Chapter 2

Soldiers and magicians dashing around with swords and staff could be heard all over the place. They are looking for the person who recently assassinated one of their organization's top researchers.

There was a sense of nervousness and hostility in the air. They were worried about what would happen to them when the headquarters found out what had happened, and they were irritated because they couldn't find the assassin.

Multiple curses in several languages were also hurled around. The troops' cool attitude had already given way to something more primitive.

Something the figure was well familiar with...

The intent to kill.....

The thought of slaughter...

The Figure was flying hundreds of meters in the air, his majestic 12 bat-like wings unfolded as he watched all this with glee in his cyan eyes, thinking of something he snapped his fingers and suddenly the bombs he put in the fuel-storage room were instantaneously detonated with a great explosion.

Boommmmm!

A tremendous explosion reverberated throughout the dock as the fuel tank exploded, releasing a large amount of energy output. The eastern half of the warehouse was turned to ashes within seconds after the explosion.

The figure submerged and flew a little higher to avoid the tremendous shockwave caused by the horrible explosion.

Crackle!!

The wind pressure generated a crackling sound like thunder as the warehouse rubble rocketed everywhere. The scenario gradually settled down after a few seconds. The warehouse was in shambles, the entire eastern section was destroyed, and fire engulfed the remaining sections.

However, no one was wounded because no one was near the fuel storage when the explosion occurred; however, this was all going according to the figure's plan; to him, it was like a chess board with him controlling both sides.

*****

(A few minutes before the explosion.)

Inside the warehouse's control room, 12 people could be seen seated around a round table with various magicians surrounding them, all ready for any kind of suspicious motion.

The twelve people wore solemn expressions and disregarded the magicians who were around them.

Each of these people was dressed in a distinctive crimson uniform with the [Dark Church] insignia printed on the back.

"Fuck this b*tch!!... We're all ruined now!!"

"Doctor Lorenzo was assassinated from within the warehouse, specifically from the rooftop over a storage area."

"That takes us to the real question..."

"How did someone with no prior registration manage to enter the warehouse?"

"How come no one noticed him?"

"How come our magical arrays failed to detect his presence?"

"And, most importantly, how did he get out of the warehouse?"

Whispers!!

"We discovered two guards dead at Entrance A, therefore it's conceivable that the assassin used their keys to access the base,"

"But that doesn't explain how he got past all the checkpoints and guards!"

"I believe the assassin is using Sacred Gear..."

"Oh....why do you think that?"

"The assassin must have utilized high-level [Presence Concealment] or identical magic! Which could only be obtained by using Sacred Gear, unless he is not a human."

The entire room fell silent and grimaced as this prospect was considered.

"It's a possibility because as soon as Lorenzo died, we activated the barrier around the warehouse, so no one could enter or escape, no matter what kind of magic was used against it."

"Hmm.....something that even I don't understand."

"But what if.....he never left!"

"Huh?"

"What?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if he's still within the warehouse, hiding to avoid detection, waiting for us to relax our security so he can escape?"

"Hmm....it's a possibility indeed!

Booommmm!

"""""What the hell!!"""""

Everyone hurried close to the explosion like moths attracted to light, and in an instant, every single member of this base gathered around the location of the explosion.

*****

The figure muttered something and radiated a chilly light from his eyes as he watched all the humans gathered near the explosion.

"Foolish Humans."

A little, blackish-blue flame appeared on the man's outstretched hand as he directed it directly at the assembled crowd. The flame seemed to emit no heat at all, almost as if it were an optical illusion.

"Be aware humans... this may become a little hot," warned the figure as he rapidly raised his other palm into the air, a dome of energy that had previously sprung up suddenly rose up again... and barely in time as well.

However, this time all of the people were able to hear the figure who had already made his presence known to everyone, but they didn't have time to consider as a football-sized fireball flew towards them and collided with the earth in front of them.

"Ignis Inferni!"

The sky was then bathed in a lovely blue light...

A glow that blanketed the majority of the sky...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!

The sound of the explosion was deafening, and the aftershock was felt through the soil beneath them; a heat wave so thick that it kicked off and banged fiercely on the dome figure built but was unable to pierce it.

Fire surged from the ground in a giant spire, velocity rings twisted loosely around the rising heat before dispersing before another grew up in its place, the entire base of more than ten kilometres was entirely blown away, not even ashes remained.

The figure simply descended to the ground, folded its wings back, and began to stare at the scorched surroundings with a curious expression. Just as he was ready to vanish from the scene, he ducked to avoid a side-chop towards his neck.

The figure sat back without looking. The figure successfully dodged the side-chop, but his back-kick was ready to strike the attacker. He sensed danger, and his instincts told him to flee quickly. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop his momentum or modify the direction of his attack, so he used magic to force the attacker to retreat.

He said quietly, pointing his right index finger behind him. "[Purify]...." A concentrated bolt of power exploded toward the attacker, who had no idea the figure could cast magic so swiftly.

In the face of the unexpected attack, the attacker had to alter his attack trajectory and lean backward to avoid the magical beam aimed at his chest. This evading move prompted the figure to leap forward and spin around to face his assailant.

When the figure turned around, he noticed a tall man standing behind him. The man has an athletic frame, black hair, golden bangs, and a black goatee and appears to be in his twenties. He also has twelve jet-black feathered wings sprouting from his back. It appeared to be an endless black in color.

"So, Mr. Black, who are you? Personally, I never imagined that someone would completely erase the existence of my new allies; they had a lot that could be juiced on from them, and you simply destroyed all that knowledge and possibility of me obtaining them; now you will have to compensate, "Azazel said, looking coldly at the figure.

The person gazed at Azazel with a neutral expression; he hadn't expected someone like Azazel to appear, but now that he has, there is no turning back; the only option is to put up a fight.

Azazel pulled his hand and released countless light spears at incredible speed due to him using his maximum strength; he knew his opponent's casting speed was higher than his own even while at full power, so he sacrificed variety for speed.

Unfortunately, Azazel was unaware of the figure's abilities. The figure ran directly into the approaching light spears, reaching forward with his right hand. While the approaching attack was not lethal, it was not to be taken lightly.

"[Negate]"

Fortunately, the figure had the ability to entirely absorb magic spells up to a certain limit, so it blitzed toward Azazel, tearing straight through his magic. After successfully negating the spell, the figure lunged forward and stomped his foot on top of Azazel's head with massive force.

Azazel, like a seasoned combatant, sidesteps an incoming attack and throws a side-chop at the black-masked figure. The masked person in black leaned back to escape the chop before kicking towards Azazel's left knee, who took a cautious step back before launching a mid-sweep with his left leg.

The figure used his elbow to oppose the impending knee, and both assaults made contact, forcing the wind surrounding them to blow outwards due to the high pressure caused by the blows. Azazel's leg became numb as a result of the figure's strike, which was induced by his [Corruption].

Unfortunately, Azazel was a master at manipulating magic, which made it take longer for the [Corruption] to take effect. Azazel moved back, aware that he had lost the first exchange, to put some distance between himself and the masked figure.

He intended to battle the black-masked opponent from a distance using Light power.

'He wouldn't allow me to use Magic, and I can't beat him in close combat, so I have to wait for others.....' Azazel was going to turn into a cockroach until his team arrived, but the figure was prepared for this.

The person became lost in his shadow. Because of the skill [Presence concealment], the black-masked figure escaped Azazel's range and emerged beside him with a spike in his left hand. He rotated his body and thrust a dagger through Azazel's armor, the dagger enchanted with [Ignore Defense] and coated with [Corruption].

"Arrgghhh!!!...."

The [Corruption] harmed Azazel's soul, forcing him to scream in agony and feel veins pop all over his stomach. The figure twisted the dagger and thrust his knee into Azazel's fresh wound on the left side.

"You worm, shouldn't have attacked me."

Thud!

Azazel was thrown to the floor without making a sound. The figure swung his knife and summoned his blackish-blue flames to finish Azazel out.

(Figure's P.O.V)

'I should kill him before he becomes a bother in the future...'

I had to jump back just as I was ready to kill him because the area where I was standing was being attacked with many light missiles.

'Looks like they've arrived...!?'

I hurriedly slipped into the shadows and escaped from the area after activating [Presence Concealment]. Even with dozens of these fallen angels around, I didn't find killing Azazel to be that challenging.

'However, murdering him now would be a loss for me because he is undoubtedly someone who would be valuable to me in the future.'

Not to mention that his survival would have no effect on me right now. Furthermore, even if he recovers the physical damage I inflicted on him, he will be unable to repair his soul, causing scars to grow over it.

'That left kidney region has now become his weak spot, causing him intense pain when attacked.....'