Check out my entry for the WPC August: Beyond the Bloodline.??
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National Geographical and Environmental Research Facility
Plolor City
Terrok
Northern Alpha Continent
February 3rd
Year 1053
At the head of the meeting room's conference table, a man sat on the Head Chair, his perfectly tailored three-piece suit exuding an air of sophistication and authority.
His eyes locked onto the eighteen broken crystals arranged on the table before him. A few hours ago, they were twenty crystals on the table, and now only two remained still intact.
A heavy silence filled the room as he examined the shattered remnants on the table, all the beings present noticing the subtle activation of a skill coming from him.
With a calm yet oppressive tone, he uttered a single word.
"How?"
The power emanating from his voice sent a chill down the spines of all the Epic Level beings present, including the burly Lion Beastman who held the title of 'Fifth Finger'.
Even he, a high-ranking executive, couldn't help but lower his head in silence, feeling the weight of the suit-clad man's fury.
The man's anger was evident, and everyone present knew that something grave had occurred to provoke such a reaction, something they all figured out after looking at the broken crystals on the table.
After a few more minutes of staring at the crystals in silence, the room still filled with an oppressive atmosphere, as if the very air itself dared not disturb the man in his contemplation, he spoke once more.
"How?
Laurene Hayes, I can understand…the last report that came in from him showed that the 'Sword Saint' was present.
If that man releases his limiters, then it is possible for him to deal with #8-#11, and #13 with relative ease.
It makes sense the attack on her failed."
He adjusted his seating position and leaned slightly towards the left before continuing.
"Abigail Lowe, I understand…Zestari Herrera was present, and she had brought over a platoon of the Elven Imperial Guard along with her, a miscalculation on my part as this was something she never did before.
With those on her side, even if #1 was able to hold her off for a while, #3-#7 and #14-#17 would not be able to do anything meaningful."
Silence pervaded the area after he spoke, but all those in the room could feel the tension in the air increasing by the minute.
The man took off his pair of glasses and set them on the table before leaning forward, propping his elbows on the table before cupping his left fist in his right palm and resting his chin on them and speaking.
"But, Evan Eris.
…
How?"
He looked at the crystals marked #12, and #18-#21 before continuing.
"He's a nonstandard type, meaning though he's most likely a Superior Master, his power should have been on the level of an Inferior Grandmaster.
The boy only had the Lane girl and his spirits with him, and I confirmed there was no powerful person within kilometres that could have possibly come to his aid.
So How?
How?"
Each time the word 'How' escaped his lips, the aura he exuded increased in intensity, pressuring all the beings present and bringing some of them down on their knees.
"How are all the Fake Heroes along with 120 Mid and Senior Members that were sent to him…all dead?"
The room was silent as none of those present had the answer to this question. The man on the other end of the table, the Director of this research facility only shivered silently as he wanted to be anywhere in the world but here right now.
Whether he knew about this or not, the Suit-Clad man didn't seem to care as he remembered the last words of one of the few people in this world that he could consider a 'true friend'.
The last thought transmission that the man, Dominik Velak had sent to him mere seconds before Evan's sword pierced through his heart.
[Evan Eris, Eliza Land and Lightning spirit with them! The three of them are our greatest threats!!! Even more dangerous than Zaos' Daugh-!]
It was a sudden transmission that had come while he was in the middle of experimenting on one of the Fake Heroes, and the suddenness of it made him lose focus and accidentally kill Fake Hero #2.
Excluding the fact that his man could 'accidentally kill' an inferior stage Legendary Level existence, he believed he had been taking Dominik's words seriously, hence the reason he had sent the Dragonkin Craitid and Fake Hero #12, two Epic Level existences to deal with the Superior Master Level Evan.
He had even personally made a connection with Fake Hero #19 to 'talk' with Evan, and see for himself how the boy was.
Sure, Evan's power was above average, even the inferior grandmaster-level strength the boy thought he was concealing, and it was far higher than what people his age should possess.
It was well within his assumptions, and Evan should have been overwhelmed by the might of the 50+ superior masters sent after him, not to talk of the grandmasters who were present.
'Did he truly not have a helper in secret? Maybe that Shadow Spirit of his?
But no, I took that possibility into account and searched the area…unless they were a Peak Legendary, they should not have been able to escape the scan I ran using #12.'
He activated his unique skill once more to run calculations and deductions using the powers of the world laws but a part of his vision glitched and bugs began appearing in his calculations.
'Irregular title…that was not a rumour or a nickname he was given. He's a bona fide Irregular. And to interfere with my skill…is he a Grade 2?'
The man's thoughts revealed a lot of things Evan was not aware of, the fact that the man had double-checked to see if Evan had any helpers, something he would have informed Craitid of and dispatched more Senior Members via teleportation depending on the circumstances.
Plus, he also knew about the fact that even among 'Irregulars', there were different Grades.
'Still, Craitid's connection drew a blank for a while, I could not even connect to #12 too.
And yet Craitid suddenly died after reporting that everything had happened in an instant to him?'
A short memory flashed through his mind as he thought, his calculations finishing as he came to a conclusion.
'I don't believe Evan Eris defeated Craitid, but I would not deny he had a part in Craitid's death, and I am sure he killed at least one, if not all of the Grandmaster Level Fake Heroes.'
He remembered the scene he saw when he tried to reconnect with Fake Hero #21 after noticing that #18 had died.
'In that short instant, I caught a glimpse of the boy's legs no less than a metre away from #21's body, right before the connection was terminated.'
Looking at the bugged results of his calculations, his thoughts continued.
'#21 was Level 360, and he was able to take it out in a single strike.
He most likely had the help of ambient spirits…I took that into consideration but there's a limit to what they can do unless he forms a contract with them.
Sadly, applying the same logic as other spirit contractors to him was not exactly a good decision.'
He then turned his attention back to the memories of his little 'talk' with Evan. He believed the boy did not actually warrant the level of wariness that Dominik wanted him to have. Unless…
'…he acted like that on purpose to mess with me. In that case, I'd have to be even warier of him.'
The man sighed and leaned back on his chair before giving out orders.
"Raise Evan' Eris' threat level to the same as Abigail Lowe…No. Make it higher."
His orders evoked surprised reactions from the Senior Members in the room. The consensus within the Demonic Hand was that Abigail Lowe was currently the strongest Hero at the moment, so being told to place Evan on a higher priority for elimination naturally made them have questions, not that they dared to voice said questions.
"Adjust his Estimated power level from 320 to 400."
His second order brought upon a whole new kind of shock to everyone, even the Fifth Finger. This was natural, as a 14-year-old with the power of a Level 400 was simply unheard of!
Little did they know that the suit-clad man had accurately determined Evan's current level of power exactly!
Right now, the boy had the strength of a beginner S ranker in his base, and three times that with his BoD.
All his stat values were at the top of the A rank, with his energy stat being the highest at 'A+ Level 100'.
However, due to the situation with his undefined existence level, said energy stat would not increase above 'S- Level 1' under any circumstances, until he upgraded his existence level to the grandmaster level.
People on Evan's current Level (299) usually had stats around 'B+ Level 95' to 'A- Level 10', so the fact that his stats could even reach the A+ rank in the first place was nothing short of a miracle brought to fruition via his Reincarnated Hero System.
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