"P-please, sirs, I beg of you, give me another chance-!"

"We have given you more than enough chances," Interrupted Sicario with an icy glare.

​​

"Exactly, let's see...you've barely been one of us for a year, and in that time, you've killed a bunch of pawns for no apparent reason, as well as a few lapdogs, most of the other researchers hate working with you and constantly complain about your attitude, you've got a serious superiority complex, even more so than Hacte, and that's saying a lot! Oh, and even your skills as a researcher are pretty average, and that's being generous. Dealing with you is just way more trouble that it's worth for us. So, what'd he do this time, Art?" Chimed in Rion.

Woah...they really didn't like him, huh. Understandable, given his personality.

"Attempted to kill a lapdog assistant, I believe the reason was because she mistakenly assumed the lab he was in was empty and attempted to enter it to confirm that. He has also severely damaged the inside of the building as a result. Go gather some Earth Magic users and fix the damage," Sicario instructed one of the Lapdog Elite Squad members, who nodded, bowed and hurried away to do as he was told.

"Now, then...what to do with you?" Rion remarked, staring at Arg with narrowed eyes, causing him to flinch, before adding, "Heh, I've always wanted to say that!"

"We might as well kill him. I see no benefit in a demotion, he will either lose motivation and become useless, or he will continue to cause problems as he has constantly being doing all this time," Shrugged Sicario, black lightning crackling in his palm.

"N-no, please...give me a ch-chance to redeem myself, I'll do anything! I'll prove my worth!"

"Man, you're pathetic...at least beg for your life in a cool way, like...'I demand a trial by combat!' or something," Laughed Rion.

"Ooh, I loved that show! Well, except for the last couple of seasons," Chimed in Kuua with a sparkle in her eyes, before her expression turning into a grimace.

Huh, were they talking about Game of Th-?

"V-very well, I d-demand a trial by combat!" Arg stuttered in desperation.

"Lame," Snickered Kuua.

"Please, just-!"

"SHUT UP!!! I'm trying to sleep here!" Came a LOUD exclamation, making us all jump.

I turned to the direction the shout came from...it was Azeria, I forgot that she curled up with her tail and went to sleep, guess Arg's yelling had woken her up.

"She's sleeping like a little animal...it's so adorable!" Grinned Rion with a loud whisper.

"...agreed," Nodded Sicario in agreement.

Uh...I mean, they're not wrong, but they sure are easily distracted. Oh, right...they're all high, it's not like they have Healing Factors to sober themselves up like I do.

"I i-implore you to show m-me mercy-," Arg continued, this time a lot quieter.

"Enough, this is getting annoying. You have brought this upon yourself-...hold on, maybe I will give you a chance. You, Imsret...I would like to see how you kill. Would you humor me and fight this fool, or rather...kill him."

Not gonna lie, I was having a hard time hiding my animosity right now...I finally found out who was responsible for my three years of torture, and I was pretty damn infuriated. But I can't let it show, he of all people would definitely notice if I did. So, instead, I'll have to take out that anger elsewhere. And an opportunity to kill Arg? You KNOW I'm not saying no to that!

"Very well, sir, as you wish. In fact, it would be my pleasure," I replied, standing up with a small smile.

"Wooo! This is getting interesting!" Cheered Rion, as some of the other lapdogs cleared out the middle of the grounds, while I rifled through a box of weapons on the sidelines.

I picked out a couple of pistols and a dagger, before walking out to the middle, where Arg was standing, a nervous and desperate look on his face. Oh, I'm going to enjoy this...

"Begin on my signal," Instructed Sicario, "Start!"

I sprang back as Arg immediately raised a bunch of spikes from the ground towards me, activating Lightning Boost and running around him while staying just outside his range. He was completely desperate and panicked right now, and his attacks were wild and erratic as a result. I can easily just wait it out and run out the clock till he uses up his Mana, which was great since I can't afford to get injured and reveal my Healing Factor. That would immediately give away my identity, I'm pretty sure that ability is unique to me in this world.

Still, I better not just evade and do nothing else. I drew out my guns and began firing. He immediately panicked and raised a heap of spikes towards me, which I evaded easily. I was staying just at the edge of his range, encouraging him to keep attacking while giving myself the best possible chance of dodging.

The degree of his attacks suddenly spiked, pun intended, as one of my bullets grazed his arm, the panic on his face rising. Good, that's it, keep wasting your Mana.

It's been a year, and...I don't think he's gotten any stronger. The last time I fought him, I couldn't even use Lightning Boost yet, but still, I don't think he's improved one bit. Ooh, an opening...

I shot straight at him as he suddenly stumbled back dizzily, likely out of Mana. As I neared him, I fired at both his hands at near point-blank range, blowing away a few of his fingers as I shot past him. He didn't seem to realize what had happened for a moment, before letting out a scream of pain as blood gushed out of his hands.

He wasn't raising any more spikes...no doubt about it, he's definitely out of Mana. Time to have some fun...

I put away the guns and drew out the dagger, dashing towards him. I don't think I'm at any risk of revealing my identity, after all, Sicario likely had no idea that my killing style had become so much more...brutal than it used to be. As far as he was concerned, I was probably still a killer who prioritized efficiency and liked to finish things with a single strike. And I definitely have no intention of finishing Arg Lehosa with a single strike, that would be way too kind.

I used Stream to coat my blade with lightning and stabbed it into his right shoulder before he could react, violently twisting the blade like a key in a door. His cry of pain was cut short as I grabbed his head and slammed it against my knee as hard as I could, breaking his nose and knocking out a bunch of his front teeth. It was no secret that I hated this guy...so this felt fucking great.

I then grabbed his left forearm and snapped it in half, before pulling the dagger out of his shoulder and driving it into his knee right as he began to try and kick me in sheer desperation. I once again twisted the blade, shattering his kneecap and eliciting an agonized cry of pain from him.

I then tripped him and made him fall backwards, pinning him down and putting my hands over his eyes, streaming lightning into them and boiling them. He let out an excruciating shriek as they exploded, blood rolling his eye sockets as smoke began spewing out as well. I then jammed the dagger into his mouth and sliced off his tongue. And finally, I placed the tip of the blade over his heart and began pushing it down slowly, piercing through his flesh bit by bit, his limbs were too damaged to try and stop me, so I could plunge the blade into him at my own leisure...until his screams finally faded as the blade went through his heart, killing him.

I stood up with a satisfied sigh and walked away from his bloody corpse, back to the sidelines.

"Damn, kid, you're one sadistic little guy, aren't you?" Laughed Rion, slapping my back and nearly knocking me over.

"O-oh, uh...forgive me, sir, I got a bit carried away-."

"Not at all, it was quite enjoyable to watch," Nodded Sicario was a look of satisfaction.

They, uh...really didn't like Arg, did they? Well, not that anyone liked that prick. Taking that into consideration, I guess I'm lucky to be the one who got to off the guy. Sweet!

"Holy hell, that was brutal! Kid, if you were like, ten years older, that would have been totally hot!" Grinned Kuua, giving me a look of approval.

"Uh...I'm, um, honored to hear you say that, my lady," I replied awkwardly with a bow.

Can I go now?

As it turned out, yes I could. They wrapped up the party not long after that since it was pretty late now, and I made sure to leave quickly. I had spoken to the Retribution Tier members quite a lot over the past few hours, better clear out before they sober up.

Well, that had been...something. Tomorrow, or rather, since it was past midnight, today, is the final day of my infiltration, and was definitely going to be the most dangerous. Better get some rest, because once I wake up, it's go time...

...

Okay, so maybe it wasn't all that urgent right away. I mean, it's not like I can make a move till night anyway. It was 10 AM on the fourteenth day of my infiltration now, and I had several hours before I would begin my interrogation and rescue operations.

"Hey, Clari, you should get some rest, the plan we discussed won't be put into action till late at night, so try to save up your energy for then," I suggested, as she walked out of her room.

"Okay, I'll do that. Um, by the way..."

"Yeah, what's up?"

"I'm really grateful to you! Thank you so much, I had resigned myself to dying without ever escaping from this nightmare, so-."

"Hey, don't thank me yet, you'll jinx it! And besides, there's no need to thank me in the first place," I shrugged with an awkward smile.

"You're so kind, I feel so lucky to have met you."

"I wouldn't say I'm all that kind...I'm not the type who would go out of my way to save someone or whatever. If I do, it's probably circumstantial or a whim, except for when it's a person who's important to me."

"I'm not quite sure I understand, but...it doesn't change the fact that I'm extremely grateful to you."

...

The rest of the day passed by in the blink of an eye, and before I knew it, it was close to midnight. Alright, time to head out.

"Good luck," Clari smiled at me, as I began to head out.

"Thanks. I might be a while, so don't worry if it gets late, just stay put. Well, I'll see you when I get back," I replied, before activating the invisibility and intangibility barriers around me and walking out the door.

I also had the remote activation paralysis spell and the vial of truth serum along with an empty syringe in order to inject it. Well, here goes nothing.

I carefully made my way out of the building, making sure to avoid bumping into anyone. If someone came too near me, they'd step into the invisibility barrier and be able to see me. Plus the intangibility barrier only let me walk through solid inanimate objects, it didn't let me walk through people. I had already tried walking through Clari to see if it would work, but no dice, I just bumped into her.

I cautiously made my way towards the Research Tier building, being careful not to move too fast so that the invisibility barrier wouldn't shimmer. I passed by a few people, but there really weren't too many people around right now, so I didn't have any trouble making my way to the wall between the Lapdog Tier area and Research Tier building. I looked around to make sure no one was around before phasing through it, finding myself in one of the labs.

I better move quickly, the faster I get this operation complete, the better.

As I made my way to the staircase leading up to the upper floors, I froze as I nearly ran into Hacte, who was walking back from one of the labs, in the direction of the Lapdog Tier area.

I quietly stepped off to the side and let him walk past me, letting out a silent sigh of relief as he passed me. He stopped for a second and looked around with a slightly suspicious look, before shrugging and continuing on his way. That was too close for comfort, better be careful...

I headed up the stairs, slipping past the guards with ease. I kept going till I reached the second floor. I then made my way through the corridors till I found the door I was looking for...and walked through it.

Inside, was Dr Reel, still awake and working on some notes. Man, doesn't this guy sleep? On another note, this was a really nice room, it was nice and spacious, much better than the lapdog rooms.

Well, that doesn't matter, time to get to work.

I walked forward towards him, taking out the remote activation paralysis spell as I did. Dr Reel suddenly stood up and looked around, a paranoid look on his face.

"I-is someone there-!?" He began to exclaim, before freezing and slumping onto the ground as I hit him with the paralysis spell.

I then deactivated the barriers around me and took out the truth serum, filling the syringe with it as I walked over to him.

"Hey, what's up, doc? Let's you and I have a little chat, 'kay?"

Time to get some answers...

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