A dead silence hung over the laboratory corridor. The air was filled only with the stench of burnt metal and damp ozone. The red emergency lights flashed one by one against the walls, giving the entire environment a hellish look.
Kai looked down at the glowing blue electric current in his hand. His whole body was trembling rhythmically. This wasn't a tremble of fear; this was the awakening of the latent power within his body—The Lightning Shroud.
"Why are you guys still standing here?" Kai's voice sounded deeper and colder than ever before. Without looking at Lynn, Rick, and Bobby, he said, "The clock is ticking. There are only a few minutes left before the main control room's security system goes down. Go now!"
Lynn took a step forward, wanting to place her hand on Kai's shoulder, but seeing the high-voltage sparks around his hand, she hesitated and pulled back. Worry was evident in her eyes, "Kai, but you're alone... fighting this Black Beast and these high-tech guards from the Academy all by yourself is suicidal!"
"Suicidal?" Kai let out a faint, yet determined smile. "The Academy's dirty game ends today. They thought they could keep us as lab guinea pigs and experiment on us forever? Not anymore. You guys go and lockdown the main database. I'll hold them off right here."
Rick grabbed Bobby by the collar, pulling him backward as he said, "Lynn, Kai is right. We are running out of time! We have to trust him. Kai, don't die, man!"
Bobby was still shaking with fear, but he nodded in agreement as well. Lynn took one last look at Kai, let out a deep sigh, and said, "Come back alive, Kai. That's an order."
The next moment, the three of them dashed toward the dark bend of the corridor.
The Face of Evil: Arrival of the Black Beast
As soon as they left, the massive hydraulic metal door at the end of the corridor opened with a loud, mechanical screech. Heavy, metallic footsteps echoed. With every single step, the entire floor shook.
Out of the smoke and darkness emerged that monster—The Black Beast. This wasn't just any ordinary monster; it was a brutal creation of the Academy's bio-mechanical engineering. Standing seven feet tall, its pitch-black body was fitted with metallic armor plating, and its eyes glowed with a cryptic red light. Behind it stood a dozen heavily armed guards from the Academy's elite Alpha Squad.
Leading the guards was Commander Vaughn. A cruel, sadistic smile played on his face. "So, our little rat is finally trying to break out of the cage? Kai, do you really think you can breach this fortress of the Academy with that broken body and infant-level lightning power?"
Kai didn't answer. He simply stepped back with his right foot, lowered his body posture, and his eyes completely converted into an electric blue color.
"Commander Vaughn," Kai's voice sounded like the roar of thunder, "today there will be a reckoning for every single one of our brothers and sisters you tortured and killed in this lab. This is your judgement day."
"Big words!" Vaughn shouted his order, "Alpha Squad, terminate him! And Black Beast... tear him to pieces!"
Battle of the Laboratory: Lightning Shroud vs. Black Beast
The moment the order was given, the Alpha Squad guards opened fire with their plasma rifles. Dozens of laser beams and plasma bolts surged toward Kai.
But Kai was no longer moving at any ordinary human speed. Swish!
[Skill Activated: Lightning Flash Step]
In the blink of an eye, he dodged to the right, leaving an after-image behind. The plasma bolts blasted through the metal plates of the wall, but Kai was no longer there.
"Where did he go?!" Before one of the guards could even scream, Kai appeared right behind him. His entire hand was shrouded in a blanket of blue electricity—Lightning Shroud.
BOOM!
A single uppercut from Kai pierced right through the guard's chest plate. The high-voltage current instantly fried the armor's electronics and the guard's central nervous system. The guard foamed at the mouth and collapsed onto the floor.
"He is too fast! Re-group! Re-group!" The other guards began to panic.
But Kai gave them no opportunity. He was like a living thunderstorm. Rebounding off the corridor walls, he began striking the guards one after another. Zap! Bang! Crash! With every strike, sparks of electricity sprayed across the walls and floor. Within just thirty seconds, half of the Alpha Squad lay lifeless on the ground.
"You useless fools!" Commander Vaughn burst into a rage. "Black Beast, attack!"
ROAR!!!
The Black Beast let out a deafening roar that shook the entire underground facility. The monster charged toward Kai, throwing a massive metallic punch. As that punch cut through the air toward him, Kai crossed both his arms, attempting to block it.
CRASH!!!
The impact was so intense that the concrete floor beneath Kai's feet shattered like a spiderweb. Kai slid back nearly ten feet, smoke rising from beneath his boots due to the friction.
"Cough... cough..." Kai spat out some blood. The physical strength of the Black Beast was far beyond his expectations. Not only were there mechanics under that armor plating, but some strange dark energy was reacting inside it.
"Ha ha ha! How does that feel, Kai?" Vaughn laughed from a distance. "The Black Beast is immune to normal elemental attacks. Those sparks of yours won't even scratch its armor!"
Emotional Turmoil and Dark Memories
The Black Beast began to advance again. With its every heavy step, memories of those dark days of the past flashed through Kai's mind.
This was the very same laboratory room where he and the other children used to be kept locked in cages. The face of his childhood friend, Miki, flashed before Kai's eyes. Miki was an elemental user too. But when the Academy's Head Director ran the 'Phase 3 Experiment' on Miki, her body couldn't handle the energy load.
Kai could still not forget Miki's final scream, "Kai... save me... it hurts so much..." And right after that, Miki's body shattered into pieces like a black hole. Kai couldn't do anything that day. He could only sit in a corner, trembling in fear and crying over his own helplessness.
The Academy's dirty game... all these experiments... this cruelty... everything ends today! A fierce rage and a fire of determination ignited inside Kai. He was no longer that weak, helpless child.
"I will not fail them again!" Kai began to push the very last drop of energy left inside him.
His heartbeat accelerated abnormally. The blue electricity around Kai's body began to change color. From blue, it gradually transformed into a dark, violet-white color. This was the highest and one of the most destructive forms of lightning—The Celestial Judgement Lightning.
Final Showdown: The Breaking of the Beast
The smile vanished from Commander Vaughn's face. He could feel the atmospheric pressure inside the room dropping suddenly. The oxygen in the air seemed to be burning up.
"How is this possible? He crossed his limit a long time ago! Beast, kill him right now! Don't let him charge that attack!" Vaughn screamed desperately.
The Black Beast leaped into the air, bringing both its massive hands down like a hammer, aiming straight for Kai's head. If this attack landed directly, Kai's skull would be crushed to pieces.
But Kai didn't move away this time. He looked straight up. Rays of violet lightning were shooting out from his eyes.
"Lightning Shroud: Overdrive!"
Kai raised his right hand straight up and caught both of the Black Beast's massive metallic hands with his bare hand! BOOM! A massive shockwave rippled through the entire corridor, throwing the remaining guards crashing against the walls.
Even with all its weight, the Black Beast couldn't push Kai down by a single inch. The violet electricity around Kai began to penetrate the metallic armor of the Black Beast, entering its biological core. The metal began to melt. The monster let out a strange, mechanical screech of agony.
"This is for Miki... this is for everyone you destroyed!" Kai roared.
Kai used his other hand to deliver a direct thrust straight into the central core of the Black Beast's chest.
"[Ultimate Skill: Piercing Thunder Judgement]"
CRACKLE--- BOOOOOOM!!!
A blinding flash of white-violet light consumed the entire laboratory. The mechanical parts, the dark energy core, and the massive body of the Black Beast blasted from the inside out. Shards of metal and black ash scattered everywhere.
Commander Vaughn was thrown by the impact, slamming against the wall at the far end of the corridor. His armor was completely shattered, and blood was dripping from his mouth. He looked through the smoke in disbelief as Kai walked out. Faint sparks of electricity were still coming off Kai's body; his breathing was heavy, but his eyes were steady and cold.
Vaughn backed away in fear, stammering, "You... you are a monster... the Academy won't let you go..."
Kai stopped right in front of Vaughn. He said in a cold voice, "Whether the Academy lets me go or not is a matter for later. But I won't let the Academy go. And it starts with you."
The moment Kai pointed his hand toward Vaughn, a small lightning bolt paralyzed Vaughn's central nervous system. Vaughn lost consciousness and slumped onto the floor.
The Countdown and the Situation in the Main Control Room
Meanwhile, intense tension gripped the main control room.
Lynn, Rick, and Bobby were fighting their own battle in front of the hacking panel. Rick's hands were flying across the keyboard like a storm. Red warning signs flashed across the screen one after another: [System Lockdown: 2 Minutes Remaining].
"Rick! How much longer? I can hear the footsteps of the guards coming from the back corridor!" Lynn said, readying her energy blade.
Bobby stared at one of the monitors and cried out, "Oh my god! Did you guys see the energy readings of Kai's fight sequence? The thermal graph of the lab was almost on the verge of exploding! Is Kai alright?"
Rick kept typing as he spoke, "He'll be fine! We need to focus on our own job. Just... just one more security layer left... Come on... Come on!"
Access Denied.
Access Denied.
"Damn it! They have placed a dual-crypto lock on the main database. It will take me at least another five minutes to decrypt this, but we only have 90 seconds!" Sweat beaded on Rick's forehead.
Right then, the automatic door of the control room slid open. Lynn instantly snapped her blade toward the door, but seeing the person standing there, a massive weight lifted from her chest.
Kai was standing there. His clothes were torn, his body covered in multiple scratches and bloodstains, but he was standing on his own two feet.
"Kai!" Lynn and Bobby called out together.
Kai walked into the control room and went straight to Rick's panel. He took out a small, metallic chip from his pocket—one he had recovered from the Black Beast's core and Commander Vaughn's personal ID.
"Take this, Rick," Kai placed the chip in front of Rick. "This is the Master Key. Got it from Commander Vaughn's body. This decrypts everything."
A look of pure joy washed over Rick's eyes. He pushed the chip into the socket and pressed the final enter button.
Click.
All the red lights on the screen turned green in an instant. A mechanical female voice announced:
[System Override Successful. Main Database Unlocked. Copying Academy's Secret Files...]
The security locks of the lab could be heard clicking open one by one. Their mission was successful. All of the Academy's dirty secrets and human experiment data were now in their hands.
Kai looked at the main screen, which showed the data transfer percentage: 10%... 35%... 70%...
He thought to himself, Miki, we did it. The Academy will be destroyed tonight.
But right then, a new window popped up in the corner of the main screen. A massive black logo appeared across the entire screen—the logo of 'The Elders' (The Supreme Rulers of the Academy).
A deep, remote voice echoed from the speakers, "Congratulations, Subject No. 07 (Kai). You think you have won? The true game has just begun. Survive our final gift before the main gate opens."
Suddenly, the self-destruction countdown of the entire underground facility activated.
[WARNING: Self-Destruction In 3 Minutes. Evacuate Immediately.]
Kai, Lynn, Rick, and Bobby looked at one another. The storm hadn't stopped; rather, a much bigger tsunami was heading their way.
(To be continued in Chapter 13)