CHAPTER 198: HOT BATH

After they were well rested, Lukas and the others moved out from where they were.

The fog and the thick foliage obstructed the airplanes from descending low enough to fetch them.

The journey back to their landing point was uneventful.

The only thing that hindered them was the heat and humidity.

It was, however, nothing much to the others, now that they’d successfully killed an Apex demonic beast again.

And of course it was with most of the effort made by Lukas.

They went past the ravine, the trees with strange fruits, and back to their landing spot within half a day.

As the familiar engine sound of the airplanes whirled in the air while they descended against the amber evening sun, Lukas and the others finally had the feeling that the mission was over.

They boarded the plane from the platform at the back of the airplanes.

"Welcome back." The pilot greeted Lukas and the others with a huge smile on his face.

Lukas nodded at the pilot and looked out of the cockpit window as the airplane slowly ascended higher into the air.

The familiar blue glow to mask the airplane from the demonic beasts in the air engulfed the airplane.

As the forest became further away, Lukas saw that the fog was slowly disappearing from it.

A good sign for the East Battle Administration Area.

...

Hazel paced around in the hotel lobby anxiously.

She was mumbling to herself and looked out from the entrance periodically.

The other staff were grinning and started to tease her.

"Hazel, don’t miss out on the opportunity this time.

"Men are simple; be direct and let their body take over their mind."

One of them said.

The other staff next to her interjected and said, "I wish my husband could still let his body do his work.

"All he’s got is a yapping mouth left."

All of the staff burst out laughing.

Hazel shook her head at their teasing her.

She was genuinely worried about Lukas and nothing more.

Lukas was destined for far greater things than being stuck in the East Battle Administration Area like her.

Just as they were having a good laugh, beams of lights shined into the hotel lobby.

Hazel used her hands to cover her eyes and glanced out through the entrance.

The lights were from the headlights of a few armored cars that were entering the car park.

When the armored cars parked and switched off their engines, a familiar figure stepped out from the armored car.

"Lukas!" Hazel couldn’t control herself and shouted.

Lukas nodded at Hazel, acknowledging her ’greeting’.

The memory of her coming up to his room was still fresh in his mind.

To his relief, Hazel stopped at that, and she hurriedly asked the staff to prepare for their return.

Rex, who had also stepped out of the armored car, nudged Lukas and gave him a wink.

"I’ll sleep early tonight and tell the rest to do the same.

"We wouldn’t be hearing anything, I promise."

Emma rolled her eyes, shook her head, and slapped Rex’s back.

"You think everyone is like you?"

"What do you mean like me? I’m pure and innocent," Rex said, showing off his biceps to Emma.

The tattoos of his exes were now gone as they were destroyed by the Apex demonic beast’s plasma cannons.

"Yeah right," Emma said and walked towards the hotel lobby.

Harianto and Riley also slapped Rex on his back when they walked by.

"Don’t do it... You’ll break my spine," Rex stopped Lukas when he saw Lukas raising his hand.

"Come, dinner is ready soon.

"I believe you are tired, so the hot bath is being prepared as we speak.

"Wash up, freshen up, and come down for dinner after that."

Hazel briefed them on what she had prepared, and everyone gave out a loud cheer.

It felt great to be back in such comforts.

Everyone had a lot of things to wash off from the mission.

Terry glanced at Lin as he saw her getting back to her room.

It was so close, he thought to himself silently.

...

Lukas submerged himself into the bathtub filled with warm water.

He instantly felt the tension and fatigue going away.

It had been a non-stop cascade of missions for him and the team.

But he knew that there were more things to be done.

Ashen, Leeroy, and Risa were all killed, but the Dark Lord still lurked behind the shadows.

They would have to finish off the Dark Lord soon.

And lastly, there was the Apex demonic beast in the North Battle Administration Area.

With this thought in mind, Lukas summoned the system’s information panel.

He had enough Slaughter Points to upgrade one of his abilities to Master Level of Mastery.

And there was no question for him on which one to upgrade.

He thought about upgrading his Lightning ability, and more information appeared in his mind.

[Improvements in Master Level of Mastery – SSS Level Lightning.]

[Half the time to accumulate lightning strike.]

[Half the amount of energy used.]

[Unleash a chrono thunder seal: Pillars of lightning infused with temporal law. Slows time for those who have been struck.]

[Bend the nature of lightning.]

[Upgrade ability? Y/N]

Lukas said "yes" silently to himself in his mind.

A surge of energy came into his body, and knowledge of using the new abilities also filled his mind.

Lukas looked at his palm, and he conjured a cube made of lightning.

He lifted his palm, and the cube went up into the air.

And as the cube came down, Lukas caught it in his palm.

"That’s useful," Lukas said to himself.

His mind was coming up with different usages for his lightning strikes, now that he could bend the nature of it.

After he was done, he tried to reach Shiba in his summon space.

Curiously, Shiba didn’t respond.

It was like what had happened previously when Shiba had taken in too much power.

Lukas frowned and figured that it was the same thing happening, and he’d have to wait for Shiba to wake up from its transformation.

Knock.

Someone knocked at the door, breaking his thoughts.

"Who’s there?" Lukas asked.

"Dinner is ready; do come down and join us when you are done," the staff replied.