Chapter 7.5

Even Villains Have Standards (Part 2)

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Meanwhile, Arondight wasted no time.

In a blink, he teleported across the city and reappeared at his target location. Before him stood an old warehouse once used for storing large industrial equipment but long since abandoned. According to the intel they'd got from the surviving victim of Variant trafficking, this was where the next exchange would take place.

Without hesitation, Arondight warped and penetrated the warehouse wall into its interior. After successfully warping, he emerged behind a row of towering machines, almost consumed by rust from having been stored there for too long. He was immediately greeted by the thick layer of dirt and dust accumulated over time, coating his throat and lungs with every breath.

But he didn't let himself be bothered by the dirt and dust and continued his mission by taking a step forward. "Okay, here we go..." he said to himself. But the rusty floor groaned softly under his boots, echoing like a warning bell he didn't want his enemies to hear.

He stopped when his footsteps made a sound. Luckily, the smugglers waiting inside the warehouse were too occupied to notice the hero. Most of them were busy with their cellphones, while others were watching after a small white van, and inside it were five Variant children: three girls and two boys, all between the ages of five and nine. Their pale faces were filled with fear, and their small bodies trembled under the dim fluorescent light of the van.

Arondight didn't like the sight. His palms clenched into fists in response to his anger and frustration, and the color of his eyes began to change. The once calm and blue eyes suddenly became as bright as gold. This only happened whenever he felt angry. In fact, his eyes changed color depending on the emotion he was feeling. And right now, his wrath burned the brightest, which explains why his eyes turned golden.

All he could think about was making these men pay for what they had done to those innocent children.

What he did next strayed from his original plan. Originally, he had meant to infiltrate the location quietly, observe first, and then strike when the time was right.

But patience was no longer an option for him, and the situation itself.

He went straight for the attack.

The instant he saw an opening, Arondight vanished from sight and made his move. His first strike fell on the armed guards by the van, taking them down before they could react. Then he swept toward the ones stationed near the gate with his shining spear. As soon as Arondight knocked them down, panic erupted through the warehouse as the dealers finally realized they were under attack. Some fought back desperately, while others scrambled to drag the children away.

But Arondight was faster.

With a swift motion, he raised an iron wall from the ground to cut off the smugglers trying to escape. He managed to stop the enemies from escaping. Still, he didn't notice that one of the men pulled out a nullifier gun and immediately shot him in the shoulder. Pain automatically surged through him as his powers gradually decreased, leaving him vulnerable to attacks. Before he could recover, another smuggler lunged forward and drove a needle laced with a powerful sedative into his neck.

"Ah—!"

Arondight staggered from his feet, forcing himself to fight back. With sheer strength, he shoved the attacker away from him with his golden eyes still blazing with rage. But the drug worked faster than Arondight expected, spreading through his veins and eventually dragging him down to the cold, dusty floor.

His limbs grew heavy the moment his body gave way. His vision blurred, and the remaining strength he had in him slowly slipped from his grasp.

"N–no..."

The word broke from his lips as darkness consumed his vision and he finally lost consciousness.

The men hesitated as they circled Arondight's motionless body. One of them knelt and checked the hero's pulse.

"Okay, he's out."

Only then did they finally relax.

"Heh, Mordred was right. The hero really did show up."

"Good thing we came ready," one of the men said with a smug grin while holding up a vial of the sedative their crew had cooked up. "Boss Red's gonna love this. First test subject for the formula, and it's the guy who's chasing him..."

"Better let the boss know we got the hero..."

They didn't waste time. One of them pulled out a phone and made the call.

At that moment, their boss was preparing for his "date" with Adrian Garland. He stood before a tall mirror, adjusting his black suit's lines and straightening his favorite red tie. He smoothed back his black, silky hair with practiced care and dabbed some perfume along his neck.

That was when his assistant stepped in. The guy moved cautiously with a phone in his hand. He spoke in a measured and calm manner, just enough not to spark his boss's temper.

"Mr. Ross, there's a call from the crew."

Ivan's face soured the moment he heard it. "Didn't I tell them to shut down the deal today? Why are they moving without my approval?"

"My apologies, sir," the assistant said carefully. "But...it seems Lord Mordred gave the order to continue the transaction..."

Annoyance immediately flashed across Ivan's face, and when he got angry, the whites of his eyes seemed to darken, and his natural red irises burned like coals. He didn't waste any words and just flicked a hand at his assistant. The man moved without thinking and flipped the call to speaker.

"I don't want to hear anything stupid," Ivan said. His voice remained smooth as silk but cold enough to cut meat. "Say something I don't like and I'll have you shot, one by one."

"Boss, we got Arondight." The man on the other end sounded eager, which made Ivan's eyebrow oddly twitch. His assistant instinctively took a half-step back; a bead of sweat rose at his temple when he saw Ivan's brow move.

A twitch like that didn't mean anything, and when it moved, they had to be prepared for what came next.

"You...have Arondight? How'd that happen?" Ivan asked, curious, but the air around him shifted. At the same time, his reflection in the mirror seemed to darken, smearing into a smoky shape with glowing red eyes.

"He rushed here at the site, boss," the man responded, not hearing the threat underneath Ivan's calm voice. "We used your new serum on him."

"That serum hasn't been tested yet." The words that came out of him were soft and controlled. But behind those gestures, there is more danger to it.

"It worked, boss. He's out cold, and we've got him. What do you want us to do next?" the man pressed.

Ivan said nothing, but he took the phone from his assistant and went onto the veranda.

Then finally, he said, "Wait for me there. I'll get him myself."

"Copy that, boss!"

Then the line went dead.

They didn't know Ivan had instantly crushed the phone in his hand and turned it to black ash when he ended the call.

"Sebastian," Ivan called.

The assistant waiting hurried over to Ivan with his head held low. "Yes, Mr. Ross."

"Tell Noble Seas we'll be late to the hotel. Don't serve anything yet until we get there."

"As you wish, Mr. Ross," Sebastian said.

Without another word, Ivan walked to the veranda's edge and leapt from the fiftieth floor of his private condo. As he fell, his body disintegrated into smoke and rose back up, heading straight for where his men had radioed in...

...toward the warehouse to fetch his date.