CHAPTER 260: OPERATION WOLF SLAYER. (PART 49)

After willingly entangling himself in the whole mess taking place inside the hotel, Dante asked his resident AI to keep track of the raid force and see if he could learn a few things about their objectives.

Doing so proved to be more difficult than it seemed, seeing as their communications had far better encryption than the average NIM, but it wasn’t long before Volcan cracked the code, allowing him to listen in on the conversations between the warship floating over the district and those infiltrating the hotel.

It was through this method that Dante learned about the heroes looking to steal the Moon Dagger when they went to the collection room, not to capture Klaus Stahlwölfe.

That was quite the shocking development, but one thing seemingly remained unchanged. The main objective of the raid was still to capture the Stahlwölfe scion, and although the teams tasked with it were swapped at the very last minute, the heroes were still trying to finish that objective.

Dante’s desire to kill the heroes was nothing more than a reckless endeavor. His fight against the three Raven Heart members should have been a wake-up call to avoid putting himself in risky situations, but he kept on pushing his luck even as things escalated beyond what he could safely deal with then persisted until his own body started protesting loudly.

Dante was forced to admit defeat. No matter what he tried at that point, he could never take out the remaining heroes, nor could he defeat the furry bastard who made it his mission to get in Dante’s way despite acting like a mindless beast the whole time.

That said, leaving just like that would have undoubtedly left a very bad taste. Dante didn’t want to give the heroes the satisfaction of having won, and that was what sparked this one brilliant idea in his mind, so instead of leaving them be and running, he turned his sights to a different target and made one final attempt.

The whole thing was a gamble since he didn’t know if the furry bastard would interfere, but from the looks of it protecting the other heroes was his main objective all along, which is why he was too late to react when Dante went after someone else.

Though he hated his kind with a passion, Dante didn’t have anything personal against Klaus Stahlwölfe, at least not until the rich bastard crossed him earlier. He didn’t know what prompted him to do it, nor did he care about the reason. The bastard made himself a target, so Dante had more than one reason to go after him.

The blue demons had vanished at some point, using their perfect camouflage to mask their presence. Volcan had made preparations for this exact situation, however, so finding the rich scion wasn’t too difficult.

It was clear that no one had anticipated Dante’s move, which is why no one reacted in time as he drove his blades through the scion’s back. Expecting anything from them was asking too much, seeing as he was moving at several times the speed of sound, but even as he paused to show them what he had done, the remaining blue demons were too slow to react. The closest among them was likely the head of security, but even he failed to do anything as his charge was impaled.

’Guess truth magic doesn’t help in this situation, huh?’

Watching the world slow down to a crawl as he prepared to move once more, Dante spared the heroes one more glance. The furry bastard was charging at him, somehow reaching a speed that made it appear as if he was moving normally through a static world. That went to show how much of a monster he truly was, and though he wanted nothing more than to kill him at that moment, Dante swallowed his pride and vanished from the scene, taking the dying Stahlwölfe scion with him.

~[ ]~

Things moved fast following the battle on the thirty-seventh floor. The biggest change was the deactivation of Blue Ember’s security system, which opened a wider path for the coalition forces to invade from.

When the news reached them, Rose and the rest of the raid crew couldn’t help but panic. Their escape route hadn’t been a problem before since they planned on slipping through the front door after the storm passed by, but now that they were being targeted by the BEO, finding a way out had suddenly become an urgent priority.

Last they checked, the coalition had established a blockade around the hotel. It was practically impossible to slip through unnoticed even when the building was under lockdown, but now that the lower floors were flooded with the coalition forces, it felt like it was only a matter of time before the three of them got caught.

Things took an unexpected turn, however.

Thanks to the Stahlwölfes hiring every violent gang in the city to try and break the blockade, things on the ground were entirely different from what everyone expected. The streets surrounding the hotel had turned into a chaotic battlefield with the gangs somehow gaining the upper hand.

When the alloy gates opened, the coalition forces retreated into the building, but the gangs still followed them inside and caused even more chaos. The situation was far from the best, but it still worked in the heist crew’s favor. After disguising themselves with uniforms they stole from the hotel staff on the way, they slipped past the NVPD and BEO officers then the gangs.

It wasn’t a smooth ride by any means, and they were forced into several fights along the way, but they made it past the blockade and eventually escaped the New City district, leaving behind the chaos of the battlefield with the item they set out to steal in their hands.

~[ ]~

After changing into new clothes and disposing of the uniforms they stole, the heist trio got into their preprepared escape vehicle and drove away from the storm. Even with things quieting down as the chaos grew distant, they still held their breaths and kept their silence, waiting for the moment everything takes a bad turn.

Kirk was behind the wheel. Though he appeared calm, the way he kept glancing at the rear-view mirror spoke of how stressed he was. Mr. Pike took the passenger seat while Rose sat in the back, looking exhausted out of her mind.

Neo-Vatra was the kind of city where the streets always felt crowded, be it during the day or the night. For that reason, it wasn’t much of a surprise when they got caught in traffic. The slow progress slowly got on their nerves, which was only made worse by the need to take quite a few detours to throw off any pursuers. Nothing seemed to happen in the end and they managed to make it to the drop point without a problem.

The chosen location was a warehouse in an area bordering White Hill and Factory Town. Though it appeared suitable for making shady deals, the turmoil that swept the area in recent times placed it under the scrutiny of the authorities. The increased risk chased away the small fry, leaving only those who could afford to pay for people’s silence.

Parking on the other side of the street, Rose and the others got off and surveyed their surroundings. Things were quiet, which was to be expected from such areas, but that knowledge did little to alleviate the tension pulling on their nerves.

"Let’s get this over with already," Kirk said. "I don’t want to be involved in this mess any longer."

The tall merc made his way to the warehouse with hurried steps, showing his eagerness to end the whole ordeal and sever his connection to it. Mr. Pike stared at his back for a moment then sighed. He turned to Rose and gave her a long look, but just as she was about to ask him what the matter he reached out and handed her a small bag.

"You hold on to this." He said. "It does not fit my current appearance."

While the other two put on some casual clothes, Mr. Pike had prepared a new suit to replace the one he wore for the wedding, refusing to compromise on his style. Because of that, he appeared to be the boss in their little group, which made him holding a feminine bag look out of place.

"Fine by me, I guess..."

Mr. Pike left for the warehouse as soon as she took the bag from him, looking relieved to have gotten rid of it at long last. Rose watched him go, feeling a little perplexed. Turning her eyes to the back, she pried it open and checked the contents, confirming that the relic was still inside.

The thought that she might have dropped it during her escape kept nagging at her the entire time, so it was a relief to have it back in her hands. Letting out a long sigh, she looked up from the bag and saw that her giant of a crewmate was watching from the entrance of the warehouse. He appeared a little annoyed, and though she failed to guess the reason at first, she soon realized that it might have been a bad idea to check the contents of the bag, seeing that it might be interpreted as a sign of distrust toward the rest of the crew.