"Who the hell are you?" Number 0 demanded, his voice echoing off the blood-slicked concrete.
The intruder remained silent, standing motionless in a tailored black suit. Fine dustings of fresh snow rested on his shoulders, melting slowly under the harsh overhead fluorescent lights.
Who is this guy...? Eliza thought, her pulse hammering as she stared at the stranger's calm, masked silhouette.
Nearby, Ethan blinked heavily, his red eyes fading back to their natural tone. Where am I...? My head... feels like...
He forced himself upright, clutching his temples.
Number 0's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. "So... it's you. The intruder I saw..."
Without another word, Number 0 released his suffocating chokehold on Hayato, stepping away from the fallen boy to position himself directly in front of the masked intruder.
The stranger took a single, measured step forward, his sharp gaze drifting briefly over Hayato's bleeding form before locking back onto Number 0.
"Hey, speak up if you've got a tongue!" Number 0 sneered, closing the remaining distance until he stood chest-to-chest with the intruder.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Hayato scrambled to his feet, rushing over to Shisui's limp body and slinging the uninjured arm over his shoulder.
"Can you stand, Ethan?" Hayato called out, his voice raspy.
Ethan nodded stiffly, pushing himself up despite the agonized protest of his fractured knuckles. "Who's that...?"
"Don't know, don't care," Hayato gritted out, hauling Shisui higher onto his back. "Let me worry about that later. We need to leave this place right now."
Ethan offered a curt nod.
"There's an exit route," Eliza spoke up suddenly from the corner, pointing toward a heavy reinforced door past the broken holding units. "Through that back cell... it leads straight out to the mountain perimeter, far from the main complex."
Hayato paused, looking at her. "What about you?"
Eliza slowly shook her head, a quiet, bitter resignation in her eyes. "I..."
Hayato offered a firm nod. "Understood."
Eliza's breath caught in surprise. For a fleeting second, the cold, calculating scientist vanished—and in her place stood the girl Hayato used to know in the sunlit courtyard years ago. She offered a soft, genuine smile and nodded back. Hayato returned the smile, a moment of warm, unfiltered understanding passing between them amidst the carnage.
Hayato turned on his heel, carrying the unconscious Shisui down the corridor. "Let's go!"
Ethan fell into step right behind him. "Hey... do you know that woman?"
"Long story," Hayato grunted, his boots slapping against the metal grates. "I'll explain later. Just keep moving."
Before stepping into the threshold of the escape cell, Ethan paused, glancing back one last time at the masked stranger standing alone against the Syndicate.
To Ethan's shock, the masked man tilted his head slightly, giving Ethan a subtle, distinct nod.
Is he... telling me to go? Ethan thought, his eyes widening. Deciding not to waste the window, Ethan turned and sprinted after Hayato into the dark tunnel.
Down in the main hall, Number 0's head snapped toward the back exit. "Eliza! Why the hell did you let Hayato escape?!"
Eliza met his glare with cold indifference. "Shut your mouth."
Number 0's jaw tightened in disbelief. "I will butcher you for this..."
He took a aggressive step toward Eliza—but as his shoulder brushed past the masked stranger, the intruder leaned in slightly, his voice a low, chilling whisper against Number 0's ear.
"Hand over..."
Number 0 froze, his eyes widening in sudden realization. "Who the hell are you?!"
The masked boy narrowed his eyes behind his visor. "You haven't recognized me yet?"
Number 0's face twisted into an evil sneer. Without warning, he threw a lightning-fast right hook directly into the masked boy's face!
THWACK!
The fist hit empty air.
In the fraction of a second it took for the strike to land, the masked boy vanished, reappearing effortlessly five feet to the right.
So fast?! Number 0 thought, his instincts screaming.
Number 0 spun, launching a second, full-power strike. The masked boy caught Number 0's massive fist with a single left hand, his grip like a hydraulic vise, and casually hoisted Number 0 off his feet into the air.
He lifted Number 0... like he nothing?! Eliza gasped internally.
"Eliza, attack him!" Number 0 roared from mid-air.
The masked man tossed Number 0 aside like trash. Before Eliza could even react, the intruder blurred across the floor, appearing instantly behind her. A swift, precise knife-hand strike bit into the nerve cluster on her neck, sending her crumpling to the floor, unconscious before her body hit the grates.
Number 0 scrambled up, his fury overflowing. "Who the hell are you?!"
The masked man slowly turned around. Reaching up with one hand, he pulled down his tactical mask just far enough to reveal his face for a split second before snapping it back into place.
Number 0's eyes went wide as saucers, the color draining completely from his face.
"...Now I understand," Number 0 breathed out, his surprise rapidly morphing into a manic, unhinged grin.
Without hesitation, Number 0 reached out and slammed his hand onto a red emergency console embedded in the wall.
ALARM SIRENS BLARED.
The heavy glass containment tubes along the perimeter unlocked simultaneously, hiss-releasing thick clouds of cryogenic steam. Dozens of bio-mutants spilled into the room—each mutated with grotesque biological weapons, calcified armor, and razor-sharp appendages.
"So... you were alive all this time," Number 0 laughed, his voice echoing over the alarms. "Who would have thought you'd show your face here of all places?"
HEAVY FOOTSTEPS.
The main reinforced doors burst open as Leonard rushed into the hall, flanked by a squad of heavily armed Loop Executives.
"Sir!" Leonard called out, halting at the sight of the carnage.
"Leonard," Number 0 commanded, his eyes never leaving the masked intruder. "Close all main exits. A few rats escaped through the back cell. Take two men, go after them immediately, and lock the containment cell behind you!"
"But sir—" Leonard started.
"That is an order!" Number 0 barked.
Leonard flinched, then gave a sharp nod. "Understood!"
Glancing down, Leonard's eyes narrowed as he caught sight of Eliza lying unconscious on the ground, but he didn't hesitate—he motioned for two executives and sprinted down the back corridor after Hayato and Ethan.
Within seconds, the entire place was locked down. Dozens of bio-mutants and Executives formed an impenetrable ring around the masked stranger. Though the regular guards visibly trembled in the presence of the writhing mutants, Number 0's towering presence kept them firmly in line.
Number 0 stepped to the center of the ring, a dark, sadistic smile spreading across his face. "So... there's nowhere left for you to run."
The masked man remained perfectly still, his hands tucked loosely into his coat pockets, radiating a quiet, suffocating aura.
Number 0 leaned down, scooping up Hayato's bone-blade from the concrete.
"Today, you die for real," Number 0 declared, testing the weight of the bone-sword. He raised his hand, signaling the upper catwalks. "RELEASE THE SPECIAL MUTANTS!"
A series of heavy blast doors along the far wall slid upward.
Out stepped thirteen colossal, hulking leviathans—each standing over ten feet tall. One arm was modified into a massive, blood-stained executioner's axe, while the other held a heavy steel morningstar, its spiked metal ball connected to thick, iron chains.
The sheer weight of the thirteen giant beasts made the concrete floor tremble beneath their boots.
Number 0's grin broadened into that of a demon as he gestured toward the lonely figure in the center of the arena.
"No one can save you today," Number 0 sneered, resting the bone-blade over his shoulder. "And I will be the one who gets the eternal credit for slaughtering the legend... the 'White Reaper'."