Jaune Mercer: Volume 1

Chapter 14: Distorting A Legacy.

When it was close enough, it claws off the guard's head off.

They were surprised at how the Beowulf fought differently from the usual Beowulves.

The Beowulf looks at Emilio and the guards. It throws the corpse at them, only for them to dodge it. When they look back, they see the Beowulf already at the corner. It runs away from them rather than continue combat.

"What the hell? I have never seen a Beowulf fight like that before," One guard said.

"I'm wondering how one even got in," The other guard said.

Emilio was pondering all this. He widened his eyes in realization.

"We need to head to the control room! Now!" Emilio shouted.

Emilio and the guards continue running.

Eventually, they make it to the control room. They find the door torn down. As they get closer, they look inside. To their horror, there are three dead guards with claw marks on their corpses and a pool of blood.

Adding more to their dismay, they notice how the screen, panels, and keyboard terminal are destroyed, as evident by the slash marks and exposed wiring.

"Damn it. We can't deactivate the lockdown or call for back-up," Emilio said.

"Sir. What's going on?" The guard asked.

"Alex Mercer. This is his doing," Emilio responded.

The guards were surprised to hear this.

"Alex Mercer?! What's he doing here?!" One guard shouted in fear.

"Probably to steal our research and projects," Emilio said.

He grits his teeth in frustration. The compound uses the control room to contact the outside. While scrolls don't work inside the compound, the special radios that each guard has offer communication throughout the compound. Not only as Mercer locked them in, but he also destroyed their only means of contacting anyone outside or inside.

"What do we do, sir?" One of the guards asked.

Emilio wondered about fighting Alex.

"He killed Kranz and Baldor with little effort. I don't know if I could handle him alone," Emilio thought.

He looked at his bow and arrows. He felt a tinge of hope. Soon, he looks at the other guards.

"Our top priority is evacuation."

"We'll head to where the scientists are first. Hopefully, we meet more guards on the way over."

The other two nodded.

The three began running to the science wing of the compound.

As they are running, they could hear screaming up ahead. They sprint to the noise and see what the commotion was.

To their horror, they see a Sabyr ripping into a guard.

The other guards try shooting at it, but the Sabyr is almost completely covered in bony plating that deflects their bullets.

Emilio brings up his bow. From his glove, an arrow made of hard-light dust is formed. He draws the arrow back and fires, hitting the Sabyr in its eye. Soon, it falls to the ground, its body begins evaporating.

The other guards kneel next to their fallen comrade, saddened by his death. They close his eyes and stand up, wiping away their tears.

"You two. What's the state of the compound?" Emilio asked.

"Not good sir. As you can see, Grimm have infiltrated the area and have been killing the other guards," One guard said.

"And the scientists?" Emilio asked.