Genesis Code: The Genetic Awakening
Chapter 155: Watch Your Back

Chapter 155: Watch Your Back

When Duke Coldmere returned to his castle, the first thing he did was ask about his wife and children. Once he was assured of their safety, he didn’t even bother to see them and headed straight for his study.

"My Lord, you have to see this..."

One of his shadow knights met him on the way, his ominous words making the Duke’s heart skip a beat. With hurried steps, he entered the study, noticing everything was still intact.

But that was of little concern.

The Duke swiftly approached the false wall and performed a sequence of hand gestures, pressing different parts of it. A second later, the wall slid open—only for the Duke’s expression to turn grim.

"Shit..."

The doors to the hidden chamber were wide open, clear evidence of a break-in. Without hesitation, he rushed inside and headed straight for the central table.

"It’s gone..."

The colour drained from his face when he saw the journal wasn’t where it was supposed to be. He brushed the documents aside, but it was nowhere to be found.

Next, he turned to the shelves, frantically searching. While the other documents were important, the journal was the most damning.

’Fuck, fuck, fuck...!’

His mind spiralled like a broken record. With every passing second and no sign of the journal, more of his heart sank into despair.

’I’m so doomed!’

He cursed, angrily sweeping the documents aside. Both hands went to his head, gripping his hair as he pulled in desperation and hopelessness.

Finally, his gaze dropped to the ground—where the chest was supposed to be. For a moment, the Duke froze, unable to process what he was seeing.

"Ah..."

He fell to his knees with a lifeless expression, all colour drained from his face. The men in the study noticed and exchanged glances, unsure of what could cause such despair.

"My lord...?" One of the shadow knights stepped closer, arriving at the entrance of the hidden chamber. "Is everything alright?"

"Of course not!" The Duke roared in outrage, snapping his head around. "Do I look fine to you?!" The man instinctively backed away, muttering a silent apology.

The Duke took deep breaths to steady himself. He stood up and walked out of the hidden chamber, unconcerned by its exposed state.

"We’re going..." Duke Coldmere said coldly. "That bastard better be subdued before I get there..."

His men nodded silently and followed behind, the shadow forces blending into the darkness and taking the lead. Unfortunately for them, by the time they arrived at the temporary campsite, the fight was over.

"What the...?"

The Duke dismounted, hurrying toward the hooded individuals who were now conscious, but cloaked in gloomy auras.

"Where’s Caleb?" Duke Coldmere asked, brows furrowed as he looked around in confusion. Most of the bounty hunters wore expressions of shock and fear.

That alone told him everything he needed to know—but he still wanted to hear it from the leader of the hooded men. After all the praise, he had expected more from them.

"He’s gone..." Luc replied, his tone devoid of energy.

"What do you mean gone?" The Duke’s frown deepened. "I thought you had everything in place for his capture? How is it difficult to catch one man?!" His voice rose several octaves.

However...

"Enough!" Luc snapped. "If you must know, that man has been grossly underestimated by this kingdom and you fools! He’s no mere man—he’s a fucking monster!"

The Duke and his men took a step back as Luc’s outburst unleashed a wave of mana, leaving them stunned and speechless.

Ignoring the Duke’s frightened expression, Luc turned around and retrieved his call artefact. The line connected soon after. "We have a problem..." Luc said straight away. "We might have to push the plans sooner than expected."

........

Commander Axel and his men chased after the tigerkin and Jess, who was farther ahead. Axel knew that catching Jess was nearly impossible now that the magic suppression artefacts were broken.

From the reports he had received, the catwoman was as strong as a Commander. His only hope now was to capture the tigerkin in hopes of salvaging the situation.

He didn’t know how the tigerkin was connected to Caleb and Jess, but he hoped they cared enough about him to come back.

The Commander and a few of his men were the fastest of the group, quickly closing the distance on the tigerkin. Although Crusher had a head start, he was no match for the Commander in terms of speed and power.

Jess had already vanished beyond the crowns of the tall trees, heading deeper into the woods. The throw had been so powerful that she flew several hundred meters from the castle grounds.

The Commander had never seen such a display of physical strength. ’I don’t think those guys will be enough to stop him...’ Axel thought grimly.

"Commander!" One of his men called out, snapping him from his thoughts. "There’s a gathering of fog!" Axel looked ahead and cursed under his breath.

"We need to stop that person now!" Axel bellowed as he boosted his speed even more, his men not far behind. Unfortunately for them, there was still a lot of distance to cover.

The tigerkin rushed past the treelines and into the grey fog without hesitation. Arriving a few seconds later, the Commander and his men plunged inside, their protective wards already cast.

"Spread out and watch your backs," Axel ordered, and his men nodded, disappearing deeper into the mist. Left alone, Axel began exploring the fog slowly, his steps confident and purposeful.

"You’re only making things worse, Jess!" The Commander yelled, his eyes darting around through his protective ward. "The more you resist, the more complicated things become for you. You might lose your freedoms forever!"

No response came, though that didn’t surprise the Commander. Still, he continued appealing to the catwoman. "We both know the nobles won’t rest until your partner is captured—or worse."

While Axel himself didn’t want to see Caleb put down, things could get really bad, really fast. The nobility didn’t take too well to their authority being challenged.

Axel turned his head to the left when he heard the sound of a twig being stepped on. Furrowing his brows cautiously, he approached—only to ’see’ one of his men.

"The tigerkin is nowhere to be found, Commander," The knight reported with a sigh. "What do we do...?" It’s been a few minutes and still no signs of Jess or Crusher — almost as if they just disappeared.

BOOM...!

"Ah...!"

A loud explosion—like something heavy landing in their midst—blew the knights and mist away, leaving a large crater several tens of meters in radius.

Trees were uprooted, and dust and debris flew everywhere. But that was of little consequence with the night still around.

"What the hell...?" Axel muttered as he lowered his left hand, which he had used to shield his face. He stood defensively, squinting in the direction of the explosion.

Out of the dust and darkness, Caleb walked out of the crater and approached the Commander, his body flaring with an overwhelming amount of mana.

Gulp.

Axel couldn’t help but swallow hard. His guess was right—those men had failed to stop Caleb. The Commander straightened his posture as Caleb came to a stop a few meters away.

"Caleb..." Axel muttered. He had no intention of fighting, and neither did his men. They weren’t conceited enough to think they could stop Caleb.

"Commander..." Caleb replied, the mana around his body dying down. His eyes, however, were still flaring wildly like flames. "I don’t know if you’re aware of your master’s actions, but you should watch your back."

"..."

Axel had no response to that, staring at Caleb with a hardened expression. A second passed, and a flash of light appeared beside Caleb, revealing the presence of Jess and Crusher.

"Ready?" Caleb turned to Jess and Crusher.

"Yeah..." the catwoman replied, her gaze lingering on the Commander. "Thank you for not throwing me into a dungeon when you could have..."

"Wait!" The trio turned around, ready to leave, when the Commander stopped them. "What’s really going on...?"

"You should ask the Duke," Caleb replied over his shoulder. "Things might be getting worse from this point on." He grabbed the tigerkin and disappeared with Jess, leaving the Commander and his men deep in thought.