Chapter 71: Wary Declan

Blood sprayed through the air as Declan’s hand became a blur, his claws tearing through Robert again and again.

BOOOOOM!

A sudden heavy impact from the side sent Declan flying, and he tumbled across the ground before crashing into the wall.

He quickly turned his head and saw that Vernand was already back on his feet, the wound in his stomach halfway healed beneath a layer of green healing serum.

Vernand turned away from Declan and looked toward his partner, only for his breath to catch when he saw Robert’s body covered in deep claw marks, some of the wounds so severe that his ribs were visible beneath the torn flesh.

Not only had the flesh on his torso been reduced to mangled pieces, but he had also been knocked unconscious, so Vernand reached out, grabbed Robert, and hoisted him over his shoulder before bringing out a small circular device with his free hand.

Declan burst from the wall and flashed toward them, but he was only halfway there when Vernand crushed the device in his palm.

A ripple of blue energy spread around his body just as Declan’s claws cleaved through him.

Declan landed on the ground and immediately turned his head, only to find that both men were still standing there, completely unharmed.

Except... there was something different about them.

Their bodies were now surrounded by a faint blue halo, making their forms look less physical and more like translucent spirits as they slowly began to fade away.

"We may have failed, but they’ll never stop until you’re dead!"

Vernand said with a cold harrumph as Declan raised an eyebrow at their fading forms.

"Quite interesting."

He mused as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cubic object, resting it on his palm before clenching his hand around it.

WHIIIRRR!

A mechanical whirring echoed through the alley as nanotech rapidly spread over Declan’s arms, forming a pair of gauntlets around his hands.

He stretched both palms toward the fading figures.

"Idiot. Nothing can touch—"

THRRRRRROOOM!

The air exploded with shockwaves as Declan’s palms widened and a destructive pillar of photon energy blasted forward, its sheer force pushing him five steps backward.

The beam slammed directly into Vernand, who hadn’t even attempted to dodge because the teleportation was already halfway complete, and no ordinary attack should have been able to reach him, let alone stop the process.

Yet the instant the photon energy struck, Vernand’s expression changed as a force tore straight through his body.

BOOOOOOM!

The destructive beam pierced through his stomach, blasting a gigantic hole through his torso and obliterating his liver and kidney in the process, while blood burst from his mouth and his eyes widened in disbelief.

He collapsed onto his back, with Robert’s unconscious body falling on top of him.

"It... it pierced through..."

Vernand muttered in horror.

STEP

STEP

STEP

Footsteps approached, and Vernand slowly raised his head to find Declan standing before him with a wide grin stretching across his metallic maw.

"Tell the ’they’ who sent you that they can send a million more of you if they want."

"You’ll all be taken down."

Those were the last words Vernand heard before his eyes rolled backward and the teleportation finally completed, causing both figures to vanish into thin air.

The Nano Photon Blaster had been powerful enough to reach Vernand, but it couldn’t completely cancel the teleportation, allowing the two assassins to escape.

After they disappeared, Declan clenched his fist, causing the Nano Photon Blaster to retract into its compact cube form and slip back into his pocket, while his claws faded and his hands returned to normal as he deactivated his abilities.

Then, he turned around and walked out of the alleyway.

__________________

SPLASH!

Water rained down onto the cold tiles.

[Quest Completed: Survive an Assassination Attempt!]

[Rewards:

+7,000 EXP!

+2 Level Up Cards!

+2 Ability Upgrade Cards!]

The water pouring over Declan was clear, but the water swirling around the drain beneath him had been red.

He remained motionless beneath the shower for several minutes until the water beneath him eventually turned clear once more.

Declan shut off the shower, grabbed a towel from the side, and dried himself before heading into his bedroom.

The assassination attempt might have been unexpected, but Declan had a pretty good idea who was responsible.

He hadn’t angered anyone or crossed paths with any major power since arriving at the academy, and the only person he could think of who might hold a grudge against him was Edgar, whom he had fought during the Ranking Challenges.

But sending assassins equipped with gadgets worth more than 200 points, when Edgar had challenged him to gain 70 points made no sense.

That left only one possibility: The cult infiltration from the previous night.

Only second-years possessed enough points, influence, and boldness to decide to kill a Newcomer and actually follow through with it.

Declan had assumed his identity was safe because there hadn’t been any cameras or obvious surveillance inside that hidden area, but clearly, he had been wrong.

They had his face, and now they were coming for his life.

"How annoying. I didn’t even gain anything from infiltrating their base, and now I’ve got a target on my back."

Declan muttered in annoyance.

But then he shrugged, his eyes shifting toward the system panel.

The system issued quests based on real-life events, and this assassination attempt had given him one, so if they kept sending people after him, then in a way, they were just sending him EXP and Level Up Cards.

He wasn’t exactly complaining.

Still, there was one thing that bothered him.

He had no idea who they would send next.

The two assassins this time had been easy enough to handle since they were Newcomers like him and relied heavily on their gadgets, but if second-years came after him with equipment like that, things might turn out very differently.

’Guess I have to be careful from now on.’

______________

"Protocol 404. This is Command Deric making contact with Declan. Come in."

The words rang out across an entirely different world, one filled with endless skyscrapers, the shortest of which stood at five stories tall, while explosions continuously ripped through the city, shattering windows into countless fragments as thick smoke billowed between the towering structures.

Yet atop one of those skyscrapers sat a young man dressed in a white-and-blue military uniform, his legs swinging rhythmically over the edge as his blue hair whipped wildly in the wind and a communication pod rested against his ear.

He tapped it once.

"Protocol 404. This is Declan."

"Declan. Give me your status report."

"Zero injuries. Zero problems. Ready to move."

His voice remained calm as he looked toward the distance, where a massive explosion had completely destroyed the top of a ten-story building, reducing it to roughly eight stories while cracks had spread through its glass windows all the way to the bottom.

"Protocol 404 has lost connection with Alv and Daph."

"Last sight recording sent."

A holographic screen appeared before him, and Declan’s eyes focused on it.

The recording showed a scene captured in the middle of an explosion, where a young man and a lady were being violently flung from a building.

His eyes shifted toward the corner of the image, where he saw a massive green hand tipped with claws.

"Mission assigned. Provide support ASAP."

"Mission accepted. Coordinates requested."

Declan replied immediately.

"178 North, 65 West, Fourth Iaricon Scraper."

"Orders received. Over."

The communication ended, and Declan tapped the pod once before pushing himself off the ground.

He rose into the air and landed crouched on his feet, his eyes focusing on the distance as the world seemed to zoom beneath his gaze and he locked onto the provided coordinates.

"Begin distance countdown."

BOOOOOOM!

An explosion erupted where Declan had been standing, cracks spreading across the skyscraper’s wall as every window on the floor shattered into fragments.

Declan shot forward like a missile, his body curling into a ball as he slammed through the glass wall of another skyscraper.

SHATTTTTERRR!

STEP!

SHATTTTTERRR!

STEP!

Hurried footsteps echoed through the building as Declan blurred forward, smashing through one glass partition after another.

Then,

SHAAATERR!

He burst through another window and soared back into the open air.

SCREEEEEECHHH!

An ear-piercing screech rang out as a gigantic bird covered in pitch-black feathers appeared before him, its enormous maw lined with blade-sharp teeth.

It snapped its break toward Declan.

CLAMP!

The massive jaws closed around him, but less than five seconds later, the bird’s head suddenly ballooned to three times its original size.

BUUUUUUURRSSSST!

A massive explosion erupted, yet no blood rained down; instead, the bird’s hulking body dissolved into countless motes of blue energy that scattered through the air.

Declan’s figure tore out from its skull.

BAAAAAAANG!

He slammed through the glass of another skyscraper.

SHAAATER!

He rolled across the floor before immediately pushing himself back onto his feet.

BOOOM!

BOOOOOM!

BOOOOOM!

"100 meters..."

"80 meters..."

"50 meters..."

"10 meters..."

The countdown echoed through Declan’s ear pod as he reached the edge of the skyscraper.

SHATTER!

The glass exploded into fragments, and Declan emerged into the air, immediately looking downward to see a body being hurled from a building like a rag doll.

He twisted in midair before landing gently against the glass surface of the skyscraper opposite him, the glass rippling beneath his feet like waves.

Then,

SHATTER!

The surface broke apart as Declan shot toward the ground.

He landed heavily, straightened, and stretched both hands forward just as the falling body reached him.

He caught it.

The impact forced him backward, his feet sliding nearly ten meters across the ground before he finally came to a stop.

Declan lowered his gaze to the girl lying in his arms, her long green hair spilling around her face, which was covered in marks.

Her eyes were tightly shut, clearly bracing herself for the impact she had expected.