The sound ceased, and I snapped out of the illusion. Just as I’d expected—seeing them always gets to me. Forget it. No point dwelling on this; it only ruins my mood.
Ahead, the narrow two-meter corridor suddenly widened. Flanked by neat, sealed rooms with transparent glass, I saw inmates—all in white uniforms. Unlike cartoon heroes, they didn’t frantically beg for help. They lay quietly on beds, ignoring my arrival.
To Organization K, Ability Users were mere lab rats—barely human. These broken souls, numbed by torture, would need years to reintegrate even if freed.
I stopped before Room 1107. Inside, unlike others, lay a girl—dead for some time. Most striking was her bald head, devoid of the silky hair typical for her age. A side effect, no doubt, from K’s experiments.
A hunch struck me: she was the singer who’d pulled me into that illusion. Perhaps my escape caused her death.
How laughable. A monster like me—who didn’t hesitate to strike even my own parents—felt a trace of pity. Though it was just an illusion.
Even high-pressure glass couldn’t survive a Temporal Burst. I stepped through the shattered pane. The girl looked peaceful in death. Perhaps my arrival ended her suffering.
Still, your fate shouldn’t hinge on that beautiful voice. Such soul-stirring singing vanishing would be a terrible waste.
I crouched before her corpse. This was the second time I’d felt such a strong urge to resurrect someone. The Silver Clock materialized above me. I reached out, touching her stilled clock. “Time Reversal!”
Instantly, energy flowed from my fingers into her, reversing her bodily functions. I poured my own time into her clock. She’d wake on her own soon.
I whispered in her ear, “Your voice is beautiful. Live well.”
She’d wake in about twelve hours, but I had no time to witness it.
Following the corridor lined with Ability User cells, I reached a large door at the end. This must be the command center. Once I took it down, my mission here would be complete.
“Major, the target’s at the door! What do we do?” A staffer hunched over a computer asked nervously, turning to the blond man.
The blond man smiled faintly. “Taonlais, I’m counting on you. Don’t disappoint me.” His command was for the bespectacled beauty beside him. Taonlais stood up, her face showing only lazy indifference. “Major Levin, the target’s Red List #1. Even I might not win.”
Despite her words, she headed for the door. Like Tia, she was a war machine—one who manipulated electricity.
Perhaps her lack of emotion earned his trust. “Tia, you go too.” The black-clad girl said nothing, following Taonlais out.
As I pondered how to break in, the door swung open. Two figures appeared. One was Tia, who’d fought me at school. Beside her stood a blue-haired, bespectacled woman in a white Organization K lab coat—her face etched with exhaustion.
“Brother, we meet again.” Tia clasped her skirt hem and gave a slight curtsy. The blue-haired woman stood as if about to collapse from sleep.
“Desolate Time Domain!” The surroundings instantly turned gray. Within this domain, time flowed independently—Time Stasis was useless. Clearly, Tia activated it to support the blue-haired woman.
No words wasted, I flicked several coins at them. But under Tia’s Temporal Redirection, they all bounced back. Tia held a new black hourglass. This time, she was supporting the blue-haired woman—wearing her down wouldn’t work.
The blue-haired woman’s hair suddenly stood on end. A powerful current surged from her hands—she was an electricity Ability User.
A direct hit meant instant death. Under Time Acceleration, I easily dodged. But Tia interfered, using Temporal Bursts to block my movements. The blue-haired woman wove a net of electricity, covering the area completely.
The electric net crept toward me. Though slow, I couldn’t get close without breaking through. Luckily, I wasn’t the same as before. With a glance, I activated Time Reversal, undoing the net to its unborn state.
I pulled out four coins. I threw the first at ten times acceleration toward the blue-haired woman. Sure enough, Tia used Temporal Redirection to alter its path. Then I threw the second coin at twenty times acceleration, aiming at the first. The faster coin struck it, forcing it back on course toward her.
Tia, startled, activated Temporal Redirection again. But in that brief cooldown, I shot the third coin at the blue-haired woman. Exploiting that gap could suppress her greatly.
But my real target wasn’t her—those coins were feints. When Tia redirected the third coin, I shot the last one straight at her. Hitting Tia would be easy; the blue-haired woman couldn’t resist temporal power.
Unexpectedly, the coin accelerated fiftyfold veered slightly off course. My shot missed. The blue-haired woman had used electromagnetic force to attract the metal token, tilting its trajectory just enough.
Their coordination was troublesome. A barrage of attacks followed. Time for the brute-force approach.
I charged at Tia. The blue-haired woman wove an invisible static net. As I neared her, I brushed against it. Numbness shot through me from the contact point.
I rapidly applied continuous Time Reversal to myself, forcing through the net. The pain stung, but compared to what I’d endured, this shock was nothing. Luckily, it was static—high voltage but low current, not lethal.
My charred right hand instantly healed. I grabbed the stunned Tia. “You lose.” Though she was a cute girl, holding back now would be suicidal. I hurled her hard against the metal door. Her small body dented the metal, and she slumped unconscious—proof of my force.
Danger lurked behind. I turned, freezing the current and the blue-haired woman’s time within a meter. In one fluid motion, I pulled a coin from my pocket. It struck her thigh hard—likely fracturing it. I didn’t want their lives, but pain disrupts abilities. As an Ability User, I knew that well.
With those two dealt with, I doubted stronger Ability Users remained. Then the command center door opened again. A blond Adonis in a white suit stepped out, clapping. Passing Tia, he kicked her aside with disgust—a hard kick that sent her flying meters away, still unconscious.
What was this guy playing at? So cruel to his own—truly a monster. “You must be Cold Creek,” he said. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Levin, commander of this facility.”
