The Mark

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Lucifer was inside the semi-transparent barrier, which itself was inside a metallic cage; however, the barrier was getting weaker and weaker because of his Decaying Power.

"Just a few more seconds. Once the barrier stops working, I can break the cage and escape. I really underestimated the resources of humans."

" I should have listened to my heart when I felt that something was wrong. Never again. I will wipe every single one of them once I am free," Lucifer declared in a grim tone as both his hands rested on the barrier decaying it faster.

Just as he expected, the barrier soon stopped working and disappeared.

Lucifer was finally able to step out of the barrier. He could touch the bars of the cage now.

He was somewhat relieved as he touched the bars of the cage, thinking that he could finally step out and be free but as soon as he touched the cage bars, a perplexed look appeared on his face.

"The bars aren’t decaying? They aren’t changing even slowly. Just what is this material?"

Time kept passing as he placed more and more effort, but nothing worked.

"Was that man really right that I am naive? I don’t know much about the outside world and their technology. I always stayed inside the facility and only watched the mock battles between people with power and their battles with the Dungeon dwellers."

"I should have known that wasn’t all to their abilities. This cage, the materials... if these don’t decay, then these could have even captured my mother, who was one of the strongest," he muttered as he frowned after constant failures.

Being trapped inside the cage, he was strangely calm. He had been thinking about the words of Flourance that he said when they were both inside the whirlwind- a calm beast is more threatening than an enraged beast.

He realized that he wouldn’t have acted so naively... if he had listened to those words and understood them carefully. He wouldn’t be trapped if he hadn’t lost his sense of reasoning.

That has been one of the main reasons Lucifer had been much calmer after being trapped inside the barrier. He had realized his shortcomings slowly.

He needed rage, but he needed to use his brain just as much. He was strong, but his father was even stronger. If his father could die, then why did he believe that he couldn’t be defeated? Why was he so complacent and naive?

- : Variant Uprising Takes Action

- : Variant Uprising Takes Action

- : Variant Uprising Takes Action

He kept his calm and reasoning since he realized that he couldn’t just break through with brute strength. The time it took to destroy the barrier using his Decaying powers also gave him the time to think about other things.

"Decaying doesn’t work on it. Lightning will be useless. Wind can’t help me here either. The healing is also of no use here. That only leaves my strength."

He stopped using his Decaying Power and placed all his focus on brute strength. He held two bars and started trying to bend them apart to make way for him to leave; however, he found it challenging. Even with all his strength, he wasn’t able to move them even an inch.

...

The carriage, in which Lucifer was trapped, was hanging to the helicopter in the middle through a wire rope.

The Delta Squad believed that there were only two people inside that helicopter. They thought that Cui and the pilot were the only two inside, not knowing how wrong they were.

At the back seat of the helicopter, the dead body of a young man was lying. A knife was stabbed in his chest. It looked as if someone pierced his heart from close proximity, and he couldn’t even resist as he died.

Just a few steps away from him lay another dead body. The second dead body seemed to be of a bearded middle-aged man that was lying on the floor.

His throat was sliced, and he was bleeding. The floor was covered in the blood of the man who was wearing a white uniform that was covered in blood.

According to Delta Squad, only two people of their team were in this helicopter; however, both of them were dead, raising a question. Who was flying the plane?

On the seat of the pilot, a man was sitting. The man also had a black beard, and he seemed to be in his middle age as well.

Surprisingly, the man seemed precisely like the middle-aged man that was lying dead on the floor. In fact, both of them had a mole on their right cheek at exactly the same location. Their faces were also identical.

The man that was piloting the helicopter had a grin on his face as he looked at the screen ahead of him, which was showing the visuals of the cage.

"I thought he would be a kid who doesn’t know how to use his powers, and I was right. He really needs training. The strength he showed wasn’t bad. If he is like that when he is so young and inexperienced, then he would be an absolute beast."

The man seemed to be talking to himself.

"If he grows up and gets proper training, he can be an absolute beast. No wonder Vega placed so much importance on the kid, even going as far as sending our Level team here to bring him back from the grasps of APF," he said as he looked at the screen in front of him where Lucifer could be seen struggling to bend the bars.

A clever smirk graced his lips as he let out, "I feel like laughing at Isona and the others who are waiting at the Facility, thinking that the kid will attack there. I didn’t expect him to actually come here instead of going there for revenge. Either he doesn’t know the directions, or someone lied to him about the location."

"Now, time to get back to work. It wasn’t easy getting so far. Time for the real action to begin."

His face started changing as his beard started disappearing. His rounder face started becoming slender while beautiful hair started growing on his bald head. His height also started decreasing. His body proportions also became more slender as his muscles began shrinking.

It only took a few seconds before he started looking like a completely different person.

"I hate camouflaging as bearded men. It’s so much more comfortable now," the man pondered as he rubbed his clean chin.

He brought his phone out of his top pocket and called a number.

"We are coming in that direction. Is everything ready?"

"Yes, captain. We are in position. Everything is ready. We will blow up both the helicopters leaving only the center one intact. Everything will be according to plan."

"Good. We should be there in ten minutes. Be prepared with rocket launchers and take quick action before they see you. I don’t want anything to go wrong."

"Yes, Leader."

Beep Beep

A beep resounded in the man’s ears at the moment the call was disconnected.

He dialed a different number.

"Vega," he said after the call was picked up.

After a brief pause, the person on the other side answered, "Yeah, Caen. What is it?"

"I got the kid you wanted. I am bringing him back to the base," Caen answered as his fingers tapped on the back of his phone, creating a little noise.

"Can you stop making that annoying sound?" Vega said softly.

"Anyway, you did well. Your contribution is very significant. As the leader of Level One of Variant Uprising, you and your team will get plenty of rewards for this achievement. Just make sure that you bring back the kid safely. We don’t want someone like that to dislike us."

Vega seemed more cautious when talking about Lucifer, understanding how important he was to the organization.

Caen had also started to understand why the higher-ups wanted the kid after seeing his performance.

"I know. I saw that kid’s battle. He really does have the potential. If he is able to grow properly, he can even get as strong as Raia and stand at the peak of this world," Caen explained as he nodded in agreement.

"He really can. Even his father was so strong that he could cause earthquakes with his power. His thunder could kill even the most ferocious of monsters. It was an absolute nightmare to confront him."

"The kid has even more powers than his father had. He’s clearly going to be another monster. As long as we handle him with care, we can use him. It’s as if Zale Azarel was working for us."

- : Change

- : Change

- : Change

"Then nobody can stand in our way. Not to mention the Union of Hunters, even Alpha Squad Leader of the APF Varant would not be able to stand in our path," acknowledged Vega.

Even though Caen couldn’t see Vega’s expressions, he was sure that there was a grin on Vega’s face right now.

Caen took a deep breath before he opened his mouth and asked, "Aren’t you scared of the kid, though? If he actually rises like that, wouldn’t it mean that there will be two people above you?"

"Your position is likely to fall. In a way, it seems like we won’t be using the kid, but he would be using us to rise to the top to rule over our organization and this world. Don’t you have any concerns?"

"Concerns, huh? You have no reason to worry. It’s for our shared purpose. I am prepared to make any sacrifice," Vega replied. "As far as the little one is concerned, don’t worry. We know how to manage it in the present as well as in the future. Just bring him to us."

...

Cold wind brushed against Lucifer’s face along with the water droplets of the rain, making him blink more than he usually did to be able to see clearly.

The cage bars were cold to the touch; however, Lucifer didn’t care about it at the moment. All he cared about was being free from this unbreakable prison.

Even though the bars did not prevent the air from entering, Lucifer felt as if he was suffocating. He couldn’t breathe and started getting agitated.

Being trapped in the cage reminded him of his old days when he was trapped inside the small room. At the time, he thought it was a room that would help him awaken his powers more quickly. He was told it was for his sake.

He was told that it was his room. Only when he was killed did he realize that the Facility was not to help him. The place he believed to be his new was nothing more than a giant prison where he was held captive.