Unaware of the chaos unfolding in her father's office, Victoria was calmly testing her powers. By now, she had already discovered many of them—flying through the air, turning invisible, transmitting herself from one place to another, reading people's thoughts, X-ray vision that allowed her to scan anyone's body, firing lasers from her eyes, and moving at astonishing speed. Along with all this, such immense strength had awakened within her that she could lift even the heaviest objects with her bare hands.
"Truth Fairy, don't you think I should come up with a superhero-like name for myself and design a costume too? After all, superheroes have to keep their real identities hidden so that no enemy can harm their families," Victoria asked, blasting the water tank placed in front of her with an eye laser as she spoke.
"That's actually a very good idea, Victoria, and you're absolutely right. If someone discovers your real identity, they could hurt your family or even kidnap them to put pressure on you," the Truth Fairy said, looking at her.
"Then according to you, what should my superhero name be?" Victoria asked as she walked closer to the Truth Fairy.
"That's something you'll have to decide yourself, because I don't even know what a superhero is, or why people in your world don't have powers," the Truth Fairy replied, sounding confused.
Hearing this, Victoria was stunned. Shocked, she asked the Truth Fairy, "So… does everyone in your world have powers?"
"Yes, of course. My land is already a land of fairies, and that's why everyone there has the same powers that I do," the Truth Fairy said with a hint of pride.
Listening to her, Victoria fell into deep thought, trying to come up with a name she could use as a superheroine.
Meanwhile, Vinston had shattered the chains of the box with his large claws and pulled out a piece of armor kept inside—it was part of a left arm.
"This will make the Dark Goddess very happy, and she will make me the supreme commander of her army. Then, for her, I will enslave the souls of everyone on this planet. I'd like to see who can stop me from taking this piece of armor from here," Vinston thought to himself.
But Vinston had failed to notice that before losing consciousness, Harry had pressed the emergency security button installed in the hub. As a result, alarms began blaring throughout the building, all exits automatically sealed shut, and armed security guards started moving toward Vinston. However, Vinston wasn't worried about the guards at all, because a demon lived inside him, and he knew that ordinary humans could do nothing to harm it. What he didn't know was that, not too far away, a new superheroine had already been prepared—to put an end to him and other demons like him.
Within moments, fifty heavily armed guards aimed their guns at Vinston and ordered him to surrender. Inside the massive hub of the factory, packed with all kinds of machines where the roar of heavy machinery had already been deafening, an eerie silence suddenly fell. Vinston was surrounded on all sides by fifty guards. Each one held modern automatic weapons, their barrels pointed straight at Vinston's chest and head.
"Put that artifact down and surrender yourselves to us, Winston! There's no way out!" the commander shouted.
Winston gave no reply. His head was slightly lowered, yet the black energy—his aura—emanating from his body spread an icy chill throughout the entire hall. Suddenly, Winston raised his head. His face was human, but his eyes held a demonic gleam no less than hell itself. The demon dwelling inside him was now desperate to break free.
One guard, paralyzed by fear, fired a shot—and that was it… the naked dance of death began.
In a single instant, Winston vanished from his spot, and in the very next moment he was standing among the guards. He was no longer a man; he had become a black shadow, faster than the wind. Before a guard could even scream, Winston tore open his chest with his bare hands. The hall erupted with the thunder of gunfire, but the bullets couldn't even touch Winston's body; they either froze mid-air or disintegrated into dust upon striking him.
The sight was so horrific it made the soul tremble. Winston grabbed one guard by the head and slammed it against a massive iron pillar with such force that the pillar bent, and the guard's very existence was reduced to nothing. Fountains of blood sprayed everywhere. Somewhere, a severed arm lay torn apart; elsewhere, someone was crushed alive between roaring machines.
Five minutes later, everything fell silent. The guards had fought with all their strength, risking their lives to stop Winston, but they were too innocent to understand that the being they were fighting was not an ordinary human like themselves—it was a demon, for whom taking lives was an everyday act, and one in which he was an expert. He needed no weapons, for he possessed countless dark powers, with which he could slaughter thousands of guards like these in mere moments.
Now, that factory floor had turned into a graveyard. Corpses of fifty guards lay scattered everywhere, along with writhing, grievously injured survivors. Rivers of blood flowed across the floor. In the midst of this devastation, Winston stood perfectly still at the center. His clothes were drenched in blood, yet his face remained completely calm—no fatigue, no remorse. He stood there like silent death itself, while the demon inside him savored the guards' final gasps.
Just then, upon receiving news of the chaos unfolding there, Victoria's stepfather Allen arrived at the scene, with Maria by his side. The moment they witnessed the sight before them, both their souls shuddered. Of the fifty guards who had come to stop Winston, many had met horrifying deaths, and for those who were still alive, life was now worse than death—because Winston had torn some part of every survivor's body away from them. Blood was splattered everywhere, and screams echoed all around.
"What do you think you're doing, Winston? How dare you go against the company, steal company property, and kill the guards? I've already called the police. In just a short while, they'll arrive and take you away, and you'll rot in prison for the rest of your life. This is my promise to you," Allen shouted, threatening Winston.
Hearing Allen's words, Winston looked at him with a creepy smile. In the very next moment, before Allen could even blink, Winston was standing right in front of him, moving with terrifying speed, his hand clamped around Allen's throat."Why, old man? When you've only got a few breaths left anyway, are you in such a hurry to die by picking a fight with me?"
Allen's throat began to choke, and his breaths started to break.
Seeing her boss writhing like that, Maria struck Winston's hand hard with her purse and shouted, "You bastard, leave sir alone!"
But it seemed Winston didn't like Maria's action at all. He released Allen and then slowly began moving toward Maria, a smile spreading across his face.
"Stay away from me, or I'll file a harassment case against you," Maria said, trying to threaten Winston.
However, none of Maria's threats had any effect on Winston. Meanwhile, Allen's condition had grown extremely serious; struggling to breathe, he lay half-conscious on the ground. As news of this incident spread, the entire city's police force went on high alert, and police vehicles from all over the city began rushing toward Olivia Tower.
At the same time, Victoria was still busy discussing her superheroine name and costume with the Truth Fairy.
"Victoria, what is this loud sound I'm hearing? Is it some kind of alarm being sounded across the whole city?" the Truth Fairy asked, hearing the police sirens.
At the Truth Fairy's words, Victoria's attention shifted to the sirens of the police cars, as she had been lost in her thoughts until then.
"That's the sound of police sirens. It looks like some major incident has happened in the city, which is why all the police are heading in that direction. This is a good opportunity for me to use my powers practically. But before that, we need to find out what exactly has happened in the city," Victoria said, looking at the Truth Fairy.
At that very moment, Victoria turned on live news on her mobile phone, which reported:"Allen Stark, the owner of Olivia Tower, has also been injured in this attack, and a part of Olivia Tower has been completely damaged. So far, the deaths of twenty people have been confirmed, but the exact number is still unknown. A fierce battle is ongoing between the police and the Research and Development team leader, Vinston. However, it appears to be a one-sided fight, as no kind of weapon seems to be affecting Vinston, while each of Vinston's attacks is taking someone's life."
"Oh my God! This is Dad's office—and he's injured too. His life is in danger. But what suddenly happened to Vinston? Why is he attacking everyone like this?" Victoria said in shock as she watched the news.
"Victoria, look carefully at the video. Vinston is currently using anti-human powers, which means this isn't really Vinston—he's been possessed by a demon. Ordinary people of your world cannot face him. To stop Vinston, you yourself will have to go and fight him," the Truth Fairy said, watching the screen.
Victoria immediately gathered her things, got into the car, and told the Truth Fairy to get in as well. She quickly started the car and drove toward Olivia Tower. She still hadn't thought of a superheroine name for herself, nor had she designed a costume, but at that moment only one thought occupied her mind—to stop Vinston at any cost and get her father out of the building safely.
Within moments, driving at reckless speed, Victoria reached the back of Olivia Tower and parked her car at a secluded spot.
"Truth Fairy, from here I'll have to fly up to that floor of Olivia Tower. Otherwise, everyone will find out my real identity. But since my costume isn't ready yet, I'll cover my face with a cloth—and I should change my clothes too," Victoria said. As she looked around, she noticed a woman a short distance away, drying clothes outside her house in the sunlight.
Using her supersonic speed, Victoria dashed to the woman's house, grabbed a few clothes, and returned to the car. She quickly changed inside and got ready to face Vinston.
"You're seriously going to your first fight wearing this, Victoria?" the Truth Fairy said, staring at her in disbelief.
Victoria glanced down at her clothes and realized that in her haste she had picked up a child's outfit. It fit her somehow, but instead of looking like a superheroine, she looked more like an anime cartoon character.
"For now, this is the best option, Truth. I couldn't find anything else there," Victoria said. She wrapped a scarf around her face and took off, flying toward Olivia Tower.
Meanwhile, at the house from which Victoria had taken the clothes, she had left a small apology note at the door. The woman picked it up, read it, and stared at it in shock.
Flying through the air at bullet-like speed, Victoria reached Olivia Tower, shattered the glass, and entered the building on the 15th floor—where Vinston was unleashing havoc with his dark powers, killing every police officer who tried to stop him.
Outside Olivia Tower, the crowd gathered below—along with the police—watched in stunned disbelief as they saw a flying human enter the building. Eyes wide open, people began talking among themselves. Some said they had seen a person flying straight into the building; some claimed it was a bird, others called it a ghost, and a few insisted it must have been a drone. But none of them had the slightest idea that a superheroine had already arrived to protect the people of the city from evil and dark forces.
Inside the building, on the 15th floor, Victoria stood facing Vinston, with a few police officers nearby.
"You've all done a good job. Please don't consider me your enemy—I've come here to help you," Victoria said to the officers, who had mistaken her for Vinston's ally and had aimed their guns at her as well.
Continuing, Victoria said, "Now please step back. I'll handle things from here." Saying this, she moved toward Vinston—and at that moment, her eyes fell on her stepfather, sitting in a corner, coughing, while Maria was supporting him.
"You take great pleasure in hurting people and causing them pain. Today, I'll teach you a lesson so severe that you'll never dare do such things again," Victoria said as she stepped forward to fight Winston. She knew that either Winston himself was a demon, or he had been possessed by one.
The moment Victoria's feet touched the blood-soaked factory floor, it was as if time itself had frozen. On one side lay the silence of death, and on the other stood Winston, from whose body demonic energy poured out like black, smoky flames.
At this very moment, the battle about to erupt between Victoria and Winston was being watched from afar by someone else as well—Lysandra, who had come to see whether choosing Victoria had been a mistake. Meanwhile, the Truth Fairy, as Victoria had instructed, was present near her stepfather in her invisible form.
Initiating the fight, Victoria took a deep breath and lunged at Winston with lightning speed. Her fist slammed into Winston's face, but his head didn't even move. Winston let out a terrifying laugh, grabbed Victoria by the throat, and lifted her into the air. His grip was stronger than iron rods.
"Look at the courage of a mere straw, daring to collide with a mountain. Who are you anyway? Judging by your clothes, you look like the daughter of some circus joker—or did you escape straight from a mental asylum?" a heavy, dual voice rumbled from Winston's throat.
With all her strength, Victoria kicked Winston in the chest with both feet and broke free. In the very next moment, she unleashed waves of blue lightning from her hands using her superpowers. Winston thrust his hands forward and caught the lightning with his bare hands, crushing it into nothingness.
A brutal battle erupted between the two. Winston was no longer fighting like a human, but like a beast. He tore a massive generator out of the factory floor and hurled it at Victoria. She leapt into the air and sliced it into two pieces with her eye lasers, but the instant she landed, Winston struck her back with a devastating blow. Victoria was flung into an iron wall, which caved inward on impact.
Victoria's face was smeared with blood, but fire burned in her eyes. At the same time, the divine energy within her—the power Lysandra had given her—was healing her wounds in a single astonishing instant. Victoria knew that the demon inside Winston would only be defeated if she attacked its core. Roaring, Winston charged at her again, his nails now stretched long like swords.
Just as Winston raised his hand for the final strike, Victoria gathered every ounce of energy within her body into a single point. The entire factory was bathed in blinding white light. In a swift motion, Victoria placed her hand on Winston's chest and poured her sacred energy deep into his soul.
"Come out, demon of the darkness—your end has come!" Victoria screamed.
A black shadow shrieked as it began to tear its way out of Winston's body. The sight was so horrific that it could make any soul tremble. The demon did not want to leave Winston's body, but before Victoria's power, it could not stand. With a thunderous blast, the black shadow dissolved into smoke.
Winston's body went limp, and he collapsed heavily onto the floor. The terrifying energy had drained from him completely. He was unconscious and injured—but now, he was nothing more than a human. Victoria stood before him, panting. She had won her first battle, yet the scene inside the factory was still nothing short of a nightmare. The artifact slipped out from Winston's grasp and fell onto the floor, but Victoria's attention wasn't on it. The pride of winning her very first fight filled her completely. The police officers present there began applauding her.
Suddenly, the medical team rushed in and started evacuating all the injured. At the same time, journalists surrounded Victoria, eager to know the name of the girl who had saved them all, where she had come from, and how she had obtained such powers. Amidst all this, Victoria noticed the medical team taking her father away for treatment—and he was alive. Seeing this brought her immense relief, and without answering anyone's questions, she took off and flew away.
However, there was one thing neither Victoria nor the Truth Fairy noticed. The very cause of all this destruction had already been picked up and taken away by a member of the medical staff. That meant Victoria's victory was only partial—the artifact had already been stolen.
What Lysandra would do with Victoria for this mistake and who had stolen the artifact; would only be revealed in the time to come.