On this planet, the people's mana were attributed. Meaning that a person's ability to manipulate a certain element more than the others using mana was predetermined. While many types of attributes were present, following were the main attributes that were more common than the others.
Fire
Water
Air
Earth
....
While others were meditating and replenishing their strength. Zero was busy chatting with most people around. He was discussing their powers and weaknesses and 'trying' to find the best way to utilise their power against the people outside. Honestly, he already knew their weak points and strong points enough to formulate the best plan without much thinking about it.
Zero was an analytical expert. His observation and strategizing skills is one of the main reasons he was able to survive to the very end, perhaps even becoming one of the strongest in the end. He had the habit of memorising things before leaving the source behind.
Doing it over the years made his memory much much sharper and stronger than what a normal person's would be. His desperation for survival at any cost made him one of the most dangerous humans existing, all the more especially after the third Cataclysm.
-Bang Bang Bang
Sound of the door being forcefully broken down was suddenly heard making everyone look at the door. As soon as the door began shaking, all of them stood up and took their position according to what they discussed with Zero.
-Bang
-Bang
-Bang
The door was continuously shaking with sound coming from the otherside. The waiting time before the door would finally open was making most of the people here nervous. Luckily or unluckily, it did not take much time for the door to finally break.
-Booom!!!
The door finally broke and what became visible on the other side wasn't an army of security guards but an almost dead frog monster which looked like he had used up all his strength to open the door by force.
Looking at the scene, the people had a questioning gaze as they wondered what was going on. Zero, on the other hand, just stood there with a sigh as he realised what was going on.
"Let's go. I will explain everything on the way," Zero spoke as he began walking through the opening as his expression turned from nonchalant to serious.
Watching Zero moving, some of them began moving while others stood there with slight hesitation on their faces. However, watching more and more people walking, everyone began following them.
"What we are dealing here with is… sigh… a puppeteer. He or she is probably B-rank or above. This is going to be troublesome," Zero spoke as he began explaining the reasons behind the phenomenon.
...…..
Puppeteers.
People who control objects or living beings behind the scenes to do their work. There are 3 types of Puppeteers.
Inanimate Controllers: Those who have expertise in controlling inanimate objects. They usually use strings and mechanical methods to control their objects.
Animate Controllers: People who have expertise in controlling other people and living beings. They use certain magic like charm magic and unconventional methods like emotions and mental related stuff to make the people do their bidding.
Monster Controllers: People who can control monsters to do their biddings were given a separate class because of their fighting utility. They can control monsters to do their work.
...
When Zero mentioned puppeteer, most of them showed a glint of fear in their eyes. Though they understood why the frog monster was lying almost dead there and also why there was no other security guard. It was because the puppeteer might be controlling more than a dozen monsters and having those security guards would only hinder the puppeteer's job.
The smarter ones understood something else, too. The attack that had happened in the city with the frog monster and the others. Even the previous monster attacks that had happened before… They were all orchestrated.
Their purpose? To capture famous and strong people and use them as test subjects, perhaps. But who would do such an inhumane act? Who was behind this whole incident? This was also the question that those people asked as they observed the front.
After running for a few minutes, a large hall came into view. There were two people at the centre of the hall. One of them was black-haired, wearing an owl mask with a red coat and a stick in his hand. He also had a round black hat on his head.
The other one was grey-haired with round-glasses. He was sitting on a chair reading a book in a carefree manner as the owl masked person stood beside him.
The owl masked person saw Zero and the others arrive at the hall and began clapping.
-Clap Clap Clap
"Congratulations on making up to here. That was marvellous. In the entire history of the establishment of this lab, this is the first time that someone actually managed to get this close to escaping," He spoke with a sarcastic tone as he bowed down before getting back up.
"Now, let me make one thing clear," he spoke as his voice got more and more serious,"I don't give a f*ck about whether you people live or not. Personally, I hate extra work and what you guys are doing is exactly that. However, I shall be benevolent and nice for once and give all of you a chance. Yup, me the great Scarred Owl shall make an exception and forgive you all for this misbehaviour. All you need to do in return is to go back to your respective cell and I shall pretend that none of this ever happened."
After he spoke, multiple monsters began crawling out of nowhere and stood between us and him. He just stood there as more and more monsters filled the area.
'23…27…33 Monsters. 15 E Grade, 9 D Grade, 6 C Grade and 3 B Grade. Hmmm… It is problematic… but… we don't need to fight all the monsters but only kill the Puppeteer. Now how shall we proceed with this,' Zero began thinking as he looked at the situation in front of him.
"So, what shall be your decision?" the puppeteer spread both his hands and asked as he looked at Zero and the others.