Chapter 279

Chapter 279

My footsteps echo in the hallway and the flickering yellow lights above mask the grime that covers the grey walls, ceiling, and floor.

There are metal doors every 10 to 15 meters that lead into similar-sized rooms, but the long curved hallway seems to go on forever as I make my way forward. My enemy detection skill only shows one other person on this floor and they are still rather far away at the end of the hall.

It's a level 202 with a swordsmanship skill as well as that same High-Grade shielding artifact activated. It must be something their boss hands out to each of them. However, a defense item of this class can't be cheap...

As my footsteps echo further and further down the hall, a raspy middle-aged man's voice eventually calls out.

"Number 5, back so soon? Did the kid finally talk?"

I don't respond, but pick up my pace slightly to see who made this remark. My appearance may resemble the short-haired blond woman, but my voice is still the same. Responding would not be the best idea.

I turn the final bend of the long narrow corridor to see a mean-looking man whose appearance is exactly what I'd pictured. Dark eyebrows and a buzzcut with poorly inked tattoos on his visible skin. Three bottles of alcohol are all half empty on a small table next to him along with a few piles of paper and a pen.

He crosses his arms and raises his head as we make eye contact.

"Come on, it was that bad again? You were hardly gone a few minutes. The boss is getting restless you know. We have another job to tend to 3 days from now so you better hurry it up."

I tighten my gaze and keep walking toward him. The rough-looking man has a silver pin on his shirt too, labeled "009". I get within 3 meters and see a stairway leading up to the next floor on my left side. He speaks again.

"What's with you today, you're acting differ-"

Before he can finish speaking, I get close enough to the man that he starts eying me up and down with lust-filled eyes. Reaching out my right hand I activate my newest ice magic skill and freeze him solid before he even knows what hit him.

I let out a sigh while manipulating the mana within my ice to phish out the labeled pin. I shatter him to pieces without a second thought and stare down at the small silver item using appraisal.

High-Grade B-Class Shielding Artifact [64/100][IC]

It's exactly the same as the one this woman was wearing. I throw it into my item storage and begin walking up the industrial-grade stairs without another thought. They're split into 2 sections of 12 steps, sturdy enough for dozens of people to walk on at the same time.

This place must have been built and used by a large organization a few decades ago but seems to have been forgotten by time. All the rooms are empty or filled with old tables and chairs. They've been stripped of their valuable items multiple times over.

"Excellent, Excellent. Wait. In that case, why are you here? Why not just go directly to the boss-"

Raising my hand in the air, I activate my earth magic and shoot a stone bullet through the man's forehead before he can finish his final question.

His time is up as well. I've killed a lot of people today, but they all know too much and have hurt my teammates unprovoked. They deserve worse. I'm doing them a favor by making it quick and painless.

His eyes go blank as he stops mid-sentence and the ring full of silver keys falls to the floor with a series of clangs.

I hear gasps from my left side while I lean down to grab the pin and keys before turning to the cell. I walk over still in full disguise.

The sight before my eyes is horrendous once it comes into full view. It makes me want to look away immediately.

Each of them looks like they went through similar, if not worse torture than me. They're all covered in burns, gashes, and clothes stained with blood.

In the cell, Maria, Abby, and Arie are sat together with Fisher shaking and looking at the floor a few meters away. He's alive, but in the worst condition out of any of them, pale as snow from blood loss and shock.

The women both stare at me with the same angered expressions while Arie looks up at the ceiling calm and deep in thought.

I take another step closer. Then, speak in my undistored deeper-toned voice while deactivating my conceal skill and tossing the keys through the metal bars.

"Sorry for the wait. Let's get out of here."

My appearance shifts back to my original form, minus the white eyes and black arm tattoos.

I smirk while watching both Abby and Maria shift their expressions from anger to joy, even Arie sits up realizing what's going on. His indifferent gaze turns to curiosity, but still, something seems very off.

Fisher doesn't budge. He continues to stare at the floor, murmuring something to himself.

I turn to the other cell, expecting to find Lydia behind bars once the yellow light illuminates the back of the room. Unfortunately, I'm mistaken.

An old man with a long grey beard stares back at me with cold and tired eyes. He doesn't say a word, just lifts his cuffed wrists up toward me.

There isn't anyone else in his cell. The white-haired mage is nowhere to be found...