Amidst the blood-stained clothing he wore, a truly harrowing spectacle, he recognized the vile and utterly disgusting nature of what he had just committed. The scene was genuinely horrifying to be exact, a tableau of carnage that prompted him to retch, expelling the contents of his stomach onto the bodies sprawled across the floor for a prolonged, agonizing period. The coppery, metallic tang of blood mingled with the bitter bile, a nauseating cocktail that assaulted his senses and further cemented the grim reality of his actions.
He eventually stumbled away, leaving the lifeless forms of the school shooters and his vanquished enemies where they lay. A deep weariness had settled into his bones, a profound exhaustion that told him it would be an insurmountable, if not outright impossible, task to attempt to cleanse the sheer, horrifying volume of crimson liquid that had irrevocably stained the streets. The thought alone was draining, the magnitude of the cleanup an overwhelming burden.
As his gaze swept across the grim expanse, a disquieting observation gnawed at him: there were absolutely no cars or any other vehicles in sight. The eerie silence was profound, unbroken by the usual urban hum, a silence that mirrored the emptiness he had encountered when he first initiated his loop. It was a detail that pricked at the edges of his consciousness, adding another layer to the surreal horror.
'Could this unnerving scenario simply be an elaborate illusion, a deceptive facade that I am now compelled to shatter with my looping ability?' he pondered silently, the question echoing in the vast, unnerving silence of his mind.
Yet, a profound hesitation seized him. He was deeply reluctant to inflict another act of self-harm upon himself, the very thought sending shivers of dread down his spine. The sheer terror of reliving that excruciating process, that cycle of pain and despair, repeatedly and endlessly, as if caught in a cruel, inescapable loop, was almost unbearable. He felt as though he was trapped, without a discernible end in sight to his torment.
So, instead of succumbing to despair or further violence, he focused his thoughts, drawing upon an internal mechanism, and called out to his system with a quiet, yet firm resolve.
'Open.'
❖══════════════════════════❖
✦ 𝕬𝖉𝖛𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖊𝖗 𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖿𝖎𝖑𝖊 ✦
❖══════════════════════════❖
➤ 𝕹𝖆𝖒𝖊 ⋙ Lexus Hakamari
➤ 𝕬𝖌𝖊 ⋙ 17
➤ 𝕿𝖎𝖙𝖑𝖊 ⋙ 𝕬 𝕾𝖚𝖕𝖕𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖞𝖈𝖙𝖊𝖗
➤ 𝕬𝖙𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖇𝖚𝖙𝖊𝖘
┊Strength ⋙ 72 (+48)┊ Agility ⋙ 61 (+46) ┊ Speed ⋙ 65 (+47)┊Endurance ⋙ 74 (+50)┊ Dexterity ⋙ 61 (+46)┊ Intelligence 65 (+47)┊Wisdom ⋙ 60 (+48)┊ Charisma ⋙ 63 (+47)┊ Focus ⋙ 70 (+49)
➤ 𝕮𝖚𝖗𝖗𝖊𝖓𝖙 𝕾𝖙𝖆𝖙𝖚𝖘 ⋙ 𝖀𝖓𝖐𝖓𝖔𝖜𝖓
➤ 𝕮𝖚𝖗𝖘𝖊𝖉/𝕭𝖎𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖉 ⋙ 𝕹𝖔𝖓𝖊 - 𝕱𝖗𝖊𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖘𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖉𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖞
❖══════════════════════════❖
Gazing intently at his own meticulously detailed statistics, a profound sense of satisfaction washed over him, momentarily eclipsing the horror of the recent past. A powerful mix of pride and the deep, intrinsic knowledge of his sacrifices resided within his very core, an unyielding resolve that had been the singular driving force behind his arduous journey and the culmination of this extraordinary achievement. Every number, every modifier, was a testament to his struggle and survival.
Lost in this moment of quiet contemplation, amidst the complex data of his own self, he was abruptly and jarringly pulled back to the grim reality by a sudden, collective gasp of utter horror that pierced the eerie quiet: 'Oh my god...' The sound was close, unnervingly so, confirming that he was no longer alone in this desolate landscape.
It was the morning students, a fresh wave of youthful energy, undoubtedly ready to embark on another ordinary day of school. However, it became immediately and tragically clear that their day was now irrevocably ruined, shattered by the terrifying spectacle they had stumbled upon. Their eyes, wide with primal fear, fixated not only on the blood-soaked scene but also on Lexus himself, specifically on his blood-splattered clothes, which painted him as a monstrous figure in their innocent eyes. Whispers and terrified murmurs rippled through the bewildered crowd.
Lexus, despite his own internal turmoil, attempted to clarify the dire misunderstanding, his voice strained with urgency. "Wait, I swear I was only protecting the school! I'm also a student, just like all of you! Please, you have to believe me!..."
They recoiled instinctively, a wave of collective fear rippling through their ranks, palpable and suffocating. Then, a blonde-haired young man, his face contorted in a mixture of terror and outrage, stepped forward slightly and spoke, his voice cracking with accusation. "Liar! You murdered them because you liked it, didn't you?! Is that it?! Are you planning to kill us next, you monster?!" A chorus of frightened voices immediately echoed his sentiments, the students shouting at Lexus to leave at once, threatening to call the police on him if he dared to linger. Panic began to swell, a palpable entity in the air.
But Lexus, despite the overwhelming accusations, was not going to let this narrative stand. He pressed on, desperately trying to de-escalate the volatile situation with words, to appeal to their reason. "Guys! Look, I know I may have killed them, but they were actively threatening the entire school! Just look at all their guns and weapons scattered everywhere – there's a clear reason for all of this! Can't any of you just understand the truth of what happened here?!" he exclaimed, his voice imbued with an undying, desperate truth that he hoped would cut through their fear. Yet, the students, blinded by the visceral horror, remained utterly unconvinced. Their faces were a mosaic of disbelief and terror.
And then, just as despair began to settle in, the distinct and increasingly loud wail of blue and red sirens pierced the morning air, growing more insistent with each passing second. The rhythmic pulse of the emergency lights reflected eerily on the spilled blood. It was the police, undoubtedly dispatched to arrest him for the perceived genocide, even if, in his heart, he knew it was an act of grim justice. The immutable laws that governed this cruel world, he realized with a sickening lurch, would offer him no escape.
"Who the hell among you called the cops on me?!" he shouted, his frustration boiling over into pure rage, the question torn from his throat. Before he could process another thought, the officers were upon him, immediately restraining him with practiced efficiency, forcing him roughly to the ground. They cuffed his hands behind his back without a second thought, the cold metal biting into his wrists. As he struggled, his gaze met a familiar face in the growing crowd – his dear friend, Sekuma.
"I did," Sekuma stated, his tone shockingly calm, a stark contrast to the escalating chaos. Lexus found himself utterly unable to emit a sound, to sputter any coherent words from his mouth, so profound was the shock of this sudden, inexplicable betrayal. It was as if his voice had been stolen, replaced by an echoing void.
"And I don't quite regret it, mostly because I'm studying law. You've brought justice, yes, but you already know that one cannot always avoid the true and unyielding laws of this world, Lex." Sekuma's gaze remained steady, unwavering, as he simply stared at Lexus's shocked, frustrated, and utterly heartbroken face. Then, Lexus was unceremoniously lifted and placed into the back of a police car. The vehicle sped off thereafter, its sirens fading into the distance, leaving some officers behind to meticulously investigate the numerous corpses and the unimaginable quantity of sheer blood that saturated the ground.
"There are simply too many of them. We've speculated and numbered over 136 victims correctly, but I do believe that there's still more to this... sight. It's beyond anything I've ever encountered," a veteran police officer commented, his voice hushed with disbelief. He simply couldn't fathom how Lexus, a single individual, could have orchestrated such a colossal and horrific amount of bloodshed. The sheer scale was mind-boggling.
"This is genuinely frightening..." another officer muttered, his voice barely a whisper. The scene was, to put it honestly, absolutely horrendous. As the hours passed, more investigations arrived on the scene, including ambulances and numerous EMS crews alongside them, their presence adding to the grim gravity of the situation.
One EMS crew member, visibly shaken, finally broke the silence. "I truly can't express how utterly horrid this is. It defies description." His words conveyed a profound sense of utter disgust and revulsion at the appalling scene laid out before them.
"I wholeheartedly agree," another replied, his gaze sweeping over the devastation. "Let's just focus on cleaning this up, as best we can."
Eventually, the macabre process began. They carefully, almost reverently, took corpse after corpse, each removal a silent testament to the lives lost. The bodies were meticulously placed into the waiting ambulances, a grim procession that continued as they awaited the arrival of the coroner. Before the coroner could reach the scene, a decision was made to cover the deceased with crisp white sheets, a somber shroud to shield the brutal reality from public view and preserve a semblance of dignity.
Specialized body bags were also brought out, specifically for the severely mangled bodies, those whose forms had been twisted and broken beyond easy recognition, ensuring they were handled with appropriate care and respect.
The sheer magnitude of the scene meant that the investigation eventually escalated, consuming two whole days of relentless work and grim discovery. On the second day, Lexus's parents, having heard the devastating news, appeared, their faces etched with frantic worry, and ran towards the cordoned-off area. "What happened here?!" Lexus's mother cried out, her voice raw with terror, searching for answers amidst the chaos. A police officer, his face grim, stepped forward. "You cannot see this, ma'am. It's too graphic." He moved to block her view of the still unfolding, still brutally graphic scene that was slowly being cleaned.
"But where's my son?! He wears the same uniform as the students here, and he has black, straight hair!" Her desperation was palpable, her description matching the boy they had incarcerated just two days prior.
"Well... Mrs.... uh, your son went to priso—" Before the officer could even finish the devastating sentence, the mother, consumed by a mother's fierce protectiveness, immediately grabbed his collar, her grip tightening with an almost terrifying strength. "What did you just say?" she demanded, her voice a low, dangerous growl, effectively threatening the officer. But the seasoned cop, maintaining unwavering eye contact, replied with a somber resolve. "Look, ma'am, your son is, unfortunately, the primary reason why this entire mess was created. As a consequence, the school has been suspended for an entire month due to the gravity of what transpired."
The mother, however, remained unshaken, her resolve unyielding. "No! My son would never do something so mad like this! That's impossible! I know my dear Lexus, I've always known him best, and this simply isn't him!" Her determination was a formidable wall. The officer, recognizing he couldn't reason with her in her current state of distress, resorted to a decisive action: he delivered a swift, professional chop to her neck, rendering her unconscious in an instant.
Lexus's father, who had been standing by, still visually surprised and reeling from the entire horrific spectacle, watched in stunned silence. He only snapped back to reality when the officer turned to him. "Are you her husband, sir? Please, take her home. We'll ensure that everything is explained further thereafter, once the initial chaos has settled."
The husband, his face a mask of shock and grief, carefully lifted his unconscious wife into his arms. He simply nodded firmly, a silent acknowledgment of the officer's words, and walked away, carrying his burden into the unknown.
One of the other officers, who had witnessed the entirety of the exchange, approached the cop who had knocked the mother out cold. "Should we really clear the misunderstanding, even after all this?" he asked, a hint of doubt in his voice. The cop, however, met his gaze with a resolute expression. "Of course. We absolutely should. The truth, however harsh, must eventually come to light."