The Second Heavenly War and its repercussions on this realm could not be any more apparent than what he witnessed in this maze of garbage. With the war came corpses. With corpses came forgotten weaponry picked by the Garbers. Leo could tell some had grown quite skilled.
By travelling with locals, he was not eyed too strongly. Merely spared a curious glance. His hoodie and hidden face were curious in this area.
'I distort my voice so hopefully with me covering my face, I should be fine in terms of anonymity here.'
They travelled and weaved past a couple gangs. Robert seemed to many folks. Although not everyone liked him…
"Fine. Do as you like," said one gang leader. Robert was a respected gentleman.
"I do have a question, Anemoi," Robert said once they were out of earshot. "Yyou seem to possess a certain strength. Did you participate in the war?"
"No."
"I see. The gang we are about to face, one of them is rumoured to be a former Soviet negotiator. As I'm sure you are aware, the Allied Powers consist of the Templars, the Imperial Sovereign Sect, the Joseon's, and the Soviets. I believe he hopes to get through and establish power."
"When we come to blows, you want me to spare him?"
"If at all possible," Robert said. "I would be lying if I said it would not…strain our deal."
In other words, you better not kill him. Leo contemplated it. "The merchant and a war veteran negotiator…"
"Does it sound like an issue?"
"No, that works for me."
They walked for another five minutes until they found what was not a heap but…a building. A concrete monolith with small and uniformly square, arranged in rigid rows that gave the facade a grid-like appearance. With no door and only an opening, two guards stood.
Robert tipped his gentleman hat forward and suddenly, a flutter of mana went over Leo and his two friends. 'Invisibility…I get it. That hat is a magical device. I've never seen anything like it.'
"A relic from the war, I believe. An experiment that I managed to rectify with a bit of luck," Robert explained. "This invisibility extends toward our voices too, so do not worry. As long as you do not scream, we will be fine."
So they managed to come quite close to the two guards at the front door. Five feet away and nothing happened. "I'm impressed," Leo said.
A laugh from Robert. "Beyond these men is what we seek. All entry points, east and west, are heavily guarded unlike here. There are twelve floors and approximately a hundred men total. Maybe more."
Ordinarily, he should have said, "I thought you said small-time guild" or "you should have told me! We need a plan!"
There was a plan. A coordinated effort with Robert and his two friends as well as Leo himself. It would take luck, patience, and calculation.
'Invisibility and…' Leo eyed Robert's two friends. They had magical devices on them too. 'Some other stuff. I bet we were going to wait until it was night, wait for a majority of them to be napping and on guard duty, and then steal the carriage and the kidnapped person.'
Leo did not have time to wait for night.
'Arcadia Academy definitely isn't opening themselves for tours or questions at night. And Mrs. Nani too, if I'm late…' He inhaled. 'I can't expect her to keep Phoebe for the evening. I have to pick her up as soon as possible.'
It was as simple as that. The expectation was clear: do what he did before and slip through.
"I'll be right back then."
Leo dematerialized and skipped past the guards like the wind. He materialized for the briefest of seconds and knocked them out.
He was on the first floor. Over thirty men were here. They had no idea what happened or if anything was happening. They heard a thud and at the front door and the next they knew, they too were out like a light.
On the walls were paintings and illustrations of red. Murals of communist realism depicting workers and farmers in heroic poses. It was still fresh, still full of life and conviction.
"Stairs," Leo murmured. "Nice."
So up he went.
Second floor, third floor, fourth, fifth, and sixth…
All of them, he defeated in an instant. The dark shadow was unstoppable. The dark shadow was undetectable. He only stopped at the bottom of the staircase to the eleventh floor.
'Hrm. Somebody strong is up ahead. Must be the Soviet war negotiator.'
Mismatched eyes gleamed. He clenched his fists ever so slightly. It was like remembering how to ride a bike again.
At the top of the stairs, the scene unfolded before him.
A merchant, bound and gagged, was slumped against a corner, his ornate robes smeared with dirt. Behind him, a dark carriage loomed, its iron wheels stained with rust. It looked like it belonged to a different time, an artifact dragged into this industrial fortress. The merchant's eyes widened with a mix of hope and terror as he caught sight of Leo, though he didn't make a sound.
Sitting on a wooden bench near the carriage was a figure dressed in a plain military uniform. The man's posture was deceptively relaxed, his hands resting casually on his knees, but his aura betrayed him. It was suffocating—a weight that pressed against the room, even as he sat still.
Leo's sharp gaze swept over him. The man looked ordinary at first glance: weathered face, a trimmed gray beard, and a patch on his uniform marking him as an officer of middling rank.
The Soviet negotiator Robert mentioned.
'The negotiator...something is off.'
"Who are you?" the negotiator asked. "Did somebody send you up?"
None of them were sensors. None of them were aware that the people below were done. Okay, maybe he could negotiate a way out of this. 'Nah, who am I kidding, I'm going to be fighting them. It's the end of the line here.'
"I'm here for the merchant."
"Hao-Yu? You neither look like him nor speak his language. Are you a friend?" The negotiator tilted his head slightly, his piercing eyes locking onto Leo. "I doubt it. You fought your way up without a single scratch. No blood. No personal stakes."
The hood hung over Leo and his furrowed brows. There was a calmness to the negotiator, a stillness that didn't match the usual arrogance of mid-level Soviet officers. Then it hit him—the subtle weave of mana surrounding the man like a cocoon. It wasn't about strength, it was about form.
Leo flicked a finger. A wind of blade zipped through the air, sharp and precise, slicing cleanly across the man's cheek. The disguise unraveled instantly, the magic splintering like shattered glass.
The uniform darkened, transforming into a pristine Soviet officer's coat adorned with golden embroidery. Four stars glimmered on the collar patches, signifying the rank of general-polkovnik. His true form was revealed: a towering, broad-shouldered man with a commanding presence that seemed to fill the room. His steel-gray hair was cropped short, and a deep scar ran diagonally across his left eye.
"W-w-what!?" His own men were shocked by the negotiator's real form. "G-General-polkovnik Grigori Durov!? H-how are…it cannot be!"
Durov sat, his calm expression unshaken despite the blood trickling down his cheek from the wind's cut. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, dabbing the wound before tucking it away. "Impressive," he said, his tone steady. "Few can pierce a Transformation spell with such ease. What magic is this?"
Leo shrugged, his fingers twitching slightly as the air around him stirred. "I would rather not say that to a man of your calibre. Let's just agree it's special."
The Colonel General Durov chuckled. "Special indeed. You've got talent, boy. It's rare to see someone so young with such precision. Join us. The Union could use someone like you."
'He could tell I'm young under this hood?'
This hood was constantly wrapped in wind magic in order to obscure his face and his voice. Yet he saw through through it.
"Not interested."
"A shame," Durov said, almost regretful. "But I expected as much. You're not here to talk, are you?"
Leo opened a hand as if about to grip a spear. "Not unless you're handing over the merchant and the carriage."
Durov's lips curled into a faint smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Then you'll have to earn them."
"Don't you know, fool?" two soldiers stepped up and flanked Leo. "The war might be over but people can still kill!"
Because of the war, the enchantment that prevented violence from occurring in the great peaceful White Realm was gone.
"I know."
Leo's mana exploded from every pore of his body. Immediately, the soldiers were down on their knees.
"Hrm."
Ironically, only the seated man could push against his mana.
Outrageous, demonic mana poured from both of them. Not an attack, simply a challenge. Simply a flex of their power. The oppressive force clashed and rippled outward. The temperature dropped. The windows shattered. Everyone else in the room—the merchant, the guards frozen in shock, dropping to their knees and unable to act—feeling the weight of their combined might. None dared not move. This was too small a place to fight such an opponent.
That was when Leo noticed the general was missing both his arms.
Hrm.