168 Escape (I)

Morgana and the three scientists acted immediately, unleashing their Wave Cloaks. Cristian and the masked old woman could resist the flames, but the other two scientists in the room were not so strong and instantly incinerated.

That duo was the no only one harmed since the open door allowed direct access to the rest of the floor, allowing the flames to kill or maim almost everybody in it.

Morgana and Cristian jumped out of the room, and both of them had severe burn wounds all over their bodies. The masked old woman was pale and could barely keep her Wave Cloak bursting.

Before the duo could even take a breath, Iris, wearing full armor and wielding her rapier, flashed toward them while dark winds moved around her body.

This chapter was first shared on the n(0))vel(b)(j)(n) platform.

Orlando had left Iris’ space ring with her belongings to one of the now-dead scientists, and since they did not bother to brand them, it was easy for the young woman to take back possession of it.

Cristian immediately put himself in front of Morgana as his Astral Wave exploded, and his skin turned metallic bronze. He knew that Iris was a powerful Level 8 Wave Warrior but was sure that the genetic flaws should have hindered her power and that he should be able to contend with her with his Level 7 cultivation.

However, Cristian made a grave mistake since not only were the genetic flaws on Iris very few, but the Lineage that awakened inside her body granted more than just a rise in her physical strength.

Iris waved her rapier, sending large sharp arcs of dark wind toward Cristian and Morgana.

Cristian’s eyes widened as he saw how those arcs of dark wind cut his bronze skin as if it was nothing. Iris’ attack split his body into almost a dozen pieces, and he died instantly.

.....

Morgana was also shocked by the outrageous power that Iris unleashed, and a flash of enlightenment crossed her eyes since she knew the reason. However, now was not the time to think, and using the precious second that Cristian’s protection gave her, she flashed toward her room.

Iris saw the masked old woman trying to run, and she did not hesitate before sending another wave of dark wind blades.

Morgana used all her power and managed to cross the door, but not before having endured several deep cuts on her body that reached all the way to the bone.

After entering the room, the door closed, and Iris could do nothing about it. If she attacked with everything she had, the door would break, but it would take too long, and time was something she did not have.

The moment Simon exploded, all sorts of alarms began to ring across the building. On the 1st floor, Orlando had seen Iris’s ferocious attack through his A.I. Chip and immediately dashed toward the teleportation matrix.

Orlando had already summoned both of his Wave Puppets. Both the muscular and fat ones were present, but if you look closer at the second, you will notice it was different from the one he used in his last fight with Iris.

When the old man reached the 11th floor, he immediately made his Essence Wave explode and sent both of his Wave Puppets forward, ready to fight with everything he had.

Orlando saw through his A.I. Chip how Iris had dashed toward the teleportation matrix, which is why he was ready for a big battle, but the only thing he saw was wounded scientists and flames.

He looked around the room, pushing his focus to the limit, but there was no sign of Iris anywhere.

Finally, one wounded scientist looked at the old man and spoke.

“She left through... the teleportation matrix just... as you arrived.” The man used all his strength to share that vital piece of information with the Wave Champion.

Ornaldo’s eyes widened as he could not understand how Iris could have used the teleportation matrix since only he and Morgana could control it.

A door opened, showing the wounded Morgana, and she stared right at Orlando.

“No matter what, you must capture her. She has awakened the Lineage!”

If before Orlando was surprised, now he was utterly shocked. The fact that someone other than the mysterious organization had that Lineage running through their veins was something they could not allow.

Despite the turmoil in his heart and mind, Orlando quickly regained focus.

“People will come to help you in less than a minute.” Orlando only uttered those words before activating the teleportation matrix and returning to the 1st floor.

He saw how the building’s main gate busted open and a figure jumping from one house to the other, moving farther and farther away.

Iris’s speed was impressive, and her momentum increased with every jump. Of course, guards were coming from all over the underground city to stop her.

However, those behind her were too slow and could not catch up. Those were the lucky ones since Iris cut to pieces every single person in front of her.

Orlando saw everything through the countless cameras positioned across the city. Iris’ new power frightened him, but he knew that if she were to escape, then the higher-ups would blame him, and a quick death would be mercy.

He returned the fat Wave Puppet to his space ring before jumping onto the shoulder of the muscular Wave Puppet and commanding this one to chase after Iris.

Iris’ eyes narrowed as she felt a powerful presence coming after her and noticed the muscular Wave Puppet dashing toward her with Orlando on its shoulder. Part of her wanted the rematch, but she knew every second counted and focused on her goal, the elevators.

—

On the 11th floor, jets of water were putting out the flames while the rest of the scientists were doing their best to get up.

Morgana looked at the destruction with pure hatred as she wondered just how much valuable information had been lost. The death of Cristian and the others did not affect her, as her mind only cared about Genetic Coding.

She walked toward the room where the giant cauldron and Recovery Capsules were, wanting to see how much was lost. However, the moment she crossed the door, a red flash appeared in front of her.

A sense of absolute doom assaulted Morgana, and she summoned her Wave Cloak, but this one was unable to stop two fingers bathed in red lightning from piercing her neck.

Morgana’s eyes were full of disbelief, and the last thing she saw were two red eyes before dying.

Terror appeared in the hearts of the scientists as they saw Morgana’s lifeless body falling to the ground, and then they saw a man with a red helmet walking out of the room.

Before any of the scientists could do anything, a mighty Ego Wave overflowed the floor.

“Die.”

The scientists’ eyes lost focus when Cain uttered those words, and their hearts stopped beating the next second.

Cain showed nothing as he saw all that death and did not lose time. He stored Morgana’s body in his space ring and other corpses belonging to high-level scientists before dashing toward the teleportation matrix.

The teleportation matrix activated, and Cain’s figure vanished just as a group of five people appeared. They were all golden guards, but the one at the lead had a larger build, and there was clear wisdom in his eyes.

The group’s leader was confused as he saw only corpses in this place. They were supposed to help the wounded and take special care of Morgana, but there was no sign of the old woman in this place.

He had no idea that someone could have hacked the teleportation matrix, so the only explanation that came to his mind was that Morgana and the others still alive teleported to the 1st floor just as they arrived at the 11th.

Not willing to waste time, the group leader gave instructions to return to the 1st floor, and they did it immediately.

When they appeared on the 1st floor, the group leader frowned again since no one was present. However, his confusion did not last for long since a blinding light appeared in the bathroom, and the next second, a blast of mighty flames covered the 1st floor, killing everybody in it.

“?BOOM!”

Orlando was dashing forward with all his speed when he heard that explosion and turned around, only to see flames coming out of the building’s 1st floor. Panic appeared on his face as he attempted to communicate with Morgana or the squad he sent, but none responded.

The old man’s mind immediately concluded that Iris had left bombs, just like the one she used to escape, on the 1st floor and killed Morgana and all the survivors.

“You dare!” Orlando was beyond furious since he understood how valuable Morgana’s life was and what would happen to him since he failed to protect her.

Iris was just as shocked as Orlando by the explosions, but she did not lose focus and continued her journey toward the elevators.