Chapter 367: Stay Put (4)

Keith POV

The cold sweat trickled down my forehead as I stood before my boss, Cain, the first murderer and a figure of authority who had always wielded control over my mad ambitions. His voice, laced with a mixture of anger and disbelief, sent a shiver down my spine.

"Dr. Hughes, what have you done?" Cain asked, "Why has it been modified? It was not supposed to be like this?" 

Dr. Hughes...he rarely calls me that...it's only in a formal setting or...when he's upset at me.

For the first time in my life, I found myself defying the one who had funded my experiments, who had allowed me to indulge in my madness. I could feel a surge of rebellion welling up within me, a burning desire to assert my dominance over my own creation.

I squared my shoulders, my voice laced with determination. It was scary but for my ambition...I had to defy him and I will defy him once again.

"I've done what needed to be done," I retorted defiantly. "I've pushed the boundaries of science and achieved greatness. The project needed to evolve, to become something more."

Cain's expression hardened, his patience wearing thin.

"You were given specific instructions, Dr. Hughes," he admonished. "You were not authorized to make unauthorized modifications. This is a breach of trust, a reckless endangerment of everything we've worked for. Look at you now, you've lost an arm because of it, we can no longer control this...creature!"

But I couldn't back down now, not when I believed I was on the cusp of a breakthrough that would reshape the world. The monster I had created, the embodiment of my madness, was a testament to my genius.

It was no longer bound by the constraints of my boss's vision; it had become something greater. We never needed the gods...we already found a way to resurrect the residual powers living within those creatures.

They are to last several years after death, and even after resurrecting their power, even if it's weakened, we can still use it for at least another few decades, I created my own God.

"I will not be confined by your limitations," I declared, "I have transcended the boundaries of science, and I will not be held back by your narrow-mindedness. The world will bow to my genius, and this is only the beginning."

"Beginning? Of what?! What's the point of putting this monster against God and his angels if we can't control it?! Luckily Pride managed to subdue it, if we had no god on our side, we would have died." he countered, "I will now incorporate that thing into our plans, but as punishment, you are to not be allowed to heal your arms within any of our facilities."

*****

Perseus POV

"Ok, that location is bad." 

Maple tracked the magic down pretty well, however...the location got the gods in it and it's their other main headquarters that they just relocated to, much more secure than ever.

"We'll retreat after one attack, make it quick, we gotta do some damage." 

I created a giant storm in the sky and shot down a super strong lightning bolt while Maple caused a massive earthquake.

Considering what happened to Keith recently, he'll probably try to get out of the facility himself in an attempt to move independently, Cain is the more cautious type, he waited years, and he can wait several more. No matter how much he values his people, they are always replaceable.

*****

Sure enough, Keith was found without protection within the next 36 hours, he moved to a facility of his far away from civilization and I followed closely behind with Maple. We got into the facility and saw it locked right behind us and activated every enchantment in the area to entrap us there.

I can easily escape now that Maple's here, but I came to kill this guy, leaving would be a waste.

"I knew you would come!" Keith announced as he stood at the other end of the hall.

The facility then shifted and changed like some sort of moving robot, I'm too lazy to describe the mechanism behind it, but he is now in a room quite high up above us while we're in a large empty cube room, in front of us are 2 mages and the same monster floating in a container of green liquid.

"It's nice having your own faction within the organization, you can sometimes defy your own boss." he announced

Good news, to trap us in here means that he can't leave either, if he has an escape hatch or any way out of here for him, means that we can exploit it, so we're both trapped, and that's exciting.

"You...were you responsible for the death of my family?" the female mage whose description is too lazy for me to say since she's about to die anyway asked

"Ah, you're Mana and the other...Richard or something? I couldn't care less, you're both gonna die protecting a mad scientist, that's not something to be proud of when whatever remaining relatives visit your grave."

"We didn't come here to protect him, we're here to kill you!"  the guy declared

"Alright, Maple, stay out of this unless I need help, I'll kill these 3 on my own." 

"Understood."  she replied, "Be quick, me and Lilith have a reservation after this."

After the liquid had drained away, the monstrous creation was unleashed, and its initial assault took the form of an explosive burst of blinding light. The monster lunged at me, its deformed limbs reaching out with a terrifying ferocity. I narrowly dodged its attack, rolling to the side and narrowly avoiding its grotesque grasp. 

Mana also charged at me with a blood-red weapon, which seemed to be her own blood, I was now attacked from 3 sides, but no matter. With a flick of my wrist, I send a barrage of arcane missiles streaking toward her. She moves with uncanny speed, dodging most of them, but a few find their mark, leaving searing burns on her skin. She winces in pain but doesn't falter.

"I like those eyes...but my anger is much more than yours, I will get my revenge."