New Game+

The flight up the lift would have taken less than thirty seconds with the rate of Seeker's speed.

He had been using the Force Booster with great timing and precision. The small Realm Footholds, which he learned from the Realm King, aided him to fly up.

But those few seconds felt so slow to Seeker.

"Did I make the right choice? Zeraphine's safety was already low at the start. If I had made it back here immediately, would I have been able to save Alphie? Would I have been able to save those soldiers?" The question haunted Seeker as he kept kicking and boosting his way up.

The many vibrations and explosions that Seeker could feel were signs that the inside of the base was also compromised. It wouldn't be surprising if the enemy managed to place several powerful bombs that would bury the entire underground facility.

And even now, Seeker's choice of ascending the flight was riddled with pain. He would abandon everyone on the levels below. Many would die because Seeker decided to go to the top. And the reason for Seeker's immediate ascension was to find the missing Zeraphine.

Another explosion occurred, and more soldiers began to fall down as they were being thrown off.

Seeker guessed that the battle above was suddenly so chaotic that many soldiers rushed to go down the platform. As the entrance to the underground base was situated on a cave in the mountain, Seeker knew that many soldiers must have retreated in the cave to escape the bombardments and attacks.

Seeker watched the falling soldiers and made quick calculations as to who he must save. Looking at the soldier's wounds, Seeker rushed to those who had wounds that weren't critical. Apart from this, he also considered their overall worth. Were they smart? Did they have usable Skills? But as he was hurrying to the top, he had to make the cruel choice of allowing the rest to fall into their deaths. 

Seeker made his choice and began to save the number of people he could. There were five that he could carry and still allow him to rise.

"Colonel! Save him!" A wounded man who Seeker saved uttered.

"Can't. Too many." Seeker answered plainly.

Immediately the man cut off his clothes for Seeker to lose his hold on the man. Although he was Unlocked, it was uncertain that he would survive falling from such height.

Seeker felt nothing as he was using his Unlocking to mask his emotions. The man that the wounded soldier wanted Seeker to save was close to dying. There were more falling due to another explosion on the top. And among the new group was someone more valuable than the dying man.

Seeker's superior Unlocking allowed him to see this. The soldier who decided to sacrifice himself didn't know his friend was close to the death's door.

The other soldiers who Seeker was saving could guess the Colonel's decision and keep quiet. They began to help the Colonel by minimizing their weight as they ran on the wall and kicking on it to move upwards, and Seeker even asked them the situation that occurred above.

Just as Seeker had expected, there were several people using Exoskeletons with a high-leveled Cloak. They also had new weapons that even Inhumans piloting special Exoskeletons couldn't evade.

Seeker and the six reached the top, and without even a delay, Seeker threw the soldiers and immediately went straight for battle.

"It's Colonel Carlean!" One of the enemies laughed excitedly and began to attack Seeker.

Seeker had already readied one very expensive weapon. It was one of the few things he acquired because he was relatively close with the origin. But this weapon was so expensive that only several were made and only given to specific individuals as the cost of finding suitable materials was scarce.

It was a miniature version of Meryl's Everbright.

The powerful bright light exploded out and had such great heat and electromagnetic distortion that even the techs of the enemies couldn't see through it.

Seeker had used Realm and had memorized the locations of the enemies, and he hastily attacked the places where these enemies were and killed several of the enemies almost instantly.

"Kill him! Don't retreat! He doesn't have any more of those! Remember, he's just an Inhuman!" One of the enemy Exoskeletons retreated and kept spraying his attacks almost everywhere.

"You don't know? No one under the Inhuman stage can kill me." Seeker gave his cold and terrifying warning as he fought and killed the enemies

The enemy exoskeleton used a strange technology to attack and stop Seeker's advance. Yet Seeker was able to move and evade the attacks.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Several well-timed attacks somehow slipped through the enemy's defenses and weakened several Exoskeletons.

The attack gave Seeker an ample opportunity to charge ahead and kill the enemy.

With the last of the enemy gone, Seeker immediately sought the cause of the well-timed attack that helped him.

"Lim. Report." Seeker ordered.

"The tremors suggest that this mountain is collapsing. We don't have the time to save the others inside the base. The spies must have planted and deployed bombs in a certain pattern to maximize the signal blocker and even that strange fluctuation that is preventing our Thought Transmitter from working."

"I saw Alphie. Are Ace and Brenton dead?" Seeker asked as he noticed the surviving Inhumans around him.

"Yes. When the ambush began, Brenton was immediately killed along with Ace. Ivan and me took over the command and managed to survive her attacks. I led my team to rescue you, Colonel. I figured that there might have been some trap to contain you first. It's good that you managed to escape."

"A trap? There were no traps. Where is Zeraphine?" Seeker asked.

The expressions of everyone around them changed.

Only Suarez didn't have any hateful expression.

"...Are you serious, Colonel? You must have heard it. You have an ability to hear it, and I do not believe that it didn't cross your mind." Lim slowly began. Her breathing became heavy.

"I know it's selfish. But you all know that I wish to save her. I want-"

"STOP! JUST STOP! SEEKER! ZERAPHINE BETRAYED US! DON'T TELL ME YOU DON'T KNOW?!" Lim howled as loud as she can and was visibly trembling from her anger.

"Lim! Stop! Colonel, whatever you're denying. It's true. If you saw Alphie, then she must have made way for you to know." Ivan interrupted.

Seeker's expression remained unchanging, but his heart was getting crushed.

It was obvious. Seeker knew this ever since he killed the soldiers underground. They were Zeraphine's constant guards. 

It became even more obvious when Seeker reached the main chamber where the Weapons, Exoskeletons, and Armors were being housed.

Most people who weren't Unlocked served the armies in other ways. Zeraphine was the one in charge of maintaining and ensuring that the army had enough weapons. She was in charge of not only assigning the weapons and tools, but she was also helping in technological development and the acquisition of raw materials.

The room was already empty of all these weapons. The enemies all had strange Exoskeletons with different and new techs. The only person who could outfit everyone was Zeraphine.

The fact that Zeraphine wasn't dead in that room would have been the obvious answer.

But Seeker didn't have to deduce. When he entered that room and took the Force Booster that one of the Unlocked managed to protect as he died, Seeker could hear the dying voices telling Seeker that it was Zeraphine.

Seeker ignored them all.

Even on the falling moments of Alphie, Seeker had seen the first sentence that Alphie stated before mouthing I love you.

Denial after denial. It was one of the times when Seeker Carlean failed to face the truth in front of him.

And this was what made Lim very angry. It was very obvious. The fact that the enemy knew who to kill in their platoon immediately proved it.

"Colonel." Ivan reached out to Seeker.

"It was Zeraphine. If you are safe and didn't know that it was her means you weren't trapped. Zeraphine didn't know you went back to talk to her and didn't calculate your presence. She came here and immediately killed Ace and Brenton. Lim and I took over the group, and we managed to save the core platoon but lost most of our Surmounting Unbecoming men." Ivan reported.

Will and Epic were already holding on to Lim, who wanted to erupt in anger at Seeker.

"Colonel. Alphie and Fish were the first who thought of saving you. They tried to go down the lift, but Zeraphine shot her. Alphie saved Fish, but... well, you saw her. Thinking back, she must have heard Alphie say to us that we have to warn and save you. Thinking about it now... Zeraphine must have escaped when she found out you were here." Suarez filled in the details.

"With you here, we will immediately make the orders to retreat."

"Where is she?" Seeker finally asked.

"Colonel. She is... a Presider. You'd be killed if you tried to fight her."

"Where is she?" Seeker asked again.

"... We don't know." Ivan refused to answer Seeker's question.

BOOM!

Seeker burst his boosters to the maximum and flew towards the exit of the mountain.

"ZERAPHINE!" The loud, angry roar of Seeker was heard all over the mountain.

Seeker charged for the many Exoskeletons that were flying around and began to kill them.

Ivan and Lim immediately made their decision to do what they can.

The battle outside was initially a one-sided massacre, but Seeker's arrival caused a shift in the battle as his wild and unstoppable charge caused many to die. Even though Seeker only had a Force Booster, he did the impossible and could match the fast-paced movements of the Exoskeletons that were reigning attacks on the Unlocked army.

Seeker used the Exoskeleton's of both ally and enemy to move up the sky.

"Colonel! Fight in my stead!" A pilot who was granted an Inhuman level Exoskeleton ejected and sent her suit directly where Seeker was. She was one of the very few who managed to equip herself with this Exoskeleton but gave it to Seeker. Seeker found out later that the Inhuman who gave him the Exoskeleton had died as she fell to her death.

Seeker fought the invisible army and once more added another miracle to his many long lists of miracles as he fought off the army of Pioneers with very little backup.

Ivan and Lim had taken command and issued the escape as they fought their way out of the mountain steps. It wasn't long before tremors occurred, and the entire mountain collapsed. 

Epic, Will, Suarez, and Fish concentrated on aiding Seeker's wild and reckless charge. With their support, Seeker managed to kill a large bulk of soldiers.

It was then that she appeared and gave the orders to retreat.

"Retreat! The Realm King is coming. Let's not underestimate them." Zeraphine ordered.

"ZERAPHINE!" Seeker roared as he charged towards her.

"It seems you killed my 'husband'. Thanks. And sorry, Zeek. I have to escape now." Zeraphine sighed as she retreated.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR!" Seeker roared as he gave chase using the Exoskeleton he was wearing.

"I hope so, Zeek. I wish you weren't here to see this. You should have left. I heard from Alphie. You are still here because you were... going to propose again? Let's talk next time. I'll explain everything before I kill you. I'm sorry. Now you know why I can't marry you." Tears began to fall as she said this.

Zeraphine's skin suit began to glow a strange light as she sped up and disappeared from Seeker's line of sight.