Chapter 272: Into the Shadows Part – Seven
Throughout the entire conversation...
Gena hadn’t relaxed for even a single moment.
While Ezra kept the mysterious organization occupied with words, she had already prepared herself mentally for the instant he gave the signal.
Ever since surviving the Trial of Steel...
Her way of looking at danger had changed.
Even with the rows of Kalthoff Repeaters aimed at her, she no longer carried the same fear they once would have.
Perhaps it was because most of the people holding those rifles weren’t Alchemists.
Or perhaps...
The Trial of Steel had raised her standards far beyond ordinary battles.
Whatever the reason...
The guards before her felt surprisingly weak.
Their stances lacked confidence.
Their breathing wasn’t steady.
Even the way they held their rifles told her they depended entirely on the weapons in their hands.
They weren’t warriors.
They were simply armed men.
In fact...
Gena felt that if Ezra hadn’t been standing beside her, she could probably defeat everyone here herself, provided she was given the right opportunity.
So...
The very moment Ezra casually called her name...
She already knew exactly what she had to do.
Without hesitation...
She lifted her right leg.
Her flexibility shocked Blake, who was still kneeling nearby.
Her leg rose higher and higher until it reached a perfect standing front split.
At the same time...
Cognis surged from the Star within her mind realm.
It flowed through her veins like countless white threads gathering together.
Every strand rushed toward the raised leg.
Her muscles tightened.
The floor beneath her supporting foot groaned.
The surrounding air stirred from the pressure gathering around the kick before it had even been released.
Then...
She brought the leg down.
Fast.
And violently.
The movement was so quick that a burst of wind exploded around her descending heel.
With the full enhancement of her Cognis...
BOOOOOOM!!
Her kick crashed straight through the iron floor beneath them.
The thick metal platform instantly caved inward.
Support beams bent.
Steel plates shattered.
The entire upper walkway collapsed beneath everyone’s feet.
"AHHHHH!"
Several guards screamed in shock.
The solid ground beneath them disappeared without warning.
Their bodies dropped together with the collapsing iron floor.
The volley of bullets they had fired only moments earlier lost all accuracy.
Some slammed into broken steel.
Others flew wildly across the workshop before embedding themselves into walls and machinery.
Smoke filled the air.
Sparks burst from torn metal.
The entire workshop shook from the impact.
Airborne...
Ezra remained astonishingly calm.
Even while falling...
His hand had already reached into his space bag.
A familiar pistol appeared in his grasp.
The Kel-Tec PMR-30.
The very same weapon he had carried during the Judgment Order.
Without wasting even half a heartbeat...
He adjusted his body midair.
His blank black eyes calmly locked onto the falling guards.
One target.
One shot.
Bang!
The first bullet pierced directly through a guard’s forehead.
Before the body even began falling...
Ezra had already shifted to the second target.
Bang! Bang!
Two more shots echoed.
Two more guards lost their lives before they could even scream.
He continued firing with frightening precision.
Each squeeze of the trigger looked smooth.
Controlled.
Almost effortless.
The bullets didn’t simply fly.
They hunted.
Every round found a skull.
Every shot ended a life.
Not a single bullet was wasted.
From below...
Anyone watching would’ve believed the guards were dropping from the sky before suddenly exploding into sprays of blood.
It was impossible to tell...
Whether they were dying because of the collapse...
Or because of Ezra’s terrifying accuracy.
The answer...
Was both.
Every movement flowed together perfectly.
As though Ezra had already calculated where every falling body would be long before the floor collapsed.
His expression never changed.
It remained blank.
Cold.
Focused.
Exactly like a craftsman completing another ordinary task.
The battle had only just begun.
Yet already...
The hidden construction base had fallen into complete chaos.
"What’s going on?!"
Terenza’s composed expression instantly shattered.
Her eyes widened in disbelief as she watched the iron platform collapse beneath Ezra and the others.
The entire upper floor caved in with a deafening roar, sending twisted steel, shattered support beams, and frightened guards crashing toward the main workshop below.
For a brief moment...
Even she couldn’t understand what had just happened.
The workers throughout the construction base immediately stopped what they were doing.
The rhythmic pounding of hammers came to an abrupt halt.
Steam hissed endlessly from nearby furnaces while everyone stared at the collapsing floor with pale faces.
Then...
Panic erupted.
"AHHHHH!"
"The floor collapsed!"
"Run!"
"I didn’t sign up for this!"
Workers abandoned their stations without hesitation.
Some dropped their tools where they stood.
Others left expensive materials scattered across the ground as they pushed past one another toward the exits.
Within seconds...
The orderly workshop turned into complete chaos.
The masked man who had given the order to attack didn’t even stand.
He calmly remained seated on his chair, watching everything unfold with surprising composure.
His sharp eyes briefly swept over the collapsing floor before shifting toward the guards stationed on the lower level.
"Forget them."
His voice remained calm.
"Move the finished goods to the transport section immediately."
His priorities had already changed.
Compared to several children...
The cargo inside this hidden facility was far more valuable.
The second masked man, however, couldn’t hide his shock.
He remained standing.
His eyes stayed fixed on the enormous section of the upper floor that had completely collapsed into the workshop.
"...Unbelievable."
He muttered under his breath.
Meanwhile...
The guards who had fallen together with the shattered platform weren’t nearly as fortunate.
"AHHHH! MY LEG!"
"ARGH!"
"SOMEBODY HELP!"
Painful screams echoed throughout the workshop.
Several guards had their legs crushed beneath twisted iron beams.
Others lay trapped beneath enormous sections of the broken floor, desperately trying to pull themselves free.
Some had escaped the collapsing metal...
Only to fall directly onto the unforgiving iron floor below.
Bones snapped.
Blood spread beneath broken bodies.
Then there were those who never had the chance to scream.
One after another...
They hit the ground with clean bullet holes through their skulls.
Ezra’s shots had claimed their lives before gravity ever could.
At that moment...
Ezra landed lightly on both feet.
His knees bent slightly to absorb the impact.
His body barely swayed.
He calmly straightened himself.
The Kel-Tec PMR-30 remained firmly in his hand.
Almost immediately...
He looked upward.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Blake’s terrified scream echoed through the workshop.
The young noble continued falling wildly through the air, arms flailing in complete panic.
Without even looking rushed...
Ezra calmly stepped forward.
He stretched out one arm.
Thud.
Blake landed safely in Ezra’s grasp.
The impact disappeared almost completely.
Blake stared blankly at him.
His breathing had become erratic.
Large tears rolled down his cheeks without him realizing it.
His entire body trembled from the fear of almost dying.
He looked into Ezra’s expressionless face.
The same calm eyes.
The same unreadable expression.
It was almost as though nothing surprising had happened.
"Stay behind Gena."
Ezra spoke plainly.
"...Blake."
Only after giving the instruction did he gently place Blake back onto the floor.
Blake’s legs touched the ground.
He tried standing.
His knees immediately gave out beneath him.
The fear still gripping his body had drained nearly all the strength from his legs.
He collapsed onto one knee.
His breathing remained uneven.
Nearby...
Gena casually dusted the dirt from her shirt.
Fragments of iron had landed all over her clothes during the collapse.
She calmly removed a pair of black gloves from her space bag.
Intricate Alchemy Circles had already been engraved across the surface.
She slowly slid them onto both hands.
Pulling each glove tightly into place.
Then...
She cracked her knuckles.
Crack.
Crack.
A surviving guard finally recovered from the shock.
His body shook violently as he reached for the nearby Kalthoff Repeater lying beside him.
"I-I’ll kill..."
Before he could even finish lifting the rifle...
Gena disappeared.
The distance between them vanished instantly.
She appeared directly in front of him.
The guard’s eyes widened.
"...Wha..."
"I’m not proud of killing people..."
Gena quietly said.
Her fingers slowly curled into a fist.
Muscles tightened beneath her sleeve.
Veins slightly rose beneath her skin as Cognis surged through her arm.
The guard watched the punch forming before him.
He could actually feel the terrifying amount of force gathering behind it.
His face turned pale.
"Wai..."
BAAAAM!!
Gena’s fist slammed directly into his cheek.
The impact exploded like a cannon blast.
His facial bones shattered immediately.
His entire body spun sideways before crashing headfirst into the iron floor.
The sound of cracking bones echoed loudly.
He never stood up again.
Without pausing...
Gena snatched the fallen Kalthoff Repeater from his lifeless hands.
She sharply pivoted.
Another guard had just managed to stand.
His trembling fingers aimed his rifle toward her.
He never got the chance to fire.
Bang!
Gena pulled the trigger first.
The bullet pierced straight through his forehead.
His body fell backward without another sound.
Elsewhere...
Ezra calmly walked across the battlefield.
His movements remained steady.
Measured.
Every few steps...
Another gunshot echoed.
Bang!
A wounded guard attempting to crawl away died instantly.
Bang!
Another who tried reaching for his rifle collapsed before touching it.
Blake silently crawled after Ezra.
Every loud gunshot made him flinch.
Yet...
Remaining behind Ezra somehow made him feel safer.
Even if Ezra hardly spoke.
While eliminating the remaining survivors...
Ezra’s eyes suddenly shifted.
A familiar figure had quietly picked up a nearby Kalthoff Repeater.
The rifle had been lying beside the crushed corpse of another guard buried beneath twisted iron.
Gwen.
She ignored the blood covering the weapon.
She desperately raised it with her uninjured hand.
Her fingers barely reached the trigger...
Bang!
Ezra fired.
The bullet struck her right hand cleanly.
It pierced straight through her palm.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Gwen screamed.
The rifle instantly slipped from her grasp before clattering loudly across the floor.
She clutched her bleeding hand.
Pain twisted her expression.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Hatred filled her eyes as she glared toward Ezra.
Ezra quietly looked back.
His face remained completely blank.
He neither pitied her...
Nor hated her.
Whatever hardships Gwen had experienced before reaching this point...
Whatever suffering had shaped her...
None of it mattered now.
She had chosen her path.
And Ezra had chosen his.
That was enough.
He slowly raised the Kel-Tec once more.
This time...
The muzzle aimed lower.
Toward her leg.
Bang!
The shot rang out.
Slash!
A flash of sparks suddenly burst into the air.
Two halves of Ezra’s bullet spun harmlessly onto the iron floor.
The sharp metallic sound echoed through the workshop.
Ezra’s eyes shifted.
Someone had intercepted the shot.
"Move."
His calm voice reached Lucy.
"Either get out of the way... or kill her yourself."
Lucy stood frozen.
A dagger remained tightly gripped inside her trembling hand.
The confidence that usually shone within her eyes had completely disappeared.
Only confusion remained.
Was she really supposed to fight Gwen?
Her closest friend.
The girl she had laughed with.
Cried with.
Survived with.
Lucy slowly turned toward Ezra.
Her expression looked completely lost.
She desperately wanted him to give another answer.
Another choice.
Ezra simply tilted his head.
His blank eyes quietly met hers.
He said nothing more.
The decision belonged to her.
Nearby...
Gwen also looked toward Lucy.
Her expression became equally complicated.
For the first time since revealing her betrayal...
A trace of hesitation appeared.
"...Tch."
She clicked her tongue.
Without another word...
She immediately turned and ran.
Lucy instinctively stepped after her.
She glanced back toward Ezra.
She expected another gunshot.
Another bullet.
But...
Ezra had already turned in another direction.
His senses had detected something else.
Without hesitation...
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Four rapid shots exploded from the Kel-Tec PMR-30.
The bullets collided with several strange projectiles flying toward him.
Bone fragments.
Each one sharpened into the shape of a bullet.
The collision filled the air with sparks before the shattered bone pieces scattered across the iron floor.
"...Bone?"
Ezra quietly muttered.
His eyes calmly examined the white fragments lying before him.
"He actually blocked it."
A rough male voice sounded from the darkness ahead.
"Hehehe..."
A woman laughed.
"Yes... he really did."
Her voice carried excitement.
Two figures slowly stepped out from the shadows of the ruined workshop.
Their bodies were unnaturally thin.
Their fingers were long.
Their nails resembled sharpened needles.
Their twisted smiles made the atmosphere inside the workshop feel even colder.
Ezra calmly looked at the pair.
Lucy bit down hard on her lip.
She gave the position Gwen had towards one final glance...
Then immediately chased after her.
She couldn’t let her escape.
Gena had already finished dealing with the remaining guards.
The workshop, which had been filled with disciplined soldiers only moments ago, now looked like a battlefield.
Broken sections of the iron platform lay scattered across the floor.
Smoke drifted through the air from damaged steam pipes.
Blood slowly spread beneath fallen guards while the surviving workers desperately fled toward the exits.
"I... I can’t believe this happened."
Terenza scratched the side of her head, her face twisting between frustration and disbelief.
She quickly hurried toward the emergency alarm fixed onto one of the nearby pillars.
Without hesitating...
She slammed her hand against it.
WEE-WOO! WEE-WOO! WEE-WOO!
The deafening alarm echoed throughout the entire facility.
Red warning lights immediately began flashing across the workshop, painting the walls and machinery in alternating crimson light.
The workers who had been hesitating no longer dared remain inside.
They abandoned unfinished work, dropped their tools, and rushed toward the exits with frightened expressions.
Several nearly tripped over one another as they pushed through the crowd, desperate to escape before the fighting spread any farther.
Outside...
The security personnel stationed around the construction base immediately reacted.
The alarm had only one meaning.
An emergency.
Groups of guards quickly assembled near the main entrance while others supervised the hurried loading of crates into the waiting transport steam trucks.
The finished products.
The manufactured Umbrium.
The confidential documents.
Everything began moving toward the transport vehicles.
If the facility could no longer be defended...
Then at the very least...
The organization’s work had to survive.
"I honestly didn’t expect things to turn out this badly."
The masked man who had remained seated calmly throughout the chaos finally spoke.
He looked genuinely surprised this time.
His eyes rested on Ezra and Gena before a faint smile appeared beneath his mask.
"So... The children of House Ashenlocke really are this capable."
His voice carried curiosity rather than anger.
"They’re impressive."
"Oh, please."
Terenza waved her hand dismissively.
"They only defeated ordinary guards."
Her tone was filled with impatience.
"The Rogue Alchemists I hired should have no problem dealing with children like them."
Unlike the ordinary security personnel...
The Rogue Alchemists were genuine combatants.
Men and women who survived through violence.
They were far more dangerous than trained guards holding rifles.
The second masked man frowned slightly.
"But... We still can’t allow the children to die."
His voice became more serious.
"The consequences of killing noble heirs would be disastrous."
House Ashenlocke alone was already enough to start an investigation.
If both heirs of House Miles and House Wellston also died...
The entire Velcryon could be thrown into chaos.
"I already gave them their orders."
Terenza replied with confidence.
"They’re not to kill them."
She casually folded her arms.
"But...They’re free to beat them until they’re half dead."
She glanced toward the workshop where Ezra stood.
"That was your suggestion earlier anyway."
The masked man slowly nodded.
"...Very well."
He stood up from the chair.
The sound of metal scraped lightly across the floor.
"Then there’s no reason for us to remain here."
He adjusted his coat.
"We’re ordinary people."
He looked toward the increasingly unstable workshop.
"When Alchemists begin fighting... ordinary people become the first casualties."
A faint chuckle escaped him.
"Even if they’re only children... they’re still Alchemists."
Without another word...
He calmly turned around and left the workshop.
By then...
Nearly every worker had already evacuated.
Most of the valuable cargo had also been loaded onto the transport steam trucks.
Terenza quickly followed after him.
The second masked man took one final glance toward Ezra before silently leaving as well.
Only the Rogue Alchemists remained.
Back at Ezra’s position...
The female Rogue Alchemist slowly stepped forward.
Her movements resembled a wild animal stalking prey.
A twisted smile spread across her face.
"We were specifically told..."
She lazily stretched her neck from side to side.
"...not to kill you little noble brats."
She sounded almost disappointed.
"But honestly..."
Her smile widened.
"I’ve never killed the child of a noble family before."
She slowly raised one hand.
Her fingers were unnaturally thin.
Long, needle-like nails extended from each fingertip, reflecting the workshop lights with a chilling gleam.
She pointed directly at Ezra.
"I’ve been wondering... what it would actually feel like."
A strange excitement appeared in her eyes.
Beside her...
The male Rogue Alchemist grinned.
"I want to know too, Sister."
He laughed excitedly.
"The feeling..."
He slowly licked one of his long, needle-like fingernails.
"...of tearing apart pureblood nobles. Ahhhh..."
He closed his eyes for a brief moment as though already imagining the scene.
His smile became disturbingly wide.
"Urg..."
Gena rubbed both shoulders.
Goosebumps crawled across her skin.
"These people seriously give me the creeps."
She frowned while staring at the pair.
It wasn’t only their expressions.
Everything about them looked unsettling.
Their bodies were unnaturally thin.
Their pale skin clung tightly against visible bones.
Even the clothes they wore looked ragged, as though they had been stitched together from scraps.
"They’re Bone Alchemists."
Ezra calmly replied.
Without taking his eyes off the pair...
He smoothly ejected the magazine from his Kel-Tec PMR-30.
Although plenty of rounds still remained inside...
He preferred entering every battle with a full magazine.
A fresh one clicked neatly into place.
At the same time...
His free hand reached into his space bag.
Another Kel-Tec PMR-30 appeared.
He now held one pistol in each hand.
"Really?"
Gena carefully examined the two Rogue Alchemists.
"Their bodies really do look like skeletons."
Her eyes paused on their unnaturally long nails.
"And those creepy fingernails..."
She narrowed her eyes.
"They’re both Novice Rank too."
She quietly drew her already-created Big-4Barrel Revolver from her space bag.
The heavy revolver spun once around her finger before settling firmly into her grip.
Blake quietly watched both of them.
His breathing remained uneven.
Even surrounded by enemies...
Neither Ezra nor Gena showed the slightest fear.
To them...
Facing two Rogue Alchemists seemed no different from beginning another training session.
"Blake."
Gena looked back at him.
Her playful expression disappeared.
"You need to leave."
Her voice became serious.
"Non-Alchemists can’t endure the pressure released when Cognis clashes."
She had personally experienced it during the Trial of Steel.
Even standing nearby could become dangerous.
Blake didn’t argue.
He immediately nodded.
Without another word...
He turned around and ran.
He instinctively chose the same corridor Lucy and Gwen had disappeared into moments earlier.
Watching him leave...
Ezra shifted his attention back toward the approaching enemies.
"You take the man."
He raised one Kel-Tec, pointing the muzzle toward the male Rogue Alchemist.
"His Cognis Percentage is slightly higher than yours."
The simple statement already told Gena everything she needed.
The weaker opponent belonged to her.
The woman...
Ezra would handle himself.
"Okay."
Gena smiled confidently.
She rolled her shoulders once before tightening her grip around the Big-4Barrel Revolver.
The male Rogue Alchemist suddenly burst into laughter.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
He covered part of his face with one hand.
"The two little kids... actually, think they can fight us."
His laughter became louder.
"I really... am going to enjoy this."
His hungry eyes slowly wandered across Gena’s body.
In his mind...
He was already imagining tearing her apart piece by piece.
His smile grew wider.
The female Rogue Alchemist smiled as well.
Without exchanging another word...
The siblings moved.
Their speed exploded far beyond that of ordinary humans.
They vanished from where they had been standing.
At the exact same moment...
Ezra and Gena also moved.
Both pairs crossed paths almost instantly.
BOOOOM!!
The two Rogue Alchemists slashed downward with their sharpened bone claws.
The place where Ezra and Gena had been standing exploded apart.
The iron floor split open under the force of their attack.
Fragments of steel flew in every direction.
Neither side had landed a hit.
The real battle...
Had finally begun.