The moment I heard the powerful explosion behind me, I stopped running.
The blast was strong enough that I would have suffered serious injuries if I had stayed nearby. After all, that was one of the strongest bombs available. Still, I knew it wouldn't kill all of them—especially those of the third rank.
So I turned back and started running the other way. I drew the swords I had taken earlier and tightened my grip. I had to kill them before they recovered. I circulated the essence within my body, feeling my muscles harden and grow stronger.
In just a few moments, I reached the site of the explosion. Smoke and dust filled the area, but that didn't matter to me. I could feel them. Through the thick smoke, I saw them—two glowing humanoid lights. They belonged to two third-rankers, which meant the others were already dead.
I reached one of them. He was still dazed from the explosion. My muscles tensed, my teeth clenched, and I swung my blade at his neck with all my strength. I felt my sword cut through flesh. His head separated from his body, and the light vanished soon after.
One left.
I felt the remaining presence rush toward me, her scream echoing through the area.
"You damn monster!"
It was a woman's voice.
She was already beside me. I twisted my body and turned as fast as I could, bringing my swords up into a defensive stance.
What followed was a violent collision. My bones trembled, my feet sank into the shattered ground, and the smoke scattered from the impact. Standing before me was what should have been a woman. Her face was charred black, with only her eyes left intact. Her armor was torn apart, riddled with gruesome wounds. Worst of all was her left leg—the flesh was ripped open and hanging loose, exposing white bone.
She raised her sword to strike again, but this time I was ready. While she was injured all over, I was still at my peak. I stepped to the left and used one sword to deflect her attack, drawing an angry growl from her. With my other blade, I thrust straight into her chest, piercing through her defenses.
She let out a scream of pain, losing focus and balance on her ruined left leg. Seizing the opening, I swung with my other hand and slashed at her neck. My sword cut through the scorched flesh, and her head fell, rolling across the floor before her body followed.
I stood there, catching my breath. The fight had only lasted a few seconds, yet it had drained me. I looked around at the scattered limbs and corpses amid the rubble. I had wiped out the strongest unit here.
With the elevator destroyed and no longer usable, I started running in search of another one. The wave jammer was still in my pocket, disabling every nearby camera. My footsteps echoed against the floor… then alarms began blaring throughout the facility. It seemed they were alerting all units and sending them after me, tracking my location through the chip in my pocket.
I finally found another elevator and entered without hesitation. I pressed the button for the third floor above and the elevator began to rise. It didn't take long before the doors opened again. This floor was filled with cages and containment rooms—naturally housing monsters. They weren't very strong, ranging only between first and second rank.
I started running again. I encountered several people along the way, but they were weak—most of them merely first-rank. Before they even realized what was happening, my sword separated their heads from their bodies. Blood coated the corridors. I felt no pity. There wasn't a single innocent person in this place.
I sensed many powerful presences closing in on me from all directions. My goal was the control room on this floor. My plan was simple: open the prison doors holding the monsters and let chaos erupt.
Some strong presences were approaching from the front. Fighting here would give them time to surround me from every side. I pulled out a bomb, set it to one second, then twisted my body and hurled it forward with all my strength, pressing the activation button mid-throw.
At the same time, a group of fighters appeared about one hundred and fifty meters ahead—right where the bomb landed. The next instant, the ground shook as a deafening explosion roared through the area. I charged straight into the cloud of dust, feeling their lives extinguish as they left this world forever.
Shards of debris struck me, leaving shallow cuts across my body, but I ignored them and kept moving forward as the layout of the facility formed clearly in my mind. As I ran, I passed many massive armored doors. Behind them, I could sense the monsters within. Finally, at the end of the corridor, I saw it—a door labeled Control Room.
My greatest advantage was that they had no idea what I truly wanted.
The corridors were filled with alarm sirens and flashing red lights. I reached the door, swiped the card, and entered.
There were three people inside—likely administrators of this place—but I didn't care.
"N-No… please, 01, don't kill us!"
I weaved between them with my swords and severed their necks without hesitation.
I had about a minute before they surrounded this room. I scanned the area and saw countless buttons, each labeled with a room number. I pressed all of them at once. A message appeared, requesting security clearance. I searched one of the corpses, found a card, and swiped it.
Moments later, loud noises erupted—like multiple massive doors opening simultaneously. I turned and exited the room, sensing the people sent after me closing in. But this time, there were new allies.
Roars echoed through the corridors.
Near the door, I dropped the wave jammer and took off running again. I could feel the clashes breaking out between the pursuers and the monsters I had released. When I reached an intersection, I turned right. There stood a massive beast, three meters tall, moving on four unnaturally long limbs. Its skin was smooth and gray, with a single eye atop a head I couldn't even properly describe.
The moment it saw me, it opened its mouth wide and let out a roar that made my eardrums ache before charging straight at me.
But this was exactly what I wanted.
I pulled the chip from my pocket and threw it into its mouth. It slid straight down its throat. As it reached me, I slipped through the gap between its legs and emerged on the other side, continuing to run. Naturally, it followed.
As I ran, I tossed another wave jammer into a corner. Ahead of me, a group of monsters was locked in battle with several people. I ran toward them, with the creature I had fed the chip still right behind me. When I closed the distance to about ten meters, they noticed me. Our eyes met. I smiled at them, then turned into another corridor.
The monster behind me lunged straight at them. After all, several meals were better than one.
As I turned the corner, I heard one of them scream, "You bastard!"
I ignored it. I traced my route in my mind, taking several more turns while avoiding rampaging monsters and guards struggling to subdue them.
At last, I found a red door with a large wheel in its center. The words Emergency Passage were written on it. I turned the wheel and pulled it open—it was extremely heavy. Once I passed through, I found myself on a small platform barely large enough for one person, perched at the edge of a dark vertical tunnel stretching both upward and downward.
This vertical shaft connected the floors in case of power failure or emergencies. Along its walls were numerous metal bars forming a ladder. I closed the door behind me, grabbed the rungs, and began to climb.
My destination was Floor 0—specifically, the surveillance room.