Staring at the black-robed assassin, General Sylvari felt complicated.

On one hand, he wanted to be the one to hunt down Leon himself. Afterall, he’d been thinking of the E Rank Mechanist that humiliated him every single day for the past 131 years of his life.

He’d been thinking of the day that he’ll finally get to see him again, and he’d been planning for long on how he’ll deal with the Mechanist.

He wanted to beat him till he couldn’t think, he wanted to torture him, he wanted all of that pleasure and satisfaction for himself but alas, he didn’t have any freedom as a C Rank Ascended.

The reason why C Rank Ascended rarely left their territories and barely got to fight was because being only 8 of them in the world, they always kept tabs on each other 24/7 and 365 days of every year.

This was why Murphy was always bored out of his mind.

"Sit". The General’s voice rumbled like grinding gears.

As the black-robed assassin obeyed and sat in the chair opposite the General, Sylvari finally moved just slightly as he lifted the glass on the desk and took a slow sip before setting it down with exact precision beside the folder that was in the center of the desk.

Ghostface reacted and finally looked at the folder on the desk for a few seconds before looking at the General’s face, waiting for directives.

He knew what being summoned meant.

He knew that inside that folder lay a name, a life reduced to ink and paper.

That realization alone made the air tighten around them as though the room itself anticipated what was coming. Afterall, for him to be summoned, then this was no ordinary target.

He was only summoned for the most difficult targets.

General Sylvari Charr exhaled, then he flicked his wrist at the folder and immediately, a virtual hologram appeared in the air.

The virtual hologram showed everything that Ghostface needed for the mission.

{Assassination Target=}

{Target Profile=}

{Name: Leon (Thomas Riley).}

{Image=}

{Class & Rank: D Rank Mechanist}

{Class Specialization: Warmachine Specialist}

{Danger Level: Extreme}

Quietly, Ghostface briefly glimpsed at the details. He focused on the extreme danger level tag which didn’t surprise him, then he quickly focused on the face. That was what mattered most.

He saw a young man, a man with a face far too young and too innocent and inexperienced to be his target.

The target didn’t even have any scars on his face!

He frowned.

The weird combination didn’t make him underestimate the target though, it only made him more serious. Afterall, for a man this young to make it into the General’s radar and subsequently his own radar spoke volumes about his talent or special circumstances.

With a serious look on his face, he observed the remaining features that stood out- short black hair, inky black eyes, and a high nose bridge.

He moved for the first time and finally picked up the folder, then he looked at the General again. "Anything of note to put in mind?"

"He has close ties to a C Rank Ascended".

Ghostface’s multi-hued brown eyes immediately constricted. ’No wonder’. He thought quietly.

He nodded seriously. "Noted".

Then he asked. "Time frame?"

"2 months".

"Yes General". Ghostface accepted immediately and finally stood up as he hid the folder within his black robe.

"The target will be dead in 2 months". He said and bowed respectfully one last time, then he finally left the office.

As he left, the General’s voice echoed behind him.

"Dead or alive".

Ghostface didn’t say a word, just the sound of his receding footsteps echoed.

...

Canyon Hub, inside a military base at the heart of the city...

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The distant sounds of a violent battle echoed.

In the backdrop of the echoing sounds from a great distance, Daren and Talia sat as a team of doctors attended to their injuries.

It was already night and the heavily damaged Zerphyr-7 Stealth Reconnaissance UAV hibernated by the side where the armed soldiers kept throwing incredulous glances at it.

They still couldn’t believe that this was the stealth aircraft that managed to survive and outrun a nuke!

It was heavily damaged, yes, but it was still mostly intact and that told a lot about the sheer quality of this aircraft. Afterall, it just survived and escaped the immediate surroundings of a nuke.

Some of them also threw glances at the D Rank Mechanist who was said to be its creator.

Standing beside Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq though, Leon had a complicated look in his eyes as he looked towards the distance where violent orange explosions bloomed into the night sky occasionally and where the sounds of battle came from, where Colonel Alphonse and his soldiers were containing the Neon Beast disaster and were successful for now.

Just like him who recovered from all the injuries caused by the turbulence of their escape through his Undying Cockroach Racial DNA, Lt. Colonel Umar Farouq already recovered from all his injuries with his Cell Repair ability.

Unlike his companions who could only hear sounds and see the blossoming explosions from afar, with his invisible C-5 drones, Leon could see everything that was happening in and around the containment perimeter.

He could see the violent clash currently ongoing between the Freegrid Army in Canyon Hub and the Neon Beasts that replicated in the wake of the nuclear bomb.

There were already 2 D Rank Neon Beasts already!

"How bad is it?" Umar asked softly.

"Very bad," Leon sighed. "There are thousands of Neon Beasts already, and there’s no sign of their growth being stopped yet".

"They’re replicating rapidly".

Leon sighed again. "This is my first actual D Rank battle, to think it would escalate so much that I’ll have to find myself running away from a nuke".

He chuckled. "It just seems like I’m allergic to normal. 90% of the time, I just can’t find myself in normal circumstances, I’m always dealing with a crazy and unhinged scenario that no one would expect".

"I didn’t expect Dhruv to call a nuke either," Umar said, then he quietly turned around and looked at the Mechanist.

He added softly. "I also didn’t expect him to die".

...

[Special Appreciation to Katcan20, ImperialJadeDragon, r03n, and Darks4int for the Golden Tickets!]