The Author's POV

"Reporting for duty!" 

Three youths shouted as they stood in front of Luther. A sharp and distinctive aura spread from each and every one of their bodies.

"You must be the recruits that I need to watch over." 

Placing his hand on the bottom of his chin, Luther's gaze swept through the bodies of each of the individuals present.

After a couple of seconds, he nodded his head in satisfaction. 

"You guys are better than I thought."

He had originally thought he was going to be put with arrogant recruits that knew nothing about real combat but feeling the bloodlust that was emanating from their bodies, he knew that his previous assumption couldn't have been any more wrong. 

They were already fully grown soldiers. 

"Let me get things straight, so your names are Ezra, Alisa, and..." Pausing, Luther turned his attention towards one of the three youths.

Staring at him, Luther could feel that this youth was different from the others. The bloodlust around him was three times thicker compared to the other two youth's.

Compared to the other two, he was a notch above them. 

"...and Matthew?"

Unbothered by Luther's stare, stepping forward, Matthew nodded his head. 

"That is correct, sir." 

Next to him, Ezra and Alisa seemed to have no qualms with the fact that he had responded for them.

This did not go unnoticed by Luther, who squinted his eyes. 

'Hmm, I see. So he's the leader of the lot.'

Luther could see hints of fear and respect in the eyes of the other two recruits as they looked at the youth named Matthew. 

Turning his head and staring at Matthew, Luther asked. 

"Alright then, you guys must already be aware of what is happening, right?" 

"Affirmative, we're here to hunt down subject 876." 

"Good, good. Do you guys have any ideas on how we should proceed?" 

Luther had obviously already made plans beforehand. The only reason why he was asking, was because he wanted to test them. 

Since his job was to mentor them, he naturally had to do so. 

"Affirmative." 

Matthew responded.

Raising his brow, Luther gestured. 

"Oh? Please share your thoughts." 

"Understood."

Taking a step forward, Matthew proceeded to tap on the smartwatch on his wrist. A three-dimensional hologram of the Monolith projected before everyone's eyes. 

Staring at the map, he started explaining. "There are two ways to escape the Monolith, and the simplest way to escape would be through the main entrance of the building." 

Portals weren't the only way people could get into the Monolith. If one knew the location of the Monolith, they could just directly enter through the barrier that was protecting the Monolith. 

"What is the other method then?" 

"The other method would be through the usage of portals." 

Listening to Matthew speak, a smile appeared on Luther's face. 

"Mhm, that is correct. I like where this is going, go on." 

"From the reports that I've read, not much is known about subject 876 apart from the fact that he is not a part of the Monolith. As such, we can exclude the first option and conclude that subject 876 will try to escape through the gates on the first level." 

Subject 876 did not contain any demonic energy inside of him. This meant that he did not sign a contract with a demon. 

Since he was not a part of the Monolith, the probability of him knowing the exact location of the Monolith were slim to none. 

The only way he could escape was through the gates. 

"Interesting."

Listening to Matthew's deductions, the smile on Luther's face widened.

"Is there anything else you would like to add?" 

"Mhhh" With his brows knit, Matthew mused. "Subject 876 also seems to be adept in combat, and from the looks of things, he has the ability to somehow mask his identity...?"

"Assume he does." 

"I see, if so he will try to mask himself as a guard in the process of the escape." 

"Reasonable deduction"

Luther nodded his head. 

So far everything that Matthew had said was correct. Lifting his head, he asked.  "If you assume he can change faces, what do you think is the safest and fastest way to catch 876?" 

"Simple, we increase the security around the gates for the next week or so, and wait for him to come to us. Since he most likely knows that he's pressed for time, he'll eventually make a mistake and from there we can capitalize on it."

Matthew replied without a hint of hesitation. 

876 had a chip in his head, and in the chip was a tracking device. According to the reports, within a week's time, they'd be able to reconfigure the tracking device and once again activate it. 

Therefore, as long as 876 did not escape during that week, and the tracker once again worked, he was as good as caught. 

"Hahahahaaha" Luther suddenly burst out laughing. Clapping his hands, Luther gazed at Matthew in satisfaction. "Good, good, you share the same thoughts as me." 

He was originally planning on guiding them to come up with this solution, but it seems as though he had underestimated the youth named Matthew. 

He had already understood the whole situation. He now understood why the other two youth's behind him were so respectful to him. 

Praised by Luther, Matthew did not show any signs of arrogance or satisfaction and merely lowered his head. 

"Thank you for your praise sir." 

"Mhm, you deserve it." Nodding his head, Luther turned around and waved his hand. "Since you guys understand the situation, go to the first level and proceed as planned. I'm counting on you." 

"Understood." 

All three youth's unanimously shouted before turning around and leaving the room.

Turning his head slightly and staring at a flat surface where he could see his reflection. Looking at the burnt half of his face that was reflected on the flat surface, a throaty laugh escaped from his lips. 

"hur, hur, hur,  876, I've already made my move, what are you going to do next?" 

If things went according to plan, he would finally get his hands on 876 by the end of the week. 

—Ding! 

Disrupting Luther out of his thoughts was a small sound that came from his watch. Lowering his hand and tapping on his watch, the smile on Luther's face deepened. 

"...this might end faster than I had originally anticipated." 

***

—Splash!

Washing my hands in the sink, and staring at the small black bracelet in my hands, I turned the water off.

Staring at myself in the mirror, I muttered.

"I've seen worse." 

Though my face was still burned, it wasn't to the same degree as the first time I got burned. By the time the flames had engulfed me, the rescue squad had already arrived. 

After that, I was quickly sent to the infirmary where I spent the last couple of days in. 

During those couple of days at the infirmary, aside from the fact that I needed to recover from my injuries, I tried to gain as much information as possible regarding the Monolith.

This was done through either listening to what the doctors and nurses were talking about, or just casual conversations I had with them when they were tending me.

It was from those little conversations I had, that I was somewhat able to learn of the structure of the Monolith. 

Currently, I was in the infirmary which was located at the third level of the Monolith. 

There were a total of five levels and each level was massive. My current goal was the first level. That was where the gates were located. 

To Tok—!

Dusrpiting me out of my thoughts was a loud knock by the side of the bathroom. 

"Matteo, are you finished?" 

"..." 

Without responding I lowered my head. Putting the bracelet on my wrist, I gazed at myself in the mirror. 

'It's time...' 

"Matteo? If you don't respond, I'm going to forcefully come in." 

Unable to hear my response, the person behind the door once again called out for me. Grabbing the sides of the sink, I hoarsely said. 

"Khh...sir, I might need some help." 

"Haa, what is it this time? I'm coming in" 

—Tick!

Opening the door of the bathroom, the guard came into the bathroom.

Staring at that guard, I pointed at the sink.

"Over here." 

"What is the pr——hmmm!" 

Clank—!

The moment the guard neared me, grabbing him by the head and covering his mouth with my left hand, I kicked the door shut. 

"Mmhhh." 

With my left hand on his mouth and my right arm around his throat, I clenched my teeth and choked him as hard as I could. 

The guard's struggle persisted for ten seconds before he eventually fainted. 

—Squeeq. 

Taking out a serum from my dimensional space, I quickly injected it into his body. Then, dropping down the guard's body onto the ground and waiting for the serum to take effect, I stripped his body and replaced his clothes with mine. I also didn't forget to take the ring from him. 

Once I was done changing, lowering my head, and staring at the guard, I took out my mask and placed it on his face.

A blue glow enveloped the room and a quarter of my mana dissipated. 

—Gulp! 

Taking out a potion from my dimensional space and chugging it, I  placed my hand on the guard's face and channeled my mana. More specifically, flame psyons. 

Slowly, the guard's face started to melt.

"huuu.." 

Because of the serum, the guard was unable to feel the pain and thus didn't wake up.  Closing my eyes, taking a deep breath, after ten seconds passed I removed my hand from his face.

Opening my eyes and staring at the guard's face, my brows knit. 

"hmmm, his burns look a little bit too fresh." 

Compared to my face, the guard's face looked quite different. His fresh burns would quickly give away the fact that it wasn't me. 

Thus. 

Taking out a low-quality healing potion from my dimensional space, I fed it to the guard. Slowly his burns started to get better. 

"This is better." 

After feeding him two potions, taking out the bandages from the ground, I started to slowly wrap them around his face. 

"I hope this works..." 

Even though it didn't look perfect, it still looked quite similar to me. Especially since the guard had a similar build to mine.

Once I was done wrapping his face, standing up, and putting him on my shoulder, I slowly opened the door. 

"Ah right." 

Just as I was about to open the door fully, I put the mask on my face.

Feeling a tingling sensation envelop my face, after a couple of more seconds passed, I fully opened the door and finally stepped out of the room. 

—Clank!

Closing the door behind me, I headed for the infirmary. The location wasn't far, by the time I took a couple of turns, I was already there. 

"What happened to him!?" 

The moment I entered the infirmary, I heard a startled scream coming from the other side of the room. Lifting my head, I watched as the nurse that had tended me for the past couple of days rushed in my direction. 

Taking a step back and raising my hand, I talked to her in a calm voice. 

"Please calm down, he's just passed out, I've checked his breathing. There is nothing wrong with him." 

"Ahh..." At my words, the nurse calmed down a bit. "Let me check." 

"Sure." 

Putting 'Matteo' down on the bed, I watched as the nurse measured his pulse. 

Whilst she was checking his pulse, staring at her from behind, I silently channeled my mana towards my hand. 

If by chance she noticed something, I was prepared to eliminate her right here and right now. 

"Pheew, you were right. He's only passed out." 

To the luck of both parties, it seems like she was unable to notice anything strange. 

"Is that so? Then I will go back and patrol." 

I smiled. 

"Mhm, good luck with your work" 

"Thank you."

Turning around, I quickly left the room. What I didn't notice upon leaving the room, however, was the nurse slowly taking out a small black box from her breast pocket. 

Placing the black box near her mouth, she muttered. 

"Reporting, as you've said, subject 876 was hiding in the infermary."