Chapter 49: The Blood of the Innocent
"You"re going to kill them voluntarily. If not…
...I am going to kill the three of you."
"W… what?"
What-- No. 7 no longer had any idea how much he had said the word in just the span of a quarter of an hour. But that truly was the only thing that was able to come out of his mouth. This was a very elaborate plan, born almost at the same time the staff of the Academy were given information about their first school-wide exercise.
They were here to recruit the students that belong to the Potential Villain list that the Academy had compiled, and killing any of them would most probably have an adverse effect. And so, there was one strict rule placed upon them-- Do not, by any means, kill any of the students. They were only allowed to do so if their life was in danger, or there was a chance for them to get captured.
And now, with a student dying on his watch, his promotion to a smaller number and someday to a named member of the Dark Millenium would surely be negatively affected. He had joined the organization a few months ago, starting from the bottom.
He started from number 142, but he proved his mettle and paved his way to where he was now in no time at all. But after this incident? He would be lucky to be demoted and not be erased by the Dark Millenium.
No… that was the least of his worries now. He had to first escape the predicament he now finds himself in.
Riley Ross-- he remembered who the white-haired boy was now. When they were being shown the Potential Villain list, he and his sister were briefly mentioned as Whiteking"s children. They were recommended to stay away from them as much as possible, as harming or scaring them might incur the isolated wrath of one of the members of the Hope Guild; something their organization did not want for now.
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But this? Why was there no information that one of Whiteking"s children was a f.u.c.king lunatic? He just killed 4 of his fellow students, and all with a smile on his face.
"They are getting away, No. 7."
"Gah!"
No. 7"s woke up from his thoughts as the sound of a shrilling scream pierced his ears. And once again, the familiar minute noise of a bone being crushed whispered to him.
"You… you said you weren"t going to kill us!" No. 7 then yelled as he saw No. 11 dropped to the ground like a doll that was cut of its strings; a huge hole now adorning his chest. But to No. 7"s surprise, No. 11"s body suddenly flinched, slightly moving up from the ground.
"No. 11, are you--"
But before he could finish his words, a familiar sphere the size of a baseball shot out from the cavity within No. 11"s chest; trails of blood and flesh were then flung away as the sphere rotated at a very high speed, before slowly floating its way back towards Riley.
"Green Defender, even in death, took revenge for Black Defender," Riley then slightly let out a small chuckle as he once again hid Green Defender"s compressed head in one of his pockets.
"You… you"re a f.u.c.king demon!" And with that roar, No. 7 raised his hands and summoned multiple chains of blue light, shooting them not towards Riley, but towards the two remaining members of Justice Defenders that were running away.
"N… no!" One of them screamed as the blue light wrapped around his ankle, pulling him back towards the scene of carnage. Unfortunately for the other one, he was also grabbed by his companion by the feet, also pulling him back.
"N… No. 7… what are you going to do!?" No. 12 then stuttered as his eyes moved ceaselessly from one person to the next.
"Are… you stupid? That white-haired devil is going to kill us if we don"t kill these two," No. 7"s words were cold, but his heavy breaths gave away the hesitation still lingering inside him.
"I… I didn"t sign up for this!" No. 12 said as he shook his head, "These are children, No. 7. Dark Millenium is about the coming of a new age, not slaughtering innocent people!"
"Don"t you think I know tha--"
"Pft."
No. 7"s words were disrupted by the sound of laughter; a laugh that almost crawled through their bones, a laugh that was so devoid of warmth it almost froze them entirely.
"An organization under Darkday that refuses to kill the innocent?"
Each of Riley"s steps caused not only No. 12 flinch, but to everyone else its tremors reached,
"This truly is quite funny, isn"t it, everyone?" Riley then said as he lightly flicked his fingers, and as he did so, the bodies that were scattered in front of him were blown to the side; making him a clean path, "I have decided, I want to meet… this Darkday you speak of."
"We know who you are!" Yellow Defender screamed, trying his best to escape the chains that bound all of his limbs, "Do you think you can get away with everything you"ve done here!?"
"I can, Yellow Defender," Riley muttered as he slowly made his way to No. 7, "But I don"t really need to."
No. 7"s head started to tremble as Riley"s face was only a foot away from his; with Riley"s reflection from the visor of his helmet clear even with all of his shivering. Riley stared at him, or perhaps at his own reflection for a few seconds before letting out a small but deep sigh.
"Please proceed, No. 7," Riley then said as he gestured towards the two remaining Justice Defenders, "You and No. 12 still have a lot to do."
"This…" No. 7"s breaths once again became erratic as Riley gave him the signal to kill the two students.
"You… are you really doing it, No. 7!?" No. 12 muttered.
"Does it look like we have a choice!?"
"We can just take him on!"
"Don"t be f.u.c.king stupid, Twelve. This demon is probably an extremely High-level Telekinetic. I…
...I have no choice but to do this."
"W… wait, please… please no!"
"What if we all work toge--"
The two remaining members of the Justice Defenders started to scream, but before their words could get any louder and pierce No. 7"s ears, he covered their mouth with the blue light. His eyebrows were completely furrowed, trembling as his eyes tried to avert their gaze towards the two.
He didn"t want the blood of the innocent in his hands, but he would be a fool to choose to save their lives instead of his own. And so, his trembling hands slowly moved; his fingers, completely hesitant to close as they held two lives.
But with a resolute breath, he closed his hand-- and the sound of death once again echoed through the air.
"H… guha…." No. 7 then dropped to the ground, and as if mirroring him, the two students also fell; their lifeless bodies landing violently as the blue chains of light that bound them withered away.
His eyes then slowly turned their gaze towards the two students, only to see their necks twisted in a way that they shouldn"t.
None of these were supposed to happen. When he was approached by the Dark Millenium, he had his reservations. Who would want to be a.s.sociated with the world"s most heinous supervillain? He thought.
But when he met Darkday; when he heard the truth, when he heard his ideals and his vision for the world, he was completely mesmerized. Darkday promised them that the violence would end and that they would be the ones to end it.
Superheroes? Supervillains? None of those mattered to the Dark Millenium. Their only goal was to save the world, even if it hated them. They would paint themselves as the higher evil if it means salvation.
But now, here he was, killing innocent men that were probably a decade younger than him. All because… all because he was threatened by true evil. He then slowly raise his head up, only to see Riley not even looking at the scenery he was responsible for.
"What… what do you want from us!?" No. 7 roared.
"If I recall, it is your people who suddenly appeared during our peaceful exercise, No. 7," Riley then said as he turned his head towards No. 7, "But I suppose I should thank you. Because of your existence, doing my purpose has become easier."
"W… What?" No. 7 once again found himself repeating the word.
"I told you. You and No. 12 still have a lot more to do," Riley then started to move his fingers rhythmically in the air; and as he did so, the objects and debris that were near them all started to move. And soon, even the bodies began to float as they seemingly moved to specific locations.
"You…"
"A hard-fought battle happened here," Riley said with a chuckle, "But in the end, the Justice Defenders failed to hold the members of the Dark Millenium; causing the deaths of most of the students of Cla.s.s 1-F, as well as a few instructors that protected them."
"W… what?"
"I told you," Riley then muttered, "You and No. 12 still have a lot to do. I think my sister is being bullied by her cla.s.s-- and I don"t like that."
"You want us to--"
"Yes, No. 7. I am ordering you…
...to kill more of them."