The chamber beneath Death Protocol HQ thrummed with power—cold, artificial, and humming with electricity. Metallic walls stretched high with flickering binary code etched across them like a breathing entity. Cipher, Riven, Lucy, and four rogue Executioners stood in tense formation.
Cigar stood, hands behind his back, expression unmoved. Behind him were 25 elite Executioners, all already activating their systems, digital weapons sparking to life like demons ready for war.
"Welcome to the heart of Death Protocol," Cigar said calmly.
Riven's eyes narrowed. "We're done being your tools."
Without another word, Cipher gave the signal.
The room exploded into chaos.
Above, on the surface, the air was thick with fire and tension as Klaus and Rita faced off against Cipher's rogue Executioners—Vex and Noir.
Klaus struck first, his system materializing a lance of compressed data. He hurled it toward Vex, who flipped backward and slammed both fists into the floor. Two geysers of binary energy erupted beneath Klaus' feet, but Klaus danced around them, gliding with razor-sharp speed.
Noir's ability ignited—Quantum Chains, ethereal links that latched onto anything they touched. She launched them toward Rita.
"You're not walking out of this, traitors," Rita growled, twirling her digital whip laced with dark blue code.
Vex grinned. "You first."
The surface battle was swift, brutal. Klaus's blows could shatter bones and rip through reinforced steel. Vex countered with unpredictable gravity shifts, slamming Klaus into walls, throwing him off balance.
Noir fought like a shadow, her chains wrapping around Rita's arms—until Rita screamed and unleashed her Execution Code But it was too late Noir released Execution Code:Black Venom.
Rita's arms fall off in an instant.
Their fight spiraled, fast and unforgiving, but below—hell had truly opened.
In the chamber. Digital blades, rifles made of code, and unseen forces collided.
Riven vanished instantly—Flash activated—appearing behind one of the Executioners with a glowing red hand. With a tap, the man's body digitized into red dust, disintegrating like corrupted data.
One down. Twenty-four to go.
Lucy moved like a storm, her binary greatsword cleaving through two attackers in a single sweep. Sparks lit the air as steel met steel, code met code.
"Riven! Behind you!" Cipher called out.
Riven blinked left, barely avoiding a spike of digital glass aimed at his neck. He summoned his clone, who tackled the attacker mid-strike. The real Riven spun, raised his hand—Red Judgement activated—and touched the attacker's head. Gone in a pulse of light.
"Still holding back, Riven?" Cipher taunted as he snapped a spear made of pure data into a woman's stomach, flipping over her body as she crumbled.
"Hmm," Riven muttered.
Two Executioners flanked Lucy, both wielding twin code-blades that crackled with energy. She parried the first, ducked under the second, and slammed her heel into the floor, sending a shockwave of binary flame in all directions.
One attacker burned instantly. The other screamed, her body glitching before exploding in a shower of light.
One of Cipher's men fell. An executioner ripping straight through his chest with a code hammer.
"Fall back!" Cipher yelled. "We split them—Riven, go wide!"
Riven nodded and activated Flash again—zipping from side to side, knocking Executioners off balance, disorienting them. He dropped two more with Red Judgement.
Every touch was fatal. The power to erase.
He didn't relish it—but he used it.
Cigar watched from above, still unmoved. "So, this is your rebellion."
Behind him, a woman in a black coat stepped forward, data swirling at her fingertips. "They'll all fall. Begin Protocol Purge?"
Cigar didn't answer. Not yet.
Cipher's second rogue, Milo, activated a field of distortion—warping space around three Executioners, their attacks looping endlessly, missing every strike. Cipher used the opening to slice through all three, his eyes glowing like lava under pressure.
Lucy met Cigar's eyes across the distance. "Tell me the truth! Is it all a lie?"
"You were never meant to know the truth," Cigar replied, his voice hollow. "You were meant to kill and die. Efficiently."
That answer was enough.
Lucy screamed and charged, her blade cleaving through a defender and clashing with another who wielded a plasma axe. Sparks danced. Blood spilled. The Executioner shoved Lucy back—then took a clone of Riven to the face. The clone exploded into a storm of digital shrapnel.
The chamber floor was slick with the fading glow of erased lives. Executioners kept coming—relentless, silent, fanatical.
Riven was panting, three clones already burst in battle, flash energy dwindling.
He turned, cornered by five attackers.
He smiled.
"Let's try this."
He slammed his hand to the floor—Red Judgement surged through the ground. The five men paused, blinked—
And then shattered into crimson particles.
Cipher whistled. "Alright, prodigy."
Back up top, Klaus was bleeding from the mouth, his armor fractured.
"Let's finish this," he growled.
Vex nodded, both of them now drenched in sweat and code scars. Their last moves came simultaneously—Klaus drove a spear into Vex's stomach, but Vex raised his hand and imploded the gravity between them.
They both dropped.
Rita screamed, lunging at Noir, stabbing through her shoulder by creating a claw on her feet. She injected corrupt code into Noir's body.
Noir gurgled, then vanished into black sparks.
Rita fell to her knees, gasping.
Back underground, only seven Executioners remained.
Cipher was cut across the chest. One of his men lost an arm. Lucy's leg was injured, but she still fought.
Riven touched his last clone's shoulder and nodded. The clone ran into the enemies, distracting them—
Riven used Flash, blinking to the Executioners' backs—five taps, five deaths.
Only two remained.
Riven faced them, blood on his knuckles, breathing hard.
The last two attacked together—synchronized.
But Riven dodged like lightning, tapped one in the ribs—Red Judgement.
Then spun, caught the last by the wrist—and said coldly, "This is for the children."
He erased him too.
The chamber was silent. Bodies—real and digital—lay broken.
Cipher fell to a knee. Lucy coughed, gripping her thigh.
Cigar had vanished.
Riven looked around, panting. "We...we survived."
Cipher nodded.
Riven clenched his fists.