An Upgraded Soul

Divit had come to his senses finally from his 'excited' state. He had never felt such a kind of exhilarating feeling before. The thrill of possessing such power and invulnerability had never hit him so hard as much as it did now.

"So, this is true power," Divit clenched his fist as he felt his heart beating rapidly. He felt a subtle shift in his paradigm of 'enjoying life'. Even though Divit knew that his body had been 'enhanced', he had never truly fathomed the potential or bothered to study his strength. Divit was too busy with making most of his life. The only feature that he explored was the increase in his s.e.x.u.a.l capabilities.

Divit did not bother about other things as he had thought that he possessed everything one could d.e.s.i.r.e. Not even once did he try to check the feeling of being able to withstand bullets, see in the dark, destroying everything in his path or people having no other option but to run away from you. Divit felt that his previously held notion about 'power' was laughable in the face of these capabilities. He felt a thirst for more strength like never before. No wonder, tyrants of the past did what they did throughout their lives.

Tonight, Divit realised what he was missing out by not following his elder brother's footsteps. All the women, food and comforts paled in comparison to the last few minutes of stimulation that he experienced. The fear of getting killed, the risk of getting hurt and the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of overpowering your enemies, it is not surprising that Ivaan did not come home but stayed at 'that' place. But now was not the time to think about these issues.

Divit looked at the thick bluish smoke (the dark grey smoke appeared dark blue due to the Class IV Madaktus) around him as he realised a point. Divit did not have a way to kill these bastards who dared to attack him. He could not find his car anymore as Divit had no idea where he was present in this world of smoke. Divit felt a little frustration that these loaches were able to survive despite his strength. Divit felt even more anger at the fact that he did not know the reason for being targeted by these people.

Divit calmed down as he closed his eyes and perked his ears as he analysed the sounds all around him.

Thomas creased his brows when he saw that Divit had calmed down. Thomas checked his screen and matched Divit's position with the 3D map of the whole level. He immediately knew that his luck had run out. Divit was standing a few metres away from the lift and the stairs.

"Did you disable the elevator?" Thomas asked Manas. Manas shook his head and said, "we only deactivated the ninth floor button on the lift. We made sure that this level was empty except for a few people who are staying the night in the hotel and us. If we had completely shut the elevator, it would only take a few minutes before this malfunction is noticed and we risk getting exposed.

Thomas knew that the mission was not to retain Divit but to rescue the girl. But the moment Divit managed to leave this floor, he will be able to contact his people because the range of the communication jammer was only so much. It was the worst thing that could happen.

Thomas had finally experienced the level of incompetence of their team, and all their dreams of being those formidable soldiers in films had burst. If they were forced to fight another group of Auxilia with no element of surprise, the number of casualties that might occur on their side was not a joke. Divit should not be allowed to leave the level at any cost.

It had been twelve minutes since the fight began and the time was running out. If Little Boss did not come anytime soon, then Thomas would have to stop this mission and execute their 'exit' strategy.

Thomas turned to Manas and said, "we don't have the time to think about others. Divit is seconds away from hearing the elevator sounds. Shut the elevator completely, and I don't care if some people notice it or even if someone is stuck in it."

But it was already late as Divit had reached the lift. He was surprised that he couldn't see the elevator until it was within his hand reach. One could imagine the thickness of the smoke around him. Divit prepared to press the button, but suddenly the light went out, and the switch became unresponsive.

Divit sneered as he looked towards his back. Divit was unaware of the place that the assailants were present, but he could tell that he was being monitored. The elevator abruptly shutting down was a clear indicator. Divit shouted with raw hate, "shitheads, you think that you can stop me from leaving by taking out the lift? If you have guts, come fight face to face with me, cowards."

Thomas tensed up when he found that he had no other way to get Divit to stay. If he made a sound, Thomas risked getting killed in one hit if his luck was messed up. But still, Thomas had to attempt; otherwise, he would be disappointing his boss. Thomas took a deep breath from the gas mask and removed it.

He activated the speaker system of all his subordinates and spoke with a small mic. Due to this, Thomas's voice was heard from all directions so that Divit will not be able to determine his exact location. Thomas tried to assume his most efficient mocking tone as he heckled, " Oh? Running already? I didn't expect that the young master of the great Raipath family only amounts to so much."

Divit froze when he heard these words. A small smile spread along his face as he turned and spoke in a clear voice, "your idea of taunting might be on the spot, but your way of angering me isn't right. Do you think I will care for things like the honour of the Raipath family and stay here? I don't give a damn about anyone except for myself, and even my family doesn't count."

Divit walked sideways and reached the stairways. The door had been locked from the outside. Divit jeered as he pulled the lock away like it was made of paper, and the door swung open. The smoke had leaked into the staircase as well and engulfed it, but Divit did not mind it.

Divit turned towards his back as he displayed a middle finger and shouted, "Bastards, wait for me here like sitting ducks and start thinking about your afterlives. In a few minutes, each one of you are going to die like dogs. C'Ya..."

When Divit was about to finish his warning, he heard a voice from behind saying, "Just shut up. You are making my headache worse with your annoying voice."

Divit got chills running through his spine when he heard this voice. Divit turned around to see a thin figure standing behind him. He couldn't see the person face, but he could tell that this person was rubbing his forehead as he looked at him.

Divit smirked when he saw this person who was foolish enough to come up to him. But reality proved him wrong. Before Divit could utter a word, a kick landed in his stomach with shocking speed. The force that spread from the impact point was so intense that one might mistake that it was a fully grown bull elephant's attack.

Breath was knocked entirely out of Divit's body because of this strike. His stomach seems to have shifted from its original position along with other inner organs.

Crash! Screech!! Bang!!!

Divit shot backwards like a ragged doll as he smashed into a car. Divit did not stop as he passed through the door and exited through the opposite door and hit the second car. The second car was an SUV; it skidded sideways due to the force and stopped only after hitting a column.

The smoke dispersed along the path that Divit flew as if a small vacuum had been created. After a moment, this trajectory became a centre for low pressure and smoke from around rushed in to fill it. Small cyclone-like swirling motions could be observed in the dense smoke.

Divit's condition was unaffected for the most part, but he did not feel comfortable either. The Class IV Madaktus was unable to nullify this hit completely. 10% of the impact was rebounded to the person who attacked while 60% of the force was dispersed in all directions. But Divit's abdomen still pained because of the remaining 30% force which penetrated his body. His spirit and vigour that was burning a few seconds ago all but cooled down.

Divit felt that this person was dangerous as he looked at the thin figure in the dispersing smoke. Divit could still feel his stomach lightly trembling form the impact. This person seemed to be lighting a cigarette. The white smoke which blew from his mouth and nostrils formed a stark contrast with the dark greyish haze around.

Aditya looked at the thick dark mist flooding the whole level as he rubbed his throbbing forehead and muttered, "this looks quite expensive. This fellow Thomas better should not have wasted my money. Yeah, whatever."