."
Rynn's master said just by looking at Liam's body once while still holding him with his right hand.
"Here, let me test it for you."
He stretched his arms then moved his torso a bit backward, then finally released his fist to hit Liam's stomach.
URK!
Liam, who was currently struggling, clenched his teeth but a mouthful of blood still burst out from his mouth.
"It seems you have a grudge to our organization. Looking at your eyes, you're determined to annihilate 'us' all... Yet you're this weak. How pitiful."
As Rynn's master looked at Liam with a revolted look, Liam also felt the same disgust to the guy who kept saying things in front of him.
Liam furiously struggled more and kept moving his head until Rynn's master gave him yet another blow.
He was once again got hurt in the stomach and bloodshot up to his mouth but this time, Liam didn't hold it in, instead, he gathered it to his mouth and spit it all out to his enemy's face.
"Big mistake." Rynn's master looked at Liam with a cold glint in his eyes.
He straightened his left hand and made his palm face upwards. He pointed it at Liam's stomach before folding his arms.
His hand somewhat became distorted and turned like a sharp weapon while preparing to stab his target with it, and surely, that weapon was still his own hand.
Liam saw what the guy was doing and only had a few thoughts on his mind.
By triggering one of his strong points.
His ability to analyze anything in any situation.
He came up with a clear outcome.
'It's the Blade Hands skill...!'
No doubt.
'But many times stronger!'
He will kill me right here, right now.
While he was still trying to get the clenched hands out of his neck, Liam widened his eyes and immediately became alarmed.
TAP!
"GET YOUR F!!CKING HANDS OFF THE KID!"
Officer Dole ran straight towards Rynn's master without caring about the bodies lying on the floor thinking they are one with the terrorists, then he held a dagger in both of his hands in a reverse grip.
Even though he really wanted to kill the good-looking guy who was currently holding up in the aid, he still let his mind be into a calm state so that he can focus evading in case his enemy make a sudden move.
"I'm putting all the training I've done in the past out to this guy!" Officer Dole said inwardly.
When he was only a few meters away from his target he lowered his center of gravity and leaped towards the guys.
As he thought to hit the guy's leg, somewhat, somehow, everything around him slowed down. It was like the time was purposely slowed for him.
Then he realized something in the midst of him moving through air.
'He still didn't turn around, even though I screamed...'
Ah!
In the middle of his realization, the guy in front of him moved.
He moved his body to the side really, really fast without losing the kid in his right hand.
His sudden movement made the officer lose his only target.
While Officer Dole was still in the air and his brain was still processing to analyze his own situation, he felt something similar to what Liam felt earlier.
Fear
Then comes...
Despair.
He took a glance at the guy's face, who was just beside him, and saw his eyes releasing a cold and deathly glare towards him.
"I'm dead." Officer Dole inwardly said even without knowing what will happen to himself, just pure intuition.
Just as he thought his own doom coming, his lower body felt a hard press that soon changed his course and made him fall sooner and farther from Rynn's master.
It was Inspector Wright who came running, followed him, and pushed him away from the other guy.
They both stood up immediately and took a few steps away.
"What in the world are you doing, Evan!" Inspector Wright shouted worriedly.
"I-I'm sorry. Derek, that guy... He... He was going to kill me... with nothing... I don't know but it was like—"
"I know. That guy is extremely dangerous. And I don't think that we could win even if the two us fought together..."
Inspector Wright took a stance that clearly states he was going to go and fight.
"But considering the kid's life, we should do what he can do to save him."
"Yeah. Let's do that."
"Okay..."
Inspector Wright held his daggers high.
"In three..."
Officer Dole followed.
"Two..."
Liam who was still being grabbed in the neck, held his enemy's wrist with both of his hands.
"One!"
"Arm Strengthening!"
Liam said inwardly as the inspector and the officer both started running.
Their enemy, Rynn's master, looked at the two running guys but glanced back at the kid he's holding when he suddenly felt his wrist being pressed tightly.
He saw Liam's furious face before looking down at his wrist.
Liam's arm became thicker.
It was two times stronger than before.
The guy looked at Liam with a confused expression when the grip became even tighter.
Then he noticed the two officers were actually closer to him than earlier so he looked back at them.
As he did, Liam took the chance and loose the gripped of his right hand and aimed it at his enemy's face.
He tried to hit Rynn's Master in the stomach but it was easily dodged by him without even looking.
But unfortunately for him, it was part of Liam's intention.
As the guy lowered his body to avoid his kick, Liam clenched his right fist and soon hit his target's face.
It made a crackling sound when it landed, that not just the enemy but the one who landed the punch was also surprised.
Liam saw his enemy, who was still shocked as he let loose his gripped on him, with an expression like he just lost his only prey.
He took a few steps back before stopping and finally taking a breather.
"You... Just what did you do..."
The guy spoke coldly with his questioning eyes and unyielding aura.
"You...?!"