Chapter 28: Arc 1: Chapter 26: Shocking Event

In August of 1989, Merlin encountered Trigon and began his wandering journey.

It's been 2 years since that day, it was October of 1991, he had left home for 2 years.

Besides the long stay in Hell's Kitchen, Merlin rarely had the chance to stop moving forward.

He experienced many things, witnessed the true colors of this world, met countless dangers, even life-threatening ones.

But in his past journeys, Merlin had never encountered a danger similar to the one right now.

The buzzing motorcycle had been parked on the side of the road, the ruthless heavily armed killer was approaching the vehicle; but no matter what he did, the gun in his arms did not stop firing.

Merlin dared not step out of his Shadow Cloak in the face of such ferocious suppressing fire.

The shadows could only hide him, not block bullets for him.

He carried the grey suitcase on his back and crawled underneath the car using both hands and legs. He reaches out to the elderly couple and drags them both into the shadows, he then tries desperately to escape.

Thankfully, this was a place enshrouded by darkness, Merlin's Shadow Cloak has maximum effect under this situation.

"Kack"

The sound signaled the attacker had run out of bullets, the ruthless mercenary threw his weapon aside; he did not search for the three people who had disappeared, instead, he moved towards the back of the car, and saw an empty trunk.

The most important item had been taken.

This made the assailant pull two guns from his waist, he searches the surroundings under his odd-looking mask, and with a clicking sound, enables night vision. Under his light green vision, he could see the tracks of blood leading towards the forest.

He runs towards the back of a nearby tree, then lifts his gun towards where the blood trail ended, there was nothing there.

But something was there!

"Bang, Bang"

Two gunshots resound, and two flowers of blood appear on the back of the elderly man whom Merlin was dragging, rendering his Shadow Cloak ineffective, revealing the three into the open.

Merlin's senses towards danger were lifted to its limit, he puts down the wounded couple and rolls forward.

Behind him, where he just lied, bullets were shot into the grass, causing sod to fly.

He was exposed!

"Run!"

The thought appeared in his mind, it made Merlin stagger forwards and try to escape the terrifying attacker behind him.

But as Merlin had just crawled up, the whistling wind came from behind him; his sharp senses in the darkness made him lower his head and a clenched fist flies by right above his head.

The attacker was right behind him!

How was he so fast!

"Bom"

Merlin blocked the attacker's second punch with his arms, but the overwhelming force of the punch threw Merlin into the air as if a cannonball had hit him.

He falls onto the ground, both of his arms were badly injured.

In front of him, the attacker with an odd mask grabs two combat knives from his waist; it was until now, that Merlin noticed that the attacker's right arm was of a strange silver color, it was not normal skin, but of steel.

On that steel arm, was an odd-looking red star, it was similar to the flag of the post-Soviet Union.

Merlin could also sense that the attacker had no emotional response in combat like a cold machine made only for killing.

However, it was pointless to notice the little details, seeing as the ruthless assailant moved towards him with his combat knives. Merlin realizes that the person in front of him may be aiming for the grey suitcase he was carrying.

Merlin immediately takes off the suitcase and throws it at the attacker before him, the latter was clearly stunned and subconsciously holds the suitcase in his arms.

Using this interval, Merlin quickly hides into the darkness using his Shadow Cloak.

Merlin wanted to help those in need, but that doesn't mean he would sacrifice his life for it.

Helping others is a good thing, but sometimes, you have to consider the cost.

Under the cover of darkness, Merlin quickly fled; fighting this dangerous fellow headfirst was unwinnable.

The attacker who saw Merlin disappear did not cease his hunt.

This was a covert op, meaning that there can be no surviving witnesses.

The attacker then takes something from his waist; he pulls the pin and in a standard throwing position, throws it in the direction where Merlin disappeared into,

It was a... custom-made grenade.

"Shoo"

The sound of something falling made Merlin look back instinctively, he sees a black object fall onto the ground behind him and bounce. Soon afterward, a burst of fiery flame and terrifying energy appear out of it.

He's crazy!

Merlin instinctively turns back and lifts his arms, forming a cross in front of him.

The fiery flame and shockwave that destroyed everything came crashing towards Merlin, but just as the destructive flames shroud Merlin's body, the protective dark energy reactivates.

Visible black smoke gushes out of the rolling flames, Merlin's body was turning into smoke.

The darkness enshrouds him and lets loose the anger he had kept deep within him. The grenade made him realize, the attacker did not wish to leave survivors, he would use all possible methods to eliminate any witness...

He can't run, nor can he run.

This leaves one last choice for Merlin.

"BOOM"

An even more violent explosion erupts in the flames, even forcing the flames from the previous explosion onto the ground.

The tornado of ash mixed with sparks has never been more active, perhaps it sensed Merlin's decision, thus it did not dissipate as before.

Instead, this black tornado of ash gathers in the air, and like a flying dragon of smoke, smashes into the attacker who was already leaving.

That murderer!

The ruthless assailant did not look at the results after he threw the grenade. As the world's strongest killer, he never wastes time on insignificant things...

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He knew his weapons like the back of his hand, the custom-made grenade would destroy everything within a certain radius after hitting the ground.

According to the weird person's running speed, there was no way he could've made it out of the explosion radius in time.

As long as he was still of flesh, he was doomed.

The ruthless attacker carries the grey suitcase, he pulls out his gun and walks towards the elderly couple on the grass, they were both targets who must be eliminated.

But after moving a few steps forward, a strong and scorching breath of fire appears behind him.

The attacker turns around abruptly, in his hands were a powerful shotgun, which he fires at the monstrosity behind him; he shot five times, hundreds of little steel balls fly towards their target, but they didn't actually hit anything.

No matter how powerful bullets are, how could they harm the wind?

The furious wind of darkness lets out a sharp neigh, the rolling wind grabs the attacker and lifts him into the air. He struggles desperately, but as if bound by a shapeless fog, he was lifted into the sky while his flesh is torn.

Merlin controls the dark power using what little willpower he has left, and after rising 30 meters into the air, Merlin could no longer control the dark power; thus he lets go of it and lets it erupt in the air in the most destructive way possible.

"BOOM"

Following a loud explosion, countless sparks appear in the sky, as if an artillery shell had exploded midair.

The dark powers easily tear through the attacker's suit, tearing into his flesh and bones. 

Trigon's power was never merciful, after Merlin releases it permanently for the first time, it was like a howling demon swearing to tear the attacker to shreds.

"Ahhh!"

Even the cold-as-ice super-soldier could not resist the pain of the dark mana entering his body, for just a moment, it felt as though he was thrown into a tornado of whirling blades. The scorching dark mana tore through his body as if he would die on the spot.

But it didn't.

The attacker's body was especially enhanced, the density of his bones and the strength of his muscles were beyond that of an average human; he also had superhuman regenerative capabilities, which helped him survive the onslaught of the released dark mana until the very last moment.

He protected his heart using his metal arm, the mana corroded his metal arm but it never broke through this line of defense.

Following an unreconciled roar, Merlin's willpower reaches its limit and the dark storm abruptly contracts.

It rebuilt Merlin's body and let him fall onto the ground; on the other side, the brutally tortured super-soldier silently crashes into the forest ahead like a blood-stained rock.

Maybe he wasn't dead, but he was certainly unable to keep fighting.

He underestimated Merlin and paid a heavy price.

A weak, pale Merlin knelt in front of the elderly couple; the elderly woman had already lost her breath, while the elderly man who was hot, stayed conscious using the pain.

"I'm sorry..."

Merlin held his hand and apologized softly:

"I couldn't save you, I was too weak...I'm sorry."

"Take it, they...they won't let you off so easily...run, child, run..."

The elderly man pointed to the nearby grass field with his last strength.

On it, was a grey suitcase which had been torn apart by the explosion, a few bags of blue liquid were also torn apart, but luckily there were still some in the suitcase.

"What is that?"

Merlin asked, but the elderly man could not answer him.

He had been shot, plus he had received heavy internal injuries from the crash, his consciousness was wavering, he grabs onto Merlin's hand tightly and lightly whispered:

"Tell...tell Tony..."

"We...we love him..."

"Who's Tony? Stay with me! Tell me, who is he?"

Merlin helps the elderly man upwards, lightly tapping his face in an attempt to wake him up, but moments later, the elderly man stops breathing.

"Woong"

Strong wind and noises resound in the distance, Merlin looks upwards. With his night vision, he could clearly see several choppers heading this way, it would seem that the elderly man was an important figure.

Merlin knows that it's time to leave.

For him to get tangled up in a messy situation like this under his conditions was unwise.

He uses the last of his time to place the elderly man beside the elderly woman and wipes the blood off their faces using his sleeve.

He then stands up and bows respectfully towards the couple; then he walks to the damaged suitcase and picks up the bag of blue liquid, carefully pouring what's left of the liquid into a small container he carried with him, and keeps it in his pocket.

The moment the first chopper enters the airspace of the incident, Merlin puts on his baseball cap and disappears into the night.

"Bam"

Before the chopper lands, a person wearing a coat jumps onto the ground; he rushes into the scene under the strong winds, only to find the couple lying on the floor, they were dead.

"We're still too late."

The man clenches his fists and stands like a statue over the dead couple; behind him, soldiers wearing black uniforms spread out and begin searching for something under the commanders' orders.

Moments later, what's left of the grey suitcase was found, a commander walks beside his superior and speaks with his voice lowered:

"Officer Fury! We've found some things we believe to be the serum...but they've all been destroyed in the blast."

Senior agent of the S.S.R. Nick Fury had a stern expression. He waves his finger, and with his coarse voice, tells the commander:

"Bring everything back to base."

He looks at the couple's remains and clenches his fists:

"Bring the remains of Mr. Howard and Mdm. Maria with you, inform Miss Peggy, I need to do a thorough internal review of everyone in the S.S.R.!"

"Find the traitor who leaked the news!"

"And make him pay!"

 

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