Ryder stared at the party in front of him, not knowing what to do.

‘How did he find out?’

He was sure he never slipped up, so how did they find out he was planning to escape?

It was too late to think about that now as his enemies were already in front of him. Ryder’s hands tightly gripped the heavy cardboard box as his whole body filled with uneasiness.

‘What to do… what to do…’

Ryder gritted his teeth as his head tried to come up with ideas to get him out of this situation. But nothing he thought of would work.

He was just far too outnumbered, and he wasn’t sure if his strength would do anything against more highly trained guards. There could even be mages among them.

“Long time no see, Ryder,” Dr. Krugal grinned maliciously as he stared at him. “Miss me?”

Ignoring his sarcastic question, Ryder was still shocked at how he was discovered. “How did you know?”

Dr. Krugal only sneered at his question, before pulling out something behind his back and throwing it in front of him.

Ryder braced himself for an upcoming attack but was stunned to see the sight in front of him.

It was Brigitte, who looked to be in an extremely ugly state. Her blonde hair, once shining with luster, was now filled with soot and blood.

Half her face was covered in bruises, staining her once cheerful complexion with purples and blues. One of her eyes was swollen shut, and a deep cut ran from the side of her face onto her neck.

But despite her injured condition, she was still curled up in a fetal position as if trying to protect something with her body.

“Brigitte!” Ryder shouted worriedly before rushing to her side, dropping the cardboard box in the process.

He held her torn clothes in his hands and shook her panickly. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect to encounter Brigitte, and in such a state too.

Ryder felt rage surge through him and he glared at Dr. Krugal menacingly.

“Why did you do this to her?” He growled.

Dr. Krugal laughed in response. “I don’t think you should be worrying about her, young man.”

He then dropped another bombshell. “After all, she was the reason why we knew you were trying to escape.”

“W-what do you mean,” Ryder stammered.

“We found that girl assaulting one of our researchers for his key card,” Dr. Krugal snapped. “Too bad she was too weak and was caught immediately.”

Ryder looked down at Brigitte, trying to process his thoughts.

‘Oh you stupid girl,’ Ryder groaned inside of his mind. ‘Why did you involve yourself.’

“Of course, she wasn’t willing to say anything even after a quick ‘interrogation’,” Dr. Krugal started again. “So we just conducted a quick search through her lab, and can you guess what we found?”

He smiled while pulling out a worn out letter from his coat. “This!”

Ryder narrowed his eyes. That was the letter he left for Brigitte detailing his situation and why he needed to escape. It seems like it backfired on him in the end.

But before he could say anything, Brigitte suddenly started to stir in his hands.

“Brigitte?” Ryder’s voice was barely a whisper, his tone traced with concern.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Brigitte opened her eyes, or at least one of them, the other was swollen to function.

“Hey Ryder,” Brigitte croaked out, before letting out a series of violent coughs.

Panicked, Ryder quickly held her upright before patting her back, trying to calm her down.

Slowly, Brigitte’s coughing eased but her breath still came out in ragged, shallow gasps.

“I’m sorry Ryder,” she finally said. “I didn’t mean to put you in this situation.”

Ryder felt tears welling up in his eyes, and he struggled hard not to break down seeing the state his friend was in.

“Why did you come here,” Ryder said hoarsely. “You should know the danger you would place yourself in.”

“I wanted to give you something,” Brigitte said while smiling. “But before I could finish preparing it, you were already gone.”

Ryder wiped away his tears. “What could be so important that you would risk your life just to give me it?”

Brigitte looked down at her belly before unwrapping her arms. Ryder also followed along and was shocked to see a small hybrid the size of a child.

It had the face and body of a small human girl, but her skin color was purplish, and she had horns sprouting out the top of her head.

“What is that?” Ryder gasped.

“It’s a hybrid we cultivated together,” Brigitte smiled adoringly at the sleeping child. “I was planning to give it to you since you need a source of mana right?”

Ryder was speechless. “You could’ve gone with me instead! Why did you have to risk your life to give that to me?”

Honestly, Ryder was still wary of the hybrids they created together, and he was still uncomfortable at the sight of the half human half demon creature.

But Brigitte only shook her head before handing the child like hybrid to him. The thing was still sleeping peacefully without the slightest intention of waking up.

“I would only be a burden,” she said. “Plus, it was not my plan to come with you, but I guess it is too late now…”

She swayed onto her feet, struggling to remain standing.

“Still, I’ll try to help-”

But before she could say anything, a sudden beam shot out from the distance and pierced her through the forehead.

It struck instantly, and Ryder barely had any time to react at all.

Ryder could only stare in a daze as she fell onto the ground in front of him, her eyes wide open.

“B-Brigitte?” Ryder stared at her body in horror, not daring to believe what just happened.

But with no response came the realization, and it struck Ryder’s body like lightning.

“No!” He quickly rushed to her side whilst still holding the hybrid. His mind raced, and his heart pounded as he knelt beside her, but nothing he could do would save her now.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he struggled to process the grief that overwhelmed his body. His surroundings faded away, and all he could care about was the death of his friend.

“Finally she stopped yapping,” Dr. Krugal said while blowing the smoke from his hands. “Now, you have two choices.”

He held up his hand again and aimed it at Ryder. “One, you can follow me back into the lab and tell us how you obtained the key card, or you die here just like your friend.”

However, Ryder was still stuck in his world, with the external voices unable to reach him.

It was the first time he had experienced this emotion, the pain-inducing feeling of grief.

But when sadness comes, wrath follows swiftly. Perhaps using a defense mechanism, Ryder’s body replaced the empty feeling within him with boiling rage and for the first time in his life, he felt unstoppable.

Wiping his tears, he gently placed Brigitte’s body onto the ground before pulling himself up. He clenched his fists as he glared at Dr. Krugal and the guards with a menacing glint in his eyes.

Dr. Krugal, watching Ryder stand up, let out a disgruntled sigh.

“Took you long enough,” he said as he continued holding his arm out at Ryder, threatening to shoot at any instant. “So, what will it be?”

Instead of answering, Ryder clenched his leg muscles before dashing in, quickly closing the distance between him and Dr. Krugal.

Dr. Krugal was expecting such a reaction from Ryder, but what he underestimated was his speed. He quickly unleashed beams of mana towards him, attempting to kill him.

However, in the next second, his expression changed to one of bewilderment as he watched Ryder weave through his attacks.

‘What’s this, he can dodge it?’

Ryder, on the other hand, felt all his senses heightened to the extreme. His nanobots responded to his wildly emotional state, pushing his body even further to unleash its potential.

The beams of mana were fast, but he was faster. To him, it was like dodging the fast pitches thrown at him.

Closing the distance in the blink of an eye, Ryder used his momentum to deliver a power punch to Dr. Krugal’s stomach, this time using his full strength.

His arms bulged with muscles as his fist launched Dr. Krugal 40 meters back, making him crash into a tree. The impact was so forceful that the tree shook, leaving leaves rustling onto the ground and on top of the crumpled figure of Dr. Krugal.

For a moment, there was a stunned silence as everyone turned to stare at Dr. Krugal, and then at Ryder in shock. Not a single soul in the vicinity expected such a young man to have such strength.

Ryder’s chest heaved as more adrenaline coursed through his body.

“That’s one down.”