Misery without mercy is despair.

Mercy without misery is presumption.

And a world without either is meaningless.

----

[The day of Awakening]

"Ugh... what..."

A man awoke in his bed, groggily opening his eyes as his hazed sight slowly took form.

"What time is it?"

This white haired man's golden eyes gazed across the room, eventually landing on the two people who were in front of the bed by either side of the door.

And as soon as the man's eyes landed upon these two, his face seemed to wrinkle with displeasure - forcing himself awake with a jolt unlike that which any caffeine could possibly hope to provide.

"What do you two think you're doing down there?"

Throwing off the covers, the man stepped out of bed as he stood above the two people - beautiful girls with the outfits of maids who were lying asleep on the ground.

One girl had hair which was pitch black, and the other snow white - complete inversions of one another.

They both had their hair tied in pony tails, the lines of which seemed to draw around them as they slept.

"Ngh..."

"What..."

Slowly, the two seemed to pick themselves up - only to meet the eyes of the man who stood above them, tapping his foot in irritation.

"Chi. What is the meaning of this? Are you two not supposed to be watching and waiting for me while I sleep?"

Immediately the black haired girl jolted up, standing as she dusted herself off as she looked around with confusion.

"F... forgive me, Master Lichtenburg. I..."

Looking down with shame as a fearful expression overcame the girl, she desperately attempted to think as she tried to find out what had happened.

"I... have no idea what happened.", she whispered lightly - completely baffled at the entire scenario.

'Why... don't I remember how we ended up like this?', she thought.

"Ah. I see. That is... quite interesting."

With a smirk, the man placed his hand on the chin of the girl.

"Quite interesting indeed. But Chi... I'm sure you know my policy on excuses."

"I... am aware. Please enact punishment as you see fit. But I truly do not know what happened-"

"Is that so?"

Placing his hand on the throat of the girl, the man breathed in as he forced her to the wall.

"So you failed to watch me in my sleep as you are instructed to do... you made excuses when I asked what the reason for your failure was, and you failed to wake me up at the proper time as well. Is that the situation?"

"That... is the situation."

Barely able to choke out these words, the black haired girl made this statement as the white haired girl watched with shame and concern in her expression - yet this white haired girl could do nothing more than face the ground in shame as the scene played itself out.

"I see."

Letting go of the maid as he dropped her, the man turned around as he spread his arms.

"Then I will have to punish you severely for such a mistake. However... now is not the time. What time is it?"

Immediately at the motion of the man spreading out his arms, the two rushed over to the closet as they began to pull out clothes while they dressed him diligently, not wasting a second as they performed the motions of skilled servants.

"I will check, Master Lichtenburg.", the black haired maid said as she pulled out a smartphone from her pocket, attempting to turn it on.

However the phone did not turn on.

Continuing to dress the man, the woman slid the phone back into her pocket as she worked.

"Forgive me, Master. It appears that my phone has died. I'm not quite sure how such a thing could have happened, as I had charged it just recently-"

"Enough."

As the two placed a lab coat on the man, he rolled back one of the sleeves to reveal an electronic watch.

"What is this? It isn't turning on? Tch... fine. I suppose we'll have to find another clock."

Stepping forward, the man took the lead as he opened the door of the bedroom, at which the two followed behind him immediately.

However as soon as he opened the door of this otherwise completely isolated room, he understood that something was off.

As if poison filled the air, a musty aura entered the room unlike anything that the man had ever experienced, and looking forward into what was once a mansion - he saw that this place was no longer so.

"What is this?", he asked - thinning his eyes in disgust as he laid his eyes on what seemed to be a mansion of rot.

Everything seemed to be covered in an aura of decay and death.

Beams and columns had failed, and rubble covered the area which was open to the sunlight above.

And within this place which was once a mansion, not a single person was present.

"I see that you two have been... severely lacking on your cleaning duties."

The two maids merely watched from within the bedroom, which had been completely sealed off with an airtight entrance from the rest of the devastated facilities.

"Master Lichtenburg... I... don't know how to explain this.", the maid known as Chi quivered - completely taken aback at the disturbing picture in front of them.

"Well... as I said. Punishment will have to come later."

Irritation evident in his voice, the man stepped forward as he walked along what was likely once a red carpet, which had now been torn to shreds and faded by time.

And as he walked along this carpet amid the rubble, the man strode forward with a determined gleam in his eyes as he spoke with a dominating tone.

"For now... it appears that I have a number of hypotheses to confirm."

----

'The position of the sun is off. Considering the temperature and humidity, it would appear that we are in the middle of summer right now.'

Thinning his eyes as he took in his surroundings, the man glanced around him as he walked forward through this mansion of rubble.

'Erosion has occurred not only on the building, but even on the pieces of rubble which have fallen. It is likely that rainfall combined with some catalytic factor has accelerated the rot of all wooden structures. Yet even that would not explain the strangely accelerated rate at which such a thing happened.'

Closing his eyes as he took a breath of the rotten air, the man sighed as he came to a conclusion.

'Clearly, this is something with a much greater cause... a calamity.'

Sliding his finger along a windowsill which was covered in mold, the man rubbed his fingers together as he inspected the rotten form of life.

'A Human Calamity, perhaps.'

With haste, the man known as Victor came to such a conclusion - for he understood well that there were far too many unanswered questions with the situation - and the vast amount of things which were unanswered could only have one solution.

'Was it Three? Or perhaps Seven?'

Glancing back to the two maids who hadn't shifted from his back, the man eyed the women before focusing on a particular door.

‘Does this mean that they truly did escape during that time?’

Heading to the door which seemed to be made of a high tech material with protections all around, the man typed in a passcode on the keypad - which still was in functioning condition.

With a clicking sound, the doors opened before the scientist, who headed into a section of the mansion which was completely undisturbed by the rot, just as the bedroom had been.

'Are they working together, or was it the troublesome one who had orchestrated this entire affair? Has he convinced them to come over to his side, or were they trained well enough to understand that such a thing was nothing more than madness? Are they even still alive, or have they perhaps fought amongst themselves - leaving only the victors?'

There were far too many questions, and not enough answers.

'So much time has passed that any of these things could be a possibility. Regardless... why is it that so much time has passed in the first place?'

On entering the room, Victor eyed a digital clock on the wall which read the date - June 20, 2038.

'Six months. As I expected.'

But what was the reason?

Why was he put to sleep for six months?

'How is such a thing possible in the first place? My hunger does not seem to be... overwhelming. It is as if my body, my exhaustion, all of these things are exactly the same as they were before. I recall that I was particularly tired the last night I have memories of, and decided to rest for the night... however it seems that during that time, I never woke up.'

Heading deeper into the room where there was another series of doors and locks, the man pressed a number of buttons as he unlocked them one after the other.

'Those two had collapsed on the floor. Barring the conclusion that they were merely slacking off on their duties, and considering that my mansion was reduced to rubble and not a single person had ever come to assist me can only mean one thing.'

Heading deeper into the high tech chamber, the man approached a large closet, at which another passcode was entered, followed by a series of scans on his hand, eye, and tongue.

'This entire world has collapsed.'

Victor was the Commander of the Research and Development Department of the Forgestarian Empire.

He was one of the five military leaders in the nation, and arguably the most important as the one who was tasked with coming up with new weaponry and tools of warfare.

To put it simply, he was a man of high status - someone who even the Emperor would suffer from his loss.

No - he was a man that the Emperor could not afford to lose.

Why then, would not a single person have been sent to retrieve him if his home had somehow been attacked by a terrorist?

One might argue that perhaps his doors were locked to the outside, and as such nobody could get in - which was true. Victor's bedroom along with all of his chambers for storage and experimentation were all secure, and as such even if people had tried to get inside they would likely have a great amount of trouble doing so.

As a matter of fact, these chambers were built with Numerium, a material sturdy enough to survive nuclear explosions.

However, Victor lived in the middle of a City.

While his mansion was high above the surrounding area, if the roof had collapsed and the entire building rotted, people would certainly take notice and do something about it.

The building would have either been demolished or rebuilt, and especially given the secrets contained within this place, Victor knew that the Emperor would have been the first person to search it in an attempt to salvage whatever research had been lost with his disappearance.

And yet... there was not the slightest trace of human interaction in this entire place.

'Conrad... he is the one that the Emperor would have sought out, if it were indeed the case that I alone was attacked in some strange manner. Yet this... proves otherwise.'

On opening the sealed cabinet, a line of futuristic weaponry was unveiled.

Not only weaponry, but an entire armory of weapons and armor - all experimental gear which was only available to those involved in development.

Grabbing a helmet, the man placed it on his own head, and as soon as he did so the tool disappeared, becoming completely transparent.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"I will dress myself for now. In the meantime, you two should arm yourselves as well."

"Master... Lichtenburg?"

"You... are acting quite strange."

Chi and then Shay spoke up with concern and confusion in their expressions, at which the man stopped dressing himself for just a moment.

"Can you not see that the situation is an emergency? We don't have time to adhere to formalities, and I don't have time to explain every last detail right now. Follow my orders, and do not think any further. Is that understood?"

"Yes!"

With energetic responses, the women immediately took their places next to the man as the three slid the armor over themselves, which disappeared over their clothing as soon as they equipped it.

The two maids would never have acted in such a manner before, being so presumptuous as to take a spot beside their master and act beside him, yet at his command they obeyed.

They didn't quite understand what was happening, but they knew without a doubt that something was off.

No... that everything was off.

"It's quite amazing, isn't it? This armor which can reflect bullets, lasers, even explosions, yet is completely invisible to the eye. Do you know why I included such a feature in the design?"

As he finished dressing himself, the man took up a weapon as he slid it onto his back, then grabbing a sack he began to fill it with grenades of all sorts.

"Why is that, Master Lichtenburg?", Chi asked with interest as she finished armoring herself as well.

"It is because... war is based on deception."

Grabbing the coat of his jacket which should have been underneath the invisible armor which he had just donned, the man reached beneath it as if it did not exist in the first place.

"When one believes their enemy to be unarmed... defenseless... and weak... it is at that moment that they believe it is the perfect time to strike."

Pulling something out of his coat pocket, the man unveiled a syringe filled with a pink fluid.

"And yet... it is when one strikes an enemy who has been hiding such a defense, that they are taken aback the moment that their enemy prevents what should have been the killing blow."

Sticking the syringe through his own jacket and through what should have been the invisible armor which he wore, the man pumped his flesh with the pink liquid as a victorious smile came across his face.

"It would seem that my rebellious creation has finally attacked... and yet he was unable to breach my defenses."

The veins of the man crawled up his face as he seemed to puff up in reaction to the injection, yet just as soon as the inflammation had begun the man whipped out another syringe, this one with a yellow fluid - and injected himself with it just as quickly.

"And now... he must be reeling back at his inability to defeat me, desperately trying to recuperate in order to land another blow."

And as soon as the yellow fluid entered the body of the man, the swelling disappeared, and he returned to his perfectly healthy state just as before.

"But before he can do so... I will flee."

Cocking his weapon, the man stepped forward as he motioned for the two to follow him once more.

"I will flee, and build myself up. I will become ten, a hundred, a thousand, a million times more powerful. And I will return to defeat him... only when my victory is guaranteed."

With a chuckle, the two were taken aback - for the man before them was not the man they knew.

It was as if everything about him had changed.

As if he had been preparing his entire life for this moment, impatiently waiting for everything to go his way.

And yet now, even when everything seemed lost... he walked as if he had gained everything.

"The Seven Experiments... and Number Seven in particular... perhaps they believe that they are special."

Placing his index finger to his forehead as he spoke out loud, the man known as Victor Lichtenburg closed his eyes as he stepped with complete assuredness.

"Perhaps they believe that they were the end goal."

With a smirk, the man once more approached a door - one which was even further into the hidden facilities.

"Perhaps they believe that they truly were... the calamities."

Nodding his head, the man covered his mouth as his golden eyes burst open with excitement.

"Yet they were only the beginning."

The girl known as Chi could do nothing more than watch as her master seemed to transform before her very eyes - from the wicked and irritable scientist she knew him as to a person whose presence was strong enough to make her feel... insignificant.

"The beginning of an ERA of Calamities."

Placing his hand on yet another scanner as he entered a new facility, the man typed in a number of codes with a speed that Chi could not even read.

"An era in which I will rule."

And all the while, he spoke softly - yet with an overwhelming power in his voice.

"An era in which I will emerge... as the Victor."

With these words, the man breathed in slowly as the doors before him opened.

'Seven, it is true that your actions were unexpected. And it is true that my plan has been altered as a result of this. Yet I wonder if you understand that because of you... my plan has been accelerated?'

And as if he were mocking the experiment who dared to defy him, the man thought these things.

'How much easier will it be to take over a world which has already been destroyed?'

----

[The Present Time: June 22nd, 5:00 PM]

[2 Days after the Day of Awakening]

[Hmm... so you've already met up with Number Two, and he is currently returning to the lab to meet with Number Five in order to present a vessel to her.]

Three people sat at the table of a conference room, on the floor above a warehouse.

[That is correct.]

A red haired woman whose hair was disheveled spoke while leaning back in her seat, staring at the ceiling as she spoke with indifference.

[Number Two adopted a daughter in the time that he was out in this world, and that girl along with a couple of other humans have huddled up together in a school. Your hosts went out in order to obtain supplies under the logic that, as the ones who can survive death, that it would be safest for them to head out.]

[Indeed.]

As the red haired woman recapped off the situation, the man dressed in a suit responded promptly, confirming her observations.

[And during that time, you encountered that girl downstairs as well as one of the Unnumbered - or at least, a host of one.]

[Redirect.]

With a nod, the woman seemed to understand as she sat forward, gazing into the eyes of the black haired man - the whites of which were completely black.

Of course, this went for all three of the people present in this room.

[Did you know him well, Seven?]

[Know him... even if you ask such a thing... haha... well, I suppose my situation is quite complicated when it comes to the Unnumbered.]

Asking this question was a woman whose black hair was currently floating around her as she used it like limbs, twisting and tying it about without any purpose.

Yet the one who spoke in the place of this woman did not have the same level of maturity as the body which she spoke from.

[The Unnumbered... I did anticipate that some of their hosts would be incompatible... or rather, that some of their hosts would be wicked humans with disturbing goals... but I didn't expect it to be taken to such an extent as it was with Redirect.], the man stated while putting his hand to his chin in deep thought.

[They can't control their hosts like we can?], the red haired woman asked.

[No no, of course they can't!]

The woman - or rather the girl in the body of a woman responded with energy.

[They're just regular humans, after all! Awakened as they are... they don't have the infrastructure to do something like that.]

With an understanding nod, the woman let out a snicker.

[So they're trapped within whatever human they were unfortunate enough to be compatible with. That is... unfortunate. Wouldn't you agree?]

[Indeed-]

[I wasn't talking to you, Seven.]

Cutting off Seven without hesitation, the woman faced him with a glare as she spoke.

[I was talking to my host.]

[I see. Forgive my interruption.]

With a chuckle, Seven merely smiled and closed his eyes and accepted the strange behavior of the one before him as if it were normal.

[You seem really attached to your human, Three! Is he fun to be with? How come you like your human so much? You're always talking to him, even when you've taken over! And he lets you take over at any time!? I wish mine was like that! She likes being in control of her body and everything, and if I take over too much...]

As the girl spoke, suddenly the hair which she fluttered about like tentacles wrapped around her very neck - constraining her to the point where she was about to choke.

[Heh.]

Yet even so - the girl within the body of the woman laughed with a vicious sadism.

[She might break.]

[Are you going to break your host's body like that? Doesn't it hurt you as well? And at any rate... wouldn't that just make them hate you?]

Despite the concern in her question, the red haired woman seemed indifferent on the matter, not even facing the girl as she asked this question.

[Ah, that? Well... I guess you could say that I like playing with my food.]

[That does seem like something you would have liked to do, if we had food to eat in the first place.]

Standing up, Number Three began to walk towards the exit, concluding the meeting with her actions.

[So? What is our next goal then, Seven?]

Stopping as she asked this question, the woman awaited an answer as her body slowly began to deform - her hair shortening and her physique becoming more masculine as everything distorted.

[For now, we continue to mold our hosts. I will allow them to do as they please. They have an enemy in mind... and perhaps in defeating this enemy they will grow all the more.]

"I see. So you're the ones that the Lady has always been going on and on about?"

As the body returned to that of a male, the red haired man turned around, the whites of his eyes having returned to their normal color.

And as he did so, he stepped forward - holding out his hand as he faced Number Seven with a grin.

"I guess I'll say this up front, Seven and One. I don't really know you, but since you're the friends of the Lady, I'll gladly work alongside you for whatever she wants."

Number Seven merely watched the man, looking down at the hand as he smiled.

[Ah... this is the gesture where two humans grip each other in order to assert a partnership, is it not? This host has many memories of such things.]

With this statement, the creature put forth his hand as well, and the two shook firmly.

However, neither of them let go.

"But listen up, Seven."

And leaning into the ear of the man, the human whispered to the monster with a menacing tone.

"I serve the Lady... or Number Three, as you would know her by... and ONLY the Lady. So you had best remain her ally... or you will also become my enemy."

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