The room was heavy with the smell of charred flesh and smoke, the remains of the abomination sizzling on the floor in front of them.
Kain wiped his spear clean on the clothing of one of the fallen researchers as he passed.
Kain surveyed the room and then said to Serena, his gaze hinting at her. "Let's start by securing any information we can. Lina…would you mind restoring the energy and healing some of the remaining guards and their contracts."
Kain quickly came up with an excuse to keep Lina preoccupied while he and Serena collected the research notes.
Unlike when rescuing Cherry, this was a formal mission. Therefore, Kain knew that they'd likely be required to turn over any of the research materials that they found to the college
However, Kain and Serena had an ulterior motive for obtaining the research notes here—Gabriel. Therefore, they needed to be the ones to collect all of the notes and materials here, and if they delayed for enough time with turning them over, they should be able to make copies of most of them.
Lina nodded, though her hands shook slightly from exhaustion. Her light-attribute butterfly hovered near her, its wings glowing faintly as it provided what little healing it could. "Thanks, I don't think I could stomach reading through any of the notes here."
The three of them separated to perform their respective tasks.
They moved quickly, knowing that the longer they stayed in the building, the more likely it was that someone—possibly the organization's remaining forces—might come here.
Kain moved through the room to where the researchers were lying on the ground dead, examining the now-destroyed tables and counters. He kicked over shattered vials and splintered glass containers, most of which had either been smashed in the chaos or destroyed during their fight.
Once he was next to the lead researcher, he removed all of the space rings on his hands. There were 5 rings and if each was filled, that would mean the amount of information obtained from here would be several times more than in the previous lab they took down.
Serena moved to the far corner of the room, where a set of filing cabinets had been upturned to look for any information not yet collected. She quickly sifted through the scattered papers, her sharp eyes scanning for anything of importance. "There's something here," she said, pulling out a folder filled with hastily scrawled notes and research logs. "But it doesn't seem directly related to their research on modifications or strengthening humans and spiritual creatures."
Kain stepped over to Serena, his interest piqued. "Anything specific?"
Serena's fingers traced the notes. "It'll take time to determine… pretty much the entire document is just filled with sigils. It looks like they were planning to dive further into research on sigils and even began carving them into some of their test subject" She grimaced at the images of various body parts with bloody designs carved into them, before throwing the folder into one of the space rings she'd taken from a guard—one of the few without any security measures and could be used by them immediately.
Serena glanced over her shoulder, having moved back toward the door. "We'll have to look into it later. Right now, we need to get out of here and rescue anyone still alive."
Upon leaving the research area, their next stop was where, based on the memories stolen by Bea, the test subjects were held.
Those in the process of becoming mindless hybrids and still retained some of their sense of self, were housed separately from the "complete" hybrids that were their perfect little soldiers.
This was also why Kain had no reservation about killing the hybrids instead of having Lina try to treat them, mentally they were no longer human and he has no way of restoring someone's mind—Bea specializes in destroying it.
They moved through the sterile, cold halls, the silence broken only by their footsteps.
Turning down a dimly lit hallway, they found a row of reinforced cells. Through bars separating them from the cell's inhabitants, they could see crammed together human shapes curled up inside, some unmoving, others twitching slightly as if still in a state of shock.
The air was thick with the stench of sweat and despair.
Lina's face paled even more at the sight, but Kain kept his expression grim. "Check them," he ordered.
Lina approached the nearest cell, pressing her hand against the metal bars. Inside, a young woman lay curled on the ground, her skin pale and splotched with bruises. Her eyes were wide open, but unfocused, as if lost in some nightmarish trance. Next to her lay 2 small children, weeping as they clutched one another. One of the young boys seemed to have bloody tears leaking through his closed eyes, while the boy he clutched on to was slightly bigger and strangely had 2 bat-like wings sprouting from his back.
Kain's gaze hardened as he took in the scene before him. He crouched next to the bars, studying the two boys huddled together. The wings were malformed and unnatural, the skin where they sprouted raw and inflamed, Kain couldn't quite tell if they grew from the boy on their own due to some kind of genetic modification, or if they were sewn into him. Either way, it didn't appear as though they were fully accepted by his body yet.
Lina knelt beside him, her hands trembling as she reached through the bars to brush the older boy's hair back. "They're just kids..." she whispered, her voice choked with emotion.
Serena stood back, her expression unreadable. "We don't have time to dwell on this. If we're going to save them, we need to move now. We can't afford to linger here and risk reinforcements showing up."
Then with a glance at Balens, all of the locks for the cells containing survivors opened with a soft click.
Lina immediately stepped inside, kneeling next to the children. "It's okay," she said softly, her voice soothing. "We're here to help you."
The older boy whimpered, his small frame shivering. "It... hurts," he whispered, his voice barely audible.
Lina's light-attribute butterfly moved closer, its wings casting a gentle glow over the boy. The healing energy radiated outward, calming his tremors and easing the pain etched into his face.
However, to truly help him, and even return him back to normal, it will be a much longer and strenuous process.