I sighed, knowing that I had given Briar more information than I would have liked, leaving at a disadvantage as I knew little about her power. Alas, there was no other choice.

I merely shrugged as I turned to give her a bemused side glance as the serpent king's body began dispersing into countless light particles, finally solidifying in the shape of a fang roughly the size of my hand.

I took a knee on the ground, reaching for the fang as I covered my hand in aura armor just in case the fang had a nasty surprise of some sort, intending to read its stats.

However, I had to store it in my inventory immediately as I heard loud shattering and cracking noises from above my head.

"Holy shit!" I exclaimed with eyes wide in astonishment as I raised my head, noticing countless cracks forming in the sky, but that was not all.

The cracking sky quickly began dissipating along with everything around us, revealing an enormous white room with several devices on its corners, seemingly malfunctioning as they crackled in electricity.

"Attention to all survivors!" a loud voice echoed from the surroundings, and I glimpsed around, trying to identify the source with no success.

"This is Technophile from the OWR speaking!" the voice explained in an even tone. "We are here to free you, so please cooperate with the OWR forces coming to your rescue, or at least stay out of their way!" Technophile added in an urgent tone.

"I repeat, we are here to free you, so don't hinder our efforts, and quickly make your way to the exits that will shortly open in your respective hard light simulation rooms!" Technophile concluded, going quiet as a door materialized in the east wall of the room, opening by itself.

"Well, it's been nice working with you," I remarked with a smirk as I turned to look at Briar. "But it's every man for himself now," I concluded with a shrug of my shoulders, dashing towards the door.

"Don't you have any chivalry?" Briar asked with a raised eyebrow while gazing at my shrinking back as I made my way towards the exit. "Surely you won't leave a lady like me all alone in this situation?" she asked, still standing in the same spot.

"Oh yeah? Watch me," I replied with a smirk, not even bothering to look back as I continued to run towards the exit.

"I can watch you try, that's for sure!" Briar exclaimed with a scowl on her face as she ran behind me, transforming her legs to resemble those of a cheetah.

I reached the exit and looked back to see the crazy blonde getting closer and closer to me, causing my eyes to twitch. I quickly turned around to scan the surroundings, finding myself in a wide hallway with many doors similar to the one I just exited all over it.

I immediately spotted several familiar faces exiting the gates and discharged some of my aura as a black smokescreen, dashing towards the right.

"Get back here, this instant!" I heard Briar scream from the smokescreen I left behind me, but I didn't give it any heed as I dashed towards Clark, who was exiting a door not far away from me at my fastest speed.

"There you are-," Clark tried to say something, but I didn't care for it, quickly tossing him on my shoulder like a potato sack as I passed through him.

"There's no time for nonsense!" I exclaimed as I materialized Snowwhite, transforming into a pair of wings, jumping into the air. "We need to get somewhere safe first," I added, turning around and noticing even more familiar faces.

"Fuck," I cursed as I noticed Gamma Ball exiting one of the simulation rooms, immediately locking eyes with me, and that wasn't all as he began charging towards us.

"From the right!" Clark exclaimed, and I moved on instinct, dropping altitude just in time to dodge an explosion.

"Hehehaha!" I heard a shrill laugh and turned to the side, sighing as I noticed Stink Bomb exiting a simulation room to my right. "What's the hurry, mate?" Stink Bomb asked as he began flinging bombs at me.

"I don't have time to deal with you freaks!" I exclaimed with an agitated expression as I threw Clark ahead of me, dodging bombs and flying towards Gamma Ball.

Gamma Ball seemed to have understood my intentions, stopping in place as he stomped the ground, creating small holes and planting his feet into them.

I quickly reached the freak and spun my body to dodge a punch as I extended my hand towards his face, gripping it and lifting him off the ground.

I gritted my teeth, strengthening my aura armor as Gamma Ball began barraging with punches while replying in kind as I strafed to the right, edging closer to the wall.

I smirked as I pushed Gamma Ball's head towards the wall, causing him to squeal in pain as I continued to fly forward, causing the back of his head to scrape against the wall.

However, the pain only merely made him more violent as he continued to thrash in my grasp, raining punches on my aura armor and causing it to ripple.

I kept him in place, raining aura-infused punches into his protruding gut while enduring his attacks with my aura punches, leaving a trail of mangled flesh and skin on the walls until his strikes grew sluggish and his squeals faint.

I quickly threw him to the ground as hard as I could while augmenting my strength with aura, creating a crater on the floor and worsening the wounds on Gamma Ball's already injured back.

I then furiously flapped my wings, launching myself forward to catch Clark just in time before he hit the ground.

"I would appreciate it if you refrained from doing that again in the future," Clark dryly remarked while adjusting his glasses as I picked him up and tossed him on my shoulder again.

"No promises," I replied with a chuckle as I turned around to see Stink Bomb rushing towards his oversized friend. "But I'll give you a warning at least next time," I added with a shrug as I increased my speed, finally losing sight of the maniacal duo.

...

"So it has finally begun," Ashura, The Tyrant, remarked with a smirk while watching a blonde man in red and black armor hover above the facility where the game master simulated the game through an enormous screen.

"Our people have already extracted Flatliner," Aloka remarked as she suddenly appeared right next to Ashura, like a ghost. "Should I make preparations for us to leave?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"I've been waiting for this moment for many years," Ashura replied with a smirk as he turned to look at Aloka.

"Despite his good intentions, this fool has been holding back human progress," he stated as he picked up a wineglass, lightly shaking it and causing the liquid to slush about in its glass.

"But, the time for humans to fend for themselves will finally come, and they will be stronger for it," Ashura remarked, staring at his wineglass, seemingly in a daze.

"Just as that person intended...," he added as he shook his head and resumed watching the screen with an eager smirk.

"So, hell no, I will not be leaving here until I witness the fool's demise with my own two eyes," he concluded, going quiet as Aloka disappeared with a sigh.

...

"All preparations are complete, my lady," Sebastian, the butler, remarked in an even tone as he slowly walked towards his and Demira's boss. "Our people have already extracted Demira, and we're waiting for your word to evacuate," he concluded, waiting for Aesthetica to reply.

"I see," Aesthetica remarked as she stared at the enormous monitor in front of her with a complicated expression. "Then let us go," she added, resolutely turning away from the monitor after giving Clay Warner, the man known as the Deterrent, one last glance.

...

'Something is wrong.' Clay couldn't help but think to himself as he floated high in the air above the facility where the game master simulated his twisted game.

His friend and long-time ally Technophile had already hacked into the facility's system, releasing all prisoners from the technological monstrosities the game master used to snare them.

Countless OWR soldiers and agents swarmed the area, with many more already en route from their allies, both mundane and super.

Anyone looking at the situation would tell you that victory is already a foregone conclusion and might even consider how much personnel the OWR was putting towards this mission as a needlessly excessive use of force.

But Clay couldn't help the tingling feeling in the back of his spine. It was a feeling that saved his life many times, so he learned to trust it whether he was fighting human warmongers or alien invaders.

Despite his growing unease, Clay kept an even expression, with his lips forming a thin line as he watched over the facility, and he was fast to smirk as a man in a colorful suit wearing a clown's mask emerged from the facility, flying towards him.

"Welcome to my humble abode!" the game master exclaimed, spreading his arms dramatically. "But I'm afraid you've caught me at a bad time, so you'll excuse me for the lack of hospitality!" he added as he came to a stop, floating in front of the Deterrent.

"That's quite alright," the Deterrent replied, still smirking as he gave the game master a once over. "I'm not here on a social call, anyway," he added, cracking his knuckles.