Nightreign.

It was a small, tight-knit mercenary group composed of twelve individuals. Despite its size, what truly set it apart from the countless other freelance units operating across the underworld was its record, a flawless 100% job completion rate, regardless of the contract’s nature.

They accepted everything, from assassinations, kidnappings, extractions, to corporate espionage, and even high-risk retrieval missions involving magi-tech prototypes.

No matter the task, Nightreign delivered.

This time, however, the job was unlike anything they had ever been entrusted with.

Officially, it was classified as a target extraction. In simpler terms, a kidnapping. The objective was to capture Leo Roland Deutschmann, heir and only son of Dream Industries, the most powerful magi-tech conglomerate in modern Germany.

Whoever had commissioned the task clearly harbored deep resentment toward Dream Industries. The payout was massive, the risks were astronomical, and the disregard for Nightreign’s safety was obvious.

It was the kind of mission where success would make them legends, but failure would spell the end for them.

Then again, in the underworld, no one cared about the safety of mercenaries. Risk was their currency. If the corporate world above was nothing more than modern-day, glorified slavery, then the underworld was its unvarnished reflection.

And yet, even knowing that, Nightreign accepted.

Because this job was an opportunity.

A chance to finally turn their lives around, and not just theirs, but the lives of everyone trapped in the slums.

For that reason, Nightreign decided to gamble everything.

"Vehicle dismantled. Cameras disabled. Driver replicated. Standing by for orders. Five Revenant Knights spotted. Target has yet to come out. Instructions?"

Nightreign moved like a well-oiled machine. Every member understood their role. The contract had only been assigned four days ago, yet in that short time, they had gathered intelligence, forged credentials, sabotaged surveillance, and positioned their team around the extraction zone.

"Hold position," Yuze replied, watching multiple holographic feeds across his wrist console. "Confirm again, no visual on the target?"

"Negative," the voice on the other end replied. "Convoy’s been waiting for almost an hour. Kid might be running late."

Yuze frowned. The delay didn’t make sense. By now, Leo’s father should’ve already been at the event, having left more than an hour ago. Yet Leo hadn’t followed, nor had he stepped out of the estate despite the escort convoy parked and waiting outside.

"Target spotted. Entering the vehicle."

From the audio transmitter planted inside the vehicle, the reason for his delay was revealed. He had been too busy with his girlfriend to even care about being on time for the party.

——Young Master, please freshen up... The smell is filling the car.

——Ah! Leo, seriously!

Leo’s girlfriend smacked his shoulder, her face burning red with embarrassment. Their little secret had become far too obvious due to the scent filling the confined air.

In any case, hovercars did not have unrestricted access to the skies. Each one was required to pass through specific checkpoints before receiving clearance to hover. These checkpoints acted as regulatory hubs, designed to manage air traffic and prevent potential collisions with aircraft.

Across Germany, any hovercar caught flying without the proper clearance would be immediately pulled over by automated patrol drones, resulting in hefty fines and, in more severe cases, the suspension or revocation of licenses.

That meant Leo and his entourage would have to pass through the checkpoints before reaching their destination.

"Target approaching the extraction zone. Prepare for operation."

Nightreign was already in position. The plan was to disable the vehicle in a blind spot between two checkpoints where monitoring was minimal. It was the perfect place for an extraction and, more importantly, with the least possible interference.

"Move."

The operation began. Prior to this, the driver had already been replaced, his appearance replicated through holo-tech to ensure smooth impersonation and internal control of the vehicle.

The real challenge lay with the Revenant Knights accompanying Leo inside the car.

But even that had been accounted for. Every move had been anticipated in Nightreign’s plan.

After all, it had to be a perfect operation.

When the hovercar suddenly halted, the Knights immediately stepped out, scanning their surroundings while Leo and his girlfriend stayed inside, terrified and confused.

But the moment the Knights moved, they had fallen for the spiderweb.

Trapwires erupted from the pavement, releasing an electrical surge that overloaded their nanomachine armor. Sparks flared through the dark street as their bodies convulsed.

Before they could recover, two of them were already dead, cut down by Nightreign operatives.

"Leo! What’s happening?!"

"Stay down... I’ll protect you, Emma!"

Blood splattered against the window. The last Knight, still inside the car, turned to the driver.

"What are you doing?! Drive—"

Bang——!

His words never finished. The driver turned and shot him point-blank with a thunderglass, a weapon modeled after the old blunderbuss and modified with magi-tech and parts derived from Glassheart biology.

"Aaaaaah!"

As Emma screamed, Leo was frozen in place. He had never experienced anything like this. Before they could make sense of what had happened, the noise outside had already gone quiet.

The door opened. Several figures in masks entered the vehicle, one after another, surrounding Leo and Emma until there was nowhere left to run.

A call came through the stolen transmitter. One of the mercenaries answered, imitating the driver’s voice to buy them time and delay the search.

Leo tried to shout, hoping the Revenant Knights on the other end would hear him, but before he could make a sound, one of the men struck him hard across the head, knocking him unconscious. Emma’s scream was cut short as a gloved hand covered her mouth.

On paper, it seemed like a straightforward task. However, the planning and coordination it took to pull it off spoke of years of experience.

Once they had successfully fooled the remaining Revenant Knights on the other end of the line, one of the Nightreign operatives, the one in charge of handling client communications under the alias Anna, opened the encrypted channel and sent proof of the mission’s success.

[Operation complete. Heading to designated vantage point.]

Before the operation began, half of the commission had already been wired through layered laundering networks as an advance payment. Another ten percent was promised upon confirmation of the vantage point.

The remaining forty percent would be paid only after verification that Leo Roland Deutschmann had been delivered alive and uninjured. That was the condition.

Anna double-checked the transfer logs on her holo-console, ensuring the money trail was untraceable, before encrypting the coordinates for the next phase.

[Proceeding to vantage point. Estimated arrival: twenty minutes.]