A violent tremor washed over the entire Den, freezing everyone in their place. At first, they all assumed it was an earthquake, but only seconds later it happened again.
As the lights flickered, a new screen appeared on Dante's OAM. He recognized the first basement floor casino he had seen earlier, only now it was in a state of chaos with people trampling over each other as they rushed toward the exit. The tables were flipped, shattered glass filled the floor, and blood slowly seeped from the few unfortunate enough to get caught in a storm of gunfire.
At the center of the mess was a single hulking man built of nothing but muscles. He raised his fists into the air and brought them down on a poker table, crushing it with a single strike and causing another quake to spread through the building.
At his feet were multiple corpses smashed flat, their blood splattered everywhere. The hulking man paid them no mind as he walked toward a group huddled in a corner. They appeared helpless at first, but then one of them took a rifle out and began shooting, but to no avail.
Another peculiar thing about the hulking man was his dark gray skin. When the bullets hit him, sparks scattered and nothing more. No wound, no blood. He was not affected at all.
[Dante, I believe that's an Enhanced Individual.]
'Well who could've guessed…'
The first question that came to Dante's mind was where did that guy come from. They had checked the footage only a few minutes ago and there was no one that came close to resembling such a monster. A more important question would be what is someone like that doing in such a random place. Factory Town wasn't exactly a place one would expect to see a rampaging Enhanced Individual.
'What do you think?'
[I apologize. You need to be close to the target in order for me to get a precise evaluation.]
Dante heaved a sigh. He didn't care about the EI that much, or so he thought until he saw the Ace of Spades tattoo on the back of the monster's right hand.
'You gotta be kidding me…'
Turns out the bullet proof monster was Michael Jason. His face was twisted like that of a rabid dog, with veins bulging from his neck and forehead. His eyes seemed like they could pop out of their sockets at any moment. Just when Dante thought he would have to rush out so he wouldn't lose his target in the fleeing crowd, he found out that the man had become the center of a very messy incident.
'As If I didn't have enough problems.'
The cook must've received the news as he suddenly went into panic mode. He dragged his potbelly and rushed out of the back door, not noticing Dante as he remained crouching beside the cabins. Through the security footage, Dante saw that the man who was heading toward the kitchen had taken out a gun and was running in the direction of the stairs leading to the basement.
In such chaos, Dante had no reason to continue hiding. He only had to make up his mind on what to do next. The most logical choice was to leave the Den and report what happened to Victor. With the target having become an EI, and one that's at least Level 2, completing the job was no longer possible.
The second choice was to confront the monster and take on the risks that came with that. As he stood up to his feet, Dante found himself arriving at a decision.
~[ ]~
"You thought you could cheat me, huh?"
Silence shrouded the Den's first basement floor. The fleeing crowds had left the building and the shooting had stopped when the guards realized that their bullets weren't doing any damage.
In the corner near the bar, a burly man cowered on the floor with a rifle in his shaking hands. He had just emptied an entire magazine into the creature towering over him yet he failed to cause the slightest bit of damage.
"C'mon! Say something!" Jason, having undergone an odd transformation, took a step forward, a crazed grin splitting his face. "Admit that you cheated and I will let you go."
The burly man trembled uncontrollably, horror having changed his color from dark brown to pale white.
"I-I-I-I-"
"You really thought I would hand you that pill? Huh?"
"H-hey man, we were just playing!" The burly man cried out. "Th-th-that's just how things go, sometimes you win, sometimes y-you lose!"
"Like hell I'm gonna believe that!"
Raising his arms in the air, Jason slammed the floor once more, sending another shockwave through the building.
"I know bastards like you!" He punched with his right arm. "You let people win a few games-" he followed with the left. "Then you rig the rest!" He punched twice. "You always cheat those who can't fight back! But not me!"
He punched and punched, and punched. "I have the power now! You will never-"
His right arm froze mid-swing as he finally saw what was in front of him. The burly man was gone, and in his place was a small crater filled with squishy meat paste.
"... oh… You're already dead…" He seemed surprised by the fact, even though he had been the one hammering him just now. Looking at his hands, thick blood dripping from them, his thoughts halted for a moment before he was overcome with the urge to laugh.
"Haha…hahaha…aaaAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
This was it. This was true power. Skin tough enough to stop bullets, muscles strong enough to lift tons and toss them without effort. No machines required. No metallic bones, no artificial muscles. Only raw strength granted by pushing the human body past its natural limits.
"No one will stop me…" Clenching his fists, Jason looked down at the man he had just flattened. "Nothing will get in-"
TAP. TAP. TAP.
The sound of footsteps echoed in the ravaged basement, shattering Jason's mood and drawing his attention to the stairs leading to the upper floor.