After school, I briskly walk towards the base, constantly confirming that I am  not being followed. I perform the scans and head down the elevator to Master's office. I am surprised to see that he is not present at the moment. Seeing no point in waiting, I take the elevator down to my room. Once there, I set my bag down by my bed and take out my phone to watch some anime. 

"Help me."

I flinch in surprise. I stay silent for a few moments and wait to hear the faint voice that was just in my head again. There's no sound. I sigh. "It must be my imagination."

"Someone, please. Help me."

There it is again. That voice. I spring to the elevator as fast as I can and search frantically ponder about which floor to head to. I've been to every floor in this base, but I've never heard anybody calling for help before. Just then, I notice a secret panel under the button that leads to the bottom floor. Behind it lies a an unlabeled, black button. It is a different color than the other white buttons. That must be it. I'm sure the voice came from there. I can feel it. 

"Please."

"Hang on!" I yell. Once the elevator opens to the bottom floor, I rush out of it. In front of me is a large, steel door. It has a thumb print scanner on the side. I try to scan my thumb, thinking something will happen. But, it rejects me. "Dammit!" I curse.

"Help," the voice calls through the door.

"I  guess I have no choice. Release! 40 percent!" My snowflake necklace glows a bright white light. The kanji symbol for "release" appears on my right hand. I summon Raeden and use it to slash the door open. It cuts cleanly in half, allowing me to enter. I then release my katana from its physical form as it returns to dust. Once I have infiltrated  the room, I regret ever doing it. 

The room is spacious, filled with a dozen human-sized chambers, like one where a scientist would keep a live specimen. It had green liquid running through it. Inside the chambers are kids, mostly preteens and young teens.  They float in the tank, unconscious.

"How could they...." I mumble in fright.

I notice that nearly half of the chambers did not trap any kids in it. "Why?" I ask myself. Then, the thought comes to me. I look around the room and eventually spot a small, hidden door in the wall. The sight of it fills  my entire body with horror. My eyes widen as I gasp. 

Through that door is a small, cramped room filled with corpses of young kids, all stacked up in a sea of dead bodies. Their eyes remain open, as a sign of a cruel death. Many detached limbs lay scattered among the corpses. Some of their blood is still fresh, while the others are dry, indicating they died a long time ago. It flows down their bodies like tears flowing down their face. 

"I know I've killed many people using some gory methods, but this?" I admit. I drown myself in tears at this horrible sight.

I put a halt to my weeping when I hear a young boy screaming in terrible pain. I cover my mouth with my hand to avoid screaming as well. Just before I hear a deafening explosion, I manage to catch the boy's last words: "Help me."

 He's the one who called me. 

I collpase to my knees and grab my head with both hands. "What is this feeling? My heart's pounding, but it's not out of exhilaration. Why am I acting like this?" I notice my hand shaking wildy. "What's happening to me?"

"It's an emotion called fear," a voice behind me answers. 

I quickly get back on my feet and summon Raeden back in my hand. I point my sword at the person behind me. It was Master.

"What is the meaning of this?" I ask, demandingly.

He sighs. "I guess I'll have to start from the top. It's a shame. I wanted to keep it a secret until we completed this project. You see, everything you have been doing for me up to now has all been for this! These children are my test subjects for the new world I'm going to build! A new world without those filthy humans! I'm going to create a new race of Crystal users that are under my complete control!" he madly exclaims.

"Huh? You're joking! How do you plan on building a race like that? You would only be able to use a tiny percentage of children, but they would their bodies would still end up decaying by the time they're adults."

"That's what these experiments are for. I'm looking to find a way to forcibly make children compatible to the crystal using drugs and such to artificially increase their compatibility rate and slow the decaying process even further. The problem is, most of my test subjects have given in too quickly, so their body goes BANG!" he explains enthusiasticly using hand motions to picture an explosion. "But, we're making very great progress. Eventually, I'll create a whole army of them that will take over as the new dominant species on Earth!"

"N-new species?" I ask, stuttering. 

"Oh, I forgot to talk about that. I'm planning on summoning the demon lord, Satan, from the depths of hell. He'll wipe out the entire human race, leaving only the crystal users remaining. But don't worry, I'll make sure to shield you from the blast. After all, you are going to be the queen," he declares, smirking.

"Like hell I'll give such a twisted plan! Actually, that's not even a logical plan to begin with! There's no way you can summon a demon lord that doesn't even exist, and even if you magically do, there's no guarantee you won't be wiped out along with the rest of the race!" I yell, outraged.

"That's where you're wrong. First, Satan is real. Why, how could there be an akuma (demon) Crystal without a demon? And how could there be a demon without a demon lord? Do you remember when you first made a contract with the Akuma Crystal? You saw an angelic figure in front of you, right? Her name was Tenshi-sama (angel). However, I though something was strange. She didn't have any wings, but she definitely looked like an angel. So, I came up with this theory: Tenshi-sama was originally an angel, but she lost her wings when she sided with the demons, so she lost her wings and descended to hell and became a demon in the form of an angel. And the one who was responsible for this was Satan. As for the summoning him, my plan's already underway. I was able to produce one successful test subject. Do you know who it is?" he asks. 

"The target you assigned me, Hanako Tachibana." I whisper.

"I'm surprised you were able to figure it out so quickly," he compliments.

I figured it out during the dodgeball game in gym. She was the only one who could match me. But the thing that turned me on was the way she looked at me. Her eyes spoke to me. It was almost like real battle. That's how I knew it was her.

"She had the ability to summon demons and controls them. Which means, of we amplify the crystal's power, we may be able to successfully summon the Demon Lord!The problem is that girl just won't cooperate with me. As soon as the crystal responded, she just took off. But, even if she herself womt cooperate, you can still kill her and retrieve the crystal. That alone should be sufficient to summon Satan. However, I wonder. If you knew it was her, why didn't you kill her?" he asks.

"That's 'cause..." I hesitate for a few moments. I don't know what to say. Why didn't I kill her? "It's because I didn't want to kill her without solid proof."

"You idiot!" he bellows. "That could have been you're one and only chance to kill her! We have no means of tracking her, and she hardly ever attends school, which is our only lead. We don't even know the location of her hideout!" he yells. He realizes that he is in a fit of rage, so he takes a deep breath in and lets  it out. "Don't screw up next time. I don't care if you have to blow up the entire school for you to do it. Just kill her when you get the chance. Then, use the memory wiper to-" 

"No, I whisper. "No, I won't fulfill this mission! I'm not going to be your pawn any longer. I never asked to be a queen, and I never asked for the annihilation of the human race or these human experiments. I won't be your loyal assassin any longer. I'll kill you with this sword and shut down these experiments!" I announce with rage as I dash towards him, gripping my sword to stab him. He doesn't even flinch. In fact, he's smiling. That's because he has an invisible barrier around himself, that not even Raeden can penetrate. When my sword comes in contact with the barrier, electrical pulses are sent through my sword and throughout my entire body, giving me a big shock in more ways than one. I fall backwards on my bottom. "Dammit!" 

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"My, how naughty you've become. I guess I'll have to punish you. However, if you plead for mercy and swear loyalty to me, I'll forget this nonsense."

"Cut the crap! I'm not following your orders anymore!"

"That's too bad. Code red alert," he announces.

All the doors in the facility begin to shut down with a thick layer of steel slowly falling down from the door. Those doors have a barrier similar to the one that bastard has around him when they lock, which could trap me inside this death room for who knows how long.

I have to hurry and get out of here! I dart towards the exit, but a handful of androids block my escape route. Half of them are armed with hand guns, while others are armed with twin swords. They charge at me like a team formation. Two of the androids armed with swords attack me in the front lines (let's call them group A) , while the other three armed with guns (let's call them group B) supports them from the back, guarding the door. Group A brings one of their swords up over their heads for an overhead strike. I dodge to the right, and push off my right leg and prepare to counter by springing back at them. However, Group B anticipates my position and fires a few bullets to where my momentum would have taken me, had I not reflexively zigzagged  my way around the bullets out of anticipation for their attack. I slash Group A in half before they could swing their swords again. 

I then continue my advance by sprinting towards the doors, ignoring the androids in front of me. The only thing that matters right now is escape. The android in the middle fires four bullets in four different areas of my body: thigh level, stomach level, chest level, and head level. The other two on either sides wait for me to dodge to either left or right to fire. I guess their not artificial intelligence for nothing. Except...

"I've already seen through that trick!" I exclaim as I slide under all four bullets. The other two androids quickly respond by shooting at me while I am currently sliding on the ground. Please make it! I am able to barely dodge the bullets, leaving little room to breathe. I take out the middle android and jack its gun. The other two androids turn to face me and fire. I dodge the bullets by doing the limbo like they do in the movies. And yes, like in the movies, they end up killing each other. 

With the door nearly fully closed, I slide under the steel metal door as it fully closes behind me. I wipe off the sweat on my forehead. Unsuprisingly, an army of androids armed with silver twin pistols block my path. Infuriated, I yell, "Get out of my way!" I charge my mana into Raeden and convert it into lightning. The bright blue lightning envelopes my sword as it rises up to the top of the ceiling and falls down on the army. It electrifies them with a loud crash, and they are instantly incinerated. Metal body parts lie scattered across the floor. I take a long, hard glance at them. The artificial severed limbs. They look just like that day. 

I am suddenly paralyzed with fear. I gasp, as my eyes widen at the scene. My heart beats faster and faster. I experience flashbacks of the day I gained my powers as the Lightning Assassin. The day when I killed my parents because I let my power take control of me. The room with the burglar who nearly killed them, the face of the criminal, and the sight of my parents' corpses come rushing back to my head. 

"Ahhhh!" I scream. My hand is shaking frantically. "Why? Why do I have to remember this now? Why, at this time and place, do I have to relive this experience now? He erased my memories of my past when I first joined the SMSO so that I'm not weakened by emotions. Yet, this memory comes to haunt me now of all times?"

"That's because that is your sin."

I turn around to find him. My body won't stop shaking.

"I've heard that humans never forget their sins. That may be why the memory wiper has some glitches. You abandoned your parents to save your own skin, and then killed them with your own power. That is your sin. Now, you're sin is disobeying my orders. Do you feel the guilt rushing back?" he asks slyly.

"You're wrong," I whimper. "I-"

"You have greatly sinned, my young assassin. But rest assured, for I am as forgiving as our God. I will forgive your sins as long as you repent."

"Why would I repent to a lousy geezer like you?"

"What was that?" He makes a grimace and reveals a pistol from his coat. "You've proven to be beyond saving, Yuki-san. I'm afraid you'll have to pay...with your life."

I gaze into his murderous eyes. He's going to kill me. I have to move. My legs refuse to move. They just continue to tremble. Dammit! Why won't you move?

"You're life ends here, Yuki-san. Goodbye."

MOVE! I slowly lift up my right arm and stab my right thigh with my sword. The excruciating pain forces my leg to stop shaking. He pulls the trigger and fires his gun. I push off my left leg and dodge to the right, firing the last bullet in my gun. It hits him in the left kidney. Blood accumulates in that injured area of his body as he covers it with his open hand. He falls to his knees. 

"An ordinary human like you should never go against a monster like me. Especially since I'm the monster you created," I say.

"You won't get away. I won't let another one of my creations escape from me when I am this close to achieving my goal!" he bellows. He unsteadily raises his right hand and aims his gun at my forehead and fires.

I fly up in the air and announce, "Assault Mode." Assault Mode is a feature of my shoes where blades pop up on the bottoms of my shoes like ice skates whenever I use the command. Aside from giving my kicks an extra snap, they also have another feature. "Boomerang!" I declare. I side kick in the air with my right leg as the blade on that shoe detaches itself and spins like a throwing knife heading towards  him. Not I only have I dodged his bullet, but I have also managed to slice off his right arm. The blade then returns to me like a boomerang and reattaches itself to the bottom of my shoe. 

"Ahhhh!" he screams in agony. His right arm flies up in the air, away from his body, as the gun drops in front of him.

"This is the end. But don't worry, I won't kill you. No, I want to see you suffer as I bring down your organization, then I'll torture you before putting you to death. That is how you will repent for what you've did to me. I won't say, 'repent for your sins.' I'm not God. No, I'm the opposite. I'm a demon. That's why I'm doing this for my own satisfaction." 

To my surprise, he starts to laugh. At first, it's a small, but it then escalates to a fit of hysteric laughter. "Who said that this is the end?" he asks with a horrifying smirk. "Code red AA."

The previously destroyed androids assemble back together like a magnet attracting metal. The wires from the elevator in front of me are cut as it drops to a level even further down. 

So he had even more secrets lying down there? 

In no time at all, the androids are back to their original state, like time has been turned back to 10 minutes ago. They retrieve their dropped pistols off the ground. 

"So then, Yuki Kira. How do you plan to escape?" he asks confidently.

I take a deep breath in. "80 percent," I announce. My snowflake necklace glows a bright white light as my hair changes color from a pitch black color to a bright pink. This is the maximum amount of power my body can handle. I have to finish this quickly. 

The androids take aim, then fire all of their bullets simultaneously. I charge my mana into Raeden and it converts the mana into blue lightning. It creates a circular wall of lightning centered around me that incinerates any bullet that makes contact with it. My blade is my shield. My body is put under tremendous strain, but I have to endure it. I charge even more mana into Raeden as the wall around me expands like a force field and causes a vast explosion of blue lightning. The androids, as well as the rest of the floors above are completely decimated. Some scraps of rubble remain, but the rest of the base is completely obliterated.

My snowflake necklace loses its bright light and becomes dim. My hair color returns to normal, and Raeden disappears., as well as the kanji symbol on my hand. I collapse at the bottom of this hell under the earth. Before I completely lose consciousness, though, I spot something up above in the surface watching me...