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Megumi listlessly walked through the hallways of the sector that he was assigned to.
A few people passed by him, mainly researchers who were too absorbed in their work to heed him.
Other times were people who didn't have much to do, giving him a silent wave or knowing him as 'the guy who didn't get crushed by Saria.'
It was approaching night time, the light of the late afternoon sun starting to slightly set.
'I only have to spend two more hours after it reaches 9 pm, so it shouldn't be that bad.'
The black haired man paused his steps, noticing a... Drop of water in the corner of the hallway? He ignored it, somebody probably spilled their water. 'But why did it feel so unnatural?'
It was like the weird energy he felt from people all around, but he attributed it to being some spilled chemical or water that was infused with the energy that was prominent in others.
It was a good view, all things considered, and he got to train his Reverse Cursed Technique in peace while also getting money out of this commission.
'Too bad I can't train other things,' his black haori fluttered with every step he took, his face holding its normal neutral expression.
There were sometimes other security guards who were dressed in some sort of... White power armor? Although it didn't look too advanced to be called power armor. What was noteworthy though, was how rarely he saw them, most likely from the lack of security they were able to send to Lungmen.
Considering that they hired a mercenary of all people from the tavern... It seemed it might take a bit of time for more to come. 'Are the main headquarters of Rhine Labs far away?'
Megumi shook his head, not wanting to make too many speculations on this place, considering he was going to leave it after doing his part.
He decided to shift it elsewhere, the strange technology he had seen so far.
'The technology here is advanced in some areas, but greater in others,' it was strange, watching people carry around crossbows rather than guns, yet sometimes possessing some sort of technologically advanced armor.
The LGD used crossbows, the Blood Hounds he encountered used crossbows, and the security guards at Rhine Lab also used crossbows.
'Do they have guns in this world? Is it common?' The LGD officers he shot at not too long ago looked pretty shocked when he pulled out a glock.
One thing was for certain though, melee weapons were far more favorable. That blue haired lady and white haired woman both used them to engage him.
'Probably because guns start to become less potent when you can cut a building in half... Wait, can't they also use that magic thing of theirs to make their guns stronger?' Megumi continued contemplating while keeping an eye out for any potential danger.
'Or have guns not been invented-' the black haired man continued making theories in his head to pass by the time.
'Hm?" However, another sight caught his attention once more... The exact same water droplet that he saw from earlier right in the corner of the room. 'Is this just... A coincidence?'
Megumi stepped forward, feeling the same energy from the other droplet before.
'I'll just...' Getting closer, Megumi placed his food on it, feeling the water disperse on his shoes.
He felt the strange energy disappear, before lifting his foot and checking the area. The droplet was gone.
'Strange...'
***
"Oh..." Muelsyse's vision was cut off, no longer being able to see the black haired man. 'Hmph~, he's so strange!'
Slightly disappointed, the woman went back to tending to her plants, checking the leaves of her personal greenhouse. 'His Arts doesn't feel like Arts at all, of any kind, they're far too broad...'
Muelsyse was a water Elf, whose Arts didn't rely on Originium. Anybody skilled in the methods of Arts could easily tell the Arts 'Zen'in' had used was nothing like it, either in mechanics or in the feeling it gave off.
'In terms of mechanics, it's not unnatural to have two Arts... But they have to be intrinsically linked somehow~,' Muelsyse put on a thoughtful look, remembering how a certain somebody could possess both light and darkness Arts all at once.
'Enhanced strength and speed is standard for fighters, cloning himself could be considered a part of his shadow Arts, but those brief flashes of electricity...' Muelsyse began watering her plants, humming to herself as she did so.
'It was almost like that Chimera Bird from before, ah~, I'm sure Saria already noticed hehe~,' the woman could feel a sense of excitement boiling in her, 'but that would also mean that Zen'in is a summoner... Based on my theories so far, he doesn't use any types of Arts, his means of 'casting' is completely different from anybody I've seen on Terra.'
Placing the watering component down, Muelsyse stared at the budding plant that had yet to grow.
'This plant had evolved to grow in Originium rich environments...' Before, plants used to decay when exposed to Originium in any form, but as the years have passed, a few had grown a resistance to it.
'Isn't that amazing?' Muelsyse came back to herself, knowing how Elves were extremely sensitive to Originium, contracting Oripathy very easily. 'A foreign energy that can destroy Originium in the atmosphere.'
Before she had decided to go to Lungmen to see Saria, she had been repeatedly warned by researchers of Columbia to stay away from the Slums, as that was where most infected resided.
Although she knew that infected people can't spread Oripathy, the lingering Originium in the air was higher than average compared to the residential areas of Lungmen itself.
Especially District 9, the place where her colleagues had practically begged her not to go to...
'But of course, a section of it had been completely liberated from Originium~!' Muelsyse happily moved to her office, moving past the still budding greenery and going through a door.
'Ah, Saria has already sent it to me, hm?' The Elf saw her open computer getting a new notification, sent about 2 minutes ago.
She had asked her friend to send her footage of the battle Zen'in had with her in the arena, curious if her suspicions were correct. After all, if anybody had full access to all camera footage, it would be the Head of Defense herself.
'Let's see... Were my eyes playing tricks on me?' Muelyse clicked on the notification, being brought to a video.
'Here? No..? Ah, there it is~!' Much like Saria, the Elf had found the time stamp where she wished to view the very moment.
The parry made by Zen'in played at slow speeds, Muelsyse narrowing her eyes in focus... And there it was! The purple spark of lightning.
'Ehehe~, were you trying to hide it?' The water Elf couldn't help but giggle to herself, placing her hands on her hips. 'It seems I've already deduced everything, hm?'
A man with unknown race, abilities that do not match Arts at all, and the fact he most likely has no identification.
'I guess I'll send a water clone to talk with him.'
Muelsyse had made her choice.
***
Megumi continued walking, seeing the bright light of the sun turn orange over the window. He had paused his steps, staring out towards the view.
'...Damn, I want to go home,' a stray and depressing thought came to him, feeling a sense of exhaustion at the unfamiliar cityscape in the distance.
He was perfectly willing to admit in this state that he wanted to go back to experiencing Gojo's antics, along with Nobara and Yuji.
All three of them shared a single brain-cell, with Megumi himself being the one who was the only logical person out of them... Unless circumstances happened, of course.
'Hah~, I remember when their stupidity rubbed off on me,' shaking his head, Megumi wiped his eyes to dry them, shaking his head and going back to the route he was assigned to-
"Hey~, Zen'in!"
A voice made him pause, forcing his attention to the person who had called out to him, "Muelsyse?"
He stared at the approaching with blank eyes, before narrowing them as he sensed something... Wrong with her.
"Yes, it's me~!" The woman winked and placed two fingers between her eyes, striking a pose as she did so.
"...Are you an idol now?" Megumi recalled how she seemed to have a certain passion for fashion, when she asked him where he had gotten his outfit from.
"Well, I wouldn't say so~," the woman giggled humorously. "I just feel rather excited today."
"That's nice... I'll be on my way," Megumi turned away from her, resuming his path. 'I'll ignore this strange feeling, for now...'
His figure moved past Muelsyse with a great and calculated stride, continuing his flow of RCT.
The woman silently walked by him, much to his discomfort.
"So... Your little bout with Saria was quite a scene to watch," Muelsyse continued on.
"...You already said that before," Megumi pointed out.
"But it really was amazing, I'm just so used to seeing Saria beat everybody she goes up against~," Muelsyse waggled her finger as she recalled a memory, "every security guard back in Columbia was really afraid of her disciplinary actions because of that."
"Sure," Megumi continued walking, surveying the area as best as he could.
"Oh, you don't seem so impressed," Muelsyse tilted her head as she followed his sight, noting how he meticulously analyzed every part of the hallway and outside scenery of the windows. 'He definitely seems like a skilled mercenary.'
"...She was good," Megumi blandly said, 'she's really strong, if I hadn't trapped her with Piercing Ox, I would've lost badly in a battle of attrition... Would I need to use Domain Expansion to beat her?'
He honestly didn't feel as much fear as the security guards under Saria's wing back in Columbia, Muelsyse's words weren't that impactful to him.
'Especially after I ate a Blue-infused punch from Gojo back then...' Back when Megumi was still 15 years-old and training his Ten Shadows against the man, he was foolish enough to ask for a sparring match...
It went as well as any would expect.
"Wow, aren't you modest?" Muelsyse poked his arm playfully. 'Going toe-to-toe with Saria is no joke! He definitely has been trained well, from what his ghastly presence form before gave off.'
The Elf recalled the moment the man had rushed Saria, the sight of a mountain of corpses stacked upon each other filled her vision, and for once she actually felt worried for the Head of Defense's life.
Thankfully, the feeling disappeared, and Saria was able to regain her bearings along with Muelsyse.
"...I need to focus on my duties, please don't bother me too much," Megumi was starting to wonder what this woman was getting at.
"Mmh!" The woman pouted and glared at him, "that isn't how you should speak to a girl, you know? I'll also help you keep an eye out!"
"Don't you have other duties to do?" Megumi felt his eye twitch, trying his best to keep a keen focus.
"Oh? Well, I'm quite free thanks to my... Capabilities, yeah, let's leave it at that," Muelsyse continued to follow by his side. "But seeing how you're giving me the stink eye, I think I should get to the point, no?"
"Sure," Megumi shrugged.
Surprisingly, Muelsyse grabbed his shoulder, making him halt his steps as she got on her tippy toes; and whispered into his ear.
"That Chimera Bird was yours, wasn't it?" The Elf's voice came into his ears, causing him to immediately widen his eyes and tense up.
'What?! How does she-' Megumi paused his thoughts, closing his eyes and calming himself, 'no, no, she must have seen it, hasn't she? Play it off, Megumi, Play it off.'
He opened his eyes, "what bird?"
'Crap, what are you saying? Everybody must have seen it on the news!' Megumi's internal dilemma immediately became worse.
"Do you not keep up on the news?" Muelsyse let out a chuckle as she moved away from him, walking ahead. "I'm sure you know completely well what I'm talking about~?"
Megumi resumed his steps, "... I really don't?" He continued to double down on his lie, keeping as stone-faced as he could.
The Ten Shadows user had once heard from his sensei that the more you lied, the harder it would be to keep up, but hell was he going to tell the truth when it could endanger his life!
Muelsyse turned back to watch him nonchalantly approach.
The Elf was about to retort to his claims, but her pupils immediately dilated when the lights all around were cut off.
"Huh?" Megumi let out a surprised breath, looking around the world that had been turned to pitch black darkness.
"Eh~?" Muelsyse looked just as confused as he did, "a power outage? Strange..."
The black haired man felt something wrong with the prospect. Unbothered by the shadows, considering his Cursed Technique conditioned him to see through them easily, Megumi narrowed his eyes.
"It's the dead of night... Does Rhine Labs undergo power outages a lot?" Adrenaline started to flow into his views, but made sure to lower his voice to Muelsyse.
"No, not even when its first building was constructed... Could it be because this is a newly established...?" Muelsyse put on a thoughtful look, closing her eyes to get it to better adapt to the darkness.
"Really?" Megumi continued looking around, the two paused at an intersection leading to multiple different areas of Rhine Labs... "Something's wrong..."
His sense flared up, feeling something rush by him way too quickly, "hey!" Megumi yelled out, seeing the shadows shift, before chasing after it.
"Zen'in!" Muelsyse called out, feeling him rush past her as he chased after something.
He started to get closer and closer to it, moving past the white hallways as the figure looked back-
Shadow Extension: Divine Dog: Totality
Claws started to form on both his hands, a brief flame-like shadow visage of wolf ears forming on his head as he bolted past them, making them halt their steps and pull out a dagger.
CLANG!
A brief spark ignited, as Megumi's claw came in contact with whatever material the weapon the perpetrator had pulled out.
"Tch!" The shrouded figure clicked their tongue, feeling themselves being pushed back-
SHING!
Their dagger was split in half, before Megumi's claw slashed their chest, forcing them to retreat away.
They ditched their weapon, before spreading their arms and unleashing some sort of some screen, something Megumi attributed to their Arts.
Disabling Shadow Extension to conserve Cursed Energy, since it had been drained from training RCT, Megumi reached into his shadow inventory.
Muelsyse had watched the scene from afar, noting how the spark barely illuminated the black haired man's figure, barely noticeable objects were on his head. 'What was that?'
The Elf shook her head, knowing that she had to help the man in some way.
Gathering water Arts within her palms, Muelsyse couldn't exert that much strength from her clone, but it could at least do something-
However, she couldn't see the cloaked enemy due to a smoke screen being applied, making the woman narrow her eyes and cover her face.
Megumi had pulled out the item he needed, The Inverted Spear of Heaven, jabbing it into the smokescreen and instantly dispersing it.
There, he saw the infiltrator looking shocked, turning back to see Megumi clapping his hands together and dropping the weapon back into inventory; in a way that the dagger was wrapped before it entered his shadow.
Shadow Extension: Max Elephant
A jet of water shot out of his palm, aiming for the enemies' head. Megumi had anticipated that they would dodge out of the way and be hit on the shoulder instead, but...
CRACK!
...The torrent of water blasted through the back of their head, piercing through it and shooting out blood along with the jet of water.
"Oh-damn it..." Megumi paused, lowering his arms as he berated himself, 'why didn't I just go for the legs?!'
"Zen'in!" Muelsyse called out from behind him, approaching his side, "are you alright?"
"...Yes," Megumi nodded, before narrowing his eyes at the corpse, "we need to focus, it can't just be one of them, right? How else would the power be cut off?"
"Ah~, it seems like we have the same thoughts," Muelsyse nodded, "somebody is invading this building with a group." She could ask about that water jet he had shot out later, more pressing matters were at hand.
The two gave a glance at each other, before a mutual agreement was come to, they would focus on the most prominent issue.
***
Saria blinked in slight shock, seeing all the lights and her computer displaying camera footage being cut off.
Immediately, she knew this wasn't something natural, as all Rhine Lab infrastructures would never have their power lines cut off so easily due to some faulty practice or malfunction.
Standing up from her seat, Saria moved through the darkness and reached for her shield, not bothering to go to the alert panel because the power system had been removed.
Pulling out her walkie talkie radio, which didn't need electricity from the building to operate, she spoke, "Saria speaking is anybody-"
BZZT
However, only static came out, making her narrow her eyes. 'They have interference waves?'
Pushing her way out of her office, she made her way through the halls, the researchers were most likely staying still and waiting for the power to go back on, so she didn't need to worry about any of them getting lost.
Those who still roamed the hallways were a problem though, and she'd need to get them to a safe location, while also finding as many security guards as she could.
Saria's gaze met with a shift in the shadows, immediately causing her to divert her attention to it and burst into great speed.
The shadowed figure immediately grabbed something in their pocket, turning to her and throwing it at her.
Saria raised her shield to block it, small sparks flying as the tossed dagger was enhanced by some sort of Arts, 'they're no ordinary thugs.'
The shadowed figure pulled out what seemed to be a sword short, clashing against her shield, a big mistake on their part.
They were pushed back immediately, being slammed back with an audible crack, before regaining their balance and landing.
With a deft movement, a smokescreen was applied, forcing Saria to concentrate even further and narrow her eyes.
Swinging her shield in a great arc, the wind pressure dispersing it entirely.
She looked around, clicking her tongue as the cloaked figure had disappeared, 'I can't tell what they're from from their outfit... What could be their goal here?'
The first thought that came to Saria was that they wanted something from here, but what? Whatever it could be, most of what they were searching for most likely resided in the storage room.
That place held many medicine and treatment options to Oripathy, some being tested working and some marked as experimental and as prototypes.
'Let's go there for now, while the engineers get the power back on- wait, no, could they have already killed the engineers?' A worrying thought came to Saria, as she hoped her hunch was correct.
***
Megumi grabbed the arm of Muelsyse and made the both of them fall into the shadows, traversing the hallways.
The Elf woman looked surprised, but Megumi motioned for her to stay quiet with a finger to his nose, making a small 'shushing' sound.
The clone nodded watching as the scene had passed them by at great speeds.
Seeing how the entire place was now shrouded in darkness, his capability of traversing the shadows had been boosted tremendously.
His method proved successful when he spotted another black cloaked figure, this time moving with 2 others.
Muelsyse narrowed her eyes, keeping note of where they were going, all the while Megumi silently trailed them.
The Elf woman lightly tapped her partner on the shoulder, the man turning to look at her.
Muelsyse mouthed something to him, "Storage room."
Megumi registered the words, before nodding and continuing to trail them, keeping his hold on the Elf.
The Elf being held wanted to make note of how tightly he gripped her wrist, but didn't say anything in consideration of needing to stay quiet.
'Ah, he should know how to treat a woman better,' the woman amusedly spoke in her mind, feeling the pressure on her wrist. Although she couldn't feel pain from it, due to the fact it was a clone, she could feel how hard his grip was.
Her main body at the moment was making its way to the storage room.
***
At the storage room, two other cloaked figures were finding a way to breach it, the sealed door that needed a code inputted into it.
They were not strong enough to brute force through it, and lock picking was a stupid idea due to there being no lock to pick.
An item like a metal battering ram would be needed to break through it, with five Sarkaz Mercenaries putting in as much effort as they could.
Instead, they settled with Originium explosives to breach the door, the bonus being causing havoc in Rhine Labs.
One other person appeared beside them while they were setting down the explosives, looking visibly winded.
"Hurry it up," they whispered, shaking their arms after their encounter with Saria, "we need to be quick, their Head of Defense already knows we're here."
Brief nods were given, as the bombs made a small beeping sound, indicating they were armed to explode.
All of them stood up, getting ready to leave the proximity, all the while three other figures converged on their point.
In total, there were supposed to be twenty of them, ten of them going after a storage section and another seven going after another.
The last three inside the facility would quietly lend their support when needed.
"Timer set to... 10 seconds, clear out everybody-"
"Divine Dog: Totality."
A small voice spoke out, before a gigantic werewolf bursted out from the shadows, its gigantic maw spat open as liquid shadows dripped off its form.
Its eyes were a vicious yellow, baring into all of them as it landed on its feet, charging towards them with great bloodlust.
The Blood Hounds felt immediately threatened by the sight, their primal instincts begging at them to run away from it...
And they did, immediately bolting in the opposite direction of where the beast was approaching them from, the timer of the bombs they placed down ticking away.
Daggers were thrown towards it, attempting to ward off its advance, but it deflected all of them with ease, getting closer and closer to them.
Megumi came out of the shadows, eyes widening as he saw the bombs starting to continuously beep. He was no professional in disarming bombs, and having to disarm them within 10 seconds seemed like an impossible endeavor.
"Muelsyse-" he called to her, but was immediately stunned when a second one had come out from the corner of the hallway, approaching him. 'What?' He watched in confusion as the one with him turned into water and dispersed. '...I should have known.'
Considering the weird feeling the one he was with was giving out, this was to be expected to some degree.
"Zen'in, get out of there!" The woman rushed to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him along with her.
He began running with her, feeling the last beep go off.
Megumi narrowed his eyes, watching as Muelsyse turned around and formed some sort of water barrier in front of her, before the explosives started to detonate.
BOOM!
Orange and gray clouds started to expand, reaching out into the hallway as Muelsyse's eyes widened.
She could defend against it, but the Originium explosives could infect her and cause her to contract Oripathy, something that would very fatal to Elves-
Falling Blossom Emotion
Megumi quickly pulled out Dragon Bone from his inventory, entering a drawing stance as he came in front of her, before swinging his weapon forward.
It came in contact with the explosion, the Cursed Energy he had stored in the nodachi and enhancing it, igniting to clash against the explosives.
Megumi had used a defensive variant this time, a blue aura coming out of his form as he intended to fight off the full brunt of the explosives, gritting his teeth while he did so.
Muelsyse continued backing off and maintaining her water shield, giving a worried and thankful look at the man who would so brazenly jump in front of an Originium explosion.
The man wouldn't come out of it unscathed, being able to deflect a large brunt of the explosion and sending it the other way.
It was a strange sight, watching as an explosion was split in half, the majority of the force being sent back in the sight of orange light barreling through the hallway and maiming it.
Totality had made its way to the perpetrators who had run away, being able to lash out and cause a large gash on the one furthest back.
However, it wouldn't be able to do anything further, as it was recalled back into Megumi's Technique.
That didn't mean the cloaked figures were safe either, as an explosive shockwave was making their way towards them, a blinding light filling their visions.
Immediately, they had to gather together and do their best to combine their efforts to combat the deflected discharged energy.
Back to Megumi, he was pushed back after deflecting it, still holding onto Dragon Bone as he skidded back.
Muelsyse took that opportunity to catch him, but it sent her flying back further and slamming against the wall.
Thankfully, she was quick to act and formed a water barrier behind her, making the impact barely affect her.
The reinforced wall behind her cracked, but the remnants of the explosion had already started to fade, meaning they were safe from anymore damage.
Megumi though...
"Are you alright?!" Muelsyse immediately shifted to move in front of him, checking out his condition.
"...Yes," Megumi grunted, feeling his arms shaking from deflecting the explosives, standing up as he applied Reverse Cursed Technique, "I'll be fine."
Only a few bruises and cuts were on his arms, before he dropped Dragon Bone into the shadows.
Muelsyse stood up with him, casting a slightly concerned look, but heeded his words and let out a small sigh, "aren't you quite careless?"
"That's besides-"
"Muelsyse, Zen'in!" The two's attention was turned to their left, a hallway leading to where the storage room had a woman running through it.
"Saria!" Muelsyse felt a great deal of confidence fill her body, as the Head of Department would definitely make short work of the infiltrators.
"I heard an explosion, are the perpetrators here?" Saria halted her steps when she made it in front of them, regarding them with a nod.
"They breached the storage room, we need to wait for the smoke to clear..." Muelsyse turned to their front, the smog covering where the explosion had happened.
"Don't approach it, move down the left hallway where I came from and stay far away," Saria knew that her friend was an Elf, and was very sensitive to Originium.
Muelsyse nodded, feeling disappointed she couldn't help further, but decided to guard for any intruders that made their way.
"I'll go through," Megumi dropped Dragon Bone into a shadow puddle, his words and action catching the two's attention.
"That's reckless, you could catch Oripathy if you inhale-!" Saria called out, but the man had already rushed forward, pulling out a three-sectioned staff this time.
The white haired Vouvire looked at him exasperated, Muelsyse in particular feeling the urge to run up to him and pulling the man back.
Saria decided to follow him, pulling out a gas mask she had attached to her hip and placing it over her mouth, before charging through.
Megumi could feel the gas from the explosion filling his lungs, but he pushed through it and used the best method he could to combat it.
Shadow Extension: Round Deer
He arrived at the door that was breached, before running into it and spinning Playful Cloud into a combat stance.
The people who were robbing it of its contents turned to him, before brandishing their weapons, ranging from swords to crossbows.
Megumi noticed how they were now wearing gas masks, further confirming his suspicions the gas that the explosion had caused could be dangerous, 'thankfully, I have Reverse Cursed Technique.'
Charging forward, Megumi swung his staff in a wide arc as the enemies raised their weapons to shield themselves and fired off their ranged weapons.
BANG!
However, the air pressure deflected the bolts, and sent off a shockwave that sent the crates and items in the rooms flying and crashing into the cloaked figures.
They were knocked off their feet from the flying objects and shockwave.
Megumi wondered if he had gone too far, seeing the damage he had caused, 'hopefully they'll overlook the damage.'
Saria immediately came up from behind him, Megumi giving her a side-glance before turning to the recovered enemies.
"Don't be so reckless next time," Saria chided him. She immediately moved in front of Megumi and raised her shield, blocking the piercing crossbow bolts.
"Damn it!" The cloaked figures were starting to panic, but they knew they needed to keep their calm if they wanted to secure the items they were attempting to steal.
Megumi leapt up from behind Saria, spinning sideways as he held Playful Cloud by one of its endings, building up momentum before crashing down.
BOOM!
He decided not to infuse as much Cursed Energy into it, as he didn't want to collapse the room they were in, after seeing how Maki was able to liberate a large section of Jujutsu College when hitting Hanami with it.
One of the figures bore the brunt of it, their skulls caving in themselves as they were reduced to a puddle of blood, and the rest being knocked off balance from the room shaking so much.
Knowing that the black haired man was a monster, they ran forward after regaining their balance and attempted to break through Saria instead, who was guarding their exit.
Unfortunately for them, Saria bashed her shield forward, meeting all remaining five's weapons, easily overpowering them and pushing them back.
They could feel their bones rattling from the impact of the woman, being pushed back to-
BAM!
A light shockwave hit of Playful Cloud, against their unguarded spine. Megumi didn't go for a direct hit, because he knew they needed them alive for questioning.
The shockwave sent cracking sounds resounding in the room, as pained grunts and shouts rang out along with the sound of the Cursed Tool's impact.
"Agh!"
"Shit!"
They fell to the ground, their senses and nerves being cut off, as the spine was one of the main parts that controlled them.
Saria looked over her shield, letting out an affirming nod as she saw them all lay paralyzed on the ground, "good job."
Megumi nodded, before hearing more footsteps from outside the doors, making him enter a combat stance where he pulled back the first two sections of the staff, while the last end was extended outwards with his left hand.
"Stop!" Saria held out a palm towards him, staring out of the doorway, "it's two security guards!"
"Ms. Saria," one of them spoke out, glancing into the room with a shocked expression.
"Cuff them and guard this room, we need to search for more-"
BOOM!
Before Saria could finish her sentence, another explosion rang out, making her grit her teeth and walk past them, "do you understand?"
The two guards understood the gist of it, before nodding and pulling out two handcuffs.
"Zen'in, come with me!" Saria motioned to Megumi, who promptly exited his combat position and followed after her.
"Do you know where the second explosion rang off from?" Megumi asked, while the two ran towards Muelsyse.
"The other storage room, most likely," Saria replied.
Muelsyse watched as the two approached her, before following along with them and asking, "you two felt the other one too, right?"
"Yes, we did, we're all going to advance there right now!" Saria answered.
Due to the lack of security guards, there wasn't a large amount of them who could always be at the storage rooms to guard them, one of the downsides of setting up in a faraway country.
Megumi could feel the stress piling up, but quickly let it go as they continued onwards, 'I need to approach this with a fresh mind, concentrate and don't lose focus.'
Although the opponents they were up against were really weak in combat prowess, they were definitely quick on their feet.
"Hey," Megumi called out, catching both of their attentions, "I'm going full speed, meet up with me as fast as you can."
Shadow Extension: Divine Dog: Totality
With those words, he blurred into a sonic boom.
***
"Is that all of them secured?" One of the cloaked figures spoke, before they left the room and searched for a window they could break and leave through.
"Yes, but what about the other squad?" The other nine followed along with him, all carrying various items in their duffel bags.
"We cut off all communications with ourselves and Rhine Labs with the interference method we used, it's all up to them now," the spearhead of the group spoke up, the rest following him.
They reached a wooden door, before the leader reeled their fist back and blew it open with a punch, sending it flying into the other side. In the room was a window they could break and leave through
"Looks like we found our exit," they spoke up, moving into it as the rest made their way through. It was a successful mission, considering they had gotten what they needed-
"Rabbit Escape."
At this point, Megumi didn't care if Muelyse and Saria saw his abilities, as he was too focused on his assigned mission.
The perpetrator's movements were interrupted when a thousand rabbits flooded them from behind, pushing against them and covering their sight in pure white fur.
They started yelling, swinging their blades as they attempted to slice through the rabbits as best as they could, but quickly found that it was useless.
Especially when a blade started slicing through them, with such force that some even found themselves split in half.
Dragon Bone made its way through while in Megumi's grip, his eyes widened in a killing trance as his Cursed Energy flared up.
Being too occupied to defend with their lives, they would immediately find another wave of malevolence flooding their veins, making them freeze up for the briefest of seconds.
That gave the Ten Shadows user an opportunity to continue slicing them apart along with the rabbits.
The leader of the infiltration squad gritted their teeth, before activating their Arts, a great surge of speed entering their form as they swam through the thousands of rabbits, making their way to the window.
When they reached it, they slammed their feet onto it, breaking it open with the sound of cracking glass.
Megumi noticed that, before cleaving off a person's head who was trying to stab him with a dagger amongst the decreasing rabbits, shifting Dragon Bone into a thrust.
However, one of the injured cloaked men who hadn't been finished off from a slit throat grabbed onto Megumi's foot, forced him to pause his movements and swung his blade to cut off their arms.
SHING!
A large heated mark was left on the ground, as their arms were sliced off, leaving them screaming in visceral agony.
Megumi was about to go back to chasing their leader, but noticed something off...
The person who he had sliced the arm off had turned over, a visible vest on their chest. That was right, it was a bomb vest.
'Of course-'
BOOM!
An all-encompassing explosion filled the room, with Megumi being at the epicenter...
Today was just not his day.