Obscura cursed under his breath.

'So, every damn floor, we have to fight and then hack?'

Because the location of each elevator is different, it seems that each one can only go up one level.

His jaw tightened as he glanced at the countdown timer displayed on the wall.

02:01:05

His mind raced.

Would they be able to finish the mission within the remaining time?

There werefivefloors in total, and they were only just about to reach the second one. They had already wasted overthirty minutesjust trying to open that damn first door. If this one took just as long—plus the time spent fighting—then their time would be too tight.Too risky.

No. There was no use overthinking it now.

They needed to focus on the task at hand.

Obscura took a deep breath and moved to the elevator panel, pulling out a sleek, compact device from the inside of his coat. It looked like a thin tablet, but the holographic interface lit up the moment his fingers brushed over it.

Eclipse, standing beside him, let out a dramatic groan.

"Oh,come on," she whined, crossing her arms. "Again?This setup is so annoying."

She kicked the ground lightly, looking like an impatient child. "Who even designed this stupid building? Someparanoid freak?"

Obscura didn't answer. He was already focused, fingers moving swiftly across the interface, bypassing minor security layers just to reach the core firewall.

The elevator itself was sleek, high-tech—no buttons, only a digital touch screen embedded into the wall. The doors were thick, reinforced steel, making itimpossibleto break through physically. The only way up was through hacking.

He frowned.Of course.

This wasThe Erasers'facility, after all. The ones that kept The Archive hidden from the world. It was no surprise that their security systems were top-notch.

As Obscura worked, Eclipse paced back and forth behind him, arms swinging restlessly.

The defeated Runners scattered across the floor remained perfectly still, pretending to be unconscious. None of themdaredto move. Not after what she had done to them.

They weren't stupid.

One wrong twitch, and Eclipse might take it as an excuse to knock them outfor realthis time.

"Ugh,hurry up," she grumbled, glaring at the elevator panel as if she could intimidate it into opening. "I swear, if we have to do this oneveryfloor, Imightactually lose my mind."

Obscura ignored her, eyes narrowing as he hit another security wall.

Damn it.

The Erasers' encryption was apain. Even with his skills, it was taking far too long to break through.

He exhaled through his nose, trying to keep his frustration in check. Getting agitated wouldn't help.

Still—

"This is ridiculous," he muttered, fingers moving faster over the holographic interface. "These bastards really went all out with their security."

"Yeah, yeah," Eclipse sighed, twirling a knife between her fingers. "Tech problems, blah blah. Look, just tell me—how long is this gonna take?"

Obscura didn't answer immediately. He was busy manipulating the bypass sequence, forcefully injecting false data into the firewall's system logs to make it believe the elevator hadalreadybeen authorized. It was a tricky method—one that requiredabsoluteprecision.

One wrong move, and the entire system would go into lockdown.

Seconds passed.

Then—

A sharpbeepsounded from the elevator panel.

Eclipse froze.

She squinted at the panel, then at Obscura."Hold on.Not falling for it this time."

The last time she assumed the beep meant success, she hadembarrassedherself.

Instead of celebrating, she crossed her arms and raised a brow, waiting.

Finally, after a second, the steel doors slid open with a quiethiss.

Eclipse's lips twitched.

Without hesitation, sheshamelesslystepped inside, not even sparing Obscura a glance.

He rolled his eyes and followed.

The elevator ascended smoothly, but neither of them relaxed.

They both knew what was coming.

As soon as the doors slid open again, they were greeted by anewwave of Runners.

But this time...

Eclipse let out a low whistle, her gaze sweeping over them.

"Oh-ho?Nowwe're talking."

Unlike the thugs on the ground floor, these men lookedprofessional.Their bodies were solid—well-built and disciplined. These weren't random street gang members.

They were trained.

Private security level.

Probably hired muscle for high-class clients.

At leastfiftyof them stood between Eclipse and the next elevator.

Obscura remained impassive.

Eclipse, however,grinned.

"This might actually be fun."

Without hesitation, she launched herself forward, fists swinging with lethal precision.

Unlike earlier, it didn't feel like she was simplybullyingthem. These men had actual training—they knew how to block, how to counter.

But still—

She dodged a punch. Then another. Thenanother.

—they weren't good enough.

As she drove her knee into one man's ribs, shesighed.

"Seriously? You look tough, but you're all justappearances,huh?"

Another opponent lunged at her. She ducked, spun, and slammed her elbow into his jaw.

"Disappointing," she muttered.

A group of three came at her at once.

Finally.Some teamwork.

But it didn't matter.

She flipped over one, kicked the second in the chest, and twisted the third's arm behind his back before shoving him into the others.

Another sigh. "I wasexpectingmore from you guys."

Obscura, meanwhile, watched the scene with a completely neutral expression.

Then, he looked at the timer on the wall.

Damn it. They were still losing too much time.

Without a word, he stepped into the fight, weaving through the chaos with practiced ease.

It didn't take him long to take down several men. He was precise, clean—quick and efficient. Unlike Eclipse's wild and flashy movements, he made every strikecount.

Within minutes, only half of the Runners remained.

That was enough.

Obscura stepped back. "I'm hacking the next elevator. Cover me."

Eclipse scoffed. "Obviously."

He moved toward the elevator.

And—of course—the Runners tried to stop him.

Bad move.

Before they could get close—

THWACK!

Eclipseslammedone into the ground, twisting to elbow another in the face.

"Don't touch him," Eclipse warned.

But then, another one tried to approach, and then another.

She took them all down.

She clicked her tongue, glaring at the rest.

"Are you guysstupid?" she snapped. "How many times do I have to saydon't touch him?!"

Yet they kept trying.

Again and again, Runners attempted to rush at Obscura, only to bebrutallytaken down by Eclipse before they could even reach him.

"Youreallydon't learn, do you?" she grumbled, kicking another one into a wall.

Obscura barely spared them a glance.

He was too focused, fingers moving even faster now.

The firewall here was just as tough—maybe eventougher—but he was getting better at predicting its patterns.

He was almost there.

Just a bit more...

Then—

Beep.

The doors slid open.

At thesamemoment, Eclipse threw the last remaining Runner to the ground.

She dusted off her hands. "That's all of them."

Obscura checked the timer.

01:37:45

Great.

Theystillhad a chance to make it.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com