Genesis Code: The Genetic Awakening-Chapter 125: Why? (2)

If Caleb wasn’t going to make the hard choice, then Oliver intended to use that against him until he took him seriously.

He launched forward once more, his right hand condensing mana into an aura blade. However, Caleb shook his head and closed his eyes for a brief moment before reopening them.

"Ah!"

A sudden flash of light from Caleb’s eyes forced the crime boss to look away, a wave of disorientation hitting him like a battering ram.

Caleb dodged the lunge, closing in on Oliver and grabbed him by the throat, slamming him into the molten earth with a boom.

At the same time, he channelled his mana into his feet, calling upon his flame abilities to increase the damage the lava dealt.

"Ah...!"

Oliver yelled in agony as his skin burned and melted away, generating a sickening but delicious aroma of burning flesh. As quickly as the damage was dealt, a greater degree of pain was dealt when the lava suddenly froze over.

The agony from extreme heat to extreme cold instantly knocked out the crime boss as his nerves could not handle the sudden shock treatment.

"Hah... This should do it."

Caleb muttered, rising to his feet with Oliver still in his grasp. The shield was left frozen in the earth while Oliver’s body was frozen in various places, covering the melted parts of his body.

’Sheesh, this is more ruthless than I thought.’ A shudder ran down his spine. ’I can’t believe I did something like this.’

He looked to his left, where Jess gathered the assailants in one spot, either knocked out cold or groaning in pain. The catwoman had broken various bones and jaws in her fight.

"What next?" Jess asked, turning to face Caleb. "We’re too deep in the forest to get Silvia’s men over without endangering them."

"We don’t have to," Caleb replied, moving towards Jess. "I’ll just take away their ability to do magic. Whatever happens to them afterwards is not our problem."

"Really?" The catwoman placed a hand on her waist, looking at Caleb smugly. "It’s no different than killing them yourself."

"Oh, it’s different. I’m not the one who chose this location for an ambush. Also, about 400 meters in that direction are the horses they rode on. They have all they need to survive."

"Aren’t you worried they’d come after us again? Even if they don’t do it themselves, there are other groups they could hire."

Caleb didn’t immediately reply, setting the crime boss down and close to his minions.

"That would be pointless, Jess." Caleb shook his head. "Oliver had pretty much given up when we survived the Disintegration spell. He hated the idea of being captured, so he tried to throw his life away.

"What do you think he would do when he realizes that he no longer has the ability to do magic?"

The catwoman furrowed her brows in thought but couldn’t come up with anything. She looked at Caleb and then pouted.

"I-I don’t know..." She admitted with a soft sigh. "The best I can come up with is that they would go into hiding. With their ability to do magic gone, they’ll be easy pickings to their competition."

"Hehe, exactly."

"But why?" The catwoman couldn’t understand what Caleb was aiming for. "They’re criminals who have done a lot of unspeakable things."

"Not exactly. They simply monetized the desires of selfish and wicked people. They’re not the ones to be blamed."

"I can’t say I understand what you’re talking about." Jess sighed, deciding to put this to the side. "Do your magic thing so we can get out of here."

"Sure."

Caleb extended his right hand over the Dack Knight members, his eyes glowing a turquoise blue. Following this, the same hue glowed from his hands as he accessed their genetic profile.

[One hundred and twenty-three targets selected. Proceed to cripple their mana organs?]

[Y/N]

’Honestly, the idea of killing still frightens me.’ Caleb thought, making his selection. ’I thought it was only a matter of time before I got used to killing in this world, but I still can’t. Sure, killing monsters comes easy to me, but human life is something else.’

This was the actual reason behind his words. While there was a bit of truth in them, he just didn’t want to get his hands dirty.

’Maybe because of my profession?’

He wasn’t sure, but one thing was for certain; he had no intention of killing anyone any time soon. Call him hypocritical, but this was his nature.

"Ah...!"

The men began to scream shortly after, feeling the agony as their mana organs fell apart and mana abandoned their bodies.

A sudden wave of weakness hit them out of nowhere, robbing them of their enhanced strength and abilities. Most passed out a second time before the process was over – Oliver included.

"So what now?"

Jess asked with both hands crossed over her chest. There was no feeling of sympathy in her eyes as she watched the men scream in agony. To her, they were getting off easy.

"We head to their hidden base." Caleb replied, kneeling before the crime boss to access his genetic memories. "It should have a few more interesting things."

He looked over his shoulder to where the shield lay buried in thick ice. A quick run-through with the system got him what he needed.

After that, he and Jess retrieved the storage artefacts, confiscating everything these men owned.

"Let’s go."

Without looking back, Caleb and Jess made a run for it, diving deeper into the forest and towards the mountain range where the base was located.

"It should take us a little over 10 minutes to arrive at our current speed," Caleb explained. "Once we’re done with the base, we can visit that count of yours."

"Hehe, you are singing my song." Jess grinned diabolically. "That bastard won’t see what’s going to hit him."

Just as he predicted, they soon arrived at the base of a certain mountain that looked uninteresting. But Caleb knew what he was looking for.