Apocalypse: becoming the hidden Ruler[English]

“But I stopped killing after that,” Butcher said. “Because I realized there were layers above layers. All of it pointing toward—”

“The rulers,” Riley finished calmly.

Butcher laughed, sharp and bitter. “Traitors, then. I like how you put it.”

They shared a quiet, self-mocking laugh.

Their goal was to cure the infected.

But the Holy Light Organization?

It was, without question, an organization of traitors.

“Some people wrap themselves in the flag to hide their greed and sins,” Butcher said calmly. “They use the blood of soldiers and the sacrifices of ordinary people as their shield. It was only after I said this to Aurelion that he decided to let me join the Holy Light Organization.”

She shifted into a more relaxed posture, looking almost languid now.

“The Infected are a taboo—no one dares touch them. The powerful families in the Upper House, at least the top tier, don’t actually care about the profits of the Infected industry. They already control Krythos’ most lucrative and vital sectors. So why stop us from developing a cure?”

Butcher was silent for a long time. Then he gave a bitter, self-mocking smile.

“I don’t know. Maybe when your treatment is finally completed, whatever’s hidden beneath the iceberg will surface.” He paused, then added quietly, “I just hope you won’t repeat Liorael’s mistake.”

At the mention of Liorael’s name, Riley’s body stiffened. A trace of sorrow flickered in her eyes.

“Not this time,” she said softly. “Aurelion said he’d entrust it to someone reliable—someone who can actually influence the situation.”

They exchanged a glance. Without another word, Butcher turned and left.

When the room fell silent, Riley spoke toward the empty staircase.

“You’ve been listening for quite a while. You can come out now.”

Axel stepped into view, his expression complicated. “You weren’t hiding anything from me. That doesn’t count as eavesdropping.”

Riley looked at him. “And what do you think?”

Axel sat across from her. “I don’t have an answer either. But is there really someone powerful enough to break the unspoken agreement at the top—and bring this potion into the world?”

Riley’s thoughts drifted to Krythos’ recent string of drastic moves.

“There wasn’t anyone like that when Liorael was still around,” she said. “But now? I believe there is.”

Someone on that level was far beyond both of them. As far as Axel knew, only figures like Nolan, Sethan, Brooks, or the headmasters of Shiverstone and Stormwatch Academy even came close.

“They’re distant from us,” Riley continued. “But what we’re doing can change how they see things.” She didn’t hide anything from Axel, pulling out the small box he had brought earlier. “I can even say this research alone could destabilize Krythos overnight.”

She pressed a concealed black button.

With a low rumble, gears turned beneath their feet. The floor split open, revealing a long, sloping passage descending into darkness.

“What is this?” Axel asked.

Riley’s voice carried a note of excitement. “A perfect test environment. Come on—you’ll be the third person to see it with your own eyes.”

The third.

Axel’s heart skipped. Riley reminded him uncomfortably of Clarissa—his father’s former research partner.

The spiral staircase below was long. Once they stepped onto it, the floor sealed shut behind them. Before they’d gone far, Axel caught the scent of medicine—sharp, metallic, faintly laced with blood.

“Try not to be shocked,” Riley said.

She pressed a wall panel, and dim green lights flickered on. The corridor felt like a prison—narrow, enclosed, oppressive. After descending dozens of meters, they reached a broad platform.

Another button press.

A rail track unfolded before them, with a small railcar waiting.

“This scale is insane,” Axel muttered.

“One wrong move and we’re all dead,” Riley said flatly. “If anyone discovers this basement, it triggers a self-destruct. Hundreds of Essence Stones and Soul Stones—enough to erase the entire villa district.”

Axel nodded silently and followed her into the railcar.

The vehicle lurched forward, plunging deeper, then leveling out into a straight run. It felt like entering the heart of a colossal labyrinth.

“A space-era Awakened engineer designed this system,” Riley explained. “If discovery is inevitable, total annihilation is preferable.”

After more than ten minutes, the railcar slowed to a stop.

They emerged into a laboratory the size of a basketball court. Dozens of grid-like glass chambers lined the space.

Axel’s pupils contracted.

Inside some chambers were empty beds. Others held unconscious humans. And others—

Infected.

Large and small. Twisted. Mutated.

“Some are Holy Light members on the verge of infection,” Riley said evenly. “Others are infected individuals I captured personally. Don’t worry—there are no live dissections.”

She gestured for Axel to wait, then entered a smaller lab packed with precision instruments, sealing the door behind her.

“Are you the only one working down here?” Axel asked.

After a pause, her voice came through. “Yes.”

Left alone, Axel slowly walked the perimeter of the lab.

He stopped before one chamber.

Inside was a massive creature, its body covered in jet-black scales, muscles warped beyond recognition.

“Level Five infected…” Axel murmured, resting his hand against the glass.

Every infected specimen in the lab had several tubes embedded deep into its body. Beyond experimental injections, Riley had clearly been pumping them full of sedatives. Otherwise, there was no way creatures like these would lie here so obediently.

“Riley… Clarissa.”

Axel’s thoughts drifted uncontrollably.

Had Clarissa once participated in the development of therapeutic drugs? If Riley knew and chose not to say anything, that was one problem. But if she truly didn’t know, then it meant Clarissa had been terrifyingly good at hiding things. And if that was the case, then Clarissa’s role back then might not have been entirely benign.

How the hell was he supposed to ask?

Axel absolutely could not reveal Mr. Victor’s existence.

Just then, Riley emerged from the inner lab, holding a vial filled with translucent reagent.

“Experiment Forty-Nine,” she said quietly. “Begin.”

She walked toward one of the glass enclosures and stared at the sleeping Level Five infected inside for a long moment.

“These were once our comrades,” Riley murmured. A trace of sadness flickered across her face.

She opened the enclosure and stepped inside. The infected stood four to five meters tall; next to it, Riley looked fragile, almost insignificant.

“Experiment begins.”

Riley lifted into the air, pried open the infected’s massive jaw, and forced its mouth wide. Even from several meters away, Axel caught the stench—rotting blood and chemical decay.

She drove the needle straight into the creature’s blackened tongue.

“What happens next?” Axel asked quietly.

Riley landed lightly and watched the infected with focused anticipation.

A thought flashed through Axel’s mind.

Wasn’t the formula supposed to require a Saint’s body?

Had the Holy Light Organization already captured a Saint—or at least obtained a corpse?

Before he could finish that line of thought, something went wrong.

The infected’s blood-red eyes snapped open.

Its eyeballs twitched violently as a dense, bloody aura erupted from its body.

“ROAR—!”

The creature began thrashing against its restraints. A faint green glow spread from Riley’s hands as she reinforced the sedative’s effects.

Then—

Crack.

The sound was sharp and wrong.

Under Riley’s Force suppression, the infected—which should have stabilized or collapsed—began to break.

Its black scales cracked open one by one. Bones expanded and twisted beneath the surface, jutting outward as if something inside was detonating.

Energy surged violently through its body.

“What…?” Riley froze, staring at the transformation unfolding before her.

“This isn’t normal,” Axel said, gripping the Red Flame Blade. He could feel the infected’s power climbing rapidly. If Riley weren’t a Level Six Awakened, he would have intervened already.

“If the experiment fails,” Riley said slowly, voice tight, “it usually dies. Or it regresses into a half-human state and collapses from exhaustion.” But this—this thing is evolving.

She stared at the creature in disbelief.

The shattered scales didn’t reveal raw flesh. Instead, they spread further, layering over each other, becoming denser, glossier.