Romeo and Blade rushed through the lower levels of the lab. There was much to be seen around them, various rooms filled with tests, reports, and experiments still in progress, but they didn’t have time. With the alarm active, the entire facility was aware of their presence. As if to remove any doubt of that fact, some sections of the lower labs closed automatically. Heavy metal walls rose from the ground, blocking a few corridors. They also locked every single door and window with a similar barrier. If they had time, Romeo and Blade might break through one of those thinner plates, but that would still take a few minutes, and they had no way of knowing if the room on the other side would have an exit or not.

“Shit, here!” Blade gasped, as one of those barriers blocked the third path she was trying to take.

Romeo was running right behind her, “You know they are leading us somewhere. Right?”

“What? Are you saying the evil organization that experiments on people and can control the layout of the floor is trying to lead us to a trap? Don’t be ridiculous,” Blade rolled her eyes.

“I was just making sure you don’t have to be mean about it. To the left,” Romeo called as he noticed another path being closed.

“Yes, I do! Don’t you think that they might have noticed the trail of dead bodies that we left behind?”

“No! Look, putting bodies in the janitor’s closet is effective.”

“That’s a cliché, and you know it!”

“Clichés work! There is a reason everyone uses them.”

“But everyone knows about them! So everyone knows what to look for! Left,” Blade pivoted and continued running. This time, the corridor didn’t change, it just kept going for a while.

“Wait, wait. Stop,” Romeo grabbed the woman by the arm. She just looked at him with a confused expression when he placed a small sphere in her hand, “Pepper. That’s the safe word. If I say this, you use it.”

“We are both leaving this place,” Blade tried to push away the sphere. It was an item only found in the 26th layer. A rare drop from a hard mode dungeon in the deepest part of the MAZE they had reached. When breaking this orb, she would be teleported to a location they had decided yesterday. Right in front of the dungeon that was part of their escape plan. It would take only one person and it was a single use item. However, as she tried to give the item back, the former chairman held her hand.

“Blade. They need that data. They need to know about this place. That is more important than anything, and you are better at sneaking by them. You’ve proven that already.”

The woman paused, understating the gravity of the situation, “Pepper?”

“Pepper,” Romeo nodded. He was sure they would need to use the Emergency Escape Sphere. The walls were no longer moving. They were trapped. The only thing that might save them was the hubris of the guards. Maybe they thought they could overpower them with numbers. It was a long shot, but that was his only hope.

Blade nodded back, and the two of them continued running. After a moment, it was clear that the walls stopped moving, but the path they were following was going back around itself. Forcing them to walk by corridors that were parallel to the ones they already passed by. They did this to stall them. Maybe the facility had some safety measure that stopped it from being completely closed off, but it was unlikely. The guards, or whomever, were controlling all of this needed time for… something. And changing the layout was the best way to do it.

After a left turn, they saw a large room at the end of the hallway. That would be either their chance to escape, or the place where the guild would spring their trap. If it could even be called that. Romeo and Blade arrived in what looked like an arena. Metal bars blocked two passages to the right and left, while the sterile steel walls were smeared with dried blood. Just as they walked inside, a door closed behind them.

“Here we go,” Blade mumbled, already expecting something to happen.

“Romeo, Romeo, Romeo,” a voice echoed. On the 10 meter tall ceiling of this room, there were 9 drones, one in each corner of the room, another four in the cardinal directions and the last one in the center. Each of those flying robots had a small camera attached to them, as well as a speaker and a small microphone. The voice continued, coming from all of them at the same time, “It is a shame that the first time you could ever surprise me is by doing something so utterly foolish and pointless.”

“Morgan,” Romeo snarled, “I never imagined you would be willing to get your hands dirty like this.”

“And that is exactly your problem, Romeo. You lack vision. Your mistake was, and still is, not focusing on the big picture,” Morgan’s voice sounded almost bored.

“Vision? Pah! My only mistake was not seeing the insufferable asshole you are sooner,” Romeo yelled.

“And here I thought we ended our relationship on such nice terms,” Morgan's voice sounded a bit more amused.

Blade realized that this was probably another way to stall for time and started looking around, trying to see if there was some time she could do to leave this place. A switch, a passage, something.

“Nice terms!? You son of a bitch, you used me and tossed me to the side. Made me look like an incompetent villain in the entire story, even after I lost a leg and my eye!”

There was a pause, then Morgan’s voice came through once more. However, it was no longer that bored tone. Each word now was accompanied by outrage and venom, “I used you? What use would I have for you? You were nothing when we first met. No one. And without my help, that is all you would have amounted to. You would have found a mediocre job, in a mediocre company, and lived a mediocre life that would’ve been forgotten in less than a generation. No, Romeo. You tried to use me, and I allowed it. I let you fly on my coattails earning the respect and power that came with simply being near me and my accomplishments. I showed you how to be more, how to become someone that matters. And how do you repay me? By betraying me, betraying everything I stand for. And even despite all that, I gave you the chance to walk free. My last gift to you was the permission to continue on with your life, using all that I provided. All the opportunities, all the levels, all the power that came from me and my company. And what do you do to thank me? You try to ruin my life’s work. The one thing that can wipe out all the non humans from the MAZE. The one thing that would allow us to take what is rightfully ours as real people instead of sharing resources with a bunch of fake beings created by the system.”

Romeo started yelling again, debating every point Morgan made, but Blade stopped listening. That was just a waste of time. She moved towards one passage and saw something moving beyond the metal bars. It looked alive, bipedal. Maybe it was a person? She pulled her sword and superheated it again, trying to cut the bars so they could pass through them. It was a stupid idea, but she didn’t know what else to do. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough. When she tried to cut the metal, all she could do was heat it as well, but she couldn’t cut it. Even after, the entire bar glowed white due to all the heat. Blade tried to push them, but she wasn’t strong enough. Unlike what many thought, her attributes focused on agility and endurance and not strength. The fighter tried calling Romeo over to help, but the former chairmen was too distracted, having a shouting match with someone who wasn’t even there, to pay attention to her.

“Sir, we are ready,” an unfamiliar voice came from the drones.

“Perfect,” Morgan replied, returning to his bored tone, “Now, Romeo. You will help me with one last thing. We need to confirm if our tools will do what we need them to. And you will be the first barrier they are supposed to break.”

Just as he finished speaking, the two passages blocked by metal bars started to open. Blade jumped back and watched as a hulking figure slowly walked towards her. On the other side, the same thing was happening, although the figure was a bit smaller.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Let me introduce you to our brand new line of engineered soldiers. They are able to fight nonstop for up to eight weeks, and due to their connection with a Daemon, don’t have to worry about mana cost. In addition, even the body of a level 40 person can become strong enough to face level 70s. Or at least, that’s what our projections say. Now we will be able to confirm that theory. So, do me a favor and be helpful one more time by dying and making our marketing promises real,” Morgan said.

The large figures rushed out of the passage. One of them almost ran Blade over, but the fighter dodged the attack. Both attackers were human, one man and one woman, and they were wearing black fitted gym clothes likely made of a very elastic fiber. In contrast, their skin was red, a vibrant red that almost seemed to glow. Over their chest, right where their heart should be, was a black circle tattoo. Either one of those people could win bodybuilding competitions just by showing up. As long as the organizers didn’t care about whatever the New Dawn had pumped into their system. But it was also strange. While staring at them, one would feel that their muscles were wrong. They were too big and likely about to tear, like a balloon that was over inflated. Yet, they moved without any worry or discomfort. There was no restriction or stiffness to their movements.

“Wait… I know you. I saw you when we were being arrested!” Blade pointed at the man. He had green eyes, a buzz cut, and a tattoo of a tree on his neck.

The man gave her a blank stare. Not replying to the comment.

“Alpha, Beta. Kill them. Let’s see if you are truly able to overcome the level difference.”

The two red people suddenly vanished. Each appearing in front of one of the invaders and punching them with all their might. Blade wasn’t ready for it and was flung to the wall, bending it slightly with the impact. Romeo, on the other hand, was more well prepared. He activated the metal plates around his arm to form a gauntlet using the magnetic force of his magic and defended against the blow. Even so, he was pushed several meters back.

Blade landed on her feet, her golden eyes started to shine and her entire body was covered in radiant light. She lunged forward, towards Beta, the man that attacked her. Her sword became overheated once more, then she swung down. The first strike was blocked. Hitting this person’s skin was like hitting a piece of rock. Blade shifted her grip on the longsword and went for an upward slash. Adding a couple of skills to disrupt magic with the attack. Beta was too slow to defend, and a cut appeared across his torso, the skin around it turning back to normal, but that was just for a moment. When the red took over, the wound was instantly closed, and the soldier went for a straight punch. Blade ducked under it and tapped the man’s arm, activating a couple of binding spells in order to slow him down. She could feel the magic taking, but it barely did anything. Beta continued to attack, now in a flurry of jabs and straights forcing Blade to focus on evading. Every now and then, she was able to make another cut, using the same combination of effects, but the wound would close up almost instantly. The only proof of her successful attacks was the blood that was being splattered on the ground.

On the other side of the room, Romeo was facing Alpha, the woman. She was a bit smaller than Beta, and also less bulky. Yet, her strikes didn’t seem to be any weaker than her partners, nor was she slower. In fact, she was more limber, able to twist her body more while attacking. This allowed her to both use more muscles in each blow and made it harder for Romeo to hit her back. To make matters worse, the former chairmen couldn’t use her magnetism powers properly. There was no metal on her for him to use, and he could only control the blood that was outside one’s body. He used a couple of buffing spells, increasing his defense and power, but his offensive options wouldn’t work against Alpha. Romeo focused on corroding his opponent’s equipment, which was utterly useless in a fight against someone unarmed. His saving grace was his [Sturdy] skill, being at rank 8 and reducing all damage he took by 80%. He also could shift the density of his body to a certain extent, making sure to make his limbs weigh less when he was going for an attack and increasing their weight just as he was about to hit. Even with all that, he could barely do anything against Alpha. Hitting her was not just difficult, but almost impossible. The woman also struggled to deliver a proper blow on Romeo, but when he overstepped, or tried to take advantage of a big opening, she was able to punish him for his greed.

The worst part was that both Romeo and Blade could tell these people couldn’t fight. Not properly. Their movements were too by the book. There were no faints, no attempts at a different combo. These people were amateurs when compared to Romeo and Blade’s technique was leagues beyond Beta’s. Yet, they were overcoming that gap with sheer physical strength. And these were just the test subjects. If the New Dawn was ever able to give this… spell? Skill? Whatever it was to the proper soldiers. People who had trained properly, the balance of war would shift fast.

Blade noticed how Romeo was being pushed back more and more. Alpha was slowly trying to pin him in the corner of the room. Not wanting to leave the former chairmen to die, she came up with a plan. Beta was cocky, he would gladly take damage if it meant he had a good shot at her, and even if he wasn’t successful so far, he was getting close. Blade went for an upward swing once more, one that was clearly out of range. But hitting him wasn’t the intention. As she hoped, Beta didn’t move and just let her sword go wide. Just as the tip of the weapon reached his eye line, Blade channeled a spell called Blinding Sun. A powered up version of the more common flash bang spell.

Beta yelled as the light flooded his eyes and started to swing in every direction, unable to see. Wounds were quickly healed, but something like this would take longer. Using that opportunity, Blade lunged at Alpha, her sword covered in a brilliant golden light. Her attack caught the red woman by surprise, and the sword pierced the right side of her abdomen. Blade continued, finishing the skill. The skill that was responsible for giving her the name Blade of Dawn. A skill that she had refused to use for some time due to its name.

“New Dawn,” she whispered and pulled her sword up, creating a massive blade of radiant light that cut Alpha’s arm clean off, while also making a large gash on the reinforced wall behind the test subject.

“You bitch!” Alpha yelled. The arm that was separated from her body returning to a natural color. Yet, the hulking woman was still standing. Even with half her torso exposed, the red aura worked its magic, closing the wound. The one good thing that came out of it was that she wasn’t growing a new arm, not right away at least.

Blade stepped in front of Romeo who was now covered in bruises, blood coming out of his nose and one of his eyes completely swollen, like a boxer after a match, “C’mon. We got this,” she tried to sound confident, but had no idea if that really was the case.

Romeo chuckled, “Yeah. We do. Thank you. And Blade,” he looked at her, who gave him a quick glance as Alpha and Beta started to approach, “Pepper,” the former chairmen lunged forward, the metal plates that formed his gauntlet spread out flattening themselves and creating a wall between Blade and the rest of the room. At the same time, Romeo used one last skill. One that he used several times when he was the chairmen in order to get people’s attention, or make a meeting room quiet down. [Command], but this time the skill was aimed only at two people.

“Kill me!” he yelled. Not wishing for death, but knowing that while the skill was active, Alpha and Beta would be unable to chase after Blade. Not before they fulfilled that order, and they would have to work for it.

The two test subjects pummeled Romeo repeatedly. He did his best to fight back, but with the skill active, Alpha and Beta were not holding back or trying to get used to their bodies. They were using their full strength.

After ten long minutes, the broken body of the former chairmen collapsed on the ground. Most of his bones were broken, his organs ruptured, and life had left his eyes. Romeo Ballester was dead.

When getting her senses back, Alpha snapped back towards the corner of the room, where the metal wall still stood. She ripped the plates out with a single kick, but there was nothing behind it.

“You let her go?!” Beta yelled.

“I let her go?! You were the one who couldn’t keep that bitch occupied. If anyone let her escape, it was you!” Alpha yelled back, the veins in her face becoming more visible by the second.

“If you weren’t so weak that you had to push him to the corner, she wouldn’t have tired of helping him,” Beta yelled even louder, half of his words barely making sense.

“Weak? I only have one arm, but I can still kill you!”

“Try it then!”

Alpha and Beta started to fight. Not that this could be called an actual fight. Before they threw the first punch, it already devolved into two mindless beasts trying to kill each other.

Morgan was in the lower labs’ control room. Watching all the events unfold. He saw when Romeo protected Blade, and a brief flash of light just after that metal wall was created. Following that, the readings in the room no longer showed 4 people inside. Now only 3.

“Sir. Should we activate the gas to knock them out?” one of the scientists asked as Alpha and Beta fought each other.

“No. This fight can still give us some valuable data. I suppose the concentration of Daemonic Essence is still too strong. Hence why they are so easily angered. Note that down for Gamma and Delta,” Morgan replied.

“I’m sorry sir, but the subjects from Gamma to Zeta already have received their tattoos. We can make that change starting with Eta and Theta,” another scientist replied.

“Very well. Mark subjects Gamma through Zeta as one use consumables. Use Eta and Theta as a test case for the lower essence concentration. If there are no problems. We can start to accept candidates for the numbered soldiers,” Morgan nodded and continued to watch as Alpha and Beta brutally beat each other to death. Despite all the setbacks and the potential stolen data, he was calm. That minor setback wouldn’t change anything. He knew that soon the MAZE would belong only to humans, as it was always supposed to be.