The Messenger of Death

Arriving in front of the giant double doors made of metal that was unknown to Alex, he recalled what happened the last time that he tried to burn the door down.

"This door kind of ruins my pride, what kind of metal doesn't give in under the heat of a dragon's fire? Well, except for the metal that was used to make the weapons that I got from the Dragnels" Alex muttered.

['Why don't you try burning it down again now that the flames have gotten stronger?'] Al suggested.

"Nah, it will be more shameful if I can't melt the door this time with how strong the flames are. Lex, you're up." Alex closed his eyes.

-Switch!

"It's been a while," Lex began blushing as soon as he took control. He flexed his palms, loving the feel of being able to move his body. "This is enjoyable." He chuckled before placing his hand on the surface of the metal door.

Lex closed his eyes and exhaled, subsequently activating his spatial bloodline ability.

Upon activation, a spatial territory that only Lex could feel, see, and control appeared. The spatial territory extended past the door and Lex could now see, to an extent, what was on the other side of the door.

This door is quite thick and long.

"There's nothing much at the moment, just a walkway." He mentioned. Lex then looked at the interface of the skin crawler, it was still showing a notification that it was uncertain of the position of where the energy was coming from.

['What are you waiting for, let's go in.'] Alex urged.

"I just recalled when Xander jumped into a wall and appeared in a place that Mr. Guardian prepared." Lex had a feeling of Déjà vu wash over him.

['Come on!! What are the chances that we are going to experience that again? That time the skin crawler could accurately track the energy of the Midas petal and also, Lex, you couldn't use your spatial ability like this.'] Al stated.

This made Lex's face turn rosy, he felt embarrassed that he thought like that.

-Whoop!

Lex teleported to the other side of the door, entering a pitch-black walkway that was only about 3 meters wide. Now Lex could see if he continued to rely on his territory, but he felt as if that was a waste of energy, so he deactivated his ability and chose to rely on the skin crawler.

"System, night vision."

-Ping!

*Activating night vision please stand by.

In a second, Lex's vision became illuminated with the assistance of the skin crawler. Unlike the other part of the bunker that was at the other side of the door, the light did not come on automatically as Lex walked through.

['I hope that it isn't just as empty as the other side. Getting this petal will get us closer to the goal of revenge.'] Alex hoped.

-Thud! Thud!!

For a while, the only thing that Lex could hear was the sound of his legs hitting the metal floor and the sound of him breathing.

Lex reached a left turn and as soon as he took it, the lights came on their own, Making Lex close his eyes reflexively. Automatically, the skin crawler put the night vision off.

As Lex opened his eyes, he saw four individuals walk into the previously dark room, 3 women and one man. They all had white lab coats on and all of them had bags under their eyes as if they haven't had any sleep in a long time. They went to sit in front of a table before each of them began writing something down frantically.

Lex quickly took a few silent steps back, hiding his presence from them. He then peeped from the corner.

['I couldn't sense them, even after I saw them… as if they didn't exist, but yet, they look so real.'] Lex thought.

['That only happens with overly strong people, people on the same level as Nana and that steward.'] Alex pointed out.

['Are they possibly here for the petal too?'] Lex reasoned.

['They look like scientists.'] Xander noticed.

['Thread carefully Lex, and have that talisman we got from Nana on standby, just in case it looks as if something is about to happen.'] Xander advised.

['Hmm.'] Lex agreed.

Gulp!

He swallowed his saliva nervously.

From the corner of his eyes, Lex saw two more individuals step into the room. An old man with white hair and grey stubbles on his cheeks and chin. The man was quite short, with a thin build; walking beside him is a woman that equally had white hair, although she was taller than the old man and quite attractive. The old man and the lady beside looked like they were related.

['Same with those two. I might have walked into a den of powerhouses.']

Lex activated his bloodline ability, using his territory to sense them, however, his spatial territory was of no use as he couldn't still sense them.

['Even the territory is not being helpful… but I can hear them breathing.'] Lex stated.

['Just keep it active in case we need to run, or teleport.'] Al advised.

"Has it started working properly?" A deep, hoarse voice escaped from the old man's throat.

"Yes, Professor Gorr, although it is not functioning as we expected it to, however, we have successfully reverse-engineered the runes to fit, support, work in sync, and grow with the types of machinery."

['Runes? In other words inscriptions and… technology being combined?'] Alex reasoned.

['That could be possible?'] Al stated, unsure of the possibility of that happening.

['That monk Saram did do something similar to this, only that he combined himself with a weapon through inscriptions.'] Lex pointed out.

['We might have stumbled on something revolutionary.'] Xander uttered.

['Revolutionary or not, it has nothing to do with the Midas petal. Lex, teleport to the other side of the room. That's the easiest way to get past them.'] Alex urged.

['I can't sense them, what if I stumble upon more of them, what do I do then? If they are strong as Nana, the moment they sense me, they would be able to follow and keep up with me regardless of how much I teleport. If only I could do long-distance teleportation then I would have risked it.'] Lex refused.

['What do we do now then?'] Alex asked.

['We wait and see what happens next…'] Lex replied.

"Good, we will soon reap what we sowed." Professor Gorr smiled slightly as he said. He proceeded to look around the room.

Lex quickly hid behind the wall. He was almost seen by the professor.

"What's wrong, Professor?" The lady with the white hair questioned as she looked around the room too.

"Elena, Where is Shellie?" The Professor question.

['Shellie?? Sheldon Shellie or another Shellie? Is that name common over here?'] Alex thought as he began taking interest in what was going on here.

['It is possible that it is her. Remember what she wrote on the front page of her book? "A guide to the mastery of runes," she said and I quote; "Remember a true runemaster isn't restricted by the ideals or the morality of the majority. Everything is possible if you can pay the price. There is always more to learn and most of all, not everything is permissible. '] Al recapped.

['Something this revolutionary, she might be involved in this.'] Xander chipped in.

['If she is, then that confirms why Lex can't sense these guys. They are on the same level as Lilith the succubus.'] Alex pointed out.

"Shellie went out on her own again Professor Gorr." Elena, the woman with the white hair replied.

"Why didn't you stop her!?" Professor Gorr questioned.

"Because she has a will of her own grandfather." Elena smiled at the professor.

Suddenly, Professor turned his head towards the direction Lex was and said, "You!! What are you doing here!?"

Lex quickly hid behind the wall.

['Shit we've been found!'] Al cursed.

['Leave here Lex!!'] Alex cried out.

"On it," Lex said out loud. Since he had already been caught, he didn't see the need to remain silent anymore.

['Prepare to tear the talisman.'] Xander said.

Lex quickly brought the talisman out and was about to tear the talisman when he heard a voice right behind him that stopped him in his tracks.

"I'm sorry professor, I was just field testing a prototype that I created with the help of the reverse-engineered runes, and it looks like it works well." Lex turned and looked behind him.

['Wait, the Professor wasn't referring to me?'] He thought.

['What!?'] Alex and Al exclaimed.

['Come to think of it, if they were in the same cultivation realm as Nana or Lilith, they should have been able to sense me without seeing me.'] Lex pointed out.

['So we overreacted for nothing?'] Alex said.

"Maybe," Lex spoke out again to confirm something. "I don't think that they are real," Lex added.

['Huh?']

Suddenly, a figure appeared out of nowhere, from the corner that Lex was previously standing. This figure dropped a device on the floor and walked closer to the Professor…