"Seriously... since when do hotel staff carry around guns!?"
As determined as they were, team Silver Wind failed to make much progress after infiltrating Blue Ember. There wasn’t a corner they turned without a dozen or so attendants appearing to shoot at them from the other side. It wouldn’t have been that much of a problem if they were Basics with no enhancements to speak of, but turns out that the Stahlwölfes didn’t hold back on equipping them with bionics, turning each one to at least a Level 2 Cyborg.
With enhanced stamina and resilience, the attendants were able to stand their ground even when faced with a team of three Level 3 and one Level 4 Genomes.
A lot of the time, White Gale found herself giving the order to go all out. They didn’t have the time to worry about their enemy, so keeping the injured to a minimum had to take a backseat.
"Werewolf, on my mark!"
Bracing herself, Night Gale jumped out from behind the corner and pushed with both of her hands. The air filling the corridor moved all at once, turning into a transparent wall. It killed any momentum the bullets had, causing them to drop halfway through. The confused attendants stopped firing for a second, and that’s when Werewolf left his cover as well.
Fully transformed, the furry hero looked more like a monster than an actual human. He had discarded his jacket and shirt, leaving his enlarged upper half exposed as if to flaunt the ripped muscles, which remained visible despite the fur covering his skin.
As terrifying as it was, his body wouldn’t have been so intimidating if not for his head, which had morphed into that of a maddened wolf, snarling as he bared his jagged fangs. His eyes, having turned red upon transforming, sent fear into the hearts of anyone who stood in his way, causing them to freeze in place.
The werewolf crossed a dozen meters with a single step, then the rest with another. Some of the braver attendants came back to their senses and resumed fire, but their aim was shaky, and they couldn’t follow his movements.
One of them seemed to run out of ammo, and as he looked down at the rifle, cursing his luck, a shadow fell over him and he looked up to find a monster twisting its body as it prepared to punch.
When the fur-covered fist connected with its target, he hit the floor the next instant, bouncing off it and rising into the air. Werewolf ignored him and went after the others, disarming and knocking them out. He gave them no opening to shoot so despite his size, they failed to land a single hit on him.
In less than ten seconds, the furry hero dispatched every last enemy. The ones blocking their way, at least.
"Good job, Werewolf! You can take a break now." Said Night Gale.
"This is unsustainable." He replied. "At this rate, we will be exhausted by the time we reach the real challenge."
Only low-level cyborgs barred their path so far, which isn’t strange considering they only managed to climb down three floors. They expected to encounter more formidable enemies the closer they got to their target, like the Romano family sorcerers. Because of that, wasting their stamina so early wasn’t something they were keen on.
"Alright, time to move."
The team continued their advance, encountering more enemies the closer they got to the supervisor’s office. Word must have spread that they were targeting it, so the hotel attendants seemed to gather nearby, which worked in the heroes’ favor as it allowed them to deal with the obstacles all at once.
With all of them taken care of, the team finally entered the supervisor’s office, but what they found inside defied their expectations.
"You... you got to be kidding me..."
The frustration seeping from White Arrow’s voice didn’t match the scenery in front of them, but the others understood why he would feel that way. The office was almost identical to the ones on the other floors, and the supervisor was there, too. Unfortunately, he seems to have been adamant on not letting them exploit his authority and went so far as to take his life to ensure it doesn’t happen.
"Is it him?" Night Gale asked.
"That’s him, alright." White Arrow replied, gritting his teeth as he glared at the lifeless corpse sitting behind the desk at the center of the room.
"Why... why would he do something like that?" Sunray held a hand to her mouth, looking as if she was about to puke.
[He was paid to do it.] The Commissioner’s voice came through the comms just then. [Orders from Klaus Stahlwolf.]
The rest wasn’t very hard to imagine as this wasn’t the first time they came across such situations.
"Commissioner," Night Gale spoke, her tone grave. "I don’t suppose you contacted us to say you got the security system back under control..."
[Raven is dead.] The Commissioner replied after a short delay. [Kite and Shade as well.]
[We were able to learn a few things about the enemy.] He went on, ignoring the hero’s stunned response. [We have yet to confirm whether they are a Genome or a Sorcerer, but from what we managed to gather, they are in possession of an exceptional power suit with several abilities, including one that allows them to move freely between floors without unlocking any of the gates.]
"Wait, why do I feel like you’re talking about a single person?" White Arrow asked.
[That seems to be the case.]
"Were you able to determine their Threat Level?" Werewolf followed with a question of his own, but this time, the commissioner didn’t answer right away.
After a brief moment of silence, the old man spoke again, his voice full of tension.
[We are proceeding under the assumption that they are at least a Level 4. Their objective is still a mystery, but I want you to exercise caution if you were to run into them.]
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