Chapter 57 I Am Legend (2) One of the armored figures spoke as they glanced at a ticking device, "We don't have much time in this Nexus Event. Check your readings and let's finish the mission promptly. "Readings are all in the green." "Good. How long do we have before contamination exceeds the minimum threshold?" "Two minutes and counting." "Proceed with descent and extraction." Like a flash of lightning, the figures pierced through the water and approached the sleeping Abomination Core. They reached the hair and proceeded until they stopped at a closed eye. "Extract Divine Armament Tycho XXVII?" "Waiting for final approval… Proceed with extraction." The first armored figure took out a glowing blue slate. Pressing the center of the slate, a glowing hologram appeared. They resembled floating cubes. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂 He moved them around until it formed a particular pattern and the surrounding environment blurred for a moment and returned to normal. "Shielding has been lifted for twelve seconds. Readings are normal across the board. No unexpected shift from parameters. Proceed with extraction." The second armored figure seized a spike that pierced a closed eye, this eye was directly beside the unsealed eye. And he began to slowly pull it out. " This is so very wrong." he whispered to himself. "Hurry, soldier. The contamination threshold would be reached in fifty-two seconds." With great effort, the weapon was pulled out. The spike wiggled around rapidly and soon turned red-hot, the surrounding water evaporated into steam and in a second it turned into ash. The closed Eye shivered. It was awakening. "Mission completed. Contamination Threshold?" "Forty-five seconds." "Excellent. Let's move out." As the two armored figures zoomed out of the water, one of them glanced below him and saw two wide open eyes glaring at them. They escaped from the water and proceeded to the glowing spot in the air, the first entered and as the second was about to enter and leave, a thought made him look back into the lake. He saw eyes after eyes beginning to open, even with the sealing spikes, still piercing through them, the eyelids were torn in two, but the eyes were still opening, he wanted to scream, but his training kicked in, and he counted the open eyes, he saw that twenty were already opened, and it still continued, he gasped in shock. His mind abuzz with horror and trepidation, he stepped into the light. The light vibrated and slowly faded away. The armored figure appeared underneath a glowing rune, sparks of lights like fireflies rained all around him. He was anxious to report what he had seen when he smelled something off. His mind went into overdrive as he pulled off his helmet, as he could not see with it outside a Nexus Zone. It was a slightly complicated affair, As the helmet was in three different layers, but he quickly began taking it off, a single layer at a time, as his heartbeat accelerated, he could properly smell what raised his feathers, and it was the familiar smell of blood. The last layer came off, and he saw three men surrounding the decapitated body of his squad mate. The one holding the blade was the General—Augustus, who turned to him as he carelessly tosses the head to the side, "I hope you understand that in extremely sensitive cases, such as this one, we cannot let you live after you have completed the mission." The armored figure paused, his eyes tracing the head, as it left a trail of blood, the last look on his face was surprise and maybe fear. The man whose head rolled on the floor was his younger brother, and he was not supposed to take this mission. But this was supposed to be a relatively safe mission, even though everything about it was hush, hush. A mission from the big Noble family would boost their career prospects, and open new doors of opportunities for them, he muscled his little brother to come along with him. He would share his good fortunes when they arrive, for this was the only family he had left in this world. Many thoughts ran through his head presently, but he steeled his nerves and nodded at the general, "Understood Sir." He dropped the last piece of his helmet carefully beside him, making sure each of the components was in order, he was a great soldier, who understood that above all things was order. "I am ready, General" General Augustus smiled and looked at the other two figures beside him, a smug look on his face, turning back to the soldier, "Turn around and kneel." The armored figure proceeded to carry out the instructions and the General slowly walked up to him, and placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "If you have any family, they shall be well compensated, as stipulated by the statute." "No General. I have no more family. I am alone." "Okay soldier. I would be quick. Oh! By the way, do you have anything to report that was out of the ordinary inside the Nexus?" "No General. The Extraction proceeded as it was outlined. The second eye was unsealed with no interference. " "Great news, Soldier. It would be quick." Augustus Tiberius lied. It was not quick. He had noticed the flash of hatred in this soldier's eyes before, he hid it carefully. He slowly sawed the blade through the neck of the soldier. The soldier was a legendary Dominator and had an impressive physique and healing ability. To his credit, the soldier did not scream; he only squeezed his hands tight as his head was slowly sawed away. "You do know that he was lying to you." The figure inside the hood said. "Get off your high pedestal, little shadow." The General frowned," Were you not the one who deemed this operation a failure, and requested to clean house. I know he hid something from me, but does it matter? The second seal is gone, and the board shall be reset, leave the machinations of ants to ants. His secrets, whatever it might be, are meaningless." A loud laugh suddenly broke out, the Third prince held his rotund stomach, and pointed to the hooded figure," Little shadow… The name fits, doesn't it?" "Be that as it may." The hooded figure huffed,"It was a very careless error, your bloodlust knows no bounds, and you just wanted an excuse to kill your men. And you wonder why I don't like you." General Augustus dismissed the hooded figure with a wave of his hand, "dying by my hand is a blessing to their pitiful lives, there are millions more just like that, and of all the uncountable ways they are going to die, to do so by my hands is… An honor" He turned and picked up the two heads and began walking away, "Inform me when you this debacle is over. Also consider my partnership over if you make such impromptu decisions without a proper meeting first." In a short while, he transformed into a red line that broke through the clouds as he raced towards the horizon. "How much longer before I get to kill that brute." The hooded figure growled. "Well, judging by the heads he carried away, he is soon to know the truth. He is rash, begin preparing the Moon in the well. I will shield Fate Eyes." The Third prince said, and he sighed, "Let's get this debacle over with. The possibility of going to that place has made all else lose it meaning to me." The two remaining figures made some more plans as they soon hovered over the ground and pierced the sky. The area became silent and empty, except for the two bodies missing their heads, a short while later, the hooded figure reappeared and collected the two bodies and left. An hour after he left, the Third prince appeared and looked at the scene bereft of any corpses, his eyes flashed red; it was impossible to know what he was thinking, he gave an enigmatic smile, before he left.