6 minions and a lone executive. These are the numbers that are responsible for accomplishing this mission. This mission is simultaneously happening across the world whilst the Undying make a mess at the Hero Society's headquarters.

The main goal is to secure numerous kids that will be used in the awakening project. Gavin's appearance in the headquarters is a ruse, a distraction that also served as Zentury's public statement that a new top dog is joining Zentury's upper echelon.

If it proceeded normally in the basement cellar, Deron would have killed the two minions with everything he got, and eventually mutate as he face-off the executive. When he woke up, all of the enemies are already dead.

Mutate is an alien term this world has no idea at all. Different organizations see this phenomenon differently. The Hero Society simply calls it Special Abilities, Zentury calls it a Curse, Religious Sects call it Blessings, Nobility calls it Bloodline Powers, while Alfir simply calls it a Mutation.

In general, the common populace sees it as sorcery or magic.

There are two methods to awakening Mutations:

1.) Life Method— Achieve enlightenment and with the sudden change of perspective, the individual will awaken their potential.

2.) Death Method— With the stimulus of death, the individual will then awaken their potential.

Of course, there is an undisclosed method. Something that Zentury discovered after years of research. They call it the Soul Method.

With this method, Alfir succeeded in his Mutation.

"Report!"

"There is no one in the right-wing."

"The top floor also has no one."

"There is no one in the left-wing, but we found a hidden chamber. There are some noteworthy artifacts there."

Executive Palnes is a veteran fighter with some degree of sorcery/mutation. He felt funny that such special powers are seen by the organization as a curse— hideous and deplorable.

"Anyway, where's the other two that I sent to the basement. You and you, go down there."

"Yes sir!"

...

Alfir waited at the blindspot from the edge of the stairs. He carefully hid in the darkness as he focus on only taking shallow breaths.

He heard the footsteps coming from his fellow minions. Judging from the echo and the weight of their steps, there were two of them.

Even Alfir knows that his defection has come too early for the sake of his plans, but his other options are a lot less stellar.

Because Alfir is outside of the mob persona he is dedicatedly pursuing, he is feeling very uncomfortable.

The coming bloodshed is necessary.

Alfir hates being high profile. If Alfir wants to maintain his anonymity, it is necessary that he doesn't make any mistakes.

The first passed unaware of the lurking danger. Alfir let him be. As the second appear in Alfir's peripheral vision, he attacked.

Alfir stuffed his victim's mouth with his hand, then swiftly slits his throat mercilessly.

The person in the front felt the commotion in his rear. When he looked back, he realized that his partner went suddenly missing.

Alfir hid the dead man in the same shadows he hid. Since the new arrivals' eyesight haven't adjusted yet from the torch that hung in the passageway, they were fooled. And it worked just the same to the unaware minion in front of Alfir. Alfir once again decreased his presence through the shadows as subtle as he can.

The new arrival is alarmed by his partner's disappearance. There is something wrong. He rushed to the stairs to report what happened. This basement is a dangerous place.

Stepping on the stairs, he felt a hand covering his mouth. With the same slitting motion, Alfir executed his fellow minion.

Alfir hasn't used his mutation yet.

He will reserve it for the executive since such mutations when used are too tiring for its users.

...

Palnes is worried. He senses danger attributed to his experience on the battlefield.

Too bad, his experience is too insufficient to be proven useful now. He is panicking.

"Let's go to the basement."

Palnes felt that if there is something wrong, he should see it for himself so as to successfully solve it.

Palnes and his two remaining subordinates made their way to the basement. Thanks to Palnes's acute senses, he easily discerned the bloody stench ahead of them.

"I will go ahead. Support me if you can. Grab a torch of your own."

Palnes bravely walked forward. Palnes took a torch hanging by the walls which his subordinates replicated.

...

Alfir saw it all in his mind's eye as the following events unfold. He is not precognitive, he just knows Palnes too well.

In fact, Palnes will become a minor boss later in the story~ if not for the necessity for Alfir to kill the executive.

With Alfir's meticulous profiling of every character he knows, he was spot on, to set up this killing array.

Alfir hid inside the iron armor meant as decoration. It's damn heavy, so it took Alfir some time to extricate himself from it.

"It's good I spent most of my credits, and converted them most to cash."

Alfir activated his [Inventory Bracelet], an artifact that stores items. Its size is a measly 1m², but it's enough for Alfir's purposes.

A crossbow and a quiver of steel arrows. With the height advantage, Alfir almost has it on the bag. He just has to execute it flawlessly.

SWOOOOOOOOSH~

PLAK!

Alfir aimed for the executive, Palnes.

"I guess that was asking for too much."

Palnes have incredible superhuman reflexes with an all-around physique upgrade. He has beast-like muscular dexterity and fearsome battle awareness. It is not that Alfir didn't guess that. He just doesn't want to kill the other two minions. They are a necessary challenge for the protag to awaken his mutation at the very minimum.

"You! Who are you!?"

The distance between them is far enough to obscure Alfir's image. Alfir doesn't dare waste more time. He fired arrows after arrows.

Palnes deflected the arrows with his swordsmanship. Palnes uses a curved sword, but it is too long to use flexibly in this tunnel.

Alfir got one minion in the shoulder, but that didn't kill him. Palnes took the wounded's short sword to effectively deal with Alfir's arrows.

The stairs are narrow, and there are only two paths for them— upwards or downwards.

"The two of you, retreat further to the basement. You lot are just baggage to me. I will deal with him."