Chapter 35
Lucas safely delivered the two women, the mother and her daughter, back to the city hotel they had rented.
After learning the location of a hideout belonging to the shadowy Organization, he and Blake decided to deal with it immediately.
Their main target, the person who wanted Natalie kidnapped and killed, would come later.
Moving at incredible speeds, the two left the city, becoming blurry images as they raced toward their destination.
They traveled deep into the thick, dark Noriva Forest, a place perfect for secrets.
This was where the Shadow Organization operated.
Standing before the hidden entrance to the underground base, Lucas turned to Blake. "You fought the last enemies alone," he said.
"So let me handle this one." Blake simply nodded.
He was already completely exhausted from their non-stop travel.
It was now the next day, three in the morning.
The sky was still black, but the sun would rise soon.
They were not even close to finishing their mission.
Blake sighed heavily as Lucas silently disappeared into the hideout.
"Lucas is just like Austin," Blake muttered to himself, watching the empty space where his companion had stood.
"Both of them are on another level. It's hard for me to compare." Meanwhile, Lucas moved like a living shadow through the dark tunnels.
He whispered a spell under his breath.
[Mana spell: Body reinforcement]
A warm energy flooded his muscles, strengthening them.
He quietly pulled his katana from its worn scabbard.
Then, his eyes glowed with a soft blue sun light as he activated his mana vision.
Suddenly, he could see everything clearly in the dark.
He counted thirty enemies inside the base.
Five guards were stationed outside, but two more were cleverly hidden in the trees, watching those five.
The security was tight.
Most attackers would kill the five visible guards and never notice the two hiding.
The strongest enemy here was an Iron Stage cultivator.
From what Lucas could sense, the man's power was equal to a 5-star Elite.
Forming a plan, Lucas smiled coldly behind his mask.
The mana surging through his body made him feel far stronger and faster.
'Okay then,' he thought. 'Let's begin.'
In a flash, Lucas was gone. He shot forward at 45 meters per second, reaching the two hidden men like a ghost.
Covering his katana with sharp mana, he cut them down in the blink of an eye.
There was no scream, no sound at all.
The two men were dead before they hit the ground.
Lucas did not stop.
He kept moving toward the five guards on watch.
Wherever Lucas passed, a dead body was left behind.
It took him only twenty-five seconds to kill everyone outside.
Then, he slipped inside the base.
Lucas entered the hidden location, killing everyone he found before they could notice him.
One man just left his room, sleepy and yawning, ready to change the guard shift outside.
He suddenly felt an intense wind rush past him, created by Lucas's blinding speed.
A moment later, the man found himself strangely looking up at the rocky ceiling.
He did not know he was already dead.
His headless body stumbled a few steps forward before collapsing to the cold ground.
It was not long before Lucas found enemies who had finally reacted to the chaos.
One man, seeing Lucas, slammed his hands on the ground in panic.
[Earth spell: Earth wall]
A thick wall of rock and dirt erupted from the floor, blocking the hallway.
The mana around Lucas's katana glowed brighter as he cast his own spell.
[Mana Spell: Arc Cleave]
A huge, shining arc of pure mana energy formed and shot toward the earth wall.
It moved with terrible speed, carrying enough power to destroy the entire room.
When it connected, a deafening explosion ripped through the tunnel.
The boom alerted every single person left in the base.
They now knew they were under attack.
Finding the dead bodies of their friends made the situation clear.
But it was already pointless.
Two other copies of Lucas, made of solid mana, were killing the rest of the men in a bloody spree.
All three figures—the real Lucas and his two clones—met before a pair of big, heavy doors. The boss here liked to show off his importance.
Using his mana sight, Lucas could see the man inside, calmly drinking tea as if waiting for a guest.
Lucas chuckled quietly to himself.
The two mana clones beside him dissolved into blue light and were absorbed back into his body.
Now only the real Lucas stood before the doors.
Wanting a grand entrance, he cast another spell.
[Mana Spell: Searing Lance]
The next second, a spear made of blazing hot magic shot forward at 20 meters per second.
It shattered the big doors into splinters and flew straight toward the boss.
The man reacted in time, grabbing his great sword.
He coated it with mana and roared his own spell.
[Earth spell: Shattering strike]
The massive sword was instantly covered in jagged, hard earth.
He swung it hard against the fiery lance.
BBOOOOOMMM!
The whole underground base shook violently. Dust and debris filled the room.
When the air cleared, the boss saw Lucas's distinctive clothes. "Hidden City of Sky," the man growled, trying to sound arrogant.
But his hand was shaking badly from the powerful impact, and stress was written on his face.
'That single strike… he must be a 6-star or even a 7-star Elite!' he thought fearfully.
Lucas started walking calmly into the ruined room.
"I don't have time to waste," he stated, his voice cold.
"So, I will give you two choices. Tell me where the main base is, and you might survive. You could even take over after I kill your leader."
The man did not think twice. His fear was too great. "At the northern side!" he blurted out.
"Below the unique carve in the mountain rock! The carve is very strange, so you can't miss it!"
Lucas gave a low chuckle. "Good. But one last question. Did you rape a woman from the Count's family? A woman named Natalie?"
"No!" the boss replied quickly, too quickly.
Lucas knew immediately he was lying.
Lucas sighed, a sound full of disappointment and anger.
"I thought you could survive," Lucas said, his voice turning deadly quiet.
"But it seems you are the very person we are looking for." He knew the man was guilty because, in a side room behind this one, Lucas had already seen the body of a young woman.
She had been brutally beaten and raped.
Because Natalie was from a Count's family, this man was likely the one in charge of her kidnapping.
Someone inside Natalie's own household must have told him her travel plans.
He probably hired another person to do the dirty work when the Mayor informed him of the request.
This boss should have told the Mayor to capture Natalie for him, planning to take her afterwards.
He was the one who raped her, along with some of his men, after Natalie and the others were transported. "Somewhere else" was, in fact, this very location.
This man wanted Natalie brought to his own base, which was the reason for the transport in the first place.
Lucas put everything together, using all the information from the people they had questioned and the clues they had found. In a single moment, his cold anger focused. Lucas disappeared and reappeared right in front of the Earth Cultivator. The boss barely had time to raise his great sword before it clashed violently with Lucas's glowing katana.