'Five minutes... five minutes?! What the hell am I supposed to do in five minutes?'
Axel stood in the center of the room and he was still looking at the mission update from the system. His heart pounded so hard he could feel it and due to the almost deafening silence, he could hear it. He didn't expect any of this. First was getting dragged here, getting accused of being REIN, and now… a mission that basically said escape or die.
"Five minutes," he whispered. "How am I supposed to escape anything in five freakin' minutes?"
Panic clawed at him, but he forced himself to breathe. He wasn't stupid and he wasn't helpless. He just needed to think.
The system wouldn't give him a task that was impossible… right?
Right?
He looked around the bare room again, taking in its features. Cold metal walls, a steel door with no handle, no vents, no windows. It felt impossible. But he wasn't supposed to look for obvious exits. That rarely worked for him anyway.
Axel stepped up to the steel door and placed his palm against it.
It was cold and reinforced, but not too much.
His eyes widened with realization because the door… wasn't as heavy duty as it looked. A Spectra level fighter could break it open with the right hit. Even a strong Lumina user could crack it.
"…Okay. Okay. That's something."
He withdrew his hand and flexed his fingers. His pulse steadied slightly as his mind sharpened.
"What if... the Infernal Slash could melt this door?"
Axel only had ten uses for every five minutes. If he failed with all ten strikes, he was toast.
The mission prompt replayed in his head again: Permanent incarceration and potential death.
"Yeah... no pressure."
He swallowed hard and exhaled.
"That door better melt like those dummies… or I'm dead."
Axel remembered the training room, the glow in his hands, the heat, the way the dummies turned into puddles like they were made of butter. If he could recreate that moment here… the door wouldn't stand a chance.
He stepped back, planted his feet, and raised his hand. His heart raced, but his mind was oddly calm.
[Infernal Skill Activated!]
"Alright," he muttered. "Come on… work. Please work."
That same molten red energy surged up and down his arm like it did before. Then, he lunged forward and swung his arm.
The air heated instantly. The red energy in his palm flared.
He shot out the first Infernal Slash and it went forward, straight toward the steel door.
He prayed it would be enough.
---
[Infernal Core Status: 90%]
Axel's first Infernal Slash struck the steel door with a sharp hiss of heat... but it left only a shallow, pathetic dent.
That was expected. One hit from a Lumina 3 user wasn't going to be enough to bring down a steel door and Axel himself knew it. At least, he had 9 more uses left.
He swung again.
And again.
[Infernal Core Status: 80%]
[Infernal Core Status: 70%]
Each slash cut across the metal with molten sparks and streaks of red heat, but the door refused to crumble. It glowed in places, softened in patches… but it didn't really melt.
Axel grit his teeth as the exhaustion crept in. His breaths grew shorter and his muscles grew heavier.
"Come on… come on goddammit!" he cursed.
Seven slashes left.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
He watched the last blazing arc cut across the metal like a dying sparkler. The light faded and the holding cell fell quiet again.
The door stood still.
Melted in some places, dented in others, steaming but still standing.
Axel stared at it with his chest rising and falling and skin dripping with sweat.
"…No. No way. No bloody way. No way that's it."
[Infernal Core: 0%]
[Unable to use Infernal Skills at the moment]
[Your Infernal Core is on cool down]
[Infernal Core Status: Cooling Down]
[Duration: 5 Minutes]
His Infernal Core was empty, completely drained. He felt it in his arms and even deep in his bones. He had nothing left.
But the system didn't care.
The mission timer didn't care.
This damn door didn't care.
Something snapped inside him, not emotionally, but mentally. A stubborn, reckless refusal.
"Fine," Axel growled. "If you won't melt…"
He walked up to the door, drew back his fist and slammed it into the door.
CRACK.
Pain shot up his arm so sharply it felt like lightning. His knuckles cracked under the force of the hit.
[-1 HP]
He ignored that message and he kept going.
He hit the door again and again and again.
CRACK.
[-1 HP]
Notifications flashed faster than he could read them.
[-1 HP]
[-1 HP]
[-1 HP]
His knuckles screamed. His bones groaned. Something in his wrist snapped and shifted.
But Axel didn't stop.
He slammed his fists harder and faster, pouring every bit of panic, anger, and fear into each hit.
"Break—"
THUD
"BREAK—"
CRACK
"JUST—!"
BOOM
The final punch ripped through the weakened seam. The metal door buckled inward and crashed onto the floor outside with a deafening clang.
Axel stumbled forward, breathing like he had just run a marathon. His hands were shaking and bloody, knuckles split open, bones not quite aligned.
But he had done it. He had actually done it.
[Mission Complete]
[Reward: +10 EXP]
[EXP: 20/150]
Axel exhaled shakily.
"One door… down," he whispered. "Now I just have to survive the rest."
He stepped out of the cell. His injured hands were throbbing, but he was ready for whatever was out there waiting for him. But first... he needed to complete his next mission.
Clear his name and rob a student.