The command center was now a graveyard of men and machines. The remnants of the elite task force lay scattered across the room, the air thick with the metallic scent of blood. Renji stood near the center of the chaos, his mind swirling with the new information he'd uncovered. His claws twitched in restless anticipation as he processed what came next.
Behind him, the survivors of the earlier battles—those who had proven themselves capable in the hellstorm of the facility—began to gather. They had no more loyalty to the facility, no more allegiance to its creators. They had seen too much, experienced too much to care for the lives of those who remained inside. They were ready for the next phase: the escape.
"Do you have the keycodes?" Renji's voice was low, his tone commanding.
One of the survivors, a grizzled man named Kaito, nodded and held up a small data pad. "We've got access to the lockdown system. It's going to take a minute to disable, but we're almost there."
Renji turned back to the terminal, his mind still lingering on the files. The knowledge of what had been done to him—and to others—pounded relentlessly in his thoughts. These weren't just experiments; they were breeding grounds for monsters, far worse than he had ever imagined. And that was why this facility had to burn.
"Once you get that open, we release them," Renji said, his voice cold, final. "We bring the real nightmare to life."
The others in the room nodded, understanding the gravity of his words. They knew what it meant—releasing the infected. Some of them were more terrifying than anything Renji had already faced, yet it was a necessary risk. They had no more time to waste, and the facility had to be destroyed.
"Do you think it's the right move?" Kaito asked, his voice steady but with a hint of doubt. "The infected are unpredictable. We don't know what's still inside."
Renji's eyes narrowed as he turned to face the man. "Do you think I care?" he growled. "What's inside is nothing compared to what they've done to us. Let them out. Let them tear this place apart."
Kaito looked at Renji for a long moment, before nodding. "Understood."
The minutes stretched as they waited for the lockdown to be deactivated. Renji's mind raced, unable to stop the incessant churn of his thoughts. If he'd been altered, if the very core of his humanity had been stripped from him, then there were others like him, others far worse. He could feel the weight of their collective power. The dungeons and their experiments had no idea what they had unleashed. The only way to stop it now was to let the chaos consume everything.
A soft beep interrupted his thoughts, and Kaito's voice rang out across the room. "It's done. The cells are open. The infected are free."
With that, the sound of grating metal and sliding doors echoed through the facility. Renji felt the ground shake beneath him as the cells that housed the most dangerous of the infected were released. He could feel their presence—feral, bloodthirsty, and powerful. They were like him, but more unrestrained. More monstrous.
They were his ultimate weapons.
---
The facility began to stir with life, a chaotic dance of destruction as the infected began to claw their way to freedom. Their roars filled the hallways, deep and guttural, like the cries of animals caught in a cage too long. Renji smiled, feeling a surge of power that matched the fury of the creatures breaking loose.
"Move!" Renji barked at his team, as they hurried toward the facility's exit. They had no time to waste. The alarms blared as the lockdown systems failed, and the chaos spread quickly. The infected surged through the hallways like a flood, their instincts driving them to tear through anything in their path. The entire facility was on the brink of collapse.
Renji's team moved swiftly through the corridors, their weapons at the ready. The sounds of carnage echoed behind them as the infected tore through guards and infrastructure alike. Renji felt the overwhelming force of their release, a force that made the walls tremble, that shook the very foundation of the facility. He could sense the power, and it was intoxicating.
"We can't afford to stop!" Kaito shouted as they rounded another corner, narrowly avoiding a wall that collapsed under the strain of the chaos behind them.
Renji turned to him, his gaze cold. "We keep moving. We don't stop until we're out."
The facility was large, sprawling across multiple levels, but the exit was still within reach. They had planned for this, at least. Their escape route had been mapped out long ago, a secret passage that would lead them to freedom. The only problem was getting there alive.
As they neared the exit, the walls around them began to tremble with the force of the infected breaking through. One of the walls collapsed ahead, and out poured a wave of monstrous figures, their bodies twisted and deformed from the mutations they had undergone. They were like Renji, but far more primal. Their eyes gleamed with hunger, and their massive claws scraped against the metal floors.
Renji grinned, his teeth sharp, as he felt the surge of energy from the infected. This was his domain now, his domain and theirs. They were a reflection of his own mutations, creatures of raw power that knew no restraint. He let the energy flow through him, pulling from the newly absorbed abilities of his enemies and allies alike. He could feel their strength, their savagery, and it filled him with dark purpose.
"Get out of here!" Renji ordered his team, as he moved forward to engage the horde. He would hold them back long enough for them to escape. He had to. It was his choice. His burden.
The infected screamed as they charged toward him, their massive forms lurching forward with an inhuman speed. Renji met them head-on, his claws flashing through the air. His body pulsed with dungeon energy, and he fought like a beast unleashed. Every strike, every movement, was a perfect blend of instinct and power.
The first infected lunged at him, its claws aimed to tear his throat out. Renji sidestepped, his own claws ripping through the creature's body, cleaving it in two. Another charged, but Renji's limbs moved faster than the eye could follow, slashing through its ribcage in a single stroke.
The battle raged on, the walls echoing with the sounds of death. Renji was a whirlwind of violence, tearing through the infected with precision. His strength, his monstrous abilities, combined with the raw power of the dungeon energy, made him unstoppable.
But as the last of the infected fell before him, Renji's heart pounded in his chest. The power he wielded felt darker with each passing moment. He could feel the monstrous side of him growing, the side that reveled in bloodshed and destruction. His claws dripped with their blood, and his eyes gleamed with a predatory hunger.
"Let's go!" Kaito shouted from the exit, waving frantically.
Renji didn't hesitate. He dashed toward the exit, his body still thrumming with the energy of battle. His team was already through the door, waiting for him. They moved quickly, pushing through the final obstacles. The facility was collapsing around them, but Renji didn't care. They were free.
As Renji stepped out into the open air, the weight of what they had done began to settle in. The sky was dark, the ground beneath them cracked and burned from the destruction within. The facility behind them was nothing more than a smoldering ruin, a monument to their escape and the chaos they had unleashed.
Renji looked back at the burning building, a grim smile curling across his lips. The battle had just begun, and now, the world would know that there were monsters among them—monsters like him.