[Lucas' POV]
Ella slid back into her seat, her cheeks still bright red from bumping into him.
I felt bothered, really bothered.
At least, now I know why she's rejecting my advances.
"Well, that looked interesting." Maya was the first to tease Ella, leaning in with a mischievous grin.
That's normal.
Maya is quite a social butterfly and loves teasing people.
"Sh-shut up!" Ella stammered, glaring at her, but her expression lacked real intensity.
"Interesting is an understatement," Rose said, pushing up her glasses.
I'm quite surprised.
"You were frozen for at least three seconds. And don't think I didn't hear what he called you—'princess.'"
She doesn't show smiles, but now she's teasing Ella.
"It was romantic though." Iris giggled.
"Romantic?!" Ella squeaked before hiding her face with her hands.
As for me, I didn't join in.
I stirred my coffee absently as my gaze turned toward him—Aestrea.
The so-called "Moonlight Swordsman."
He was quite the celebrity, after all, his identity was on par with mine.
However, something about him rubbed me the wrong way.
'He's too... how should I say it...? Calm, no... perfect.'
'Even his smile doesn't even feel real... Like an actor.'
After all, even a successful actor can't fake emotions perfectly.
'And Aestrea seems just like that.'
And then's when a thought struck me.
'System, scan him.'
[Ding!]
A soft chime echoed in my head as the system activated.
The familiar loading bar appeared in the corner of my vision, but then—
[Error!]
[Data inaccessible.]
"What?"
I frowned deeply, my fingers tightening around the edge of the table.
[Target classified under restricted parameters.]
[Access denied.]
Restricted?
What kind of nonsense was that?
I glanced at Aestrea again.
He was smiling faintly, chatting casually with his group.
'Who are you, Aestrea?'
"N-no!"
Ella's flustered protests suddenly snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Ella, you should've asked for his number!"
"I'm serious! Stop it!"
"Relax~"
They continued arguing.
But I ignored it since my mind was occupied with something else.
I could even scan the headmaster who is one of the strongest people in the world...
But I cannot scan Aestrea?
That's weird.
...
[Aestrea's POV]
The moon hung high in the sky, casting a pale glow over the quiet city streets.
By now, my classmates had finally settled in for the night, which allowed me to sneakily get out by the window.
'Anyways...'
The black market wasn't far, but it wasn't exactly easy to find, either.
It was mentioned in the novel that it was buried beneath an abandoned warehouse located on the seventeenth street of the capital.
And here I am.
I did take a good look around and didn't see anyone.
'Is it really here?'
Slowly, I approached one of the abandoned buildings and slipped in through the window.
The windows were shattered; the walls were covered with years of decay. A gentle rustle in the air made the old structure groan, but no other sounds reached my ears.
'Bingo.'
Standing next to a swirly purple portal, held by two stone hands of giants, stood two men in black suits facing the portal.
Each of them grasped a modified firearm, his eyes scanning the surroundings for any signs of potential danger.
『 Judgement Eye (✦ S-Level Skill✦)』
Without thinking twice, I activated one of my skills.
This one in particular could tell me if one person was evil or good as well as their weak points. And also, their rank and combat power couldn't escape my eyes.
"Two B-ranks... should be durable."
I brought out my sword from my waist and silently channeled mana to my legs.
Tzing!
My body shot forward like a lightning bolt.
"Moonlit Ice Lotus Sword Art..."
『First Move! (✦ Ice Lotus Bloom✦)』
The sword in my hand shimmered with an icy glow as I swung it downwards.
BAM!
An ice lotus erupted at the center of the guards, its crystalline petals unfurling before shattering in an explosion of ice.
Chill...!
A wave of freezing cold swept across the floor, encasing everything in its path. The guards never even had time to move—their bodies frozen mid-movement, their breaths mist.
Satisfied, I stepped past their frozen forms and approached the portal. I pulled out a simple masquerade mask and slipped it on, adjusting my hood.
'Perfect.'
Without another word, I stepped into the swirling purple portal.
It felt unreal as if I'd been dunked in ice water without getting wet. I came out the other side; it was colder out, the atmosphere thicker.
I found myself standing on a dark street with slick cold stones beneath my feet. Both sides of the road were lined by merchant stalls; their owners hawked their wares in hushed tones.
The crowd here was unlike anything from the capital: hooded figures haggling over artifacts that shimmered with dangerous energy, others speaking about deals that would never see the light of day.
This was the black market.
Pulling my hoodie tighter, I followed the street, making myself aware of my surroundings.
I made my way to a specific place where one could see the waters of the sewers falling into a polluted river.
'In the black market... anything can happen and I need to be prepared at all costs.'
If I'm not entirely wrong, the lab was found in one of the highsky buildings. And Lucas escaped from the lab by the sewers.
So, I decided to enter the sewers.
Clamp!
I entered one of the sewer's giant pipes.
"Disgusting..."
The air was thick and rancid, the stench of rotting waste and stagnant water filling every breath.
It felt like it clung to my skin, seeping into my clothes.
The damp walls were coated with a slimy green mold that glistened under the faint light from my mana orb.
The water beneath my feet was a slow-moving black sludge, and I had to step carefully on the narrow walkway along the edge to avoid slipping.
"Could they have picked a worse hiding spot?"
I mumbled in annoyance.
Although this wasn't the main entrance, it was the best I could use if I wanted to get out of the lab safely.
I kept moving, the sounds of dripping water and distant scurrying filling the air, and after a while, I came across a section of the pipe that looked different.
The walls here were newer, reinforced with metal plating.
'It should be around here...'
Placing my hands on the metal pipes, I quickly channel mana into my hands before trying to twist them.
"Great."
I jumped in and found a vent where I immediately entered without making any noise.
Crawling through the vents, the sound of some kind of machine running along with a chemical smell reached out to me, so I followed the noise.
After a few minutes, I reached another vent
'Is this it?'
I stopped, peering through the narrow slats into the room below.
Ah.
My breath hitched.
It was a huge laboratory with gleaming, polished floors and walls lined with glowing screens displaying data streams that I couldn't read.
The room was dominated by a large capsule filled with a thick, glowing green fluid.
Inside it was a girl with slimy, semi-transparent blue hair and unnaturally bright green eyes.
What caught my attention next was the weapon resting on a platform beside her: sleek, and metallic, but the strangest part was the thick, pulsing string-like cable that connected it to the capsule and to her.
'Fuck.'
My stomach twisted.
They're using deviants to make weapons?
No wonder this morph weapon was so powerful in the novel—it was made from the abilities of a slime-type deviant.
Its ability to change forms at will made it the perfect source for a weapon that could adapt to anything.
'I need to act quickly...'
But before I could plan my next move, a voice boomed through the room.
"Hahahahaha! It's done!"
The voice was hoarse, filled with some kind of manic glee.
I shifted slightly for a better view. An old man, hunched and draped in a long, stained lab coat, shuffled towards the capsule.
His eyes were wild, and his thin gray hair stuck out at odd angles
"My final project... the morph-weapon is complete!"
He cackled, his bony hands shaking as he reached for a big red button on the control panel.
'Damn it!'
The instant his hand struck the button, the room burst into a flurry of activity.
The green fluid in the capsule drained quickly and the slime girl's body jerked and contorted as the weapon pulsed with a sickly glow.
I didn't have time to think.
BAM!
I kicked the vent with all my strength, sending it flying straight for the old man.
The metal panel crashed into him, knocking him backward into the control panel. Sparks flew as he stumbled, but he caught himself, his head snapping up to glare at me.
"Oh. It seems we have an intruder..."
His thin lips curled into a smile that sent a chill down my spine.
I dropped into the room, drawing my sword in one smooth motion.
My gaze locked with his...
『Judgement Eye (✦ S-Level Skill✦)』
"An A+ ranker?"
His mana signature was overwhelming, the kind that screamed trouble. Not to mention the ominous dark aura around him.
Pure evil.
This was about to be a damned problem.