Chapter 381: What Comes Around
Michael’s eyes narrowed. The chamber held approximately over a hundred people. Most were men of the Master realm, with a few Grandmasters in their ranks.
’Certainly better prepared than expected.’ He thought. It made sense that these cultists had a hard time getting caught. Few could pose a danger to soldiers so high in the cultivation chain.
However, to their dismay, their reign of freedom ended today. No matter how many Grandmasters they had, their chances against Michael and Devil were slim.
The chief of the branch arrived at a horrifying realization. While two of the figures were obscured by physician’s attire, the monstrous appearance of Devil was hard to forget.
Having witnessed the faction wars, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. The mere knowledge that Devil had gone toe-to-toe with an Absolute Lord made one thing painfully clear... There was no chance of victory.
This was not going to be a fair fight but a massacre.
"Hey... isn’t that monster holding the heads of two of our own?! Weren’t they Grandmasters?" One soldier blurred out amidst the silence, too slow to realize what was about to happen.
The remark woke the chief from his daze. He was about to issue an order... only for Ruby to move.
For a fraction of a second, she disappeared, relying on her stealth technique. The next instant, five severed heads hit the ground. Struck faster than anyone could realize what had happened.
"Haven’t we suffered enough?!" Ruby’s furious roar rang out through the chamber, her voice trembling with rage at the sight before her.
Operation tables were lined with mutilated felines, while transparent incubation tanks filled with green liquid held more of her kin, being studied in the same way the rogue AIs had once treated them.
Her feline instincts flared, her body bending and arching with the agility of a tiger as she began to carve into the cultist’s left side.
Watching the slaughter, Devil laughed in pure delight.
"The little kitty sure seems passionate today!"
Unwilling to be outdone in kill count, Devil began to tear through the enemy ranks from the right.
All while Michael took nonchalant strides forward, corpses falling from both sides.
"Shoot!" The chief roared, snapping the troops to attention. They aimed and fired with every rifle they had.
Bullets of all kinds were useless against such powerful beings, yet in theory, they might have at least slowed them down.
All hope dimmed as the projectiles froze midair, unable to reach the three of them. Michael’s Psychokinesis, combined with his massive reserves of energy, was more than enough to stop every bullet long before it could hit him or his companions.
Of course, even if the bullets had hit, they wouldn’t have caused much harm. His reasoning was that stopping them entirely sent greater terror through the enemy ranks.
It was all about sending a message.
"You have to be kidding me!" The chief cursed. Ruby and Devil were terrifying, no doubt... But Michael, calmly walking forward with his mask betraying no emotion, was the most fearsome of all.
"Monsters! They’re monsters! We have to get out of here!" A desperate soldier screamed.
"Preposterous!" Their leader refused the idea. "Everyone who tries to run will die by my hand!"
His forehead beaded with sweat as he noticed that Ruby and Devil were leaving the strongest soldiers alive rather than killing them outright. Certainly with the intention to interrogate them with torturing methods later.
A few troops made the grave mistake of lunging at Michael. Only for all their limbs to be torn off and hurled to the cold ground.
"There’s no need to worry." Michael reassured in a soothing tone. "Judgment dictates that you will experience the same pain you inflicted on the innocent. Only those at fault will suffer."
Hearing his provocation, the researcher who had been excited about examining Zachary shuddered.
Of everyone, he was the most guilty. He couldn’t even fathom what Michael was going to do to him!
"C—Chief... permission to kill myself?" The researcher stuttered. Not waiting for an answer, he grabbed the revolver he kept for self-defense and aimed it below his jaw.
He squeezed the trigger, yet the sweat release of death didn’t come.
"Oh, no, no..." Michael appeared next to the researcher, one arm twisting the revolver like it was a plastic toy.
"Planning to experiment on a helpless child... You didn’t think you were going to get off scot-free, did you?"
Heaving a sigh, he immobilized the researcher.
The chief was startled. He knew Michael was strong, but to move so fast that he couldn’t even sense him?!
He turned, about to retaliate. Only for a sudden chop to the back of his neck to rob him of consciousness.
Ruby and Devil had finished dealing with the enemy. Most lay on the ground, pools of blood spreading from their slit necks. While a few, like the chief, were simply rendered unconscious, as they could hold valuable information.
Despite her rampage, Ruby wasn’t that drenched. Her agility and flexibility had helped her avoid most of the red splatter. Meanwhile, Devil seemed to revel in it, rejoicing in bathing in the blood of his enemies.
"Is he okay?" Ruby’s ears drooped as she approached Zachary. The sight of the scarred boy painted her greatly.
"Should be." Michael gently patted her on the head in a calming gesture.
"He appears to be a cultivator and free from the plague. Given enough time, he should naturally heal from the burns. However, I’ll use a few healing syringes just in case."
With a nod, Ruby glanced at the rifles scattered across the ground.
"Unbelievable... How did they manage to get military-grade weapons?!" She bellowed, seeing the ingrained markings. With every interaction she had with those who despised her kin, the more she felt at a disadvantage.
"There must be a traitor somewhere high, no doubt!... Or maybe the majority simply hates us enough to supply these terrorists with firepower." Ruby’s tail drooped.
Michael cleared his throat.
"Actually, military-grade is a term used for the cheapest and lowest-quality weapons that barely meet the minimum requirements but can be mass-produced at large scale... So, technically, they couldn’t have been worse armed than this."
She blinked slowly.
"Oh..."
Suddenly, the name lost all its appeal.
After turning the place upside down looking for anything useful, Michael called the local authorities. Sadly, there were a lot of dead felines in the chamber, and someone needed to take care of them.
Though before leaving, Michael decided to conduct a little experiment. He found several syringes that were clearly labeled with large, clear signs indicating they contained the plague.
"What comes around, goes around, I guess." Michael mused, his gaze settling on the unconscious researcher.
Several minutes later, the man woke up, only to find himself chained to one of the operating tables... Just like he had done to Ruby’s kin prior.
"P—Please, let me go! I’ll tell you about the other branches, I swear!"
Michael shook his head, pointing to the unconscious Grandmasters.
"We’ll use them to gather information. You’re going to play another part in our experiment..."
The researcher turned deadly pale at the sight of the syringes laid out on the table.
Michael’s plan was rather simple. He was going to infect the man and then examine the development of the illness. Perhaps this way he would be able to get a deeper grasp on it.
"Let the experiment begin." He proclaimed, filling the researcher’s soul with terror.