Chapter 14. The Painful Oath

  It was early morning as Kael woke up, after laying Katrine down on the couch he cleaned up the body with the help of Mediae. They decided to carry it out into a nearby forest and throw it into a river so it'll decompose faster. He was extremely tired after all of that, now that he was awake he got up from his bed and stretched. He noticed that his muscles grew slightly more, it was probably due to yesterday's fight and the execution of the assassin. He decided to go to the kitchen, when he got there he saw Mediae was already up and preparing breakfast. After all, today they'd break into the Eden Academy to potentially stop the project "Eve". Kael also remembered his classmate should be arriving soon, she should bring a female uniform of Eden Academy for Katrine. Their plan was that Katrine and Kael would make their way to the school's roof and be on a pretend date. This would lure out some guards, then they'd swiftly take care of them and would go inside. The project was conducted underground, even though the school had 2 layers of basement, it probably was conducted even deeper. Suddenly Mediae said to Kael while bowing down.

  -"Good morning Master, your breakfast should be ready soon. Lady Emily shall be arriving in around 10 minutes from now on as well, are you sure that the 'High School Sweetheart's' plan will work out Master?"

  Kael hearing this nodded approvingly, he was extremely confident of his plan. Besides he just couldn't wait to kill some people that in his mind deserved it, after all he made a moral compass for himself. It was extremely narrow and one dimensional. But it was better than nothing in his eyes, as he sat down on the couch in the living room, Mediae brought him his breakfast. It was some french toast along with honey and a small square of butter. As Kael was eating his breakfast he heard a knock on the door, his classmate probably arrived with the uniform for Katrine. He noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt, but he didn't think too much about it.

  -"Hey there Kael, I have the uniform you asked for-... HOLY SHIT! WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO YOU!? I HEARD RUMOURS BUT DAMNNNNN! Can I take a picture...? Please...?"

  Kael hearing this sighed and took the uniform, he knew there were rumours of how much he changed. Especially about him getting taller, putting on some muscle and wearing an eye patch over his left eye. He decided to be quick with it.

  -"Emily, calm down... For fucks sake it's still morning... And you screaming isn't helping... Ehhhhh... Thanks, and no you can't take a photo..."

  Emily, hearing this pouted like a small child, when she moved her eyes down, she saw multiple scars covering Kael's body. She didn't know about the Mag-Tech structure break-in, although she heard on the news that a group of people broke in, and one of them was gunned down. When she tried to connect the dots, it didn't make sense. It was a group and besides one of them was killed, although Kael's scars resembled those of gun shots, it'd be impossible for him to be that person in her eyes.

  -"So uhm Kael... Are you free some day soon...? I mean you changed so much and-"

  Before she could finish Kael intruded, his voice was low and somewhat harsh.

  -"No I'm not going with you on a date, if you don't have anything else to say or want anything, you can go. I have stuff to take care of, shoo."

  Emily hearing this was slightly frozen, she just got rejected so casually. She put her head down and nodded and started walking away, she never knew Kael was this harsh. He always was quiet and stuck to his close friends, and him asking her a favour was something out of the place. She decided to not think much about it. Kael seeing that she was finally walking away went back into the house and threw the uniform on the table, he waited for Katrine to wake up so she could try it on. He sat down on the couch and looked down at his body, he truly changed a lot in the past month. Suddenly he heard Tenebrae again.

  -'Ya remember how i said you pull ladies left and right and should make a harem? So Kael, when you're following up on that one? Ohhh and besides if you do, please choose some proper women for it.’

  Kael hearing this covered his face with his hand, Tenebrae said previously that Kael should make a harem for some reason, it was her usual teasing along with calling Katrine his supposed bride. He decided to go to his room and put on a shirt. The last thing he wanted was some random girls fawning over him. As he made his way to the room he picked a random shirt and put it on, as he got out he saw Katrine woke up. He wanted to ask her if she could try the uniform Emily brought, but Katrine was the first one to question him.

  -"You spoke to me in Ukrainian last night right? And don't lie to me, I remember you saying 'на добран?ч'. Where the hell did you learn Ukrainian from!?"

  She tried to sound angry and venomous, but there was a clear note of shyness and anxiousness. Katrine didn't know for how long Kael spoke Ukrainian, she didn't know he was taking lessons in it at all. She said some embarrassing things about him in Ukrainian so she didn't want him to find out about them, after all she promised herself to tell him in English what she felt once she felt she was ready. Kael sees that he has no excuse but to explain himself speaking Ukrainian.

  -"Ehhhhh... I took Ukrainian lessons here and there, I barely speak it okay? I don't even remember what you said in Ukrainian, or even understand it... So chill... For fucks sake damn..."

  His voice didn't hide his frustration, Katrine heading this was slightly hurt. She knew Kael thought he was completely normal due to the curse, but everyone around him knew he wasn't acting like himself. It hurt everyone around him more than it should, now it was a sharp tongue and no guilt in killing. But who knows what may happen in the future, and everyone doesn't want to find out. Suddenly Tenebrae spoke up, this time it wasn't in his head, she genuinely used his body as a sort of medium instead of the swords like usual.

  -'Kael chill the fuck out... You can't see what you're saying? Are you this fucking blind ot are you this clueless about the curse of the swords? For fucks sake, it seems we need to put you in your place soon.'

  Her voice didn't hide her anger and frustration, she already was angry when Kael went into the slums to test if he could kill, but now when he's acting like this... It's too much even for her, Kael hearing this realised what he said and put his head down. He was ashamed and self conscious of what he just said right now, but it felt so natural to say it. It was like he always spoke this way, those words just rolled off of his tongue... He was so angry with himself he slammed his fist into the wall making a small crack, although he used a slither of his strength, the effect was tremendous. He took a deep breath to calm himself down and thought to himself - "For fucks sake Kael, you're going to break into Eden Academy today and that's how you act? You dumb fucking idiot..." Katrine saw that he grit his teeth hard, she swore if he did it with slightly more force, he'd shatter them. Kael then put his head up with a determined expression, it was clear he tried to hold himself back this time.

  -"Please try the uniform that Emily brought in, it should fit you... Fucking hell... I'm sorry for what I just said, I just can't control it... Tenebrae, is there a way for me to combat the curse myself?"

  Tenebrae at his question stayed silent, she didn't know if there was or there wasn't a way. She sealed her soul in the swords to help combat the curse, but it seemed not to be enough. She thought that Kael could make his magical power flow into the swords, overwriting the curse effects and possibly pushing it back or slowing it down at best. It was a gamble, since if Kael used too much magical power to do so, he'd pass out from exhaustion. He needed to be conscious for today due to the planned break-in.

  -'You can try flowing your magic power into the swords... But it'll be dangerous, I know you can't really control magical power flow in your body so let me explain real quick. Focus on how your blood flows, and imagine that magical power flows the same way, then direct that flow into the swords and try to tame them, m'kay?'

  Kael, hearing this nodded slowly, went into his room where "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness" lay on his desk. He grabbed them and sat down on the bed with crossed legs, he imagined how his blood flowed through his body and then replaced the image of the blood with magical power. When he directed it into the swords a black mist along with small dark thunder surrounded him and the swords, Katrine who looked from the side swore she could hear whispers and moans of pain. "Kill", "Death… It’s the only proper way for you…", "It burns it fucking burnsssss", "KATRINE HEEEEEELPPPPP".

  The last voice eerily resembled the voice of Kael, but why would it plead for help...? It made Katrine scared, she didn't know which one was real Kael, the one sitting on the bed or the voice. Suddenly all the voices along with mist and small thunder disappeared, Kael was successful in pushing back the curse. He lazily got up from the bed, it exhausted him slightly. Even though he had magical power, its reserves were extremely small. Mediae once compared them to a newborn of her era, but she understood that magical power was only recently brought back into the world and it still didn't take good root in it. Kael looked at Katrine and smiled warmly, although he had a missing left eye covered by an eye patch, and his face was that of a nearly adult... His smile was childish, warm and gentle. It made Katrine remember back when Kael's sister was alive and the three played together as kids. It made her shed a single tear down her cheek, Kael was back. Not fully but he was back to himself, Kael suddenly said to her.

  -"I feel a lot better... I still have a strong urge to kill, but I feel better... Well now i have two curses active in my body haha... I wonder how much more I can take..."

  His voice was trying to be happy, but the clear tinge of sadness was distinguishable. He didn't know much longer he could go on for, having two active curses was already a lot. One would regenerate him while the other one would cause him to lose his humanity... He thought that some would describe it as a fate worse than death, eternal regeneration along with constant loss of humanity. Suddenly he heard Tenebrae speak up.

  -'Bad news kiddo... It'll only get worse from here, I hope you'll be able to make it through... Trust me, having just two curses this early, I'd call it being lucky...'

  Tenebrae's tone of voice didn't help, him now having knowledge that he JUST had two curses this early is considered lucky. He wondered how many more he could take, he reached up and touched the eye patch over his left eye... For him this was a sign of leaving old life behind, he needed to push further rather than backtrack. He got up from the bed and stretched slightly, it was clear he'd probably suffer countless more curses... He didn't know how many, but suddenly he covered his face with his hand. He started crying, he was already grateful he was reborn in Tenebrae's shadows giving him a second chance at life... But knowing now that it'd be filled with curses and fighting made him breakdown mentally... Although he didn't feel anything when he killed 11 people so far, it now all hit him like a tidal wave. He wanted to both live and die, live and die, LIVE AND DIE! He couldn't choose... If he lived he'd suffer constantly, but if he died, his family would suffer constantly.

  Katrine looked at this all with a puzzled expression, she saw Kael snap someone's neck with his bare hands and act like nothing happened, and now he was crying like a small child. Kael was just 16 after all, 17 soon enough... He didn't wanna carry such weight of constantly fighting and suffering curses, he didn't even wanna think what other curses he'd suffer. The intent and urge to kill was now smothered completely by the overwhelming guilt and pain from knowledge of what he will have to do in life. When Kael removed his hand from his face and looked up... He got slapped, the sharp stinging pain shot through his cheek... The sound echoed through the room, when Kael looked up he saw... It was Katrine, she had tears in her eyes as well, her chest was heaving with barely contained emotion. It was clear she was hurt by Kael's mental breakdown as well.

  -"SHUT UP RIGGS! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP! STOP FUCKING CRYING OVER YOUR PREDICAMENT FOR FUCKS SAKE! STOP BEING BITCHY AND MAN UP! ARE YOU KAEL RIGGS, OR ARE YOU JUST A FUCKING CRY BABY!?"

  Kael hearing these words was startled, he didn't know how to respond. He started stuttering, he couldn't find a word to respond to her with. Suddenly Katrine grabbed his face and held it close to her own.

  -"Answer me for fucks sake... WHO ARE YOU!? A PUSSY OR FUCKING KAEL RIGGS!? WE'RE BREAKING IN THE EDEN ACADEMY IN THE SPAN OF HOURS, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!"

  Kael hearing this gently pried off her hands off his face and slapped himself as to collect himself. She was right, he needed a calm mind and collected his shit together. If he were to slip up it'd endanger everyone, he couldn't just allow himself to be pathetic and cry over his own predicament. After taking one last breath to calm down, he looked Katrine dead in the eyes.

  -"I'm Kael fucking Riggs... AGHHHHHHH FUCK IT, WE'RE DOING THAT SHIT!"

  Katrine hearing his excited answer smiled gently while still having tears in her eyes, she was happy that he collected himself. Although she felt extremely bad about being so harsh to him, it was needed. If she wasn't that harsh and aggressive, she didn't know if Kael would come back to his senses. She then shed a tear of happiness, that's the Kael she wanted to see and know. Someone excited about dumb stuff, not a cold blooded killer, nor someone who would cry over his predicament. For her, this was Kael Riggs... He stood up quickly and packed spare clothes along with "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness" into his sports bag. Today was the day. He also beckoned Katrine to go out of his room as he wanted to change into his school uniform, as he was finished preparing he slung the sports bag over his shoulder and got out of the room. When he entered the living room, he saw that Mediae was practicing with her shadow spear while Katrine was getting used to the Eden Academy uniform. Kael looked at the time on his phone, "1:43pm", he decided it's now the time to strike.

  -"The plan is as follows, me and Katrine will make our way to the school grounds and be on a pretend date. Mediae you'll cover us from the shadows, when we get found... You take care of the unwanted onlooker, after you're done, me and Katrine will change into spare clothes and we'll enter the school... From there we're going to improvise, ready?"

  As Kael looked onto both girls they nodded, since everyone was ready they got out of the house and made their way into the Eden Academy. Mediae split with them halfway through, she needed to stay in the shadows and cover them if anything happens. Once they were in front of the school gates, Kael suddenly grabbed Katrine's hand in his. Katrine didn't know what to do and had her face flushed, she also started stuttering, not being able to find an answer to Kael's sudden movement. But then she remembered they were supposed to be on a pretend date, so she decided to not be the worst one.

  -"Kaaaeeeeel darlin~... Where do we plan on doing you know~? Hmmmm...? I can't wait to get my hands on you hehehe~..."

  She tried to sound as flirtatious and sweet as possible, she kept up her act perfectly while her thoughts said different things. "WHAT THE FUCK AM I TALKING ABOUT!? AND WHY IT FELT SO NATURAL TO SAY IT!? AHHHHHHH ЩО В П?КЛА В?ДБУВА?ТЬСЯ!?". She never felt so flustered in her life, she didn't know what got into her to say such stuff. When she looked back at Kael, he sighed deeply and nodded his head. Suddenly he started pulling her towards a lesser known section on the outside of the school, it was a rather tight space between the school building and the wall. Katrine decided to keep up her act.

  -"Ohhh darlin~ save your roughness for later~... Because I'll need a lot of it~... I can't wait hehehe~..."

  Once again the words felt so natural to her… "FOR FUCKS SAKE WHY THE HELL DO I TALK TO HIM LIKE THAT!? AGHHHHHHHHH Я ВБ'Ю СЕБЕ В?Д СОРОМУ". Suddenly her thoughts were cut short as Kael grabbed her shoulder and pulled her behind him. When she wanted to ask him why, he just put a finger to his mouth, silencing her. Suddenly two men who were dressed in outfits that resembled those of special forces ran out the corner, they were armed. They didn't waste any time and pointed their guns at both Kael and Katrine, Kael immediately raised his arms up in surrender and nudged Katrine to do the same. Once she had her arms up as well, one of the men lowered his gun and walked towards them.

  -"You two little love-birds know this whole school is on a lockdown or nah? Or maybe you wanted to spice up your date slightly, hm? C'mon tell me before I tell my friend over there to turn you two into swiss cheese... Time's ticking little shits..."

  His voice was rough and barely contained his anger, it was clear that if he could, he'd gun them down on the spot. Kael in retaliation to the man's threats chuckled, the second guard seeing this got stunned and lowered his gun. They expected both Kael and Katrine to beg for their lives, not one of them laughing in their faces. Suddenly Kael calmed down and answered the guard.

  -"Holy shit nice joke mate... Ahhhh I nearly pissed myself from laughing... Phewww, got any more jokes? I'm open to hear from you, besides we're not going anywhere anytime soon it seems..."

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  The guard was now visibly furious, he had a vein bulge across his barely visible forehead. This teenager dared to mock him and laugh in his face, the guard didn't waste any time and returned to the other guard. Suddenly both of them pulled up their guns and aimed them at both Katrine and Kael, Katrine got scared and hid behind Kael.

  -"Any last words you little shit? Besides that chick you have with you doesn't look too bad... Try not to hurt her too much Mat, she might be... 'useful' hahahahah..."

  In response to his words the other guard started laughing as well, Kael seeing this lowered his hands and put on a serious expression on his face. When he looked behind him, he saw that Katrine was trembling and crying in fear... They dared to hurt someone close to him... As Kael was about to reach into his sports bag to pull out "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness", there was a sudden whistle carrying through the air. When the guards looked to their side to search for the source of sound, a sudden shadow spear pierced both of them and impaled them on the wall. The blood dripped onto the grass slowly, one of the guards with last ounces of his life force tried to aim his gun towards Kae. Suddenly a dagger impaled his head, killing him on the spot... Suddenly Mediae jumped down and pulled both the spear and dagger from the bodies, Kael put her thumbs out before turning to Katrine.

  -"Okay, time for the next step... Strip..."

  Katrine hearing this started stuttering and didn't know what to say, she had her face go scarlet as well. Suddenly she slapped Kael.

  -"ТИ, ЧОРБАНИЙ ЗБОЧЕНЕЦЬ, ЩО ВИ МАЛИСЬ НА ВАЖ? П?Д 'СТРИПТИЗОМ'!? ТИ З'ЯХНУВ, ТУПИЙ ЗБОЧЕНЕЦЬ-”

  Before she could finish Mediae put a calming hand on her shoulder and shook her head, Katrine didn't understand why she was doing that. It was clear in her eyes that Kael was just a pervert and that's all, when she looked onto Kael she saw him laying on the ground and shaking. At first she thought he had a panic attack or something, but when she slowly approached him he roared out in laughter. He was laughing at her reaction to his words.

  -"YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN YOU FACE! IT WAS FUCKING PRICELESS BUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I FUCKING CAN'T, OH SHIT GAH I CAN'T CATCH MY BREATH HAHAHAHA!"

  Katrine seeing this put her head down, she was furious. This harmless prank snapped something in her, suddenly she kicked Kael hard in the ribs making him gasp for air. When she was about to kick him again, Mediae threw a dagger at her feet signalling her to stop.

  -"Lady Katrine, what Master meant is for you to change clothes. Once inside the security levels will be extreme, and if your identity gets discovered. How does Master Kael say it? 'You're fucked'..."

  Katrine immediately got the sign and reached into Kael's sports bag to pull out her spare clothes, as she did so she stared at "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness", she felt chills run down her spine as she did so. She brushed the feeling aside for now and rushed into nearby bushes to change, Kael also walked up to his sports bag and pulled out his spare outfit. It was the same one he wore when he killed those 10 thugs in the slums, the jacket and pants still had bloodstains on them. When he turned around he saw Mediae staring at him, he quickly cleared his throat signalling for her to turn around. When she did so, he quickly changed into the spare clothing and put on a mask covering his lower face. He also quickly attacked the swords by his waist, he was ready to go inside now. All they had to do was wait for Katrine, shortly after she showed up in her spare clothing as well. Kael then reminded them of the plan.

  -"The main objective is stopping the project 'Eve', everything else is a free game. Steal, kill, torture, interrogate... And you Katrine, you stay behind Mediae, when I lose my shit while fighting, I don't know if I'll stop myself from attacking you..."

  Katrine hearing this had her face go slightly pale, but she quickly nodded regardless. She knew Kael did it not because he didn't like her or saw her as an obstruction, he did it because he was genuinely concerned for her. Kael, seeing her agreement, looked onto Mediae for confirmation.

  -"If the Master wishes for me to protect Lady Katrine, I'd do it even if it's going to cost me my life. Let's go Master, lead the way."

  With this Kael smirked to himself under the mask, he quickly led them to the main entrance. Since it was locked Kael didn't waste a second, he busted down the door with a single kick. But something was wrong, he remembered the school had security systems that would go haywire if someone broke in. Since he busted the door down, they should hear sirens by now... The silence was extremely eerie, Kael quickly unsheathed his swords and nodded to Mediae. She followed with his suggestion and summoned her shadow spear, they were ready for whatever could go their way. The school was too empty, even though such a grand scale project was conducted here, it was too silent... Kael quickly led them to the basement entrance, once they stood in front of it, he turned to Mediae and Katrine.

  -"Once we're down there, be ready for everything... I'll be the vanguard and I'll take down anything in our way, Mediae, what is your task?"

  Mediae quickly responded to his question with a slight bowing gesture.

  -"To protect Lady Katrine even if it costs me my life, Master..."

  Kael, hearing this nodded quickly and busted the basement door with a quick and powerful kick, he felt something else fall to the floor besides the door. When he walked in, he saw that there was a guard behind the door and the way he busted the door down must have knocked the guard out as well. Kael, not wasting a second, quickly slashed the guard's throat to permanently get rid of him, he didn't want any surprises on the way there. Once he dispatched the guard, he knelt down and picked up a pistol from his corpse. He threw the pistol to Katrine, which she caught clumsily.

  -"Use this to defend yourself if necessary, sometimes Mediae can be engaged with one enemy and not be able to dispatch another one coming your way. If you can't kill, just close your eyes and pull the trigger....”

  Katrine hearing this went pale, she would have to kill if it came down to it. She looked onto Mediae for support, she got none. She truly had to kill someone if it came down to. She steeled her resolve and nodded to Kael, him seeing this nodded back and started moving forward. There were still no guards in sight, Kael led them deeper into the basement. Once they were at the utmost depth of it, there was nothing. Kael swore there had to be an entrance to some secret facility here. He ran his hand along the walls, they were sturdy and thick. There truly was no entrance anywhere, suddenly he heard something opening slowly. Kael quickly nodded to Mediae and Katrine to go into hiding. They hid behind a nearby box, Kael looked from behind the box to see what caused that sound. He saw one of the walls opening and a squad of guards coming out of it, there were 4 in total.

  -"We lost contact with the outside team Delta, they haven't picked up any calls in 15 minutes. Besides Tom didn't respond as well, we sent him to check what had happened to Delta, and then suddenly contact was cut. We might have intruders, fingers on triggers and shoot before asking. Nobody can find out what's in here..."

  The guard's voice was clearly frustrated, they didn't know what happened to the other guards who were dead. Kael decided it's now the perfect time to strike, he pulled out "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness" and dragged them along the floor. It created sparks and an eerie sound that even disturbed Katrine, when she looked onto Kael she jumped back and started mumbling. It wasn't Kael anymore, he was Reaper. She knew Kael created this alias for himself when he killed some thugs in the slums, but she didn't know it was an entirely different person in the same body... When the guards turned to Kael they put their guns up and were ready to shoot, suddenly Kael leaned down and lunged forward. Before the guards could react, Kael was already behind them. When they turned around to shoot at him again, he just raised one of his swords. Suddenly the barrels of the four guards guns were cut clean off, they didn't know what was happening.

  -"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!? AND WHO THE FUCK YOU THINK YOU ARE!? THIS IS HIGHLY GUARDED FACILITY! REVEAL YOUR IDENTITY-"

  Before he could finish, Kael stabbed him with both of his swords into his abdomen. When the guard reached down for the swords, Kael slashed him in half. His intestines spilled on the ground and blood shot out like a fountain. Another guard reached for his sidearm to shoot Kael, suddenly there was a metal clang... His pistol was cut in half, before he tried to say something... But only a gurgled sound came out, before he realised his head was cut clean off. The remaining two guards tried to run away, but when they took off... Both of them were stabbed from behind, Kael wouldn't leave any witnesses. When one of the guards looked back onto Kael, he saw death in its purest and rawest form. Kael didn't care and quickly brought the swords down, slashing the guards in half, he then turned to Mediae and Katrine.

  -"Let's move, there's more waiting for us down there... Hahah... I can't wait..."

  His voice was cold and rough, Katrine hearing those words had her face go pale. She thought Kael would be at least a little bit cautious, not jump straight into the lion's den. When she looked onto Mediae, she just shrugged her shoulders. Katrine, seeing this, hugged herself close with the pistol in her hands.

  -"Hehehehe... Heheheheh... Ми до б?са так облажалися. Ми не виберемося живими..."

  She laughed at the situation, she thought that Kael would be rational, even slightly. Before she could finish her thoughts, Kael was already gone. Mediae quickly followed after him, Katrine seeing no choice went after them as well. She was extremely scared and anxious about what may happen once they get inside. When she walked through the door she was stunned. Instead of the school's basement, there was a high tech looking exterior with bright lights. Once she stepped foot inside the alarm went off, she thought it was her fault. When she looked onto Kael he was smiling.

  -"It ain't your fault Katrine, it seems they figured out some of their boys went into permanent naps... MEDIAE SHIELD KATRINE AND PROTECT HER NO MATTER WHAT, TRY TO-"

  Before he could finish there was an explosion near him, it blew him away like a ragdoll. When Katrine looked there was a bunch of armed men aiming for them, suddenly Mediae stood in front of her to protect her. Before she could do anything, out of the smoke where Kael had crashed something flew out. It was Kael himself, he lunged at the guards like a wild animal. The black blades in his hands glinted in the light as he slashed the guards apart, Katrine could only watch in horror and listen to screams of pain being cut short and the guards begging. Suddenly Kael stopped before one of the guards, the guard took off his helmet and ski mask. It was a middle aged man, but something seemed similar to her about him...

  -"Pl-please spare me... I have a son back home... I swear I'm not a guard by profession... I'm a researcher... They forced me to be a guard now in case of this emergency... Please... Spare me... I'll do everything..."

  Kael looked him straight in the eyes, this man was so similar in many ways to his friend Adam. So he decided to question the man.

  -"Are you Thomas White? Father of Adam White...?”

  The guard hearing Adam's name started tearing up and nodded his head, he was indeed Adam's father. From what Kael remembered, Adam said his dad abandoned him and his mother years ago to study mag-tech further, he always said how much he hated him. Kael gripped his swords tighter, as it seemed he was about to kill him, he said in a low calm tone.

  -"Killing you would not be enough... Your son constantly said how much he hated you for leaving him and his mother behind so you could study Mag-Tech... Killing you will be an easy way out for you, I'll let you live... So you'd suffer everyday with the consequences of your actions..."

  The guard hearing this completely slumped onto the ground and started crying, he regretted everything up until this point in his life. He wanted now to come back home, to hug his son and wife, tell them how much he missed them... But knowing his son hates him, made him break on the inside. Kael stepped over the crying guard and continued forward, Katrine and Mediae quickly followed after him. As they were walking Mediae suddenly sped up to catch up with Kael.

  -"Master, why did you let that man live? Death is the only suitable punishment for such people, if i were you, he'd be on the other side by now."

  Kael hearing this took a deep breath, he decided to explain to her why he let Thomas live.

  -"Death would be too easy, he now needs to live with the knowledge that he abandoned his family and that his only child hates him with all his heart... In my eyes this punishment is worse than death..."

  Katrine, who walked behind them, suddenly started tearing up. What Kael had said was true, it was a brutal punishment that would haunt anyone for all their life. She knew that even if Thomas wanted to commit suicide, it'd be the easy way out for him. She also knew Kael gave him some sort of twisted second chance to correct his mistakes, it was a brutal yet merciful punishment... As they continued traversing through the facility, Mediae and Kael swiftly took care of any guard on their way. Their takedowns were brutal and effective, Katrine decided to mentally name that technique "The Red Carpet".

  Because it was similar to the red carpet that celebrities walked down on any major event, but this carpet was red because of the blood, and two warriors were walking down it... Katrine still had the pistol in her hand that Kael gave her, she didn't know if she needed to use it at all, after all Kael and Mediae had enough firepower for anyone. Suddenly there were loud footsteps along with something like metal scratching against metal, what walked out from behind a corner was around a dozen humanoid robots. They weren't armed in a normal way, instead they had blades mounted on their wrists. Kael didn't think much of them and immediately rushed in trying to slash one of them down, when he brought his swords down he was met with a metal clang and lot's of sparks... The robot managed to block his attack with ease, Mediae tried to follow Kael's attack and thrust her spear beside his head. Her attack was instead blocked by two other robots, both Kael and Mediae immediately jumped back to regroup.

  -"FUCKING TIN CANS, I'LL RIP YOU TO SHREDS! I'LL USE YOUR FUCKING OIL AS LUBRICANT FOR MY SWORDS YOU PIECES OF METAL SHIT!"

  Kael's voice echoed throughout the hallway as he engaged in an aggressive attack with a couple of the robots at once, Mediae on the other hand fought gracefully taking the robots one by one. Katrine realised she needed to do something, she gripped the gun tighter and brought it up.

  -"KAEL, DUCK DOWN IF YOU DON'T WANT ANOTHER HOLE THROUGH YOUR HEAD!"

  Kael hearing this quickly jumped down onto the ground while giving her a middle finger, Katrine pulled the trigger... It worked, she took down one of the robots easily. They were powerful and close range, but completely vulnerable to long ranged attacks. Suddenly Mediae spoke to Katrine in a low calm voice despite engaging the robots.

  -"Lady Katrine, I'd be grateful if you'd lend your assistance to me as well. It's getting quite hard fighting them off, so I recommend you better be quick Lady Katrine."

  Katrine, hearing this turned the gun to Mediae's direction and pulled the trigger a couple of times, she finally wasn't useless, she did something in a meaningful moment. She felt a surge of joy travel through her body, with her new found happiness she assisted in taking down the robots. It wasn't long before all the robots were either gunned down, or slashed apart by Mediae and Kael.

  -"Master, shall we get moving? There's still the project 'Eve' waiting for us to stop it, the more we are staying here, the more time we lose."

  Kael, hearing Mediae's opinion nodded his head and was about to rush forwards, he planned on making the magical power flow to his legs to make him run faster. He then remembered that if he and Mediae did so, Katrine wouldn't be able to keep up. He suddenly approached Katrine while sheathing his swords.

  -"Do you trust me Katrine? If yes, then please... Just try not to scream too much."

  Katrine didn't get what he meant, but she nodded her head nevertheless. Suddenly Kael picked her up in the bridal style and started running, Mediae quickly followed after them. Katrine feeling Kael's hands carrying her as he ran made her feel something on the inside, but she brushed it off for now. She tried to hold on for dear life as Kael with inhumane speed, she didn't know he could run so fast, even after enhancing himself. As they ran they made it past some guards ignoring them, they didn't care for now as they had more important stuff to do. Katrine saw that Kael was shot a couple of times making him run slower, she wanted to ask him if she's fine. Suddenly she heard Tenebrae's voice from the swords, she didn't hear her for some time until now.

  -'Don't worry little bride, Kael regenerates faster when his wounds are covered by darkness... Ahhhhh yea you probably know it by now... By the way, Kael, that humanoid whatever that is you call Project "Eve", gives off such a familiar aura... What do you think of Mediae?'

  Mediae hearing her question nodded her head, for her the aura that the humanoid codenamed "Project 'Eve'" was similar too. It was like something long lost and familiar, but she couldn't pinpoint where. She needed to study it closer, as they ran the corridors got wider and taller. It was clear they were getting close to where 'Eve' was held. Katrine closed her eyes during the running to cover her eyes, and suddenly she felt that Kael stopped running. When she opened her eyes she saw multiple crane-like devices holding down a humanoid figure, it was clad in dark, nearly pitch black crystals that formed some sort of armour. Although it looked like a human by its figure, it was easily over 20 feet tall and extremely huge in other aspects as well. As Kael put her down she approached the humanoid slowly, suddenly there was chatter and a voice boomed through the speakers. It was a male voice, low, gruff and full of disgust and aggression.

  -"WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU!? NEVERMIND IT, WHOEVER OR WHATEVER YOU ARE, 'EVE' WILL CUT YOU TO PIECES! RELEASE HER!"

  With that, every exit in the grand hall closed and alarms flashed red. It was clear they were releasing something to fight off Mediae and Kael, both of them pulled out their weapon and turned their back to the project 'Eve'. They were ready to fight off whatever came their way, just as they thought enemies would start pouring out... Nothing came out... Kael and Mediae lowered their weapons slowly in confusion.

  -"Mediae, wasn't there supposed to be a fucking massacre? Where the hell are the enemies...? I don't like where this is going..."

  As he finished speaking, both him and Mediae heard cranes snapping behind them. When they looked around, Project 'Eve' started moving. As it got out of its bindings and stood before them, it raised its head up and screeched. It was a painful sound, disgusting and full of agony. Kael knew that whatever the hell was Project 'Eve', it was alive and it was suffering. Suddenly it reached its hand out and summoned a gigantic battle axe out of thin air, Kael didn't like where this was going. He had no problem fighting with someone his size, but fighting whatever the fuck this was, wasn't for him. Suddenly 'Eve' swung her axe down at Katrine, Kael reacting quickly lunged her way and pushed her away from the axe. He couldn't comprehend how something with this size could move so fast.

  -"MEDIAE WE NEED A PLAN QUICKLY! WHATEVER THE FUCK IT IS, IT KNOWS HOW TO FIGHT EXTREMELY WELL! PLEASE BE CAREFUL!"

  Mediae hearing Kael's plea nodded her head. She knew that whatever Kael had said was true, suddenly 'Eve' swung her axe down at Mediae. She reacted last second blocking it with her spear, but the sheer force behind the attack made her feet crack the ground beneath her slightly. She was barely blocking the attack, suddenly Kael lunged into 'Eve's' head and started slashing and stabbing at it trying to distract her. 'Eve' seeing this pulled her axe from Mediae and tried to swat Kael off with her other hand, him seeing this stopped attacking and prepared to block the attack. While he did in fact block it, he was flung away into a wall. He crashed with a solid thud, blood poured out of his mouth like a fountain. He slowly slumped down the wall and dropped onto the ground in a pool of blood. He could hear Katrine screaming to him to get up, to continue fighting, he couldn't do anything... He failed once again... He felt his organs were squashed and multiple bones were broken throughout his body, he started feeling cold as he was laying down on the ground. He couldn't do anything, the pain and blood loss made him unable to do anything... Suddenly he heard Tenebrae's voice...

  -'Didn't I tell ya not to die again? You're hopeless Kael, truly hopeless... If you want to win, you'll have to sacrifice part of your lifespan... Are you ready to do that?’

  Kael, hearing this, wanted to say something, but all that came out was gurgling noises. He couldn't respond clearly to Tenebrae's offer, her hearing this took a deep sigh.

  -'I'll take it as a yes... Okay Kael, grab the swords and stab yourself in the abdomen... And then repeat after me...'

  Kael, hearing this weakly reached for the swords and pushed himself up to sit on the ground, he was hesitant at first, but if it meant that he could win... He'd do everything... Suddenly he plunged the swords through his abdomen, he screeched in pain. It burned him for some reason.

  -'Okay Kael now repeat after me... In tenebris natus sum...'

  -"In tenebris natus sum…”

  -'Ego resuscitabo et vincam mundum...'

  -"Ego resuscitabo et vincam mundum..."

  -'Hic mundus cognoscet colorem desperationis meae... Release...'

  -"Hic mundus cognoscet colorem desperationis meae... Release..."

  As Kael finished repeating after Tenebrae, a sudden black cloud shrouded him. He felt his organs being regenerated, his bones being sewed together. He also felt extreme bloodthirst towards 'Eve', when he stood up the black cloud diapered. His clothes were changed, they were pitch black with crimson accents along with them. "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness" were now attached to his wrists, just like the robots he fought previously with Mediae. He felt an immediate surge of strength and power, even though it cost him a part of his lifespan to activate it, it was worth it in his opinion... He also couldn't control his body, he tried to lunge immediately and attack, but he couldn't. None of his muscles responded, suddenly he raised his head up and released an inhuman screech, it wasn't even close to an animal... It sounded disgusting and it was clear that whatever controlled Kael's body, was challenging 'Eve' to a fight.

  Her seeing this immediately turned her attention to Kael, him in response stabbed his swords attached to his wrist into the ground and leaned forward. He looked like a wild animal ready to pounce, he wasn't human anymore. Suddenly he lunged forward, he started slashing and thrusting into her body... The attacks were clumsy and uncoordinated, but powerful enough to chip away the pitch black crystal armour. He attacked like a wild animal, he didn't attack to win, he attacked to kill. Katrine could only watch in horror as Kael did that, she knew this wasn't him... But still watching whatever it was with his face and body do that, it hurt her deeply... 'Eve's' crystal pitch black armour started chipping away and started falling apart in huge chunks, the sheer ferocity and aggression behind Kael's attacks was working. Suddenly he jumped upwards and as he was descending he cut off 'Eve's' left arm, she screeched in pain and agony... He didn't waste a minute and immediately followed up by cutting off her right arm, he won, he won now... As 'Eve's' colossal body fell to the ground, Kael stood on top of it. Suddenly he raised his head up and released an animalistic screech, he was announcing his win like a wild animal... Suddenly Katrine approached him slowly, she was scared for Kael and whatever was happening to him...

  -"Kael are you okay...? What... What is this transformation... What the hell did you do to achieve it...?"

  Kael stayed silent, instead he just stared her down like his next prey. Without a word he lunged forward trying to kill her, Mediae jumped in at the last second to block his attack. She was constantly pushed back by him, the sheer ferocity and aggression in his attacks made her defence weaken by the second. Suddenly he was shot in his shoulder, it was Katrine... Kael didn't react at first, but then suddenly the swords detached themselves from his wrists and he himself dropped onto the ground. They did it, they stopped Project 'Eve'... Kael felt extremely tired, he watched all the fighting through his own eyes, but the image was blurry and barely recognisable… He slumped onto the ground barely conscious, he couldn't move a single muscle. He wanted to confirm the kill up close, but he couldn't due to the sheer fatigue. Suddenly he felt a hand wrap around his shoulder, and then one around his left one. It was Mediae and Katrine picking him up, they dragged his barely conscious body to a nearby wall and laid him down by it.

  -"Rest Kael... And please don't apologise, we're here thanks to your... 'Transformation'... Or whatever the hell that was, I'm not angry you attacked me... I know you weren't yourself back there... Please rest..."

  Katrine's voice was calm and gentle, it was clear she overcame her fear about Kael's sudden transformation and power up. Kael decided to not let her know what it cost him to pull that off, Tenebrae said that a chunk of his life span will be cut to achieve that. Suddenly Mediae turned to Kael, there was a surprising gentle smile on her usually stoic face.

  -"Please rest now Master... I know what that transformation costs you, so don't worry... Your secret is safe with me…”