At ten that night, Dr. Stylish prepared to attack Night Raid's base.
He secretly gathered his private troops outside the Imperial Capital, assembling more than a hundred of them in a short time.
Most looked strange despite retaining roughly human shapes.
Some had undergone specialized alterations, such as ears several times larger than normal that allowed them to hear dozens of times better than an ordinary person.
Others were failed combat experiments that could barely be called human anymore.
Most had once been condemned prisoners or civilians who had disappeared from the Imperial Capital.
Neither group consisted of people whose absence would attract much concern, which made them Dr. Stylish's favorite test subjects.
With this force and the advantage of a nighttime surprise attack, he believed wiping out Night Raid would be easy.
The thought of claiming such a major achievement for himself filled him with anticipation.
The reward would likely include greater authority and increased support for his research.
The method he had used to track Tatsumi was simple.
Perfume.
Without attracting attention, Dr. Stylish had transferred the scent of his own perfume onto the boy's clothing.
Tatsumi would never have imagined that something so minor would lead enemies directly to his organization.
Esdeath, blinded by love, certainly would not have guessed that Dr. Stylish's true loyalty belonged to the Minister's son either.
A series of uneasy growls suddenly came from the modified monsters.
They turned toward the darkness between the trees and began snarling.
Dr. Stylish frowned at their reaction.
He looked toward the three specialized scouts responsible for sight, hearing, and smell.
"What's wrong?"
"I-I don't know."
"There's no unusual movement."
"And no unfamiliar scent."
"What?"
Dr. Stylish adjusted his glasses and stared into the darkness beyond his vision.
His three scouts had detected nothing, but the monsters' instincts were clearly warning them of something.
He decided to test the area.
"Someone is hiding there, aren't they? Come out!"
The forest remained silent.
For a moment, Dr. Stylish thought the monsters had reacted to nothing.
Then a soft laugh broke the stillness.
"Heh."
A voice followed from the darkness.
"How interesting. I made no sound and released no scent, yet they still sensed danger through instinct alone."
Footsteps approached at an unhurried pace.
"No matter. Good evening, Dr. Stylish."
Noah stepped into the moonlight and allowed everyone to see him.
"Lord Stylish, be careful!"
The moment Noah appeared, Dr. Stylish's subordinates moved forward and shielded him.
A lone man appearing in a forest outside the capital in the middle of the night was already suspicious.
The fact that he had concealed himself well enough to escape the notice of all three specialized scouts made him even more dangerous.
Dr. Stylish stared at Noah in surprise.
He quickly realized that this could not be a coincidence, and his expression became guarded.
"Oh my. Professor Noah, did you follow me all the way out here for some important reason?"
Noah gave him no answer.
He simply raised his right hand and gathered six elements together.
Fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, and ice twisted into a single unstable mass.
"Elemental Detonation."
His voice was low and indifferent as he threw it forward.
The chaotic storm of elements swallowed Dr. Stylish before he could react.
He desperately ordered the modified monsters to form a barrier in front of him, but the first creatures to enter the storm were torn apart and dissolved almost instantly.
The wildly conflicting elements then contracted inward, compressed into a small sphere that radiated deadly pressure.
Dr. Stylish turned and fled as fast as he could.
One breath later, all the energy inside the sphere erupted.
The explosion tore through the forest, uprooting trees that had stood for decades or even centuries.
The surrounding earth looked as though it had been thoroughly plowed.
"Only a little over twenty?"
Noah examined the damage.
The first attack had destroyed roughly one-fifth of Dr. Stylish's monsters.
The doctor himself had escaped the center of the explosion in time, although both of his legs were gone.
He had survived by sacrificing his creations as shields.
That strong desire to live would not necessarily bring him anything good.
"A-ah... Aaaaaah! My legs!"
Dr. Stylish screamed from the pain.
It was so intense that he temporarily forgot he could use his Teigu to stop the bleeding.
"Kill him!" he shouted. "Tear him apart!"
The remaining monsters roared and charged.
Noah mixed water with air and formed a sphere above his palm. Numerous water arrows immediately shot from it.
Propelled by extreme pressure, each arrow struck with the force of a bullet, easily piercing flesh and skulls.
Dr. Stylish watched in horror as Noah calmly slaughtered the army he had created.
At the same time, the ability itself frightened him.
Was Noah controlling liquid?
Could that be Black Marlin?
"That power... It's Black Marlin." Dr. Stylish's fear deepened. "You were the one who killed the Three Beasts?"
He believed he had uncovered a secret that no one was supposed to know.
That meant Noah now had to silence him.
"Wait! Why are you doing this? Who sent you? Was it Esdeath?"
An invisible blade passed across his mouth.
Dr. Stylish immediately covered it with both hands.
Blood poured through his fingers as he stared at half of his severed tongue lying on the ground, sweat covering his face from the pain.
"Mmm! Mmmgh!"
Noah drew a bolt of lightning from empty air and wielded it like a whip.
A single sweep destroyed more than half of the monsters that remained.
Soon, only the three reconnaissance specialists—Eye, Nose, and Ear—were left.
They had little combat ability and immediately dropped to their knees.
"P-please don't kill us, sir! We're useful! We can—"
Noah walked past them without slowing.
His empty hand closed gradually around the air until it formed a tight fist.
The blood inside their bodies compressed around their hearts.
There were three soft bursts.
All three collapsed without another sound.
They had begged for mercy until the final second, and their faces remained frozen in desperate expressions even after death.
Seeing his entire force destroyed so easily, Dr. Stylish's fear began turning into madness.
"Stay away! Don't force me to do this!"
He spread both hands.
The Teigu Divine Hands: Perfector covered his fingers.
He drove all ten fingers into his own body and injected something beneath his skin.
His flesh immediately began swelling in an unnatural way.
"You forced me into this! This is all your fault! Even if you beg me for forgiveness, I won't spare you now, Noah! Witness my ultimate creation!"
Dr. Stylish seemed to forget the pain.
His expanding body flowed outward like soft mud and began absorbing the nearby monsters into itself.
"You useless failures can at least become part of my power—"
His head split down the middle before he could finish.
Since it remained attached to his neck, the two halves did not completely separate.
Confusion filled his divided face.
"Huh?"
What had just happened?
Had he already been killed?