Chapter 59: Golden Mask
The urgent shouts of the Syndicate Masters echoed through the antechambers and corridors leading away from the main command center.
"All units, evacuate! Secure the retreat of all personnel! This is the highest priority!" Operatives scrambled, their disciplined formations breaking into a controlled chaos as they relayed orders and began to fall back from the breached sections of the headquarters.
Amidst this turmoil, a figure moved with calm purpose against the flow of retreating men. He wore a gleaming golden mask that obscured his features entirely, and his dark, tailored attire spoke of nobility rather than the rougher gear of the Syndicate grunts.
His hand rested on the pommel of the sword at his hip. This was the First Prince of the Roland Kingdom.
He navigated the labyrinthine passages, his senses guiding him towards the epicenter of the disturbance. Soon, he reached a wide corridor.
At its far end, bodies of Syndicate operatives lay strewn across the floor. Adam stood amongst them, dispatching the last few guards with brutal efficiency, his movements deadly.
Adam, too, sensed an approaching presence, a power signature distinct from the cannon fodder he’d been dealing with. He turned, his borrowed sword still dripping, to see the golden-masked man standing silently at the corridor’s entrance.
"You’ve come quite far," the golden-masked man said, his voice smooth and uninflected by the chaos around them. "I believe it’s time for you to rest."
With those words, he drew his sword. The blade was a sleek, unadorned length of polished steel. Then, he vanished.
Adam’s eyes, which had registered the man’s strong energy, narrowed slightly. The speed was remarkable. He had known the newcomer was powerful, but this instantaneous movement was beyond what he’d anticipated from a mere Syndicate leader.
The First Prince reappeared directly in front of Adam, his sword already a blur as it sliced horizontally through the air. Adam leaned back, a mere shift of his weight, and the blade hissed past where his chest had been moments before. It was a clean dodge.