The Ancient Genes

Stark calmly walked out of the hole in the wall as he followed behind the trail of blood left behind by the man.

A chaos had ensued in the underground facility. Ethena's attack earlier had made all the sirens go off.

The shutters with enhancement formations immediately began to fall down and the entire facility had entered into a lockdown.

Stark knew that the man couldn't break through the barricades. There was no way for him to escape.

But, suddenly he realised that the area in which they were had an elevator. Things could be bad if that man decided to snuck through the elevator vent.

Even though there was a formation above, it would deactivate if someone was moving above.

Stark steps quickened and he immediately moved towards the Elevator.

When he got close towards the elevator, he heard a bang. The person was indeed planning on using the elevator vent. He broke through the closed door and entered the vent.

Stark's eyes turned grim and he moved in pursuit. But the next instant, his eyes widened as an explosion occurred.

"Boom!"

The whole facility and even the tower shook. In front of Stark's eyes, the man who had just escaped, crashed back onto the ground with a bang.

What followed it was a disaster

The ceiling caved in. A huge chunk of a metal head followed after it and penetrated the falling ceiling.

Stark was already shocked by this sudden disaster when flames erupted with a bang and the entire area combusted like a blazing inferno. As if it wasn't enough, to add to it, a strong jet of water with an exploding force of tide came falling down on Stark's head.

After a while, the rumbling stopped. The entire area had been buried in rubbles.

The huge chunk of metal which had been buried half into the rubbles began to fall apart.

"I thought I was going to die today." Lear's voice sounded as he climbed out of the mess.

Max and Derek too managed to push the boulders aside and get out safely.

"Let's go...we need to find them…" Max spoke.

But before they could move, an angry voice sounded, "Who are you looking for?"

The rubbles flew apart with a bang and a man emerged from beneath.

Lear immediately raised his hand and the metal chunks beside him began to float.

Derek took out his swords as well and entered his battle stance as well.

"Master? T-This….what happened?" Max's voice shocked Lear and Derek as they once again carefully looked at the man in front of them.

Stark's face had turned black due to the flames erupting. His hair had been burned a bit too making him look like an alien species.

Besides, the fact that the group had felt a chilly aura the moment, they broke through formation had led them to misunderstanding. They seemed to have mistaken Stark for a Demon.

"What happened?! What happened?! You all are the ones who did it….Have you three gone crazy!!" Stark shouted at them.

This could have been dangerous if there were any innocent bystanders beneath. They would have been crushed to death.

Stark obviously had no idea that Max had considered this fact. He had decided to use this lift only after finding that there were no people in this area.

How would have he known that someone would easily punch a hole through the enhanced walls that Max found difficult to break alone.

"We?" Lear asked in confusion. He thought this was done by that evil-looking lady.

Stark tried to sense beneath the rubble but didn't find the man breathing. He was finally dead.

"Will someone explain to me what's going on?" Stark asked with a frown.

….

Max explained everything to him and Stark's brows finally relaxed a bit.

"I can understand your concerns….but did you think we were really going to fight each other for serious….Kill each other?"

Stark sighed.

"Even if we actually did it, did you think you could have stopped us? You three might be strong in your generation. But don't get yourself too high…."

Stark used this opportunity to give them a lesson. He didn't want them to die young because of this rashness.

"If you really thought we were going to fight then, you should have made either of the two following decisions…..First, run away…. Second, if possible, get someone who could have stopped us…"

Max nodded. It seemed that he had lost his calm or the victory earlier had got to his head. He remembered the sight of the land turning upside down. The true power of a Grand Master level mage. It was indeed a death wish if he thought he could do something.

"But why was there a need to fight?" Derek asked with a frown.

"Let's get out of here first…. I am worried about Anna as well…" Stark mumbled as he turned around.

'Anna? Yes! she was supposed to be here...did something happen to her?' Max's face turned dark. Anna was not only a partner but Wilson's girl too. He wouldn't be able to face Wilson as well if something happened to her in his presence.

….

Stark led everyone to the medical area and found Anna receiving treatment as Ethena stayed by her side.

"Are you fine, Anna?" Stark asked as he glared at Ethena.

"Yes, I am…" Anna spoke with her twitching face, clearly in pain.

Ethena could only sigh at him. She still didn't believe her way was wrong. It was just that she did not considered Anna taking such measures.

Everyone came to know what happened. Max didn't know how to react. If he thought about Anna as a friend, he obviously felt that it was wrong. But when he thought of what was waiting for them….he couldn't help but think that it didn't matter as long as it worked. Max himself had gone through much in the trial. He wasn't the one to speak.

Besides, the fact that Ethena had taken Anna as her student let him feel at ease. He could trust her after all, Stark was the one who trusted her. There was no reason for him to be doubtful of her.

"Isn't this too much? How can she let her do something like that? Talk about a cruel lady." Lear whispered.

Max couldn't help but shake his head. He couldn't understand how at times like this did Lear turned into a fool. He was whispering in front of Grandmaster level mages. Did he really think they didn't hear him….