"The first reason is because I wanted to delay you all so that everyone could Vacate this building," Quan said, laughing.
"Vacate? Why would anyone Vacate? They donât know what happened here?" Kellian asked, frowning.
"Hahaha, youâre really naive, arenât you? Despite seeing no blood in my body, do you really think Iâm real?"
"The body you see before you now is just one of my puppets. My real body is elsewhere," Quan laughed even more brightly. "Everyone knows whatâs happening here."
"As for the second reason, it was because I wanted the kid to know the truth before he died. And now that everyone is out of the building, time to blow it up. Goodbye, crazy bastard," he further said, smirking
He looked at the clock in his hand as he said, "You have three seconds. Run! Run as far as you can in these three, no one second now."
"Aaaand, Boom!" he let out as it was time, but there was no blast.
"What? Whatâs happening? Why didnât it blow up?" Quan asked, shocked.
...
Back in APF headquarters, Drak wiped the sweat off his forehead.
"Hah! I did it! The building and the entire city is now under my control, all thanks to the support from Sir Kellian."
"Man, it was surprising to know that they were going to blow up that building. Fortunately, I got in on time," he told Vega, proud as if he had achieved a really big task.
"You did well. Now itâs my turn," Vega smiled as he also got to work.
....
Ting!
A message reached the leader of Border Security of Capital City. The message seemed to have come from city high command, from what it seemed.
"Hmm? More APF members will be coming? And I need to let them pass through without any verification?" the white-haired leader read the message.
"Alright. If thatâs what the highest ups want, who am I to question anything."
At the same time, another message reached Yaliza, who was leading the members that were told to wait near the Capital City for further orders.
Seeing the message, a smile formed on his lips.
"Weâre in the green! Everyone! Time to get inside!" Yaliza commanded as he entered the APF helicopter.
The helicopters started flying towards the Capital City at full speed.
As they reached the walls, there was no signal for them to stop. They were allowed to enter without checking.
....
"That takes care of the rest," Vega commented as he relaxed a little.
"Incoming and outgoing communication is stopped as well. Weâre in the clear," Drak commented.
The small two men team at APF base was creating miracles with the help of APFâs tightly integrated infrastructure in the Capital City defenses.
"Any signs of Zeiss?" Vega asked Drak, wondering if Zeiss left the Dungeon.
"No signs yet. It seems like heâs still in the dungeon. As for Warlock King Salazar, he is also in Legion City. It doesnât seem like he has any intention to leave."
....
The team with Yaliza and the others didnât go to the building where Lucifer and the others were. Instead, their goal was to neutralize the Hunter Union when they were least expecting an attack.
....
"Whatâs happening? What did you do to our systems?! Why are we locked out of it?!" Quan asked, stunned to his core.
He found out that they had lost the contract of all systems in the city.
" Did you really think we would let you control such things after we infiltrated?" Kellian sarcastically asked.
"I think itâs time for you to answer a few questions. You are a Variant, thatâs something weâre sure of. The question remains, who are you?"
"Lucifer, wake up!"
As Kellian was asking such questions, he heard a yell from a distance. Looking ahead, he noticed Lucifer standing frozen. Electricity was flickering around him.
As for his eyes, they had started shining as a strange and dreadful aura filled the entire room.
There were already intense clouds in the sky, but they became even more intense as their roars could even be heard in this place.
Black lightning started falling everywhere inside the city. Hundreds of pitch-black lightning bolts fell inside the city, which no one had ever seen before.
A lot of them fell on the roads, leaving deep craters. There were also a lot of them which fell on top of the buildings, destroying them.
One after another, buildings kept falling, unable to bear the brunt of such lighting.
The lightning didnât stop though. It continued as bolts kept falling as if it was the actual Wrath of Heaven.
....
In an unknown place inside the city, a man was sitting in a room, surrounded by Army Generals. General Maxwell, who handled the Facility where Lucifer was kept, was also there.
As for the man, he was none other than the President of Elisium. He was the real Quan that wasnât seen by anyone.
"We canât get back the controls. The situation is getting out of hand. Should we inform him? Elisium is getting out of our hands?" General Maxwell asked as he glanced outside the window, looking at all the lightning falling in the city.
"Not yet. Donât forget; he sent us here for a purpose. We canât let Elisium fall, or things will be problematic," the real Quan said, frowning.
"Isnât this why weâve all been playing these roles since the Last Great War? Isnât that why we fooled all the Warlock Kings?"
"Isnât that why we had Zale killed? So that there wonât be a problem when the time comes? How can we let it all go to waste now?" he further asked.
"What can we even do? Just look outside. Is this the strength we can face alone? Do you really think so?" General Maxwell asked, sighing.
"Varant is dead. Zeiss is inside the dungeon. Salazar is also not in the city. And the communication is jammed. Weâre like rats trapped in a cage. What can we even use now?"
Even Quan fell in deep thought as he stood up. "Weâre in a conundrum indeed. But if we go back after failing, you know what heâll do to us, donât you? We canât fail."
He also walked to the window and looked outside at all the buildings being destroyed one after another.
...n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
"Lucifer, are you alright?" Kellian asked, concerned for Lucifer, who wasnât speaking anything.
Lucifer couldnât hear him either. Instead, his consciousness found itself in a dark space where he was sitting in complete isolation.
It was only after a long time that he finally spoke.
Only one word came out of his lips though...