357 Premonition [2]
While his friends were idly conversing, Chase darted his eyes around. Since the start of it all, he had a bad feeling – like a premonition of disaster.
Fortunately, their raid was successful and nothing had yet gone wrong. However, the feeling he had been experiencing since the start was still there.
It was rather unsettling.
Chase looked around and saw nothing but police taking the arrested nobles out of the mall into their cars.
The slaves were yet to be freed from their shackles, and the relics and artifacts were also yet to be confiscated by the authorities.
He looked out for any possible noble trying to resist or break free from the handcuffs and attack them.
He also looked out for any slave vampire trying to break the armored glass.
If that wasn't all, he was also looking out for any explosives or security failsafe that might go off at any moment now.
His worry and anxiety were only skyrocketing with each passing minute.
He wanted to relax and tell himself that everything was all right, but he knew it wasn't.
".....?!"
Right then, he felt two pairs of eyes looking at him. Suddenly cold sweat drenched his back as he flicked his head in the direction from where he had felt the gaze.
Turns out, it was only Anastasia and Nero who had been looking at him. Normally, he would take a moment or two to appreciate Anastasia's crystal-
like golden eyes but now was not the time.
"What?" He asked, still startled.
"Nothing," Nero replied. "Just that… you didn't add anything to the convo."
Chase frowned. "What convo?"
"You know," Anastasia shrugged. "Any time we talk about Lucas, you always have a comment or two to add."
"Ah, right," Chase rolled his eyes but did not add anything else and went back to scanning his surroundings.
Noticing this, both Anastasia and Nero shared a look before the protagonist finally asked, "Chase, are you okay?"
Without turning his gaze back to them, Chase replied, "I don't feel so good."
The anxiety he had been feeling earlier was now slowly turning into an ominous feeling. He felt as if this whole place was enveloped in a burial shroud.
It felt as if he alone was alive among a bunch of already dead walking corpses.
"Under the weather?" Anastasia asked with a frown.
"No," Chase shook his head. "I just have a strong feeling something bad is about to happen–"
Thwaaam—!!
As if waiting for that cue, before Chase could even complete his sentence, the door to the underground chamber entrance exploded in a burst of splinters.
Without wasting a breath, several men and women entered the underground auction hall.
These people were dressed in black mantles and cloaks, their heads covered by hoods or cowls, while their faces were hidden under full-face metal masks.
In an instant, around twenty or so cloaked individuals appeared, carrying unsheathed weapons.
Walking in front and leading them all was a man holding two combat axes in his hands. It was Leo Kurogami.
Since he had to keep his identity secret for this mission, much like all his other Spider missions, he had decided to use something other than a sword as his main weapon.
As soon as he entered the scene, Leo swiftly surveyed his surroundings with a single, sweeping gaze.
His eyes settled on some familiar faces – Nero, Anastasia, and Chase, to be precise.
He didn't know why these Cadets were even here, but his main focus remained on completing the mission given to him.
"Try to avoid casualties," he quietly instructed his squad. "Retrieve the relics, subdue the police, and get the hell out of here immediately."
His squad members nodded in silence. Leo was a man of few words, especially during missions, and their objectives were crystal clear here anyway.
However, not everyone in the hall was as calm as they were. Upon seeing several masked individuals barge in there just like that, the Military Police and Shaolin officials drew their weapons, pointing them at the intruders.
"Military police, freeze!"
A policeman stepped forward, displaying his badge while aiming his sword at the cloaked figure before him.
"Lower your weapons and surrender peacefully," he warned. "Do so, or we will…"
Unfortunately, the individual that the policeman was pointing his sword at was none other than the God of War himself.
Before the black-uniformed officer could complete his warning, Leo swiftly closed the distance.
The poor guy didn't even get a chance to react before the blade of Leo's axe fell down on him, severing the hand he was using to hold his sword within an instant.
Kach—!!
"ARGHHHAAA!!"
The officer's agonizing scream filled the air as he crumpled to the ground, writhing and convulsing in pain while a pool of his own blood puddled under him.
Leo indifferently walked past him, leaving the police and officials to engage the rest of his squad in a fierce melee.
As that happened, Nero and the others thought about joining the fray. But before they could act, Raymond from before approached them in a rush.
"You three!" he shouted as he hurried over. "Go, get out of here!"
"We can assist!" Nero yelled back, his voice barely audible amid the chaos and clashing of steel.
Raymond quickly shook his head. "Whoever these people are, we outnumber them two to one! We can handle it here. I want all of you to find safety!"
Nero was on the verge of arguing when Anastasia firmly grasped his arm and yelled into his ear, ensuring her voice was heard amid the bedlam of screams and battle cries.
"I think he's right! We should get out of here, Nero!" She urged, tugging on his arm.
Reluctantly, Nero nodded in agreement.
However, before they could even move from their spots, a jarring sound of metal cracking echoed throughout the entire underground auction hall.
Instantly after, the whole venue fell into an eerie silence and all eyes turned toward the source of the noise.
In the center of the hall, a police officer lay dead, a slender rapier blade biting into his chest and sticking out through his back.
Before dying to his killer's fatal thrust, the officer managed to fire an enchanted bullet from his handgun.
Although the bullet failed to claim the life of his killer, it did succeed in breaking his mask. The bullet struck the metal mask and shattered it into several fragments.
The individual who had killed the officer was a man in his late thirties with short black hair and piercing light blue eyes.
Seeing what had happened, Leo's face under his mask contorted in dismay. This was bad.
Now, every witness in the hall had seen the man's face. If they were to survive, they would testify to everything that happened here, potentially identifying him.
If that happened, the police would link the man back to Spider and the existence of their covert organization would not be a secret anymore.
"Damn it," Leo cursed under his breath.
This was indeed a bad situation. Now... he had no choice but to kill everyone here.
