Chapter 8 - Awakening

The 3 stalkers had finally acted. Two of them clamped down hard on Luther immobilizing him while the third took out a sedative to put him to sleep. He felt scared for his life. The possibility of dying seemed closer than ever before. Even in such a situation, his grogginess kept increasing as if it was going to break down soon. Thinking straight was becoming very difficult for him. If nothing changed, the kidnappers would easily carry him off to some unknown distant place where his life would be full of misery.

"No, no, no, I can't let these degenerates of society who prey upon the weak and unprotected do as they please. I have to fight back, I have to gather all of my strength and attack them again and again till they can't move. I have to escape from here and contact the authorities. I have to survive. I have a lot of unfinished business. I can't die." 

As Luther's emotions rose, his will to fight and survive this nightmare became clearer, sharper and brighter. His genes were activated and massive power coursed through him. The outline of a human figure with wings formed above him as the spirit manifested and he used this state to his advantage.

With enhanced strength, he didn't possess before, he stopped the hand coming from his front and forcefully pushed the two stalkers away from him. All 3 of his stalkers lost their balance and fell, confusion covering their faces. "Didn't they have the upper hand just a few moments ago? Why were they the ones losing balance?" 

Luther's assumption before had been right. These 3 guys were indeed close friends who performed all shady tasks together. They had a good tactical understanding of each other and were quick to regroup when unexpected changes occurred. It was why they were still alive and could remain working in this job. 

Just like always the 3 guys regrouped encircling Luther in a tight circle. With this, he won't be able to escape and all of them could support the other when either one of them is attacked. Even a powerful surprise attack could be faced using this technique. 

Luther glared at the three of them as he activated the speed of the Garuda, which was lightning-quick. He arrived instantly in front of them, attacking with his enhanced strength. He punched the first guy hard, knocking the air out of his lungs, making it hard for him to breathe. Before the other two could react, he was upon them in the next instant, kicking and punching them. Suddenly, he felt a small resistance as they tried to gather their strength. The image of a TNT formed above one stalker, and a knife above the other.Sensing the threat from those spirits, Luther kicked harder snuffing out their last shred of strength. The third stalker had also activated his genes, with the outline of a pistol forming above his head as he took aim and shot.

However, how could a F-grade spirit ever hope to damage a unique grade spirit even in its weakest form? The bullet hit Luther but he wasn't affected by it. With the swiftness of the Garuda, he was beside him at the next moment and snuffed him out too. All 3 of his stalkers were dealt with. 

Luther could feel exhaustion hit him due to the overload of data and the tension of his current situation. Keeping his eyes open was also becoming harder. In a few moments he was going to collapse but he knew that he had to keep moving. His life might still be in danger. 

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In an armored truck parked 1 km away from Luther's location.

2 people wore military gear from head to toe surrounded by hi-tech gadgets. Some were processing data as new information poured in and the output was modified. A particular big screen was displaying the battle between Luther and the three stalkers. They could spy on the battle because they had deployed drones with powerful cameras with AI intelligence that could easily do their tasks without human intervention. 

"Plan A has failed, Sir." 

"I know. The screen is so f**king big, I have to watch even if I don't want to." 

The assistants became scared at the sudden outburst, "Sorry, Sir. I didn't mean to offend you."

The officer sighed, "Techie, no need to be scared. Please give me an explanation for Plan A's failure." 

The techie relaxed somewhat. He went through many high-tech gadgets gathering their inputs on this matter and also using his conclusions before he replied, "Sir, the target 'Luther' was pinned down and about to be administered with the sleeping gas but suddenly a massive amount of soul energy fluctuation was detected from within him providing him with the strength to deal with his assailants. The target has no prior experience in fighting and capturing him with Plan A was guaranteed. "

The Officer raised his eyebrows in surprise, "A massive soul fluctuation from within him? Could he have had an awakening of spirit?"

A rough and authoritative voice replied that demanded respect, "Yes, that should be the case." 

The officer and techie turned around as a hologram of a man covered in a cloak appeared.

The officer bowed immediately. The techie was confused but followed the officer. 

"It's good that you know how to show respect to your seniors. I might do you a favour later. But, let's get to the task at hand. Even if he had an awakening, it should have been just a few minutes ago. The side effects of the awakening are quite drastic and he is soon going to be unconscious. With no one to protect him, we should be able to kidnap him with ease. We just need to catch him immediately before more complications arise.

Since Plan A was a failure, proceed with Plan B." 

"Yes, Sir." 

The hologram of the cloaked figure disappeared into the hologram machine. 

The techie turned to his commanding officer, "Sir, who was the person in the hologram?"

"He is the commander overseeing our work." 

"A commander ??! Why is someone so important involved in this mission? Even for Plan B, they are sending 10 hired fighters from the Killer Garden, which will cost us a lot. " 

"All of this shows how important the mission is and their desperation for its success."