"Yes, Ana?" Mikael gently asked when he picked up the call, and the girl on the other end stayed silent for a few seconds.
"Where are you?"
"I am on my way to Mystic Town."
"Mystic Town? Why?"
"There's someone there I want to see. I should be back before breakfast, or if I am late, I will be back before noon."
"Brother."
"Yes?"
"Why did you leave your guards behind?" She was clearly trying her best to remain calm.
"It will attract too much attention. You know the state of the city. I will be a moving target if I have guards around. No one will bother me or think much if I am alone. Less chance of getting recognised as well."
Anaiah stayed silent at his words.
"I know that's an excuse," she lightly said, and he sighed.
"Ana, I will be back safe and sound. I promise. Okay?"
"Be safe," he said and ended the call, and he sighed again because he knew she was very upset with him.
As the one-hour mark closed in, Mikael saw that Aaron was still on the way to Mystic Town, but he seemed to be heading southwest, towards the coast range of the Erinic Ocean.
"System, give me a vague location of their evacuation point. And tell me how they plan to leave Dragonia."
{It will consume 5 Fate Value.}
"Do it," he said, right when the map disappeared from his mind and he lost the markers on Bai Yuan and Aaron.
The System showed him the location and told him some details, and he was dismayed when he learned that there was a submarine waiting for them in the waters.
A submarine!!!
Aaron quickly shared the information with the Dragonian authorities and then headed straight to the place to wait for the Child of Destiny to show up.
Exactly 90 minutes later, he stopped the car at a scenic spot, and then rushed towards the cliffs, carrying the Special Rifle on his back.
Mikael knew that the Dragonian authorities would find him out, no matter what, and with the help of satellite images, if he was found taking out a rifle from thin air, he would be in a lot more trouble.
Unfortunately, he did not have a lot of time to plan and prepare for these tasks.
He moved as fast as he could, and when he got a clear look at the Erinic Ocean and the secluded beach under the cliffs, he quickly sat down against a boulder and assimilated the skills that he had learned.
Surprisingly, it was not as painful as before, and it was probably thanks to his healing abilities.
Half an hour later, using the Hunting Skill, he found the right vantage point to hide and then laid down on the rugged surface.
Mikael could hear his heart thumping in his ears, but he kept his breathing even, and patiently waited for Aaron and his team to show up.
Minutes passed, nearly half an hour went by, and his patience was finally rewarded when he saw several figures rush out of the woods, head straight to the cliff adjacent to the one he was on, and dive down, landing on the beach.
An amused smile crept on his face when he saw them all covered in blood and looking haggard.
He recognised Lin Hao, whose left arm was broken. Tiger was vigilantly looking around, but thankfully, this rifle had a chameleon feature, which made it blend in with the surface it was placed on.
There were five other masked figures, all tired.
Patrick and one other person had some device in their hands, which they both crushed at the same time.
Mikael knew that the signal to the submarine had been sent, and his heart started slowing down.
His targets were nearly three hundred metres away from him, and as the time to pull the trigger approached, he could not help but feel nervous.
A single wrong step would make all these people come after him, and if that happened, he would lose his life here.
Minutes later, the submarine surfaced from the waters, a few hundred metres from the beach.
Aaron rushed into the ocean without wasting any time, and the rest followed suit.
Mikael marked Lin Hao and Tiger as his first targets since they were behind the rest of the team.
The oriental man, who was already very tired, was struggling as he walked into the water, and Tiger was guarding his back, still looking around.
Mikael's heart stopped for a moment, and the next time he heard his own heartbeat, he pulled the trigger.
There was a soft whistling sound in the air, the briefest of flash from the muzzle, and before Tiger could react, he saw blood splatter from Lin Hao's head.
"Headshot!" Mikael screamed in his heart and pulled the trigger again, targeting Tiger's body, which was covered in his aura now.
The Adamantine Bullet pierced right through his Aura Armour and left a gaping hole in his chest, and then another bullet hit his brain.
He was dismayed at the power that these bullets contained. Tiger was a man in the Seventh Profound Realm.
Everything happened so quickly and silently that the people in the raging waters did not even realise that they were missing two people.
Through the lens, Mikael kept an eye on the bodies under the water, which were swimming swiftly towards the submarine.
He kept his aim on Patrick, and as the distance between them kept increasing, he became more and more restless.
Mikael was worried that none of them would surface to catch their breath and that he would have to aim at the submarine when they tried to board it.
However, luck was on his side, and they did surface.
Patrick even stopped for a few seconds to look behind him to check on Lin Hao and Tiger, but he could not find them.
And before he could get under the water again, his head exploded.
The feeling of snatching lives away with such ease was exhilarating, and an evil grin was now plastered on his face.
Aaron and the rest still had not realised that they had lost another man. Everyone was focused on reaching the submarine.
Mikael aimed at the underwater vessel, and after taking a deep breath, he shot one round after another at it.
The distance was great, but his bullets were special, and they easily penetrated the outer hull, leaving gaping holes in it.
This alarmed the people in the submarine, who immediately started descending into the water.
Seeing the submarine going back into the water, Aaron and the rest finally noticed that something was wrong.
Mikael wanted to take them all out but his sharp sense of hearing picked up on the approaching military attack helicopters, and he knew he needed to get out of there.
However, he stayed to take another shot, this time at Aaron.
He narrowed his eyes when the Child of Destiny suddenly used his Blood Burning, strengthened his aura, and managed to survive the bullet that penetrated his shoulder instead of his head.
The young Zarayne did not waste any time and quickly got up, carried his rifle, and ran towards the scenic spot that was a kilometre away from his position.
On his way, he rushed into the woods and stored his rifle away.
Minutes later, he stepped on the road again and calmly jogged towards his car.
Mikael slowed down when a military convoy approached from the front, and before he knew it, an armoured vehicle stopped and guns were drawn at him with flashlights that pierced his eyes.
"Hands up!" someone shouted, and he cooperated.
Seeing that he stopped, the rest of the vehicles passed right by, but one stopped behind him, closing his routes of escape.
"Your ID!" he heard a gruff voice ask and he opened his eyes.
"I do not have it on me. It is in my car." He pointed at the vehicle, which was parked at the scenic spot, and the soldier frowned at his words.
"Move," he said, and under the pointed guns, he walked to the car.
"Can I take out my key?" he asked, and the soldier immediately planted his pistol on his temple.
"Scan your hand," he ordered.
The vehicle was equipped with the latest technology. Why would he need the key? It was suspicious.
Mikael sighed and opened his hands, which were covered in dust and mud.
The man realised what he meant and then searched his pockets before taking out the key.
He opened the car with it, and as the rest kept an eye on the young Zarayne, the soldier searched for his ID in the vehicle.
"Mikael Zarayne?" he looked surprised at the name, and after confirming that the image matched his face, he signalled to the soldiers to be at ease. "What are you doing here, Sir?"
"Sightseeing."
"At night?"
"I find this place more beautiful at night," he helplessly said.
"And what happened to you?" he doubtfully asked as he saw his clothes covered in dust and mud and even found some scratches on them as well as a tear.
"I stumbled and fell when I was heading to the cliff." He pointed to the faraway cliff.
Suddenly, they all turned to look towards the ocean and saw flashes, followed by the distant sounds of explosions as the attack helicopters opened fire at something.
"What's happening?" he asked, and soon the call on the radio came, which the lieutenant immediately answered.
"No, Sir. The man is Mikael Zarayne. He says he came here for sightseeing... Yes, yes. Yes, Sir!"
"Take care." Mikael, who had heard the conversation, said to the soldier, who smiled at him.
"Have a good night, Master Zarayne," he said and immediately told everyone to get back in the vehicles and head to the secluded beach.
Once they left, Mikael furrowed his brows, and after thinking for a while, he got into the car and turned around. He stopped it near the woods and quickly entered them, coming out with his Special Rifle, which he put in the boot of the car.
In fact, right before he closed the boot, he stored the rifle away in the System Inventory.
This was all a pretence for the satellite that was recording everything happening here.
For the next several hours, the young Zarayne toured the nearby Mystic Town and stopped at several places. He even took a shower and changed into new clothes at a hotel, and at 9 a.m. he left the town to return to Sylvor City.