Chapter 10

The apartment door opened, and Sergei, along with Wanda in her sweatshirt, stepped out into the rain, umbrellas in hand. They got into the car parked on the street. The engine hummed to life, and the car began to slowly move away into the night.

As the car neared the end of the road, several other vehicles quietly followed. Inside one of the SUVs, a man in a combat uniform sitting in the passenger seat pulled a pistol from under his arm, checking it carefully. In the back, three others were inspecting their own gear.

"Captain, besides us, there are others tailing the experimental subjects."

"Let them move first. We'll clean up after. No one leaves alive," the captain replied calmly.

"Understood."

Their conversation was brief, and the mood remained eerily calm. As time passed, the lead car headed towards the suburbs, causing the captain in the passenger seat to frown. An inexplicable unease gnawed at him.

He couldn't pinpoint the source of his discomfort, but it left him feeling guilty and unsettled. Was something off with the operation?

No, it couldn't be—they were just a few ordinary experimental subjects with no awakened abilities.

While he was lost in thought, the driver suddenly slowed down and said, "Captain, the experimental subjects have parked at the abandoned factory."

"They stopped there? Is that their temporary base camp?"

The captain, gripping his gun, pulled out a high-precision infrared telescope and peered through the car window. He saw the vehicle parked in front of an abandoned factory. A man and a woman, the experimental subjects, exited the car and walked inside. The area was desolate; if anything went down here, it wouldn't attract any unwanted attention from the authorities.

Yet, the unease in his heart only grew stronger.

Suddenly, a thought struck him like lightning, and his face turned pale with horror.

"Not good!"

Before he could warn the others, a deafening roar shattered the tense silence, drawing everyone's attention forward. They all turned their gaze to the scene ahead, where the nearest vehicle had been crushed as if by a massive hammer, leaving it a total wreck. Blood flowed from the mangled car, mixing with the rain-soaked ground, painting it red.

But what really captured everyone's attention was the figure responsible for the carnage—a towering man, standing like a god of war, on the roof of the destroyed car, dressed in a black trench coat.

It was Sergei.

Sergei stood on the roof of the car, gripping a specially crafted cross sword. He glanced at the trailing vehicles in the distance and inhaled deeply, his chest expanding as a rush of air filled his lungs.

"Fuuuu!"

With that breath, his physical abilities surged to their peak. The moment to strike had arrived.

In combat, Sergei showed no mercy—Leon had drilled this into them during two years of intense training. The burden of taking a life did not weigh on him. After enduring so much darkness, he understood the harsh realities of their world.

Boom!

Sergei stomped down with his right foot, causing a blast of air as he propelled himself forward with speed that defied his massive frame. He became a blur, leaping twenty or thirty meters into the air and covering hundreds of meters in an instant. Like a meteorite, he descended upon one of the cars, creating such immense wind pressure that the people inside could barely move.

They had just started to reach for their guns when Sergei struck. The car roof crumpled under his force, and they were crushed along with it.

Bang!

The car caved in, sending shards of glass flying in all directions. The sheer brutality of the scene sent waves of terror through the dozen or so men who had been following. Realization dawned on them—they were facing a monster.

"Damn it, he's a monster!"

"Run!"

Panic set in as they started their engines and tried to flee, but their speed was no match for Sergei.

He pursued them like a juggernaut on his powerful legs. Seeing him closing in at terrifying speed, the men were gripped with fear. Desperately, they pulled out their weapons and fired at Sergei.

Sergei's eyes blazed with determination as he raced forward, his speed unrelenting. He swung the cross sword with precision, deflecting the hail of bullets with ease, sparks flying off with each deflection.

As he closed in on the cars, now less than a hundred meters away, he took a deep breath. Heat radiated from his body, and flames began to ignite around him.

"Flame Breathing: Fifth Form—Flame Tiger!"

Boom!

Scorching flames erupted, evaporating the rain as they burst into life. The fire formed a giant, roaring tiger that enveloped Sergei, propelling him forward with even greater speed. In a flash, he bridged the hundred-meter gap, leaving a fiery trail behind him.

BOOM!

The flaming tiger smashed through the convoy with unstoppable force. In the horrified eyes of the men inside, several cars were obliterated in an instant, exploding into fiery wreckage.

As the flames dissipated, Sergei stood amidst the wreckage, the fire still flickering around him. He turned his gaze to the last remaining car, not bothering to look back at the inferno behind him.

Inside the car, the remaining Hydra soldiers were paralyzed with shock. The captain, realizing the danger, shouted, "Get out!" He fumbled for his communicator, trying to report the disaster unfolding.

But before they could move, the ground beneath the car cracked open, and a surge of red energy erupted, forming a massive hand. The giant red hand grabbed the car, lifting it two meters off the ground. Panic swept through the Hydra agents as they realized they were trapped.

The captain frantically dialed the communicator, but before he could speak, something caught his eye. Through the car window, he saw the girl in the gray sweatshirt standing more than ten meters away. Her eyes glowed red, and her right hand was clenched into a fist.

'What is she doing?'

That was his last thought.

As Wanda clenched her fist, the giant red energy hand gripping the SUV mimicked her motion, tightening its hold. In an instant, the SUV was crushed into a compact ball of metal.

Creak! Creak! Boom!

The sound of metal being compressed mixed with a deafening explosion, and in that moment, the Hydra agents inside were utterly obliterated.

The mangled, burning wreckage of the car hit the ground with a heavy thud. Without a glance back, Wanda released her powers, turned, and walked away.