VILLAIN'S RISING

-Screech

Screeching open the gate, Sam opened the entrance of the museum.

According to Rebekah, the corpse of a Dragon was supposed to be here.

(Where are we supposed to find it again?)

“She said it’s underground,” Sam replied.

The inside of the museum was, just like the city, abandoned. There was no guard or sentry in sight.

(Kinda stupid that they didn’t put any security here)

“Indeed,” Sam nodded. “It could be a trap. Or they just deployed all of their forces outside, hoping to stop me.”

(I would still not rule out the possibility of this being a trap, though)

Sam nodded at the words the voice in his head spoke. It could indeed be a trap. In fact, Sam was fairly certain it was.

But for now, he decided to put that thought aside and search for the Dragon’s corpse. After all, how hard could it be to hide a freaking Dragon, right?

Sam strolled around the museum to look for anything suspicious. When he didn’t find anything, Sam headed for the lift.

-Beep

Sam touched the lift button, and a beep sound resounded.

(Oh, come on! Are we taking a lift? Where’s your style, Sam?!)

“Shut up, dummy. And what do you expect me to do anyway? There’s an underground floor, so of course I will take a lift down.” Sam simply replied.

(Umm, how about you just break the floor?! Wouldn’t it be faster?!)

“…I won’t even comment on how stupid that suggestion is.” Sam just shook his head, and in the next second, the door to the lift opened.

Sam simply walked inside the lift and pushed the button for the down floor.

(Sigh, you have no drip) the voice in his head spoke in disappointment.

“Bitch, I have been dripping since even before the phrase existed!” Sam shot back at the voice in his head.

Before any of them could utter anything further, the door of the lift opened up again.

Sam stepped out of the elevator and entered the underground floor.

It was the same as it was on the upper floor. Specimens, artifacts, artistic and cultural objects, etc. were placed all around on display. But this underground floor was much, much smaller.

Sam looked around and found a switch box on the wall right beside the entrance. He tapped on it and flipped all of the switches.

Bright, white ceiling lights lit up instantly and illuminated the whole floor– making it a tad bit more visible.

“Hmm, now let’s see,” Sam touched his chin and walked around.

There was obviously no Dragon corpse present there, or else it would’ve been visible right off the start.

(Did she lie?)

“Are you stupid?”

(Bruh! I’m just asking!)

“Sigh, no, she couldn’t have lied. It is possible that the carcass is hidden for obvious reasons.” Sam said– his eyes still looking around.

“She said it was buried underground. Most likely, it’s below here.” Sam explained as he tapped his foot on the ground.

“Well, anyway, let’s get to work.” Sighing once, Sam activated his ability.

As soon as he did that, his right hand morphed into a blade. Sam calmly raised his normal hand and pressed the blade against it.

-Slash!

In a slash, he cut all of his five fingers. The fingers fell on the ground and started convulsing before their mass started swelling.

Soon those five fingers started growing in size, and not long after, they turned into Sam’s clones.

“Master!” All of the clones kneeled and acknowledged him in unison.

“Scout the perimeter and don’t let anyone disturb me. Use your full powers if necessary.” Sam ordered.

The reason Sam said that last part was because he had initially restricted them not to use their full powers.

Why? Because it takes a toll on Sam whenever his clones use his original ability– Bio Manipulation.

Think of it like this, since there can only be one ability of a kind, every time any of Sam’s clones use his ability, it puts a strain on his ability. In turn, that puts a toll on Sam.

But now, when all of his Demons were dead, he could not hold back, so he ordered his clones to go all out and use his ability to the fullest without caring about himself.

“As you wish!” The clones nodded in unison and instantly spread out in all directions before hiding their presence.

(Your clones are naked… should’ve brought extra clothes…)

“…Just shut up, man.” Sam shook his head again.

In the next moment, his eyes started glowing yellow– hinting that he had activated [Neither Manipulation].

Sam started channeling energy into his body from an outside, seemingly endless source and strengthened his body construct.

Sam raised his hands and closed his fist. This simple action alone seemed to have caused ripples around the space of his fist.

He took a deep breath, collected his strength, and swung his fist down while kneeling in a fast-paced move.

-BAAM!

That punch caused cracks to form on the ground– originating where his fist landed in every direction.

(Dayum) the voice in his head commented.

Sam stood up, and one more time, he channeled the energy into his fist.

-BAAAM!

With another punch, Sam widened the cracks on the ground– enough for him to see something akin to a red rock below the surface.

Sam nodded and stepped a few meters back from the spot. He, once again, activated his [Neither Manipulation] and stretched his hands– pointing his open palms at the spot he was standing on earlier.

Formless, invisible energy gushed out of Sam and flooded the spot he was pointing at with open palms.

A smirk appeared on Sam’s face. With speed, he raised his hands, and as if following that, the rubble of the ground itself lifted up in the air– almost as if he was using telekinesis.

“Neat,” Sam commented and swung his hands sideways. The rubble in the air also followed his movements and fell to the ground– clearing the spot he was standing on earlier.

(Ahh, I love this ability)

Sam, without minding the voice in his head, walked up to the spot he dug out the ground and looked down on it.

His smirk turned into a grin as soon as Sam saw the thing that he was so desperate to get his hands on buried there.

Although the full body was yet to come into view, a large mass of red reptilian scales was clearly visible.

Sam was sure of it. This was the last Dragon.

(Shall we do it?) The voice in his head commented.

“But first, let’s take him out of the ground,” Sam nodded before adding.

*

The very fabric of space distorted in front of Anthony, and a hole was created.

“About time!” Anthony commented as he saw a familiar face stepping out of the wraphole.

“Hello, son,” Arthur smirked. As soon as he stepped out of the dark space hole, a man with fierce red hair followed him behind.

Next to follow them was a man with light golden hair. He was walking a little funny as if one of his legs wasn’t working properly.

“What happened to you, sir Lightbringer?” Seeing that, Anthony asked with a concerned tone.

“Ahh, nothing, boy, I just lost a leg,” Lightbringer replied in a nonchalant manner as if it was an everyday occurrence. “Gladly, the healer was strong enough to restore it fully.”

Although Anthony was still concerned about him, he simply nodded. It was no time to show his worries about a lost leg when the whole world was on the line.

In the next moment, the hole in the fabric of space closed, and everything returned to normal.

“Where’s Micheal?” Anthony asked, seeing that neither Drake nor Micheal stepped out.

As if to answer his query, in the very next second, several massive wrap holes opened up in the space a few meters from Anthony– causing him to turn his head and look behind him.

“Hope we aren’t late,” a black-headed boy commented while stepping out from one of the wrapholes.

Anthony smirked, seeing his arrival. And behind him came out a redhead with a serious expression on his face. It was Drake. He was itching to meet Sam again.

From the other several gates, army personnel rushed out and took their positions.

They were wearing some kind of high-tech suit, and in their hands were some modified guns. The barrels of their guns were pointing at the museum building.

“Where is he?” Drake asked while walking up to them.

“Inside,” Anthony replied hesitantly.

“He’s in cover,” Drake commented. “We have to rush into the building.”

“No need, son,” Eve replied to his son with a shake of his head. “The body of the last Dragon is big enough to cover at least a few hundred meters. He will either have to come out of the building to dig it out–”

-BOOOOM!

-THAWASAH!

What interrupted Eve’s explanation was the loud sound of explosions. Following that, the whole museum started to aviate off the ground.

Everyone present there could not help but widen their eyes at sight.

“Or he will just have to throw the whole building in the air.” Eve completed his explanation with an ‘I’m so done’ face.