章節 7: Defector

Six minions and a lone executive.

These are the numbers that are responsible for accomplishing this mission. This mission is simultaneously happening across the world whilst the Undying make a mess at the Hero Society's headquarters.

The main goal is to secure numerous kids that will be used in the awakening project. Gavin's appearance in the headquarters is a ruse, a distraction that also served as Zentury's public statement that a new top dog is joining Zentury's upper echelon.

If it proceeded normally in the basement cellar, Deron would have killed the two minions with everything he got, and eventually mutate as he confronts the executive one-on-one. After that, when Deron woke up, all of the enemies are already dead.

That is how the story should have continued.

"Report!"

"There is no one in the right wing."

"The top floor is empty."

"Left-wing is clear, but we found a hidden chamber. There are some noteworthy artifacts there."

Executive Palnes is a veteran fighter with some degree of sorcery/mutation. He felt funny that such special powers are seen by the organization as a curse— hideous and deplorable.

"Anyway, where's 12913? You and you, go down there, check on them. That guy might've found something good."

"Yes sir!" The minions answered affirmatively.

...

Liuke any basement, it is located underground. The tunnel of stairs had some torches, but they are not enough for the whole place to be perfectly illuminated.

Alfir waited at the blind spot from the edge of the stairs. He carefully hid in the darkness as he focussed his mind on only taking shallow breaths.

He heard the footsteps coming from his fellow minions. Judging from the echo and the weight of their steps, there were two of them.

Even Alfir knew that his defection has come too early for the sake of his plans, but his other options are a lot less stellar.

Because Alfir is outside of the mob persona he is dedicatedly pursuing, he is feeling very uncomfortable.

The coming bloodshed is necessary.

Alfir hated being high profile. If Alfir wants to maintain his anonymity, it is necessary that he doesn't make any mistakes in disposing of his enemies. Recalling Palnes's friendly smile, Alfir felt slightly guilty. Just 'slightly' though.

The two minions descending the stairs got closer. Alfir sharpened his mind.

The first minion passed unaware of the lurking danger. Alfir let him be. As the second appear in Alfir's peripheral vision, he attacked.

Alfir stuffed his victim's mouth with his hand, then swiftly slits his throat mercilessly with his iron dagger.

The person in the front felt the commotion in his rear. When he looked back, he realized that his partner went suddenly missing.

The poor minion panicked.

It is like a horror movie. One moment, he was there, but now, he was gone.

The new arrival is alarmed by his partner's disappearance. There is something wrong. He is sure of this as it was painfully obvious. The minion rushed to the stairs to report what happened. This basement is a dangerous place.

Stepping on the stairs, he felt a hand covering his mouth. With the same slitting motion, Alfir executed his fellow minion.

Since the new arrivals' eyesight haven't adjusted yet from the torch that hung in the passageway, they were fooled by such a cheap trick. It was a hide and seek.

However, that is not all. Hiding in the shadows without being detected by professional minions just like what Alfir did was clearly an inhuman feat.

Though they are just minions, they shouldn't be looked down.

The only explanation for why Alfir was able to assassinate the two minions was thanks to his mutation that offered him a superhuman level of stealth.

Alfir hasn't used his mutation yet to its full potential. He still has more!

He will reserve it for the executive since such mutations when used are too tiring for its users. The quasi-invisibility he exhibited is just one of the few weaker functions of his mutation.

"I have more tricks in my sleeve."

...

Palnes is worried. He senses danger. Attributed to his experience on the battlefield, if the situation is against your expectations, it is almost certain that a setback would occur.

"Let's go to the basement." He decided. Palnes believed that if there is something wrong, he should see it for himself.

To solve it with his own hands, and guarantee that there are no loose ends. That is how he rose to his executive position after years of hard work from a humble merc to an executive.

It took them no time at all as they reached the tunnel leading to the basement. Decorated armor made of steel stood by the tunnel's entrance. Palnes paid no heed to it.

Palnes and his two remaining subordinates made their way to the basement. It was a tunnel connecting it to the basement and the cellar.

Thanks to his acute senses, Palnes easily discerned the bloody stench ahead of them. AT the entrance of the tunnel, Palnes saw that darkness waver at the the dancing of the torch's flames.

"I will go ahead. Support me if you can. Also, grab a torch of your own."

Palnes bravely descended the tunnel stairs, ignoring the armored display by the basement's entrance side. Palnes took a torch hanging by the walls, which his subordinates replicated.

The air is humid which made their blood pressure rose by a degree. The eerie darkness made the minions' nerves tense.

...

Alfir saw it all in his mind's eye as the following events unfold. He is not precognitive, he just knows how superior he has become after his vacation. However, this is not Alfir's ultimate source of arrogance.

'From the novel, this Palnes guy is someone who easily panics. I remember, this guy has a knack for solving problems on his own.'

In fact, Palnes will become a minor boss later in the story~ if not for the necessity for Alfir to kill the executive now, this guy would've grown as a brainwashed undead.

While it is true that in the original story, he would've died nonetheless by the protagonist's hands, Alfir chose to resurrect him as an undead at some point in time.

Alfir lacked clues about Palnes's personality given his short appearance in the novel, however, the small tidbits are already enough to set up the current stage. With Alfir's meticulous profiling of every character he knows, he was spot on, to set up this killing array.

"I will go ahead. Support me if you can. Grab a torch of your own." It was Palnes's voice.

Alfir hid silently inside the armor meant as decoration. He watched Palnes pass by him, without a clue of his presence. He waited patiently for Palnes's party to make some distance.

The armor is damn heavy, so it took Alfir some time to extricate himself from it. The cumbersome armor were dropped within a microsecond. Time is of the essence!

The mantis stalks the cicada unaware of the oriole behind it.

The clanking of armor would surely invite Palnes's attention. When Palnes looked back, he felt the presence of danger.

"It's good I spent most of my credits, and converted them to cash." Alfir came prepared, mindful of the rainy days. Alfir is reluctant to defect but he knows as much that not doing this mission will be suicide. It was a direct command from the organization so he has no choice. He would rather defect than alter the 'destined' timeline.

Alfir activated his [Inventory Bracelet], an artifact that stored items. Its spatial folds are a measly 40cm², but it's enough for Alfir's purpose.

A crossbow and a quiver of steel arrows were summoned from the [Inventory Bracelet]. With the height advantage, Alfir almost has it on the bag. He just has to execute it flawlessly.

SWOOOOOOOOSH~

PLAK!

Alfir aimed the crossbow at the executive. As expected, it was a failure. Palnes dodged the projectile with ease. Alfir is being too optimistic... but it's not that bad considering that he now has a better grasp of Palnes's abilities.

"I guess that was asking for too much… hahaha." Alfir casually commented.

Palnes have incredible superhuman reflexes with an all-around flawless physique. He has beast-like muscular dexterity and fearsome battle awareness.

It is not that Alfir didn't know that. If he could, he should have aimed for the other two minions. But clearly, Alfir chose not to… He just doesn't want to kill the other two minions. They are a necessary challenge for the protag to awaken his mutation at the very minimum.

"You! Who are you!?"

The distance between them is far enough to obscure Alfir's image. Alfir doesn't dare waste more time. He fired arrow after arrow.

Palnes deflected the arrows with his swordsmanship. Using his long curved sword, Palnes tried his best to parry and evade. Unfortunately, Palnes's choice of weapon is too long to use flexibly in this tunnel, which is giving him a hard time.

SWOOOSH!

"Aa-aack!" An arrow took root in a minion's shoulder. Luckily, it didn't kill him. Palnes took the wounded's short sword to effectively deal with Alfir's arrows.

The stairs are narrow, and there are only two paths for them— upwards or downwards.

"The two of you, retreat further to the basement. You lot are just baggage to me. I will deal with him." Palnes commanded still unaware it was Alfir all along.