Ronan pulverised the latest in a long line of gorzerks that had rushed to attack them. The concentration of the shapeshifting monsters had grown the deeper they went into the building. They had started by heading in the direction that the first woman had refused to lead them. That had been some kind of server room with a few shapeshifters inside.

After killing them all Ronan figured out that they needed to go somewhere a little further in the building to find the control room. "Are there any actual humans left in this place? How did this happen?" Doctor Valen was shaken. The events of the day had caused her to go through a great deal of trauma and learning that the entire maintenance team that was supposed to keep the bunker safe was filled with shapeshifters was adding more stress to the existing load she was dealing with.

"They probably all came here to keep it secure during the final stages of their plan. It sucks for those who were replaced but the fact we keep encountering more of them is a good thing. It means we're getting closer to our goal. Each dead shapeshifter is a benefit on top of that." Ronan kept moving, urging her to follow.

Soon they came to a sealed door. There was a screen beside it with a camera on top, both embedded in the wall next to the door. "I'm guessing this is keyed to the technicians?"

"Most likely. We have a similar lock in the med-bay to access some of the more sensitive equipment and medicinal production areas."

"Well, it looks like we're going to be making a noisy entrance. Stand back." Ronan considered his options. He could go for subtlety and speed with a mana bolt or he could blast his way in with something flashier and more destructive, like a rainbow bomb.

In the end he decided to go simple. If the machinery inside was vital to keeping the bunker sealed he had no desire to damage it and doom everyone inside in the process. That would just make all the hard work he'd put in to get to that point wasted effort. The lock blew open with a soft clang as a mana bolt tore through the mechanism.

He turned to face the doctor. "You should probably stay out here until it's safe. I'll shout or come get you once I handle the shapeshifters inside."

"Alright. Will I be safe? What if one of them comes from behind us?" She seemed nervous, hands trembling as her eyes darted from side to side.

Ronan hadn't considered that possibility. Everywhere was dangerous at that point and while they had killed most of the shapeshifters in the building to get as far as they had, there was the possibility that more would come once they realised what the commotion was all about.

He conjured a small knife and held it out to Doctor Valen. "Take this. If one of them tries to follow us, just stick 'em with the pointy end." She seemed hesitant to accept the weapon but eventually nodded and grabbed it by the proffered hilt.

"Alright. Don't take too long. I doubt I can actually kill something, even with this. Is it even a real knife?" She stared at the glowing blue weapon with curiosity.

"Pretty much. It will stab whatever you thrust it at. Just make sure it's a shapeshifter first. You can use that phrase I told you about if you aren't sure. Now, I best get moving before they realise I've breached the door." Ronan turned and rushed through the door that he'd unlocked with his mana bolt.

The first thing he saw was how different it looked to what he was expecting. Rather than rows of screens and tech on display, it was just another white cube like every other bloody building in this bunker. There was one large screen on the furthest wall from him, as well as a few scattered around, but for the most part it looked more like a sort of break room than the centre of control for the entire bunker, including the seals that kept it separate from the outside world.

There was one feature of the room that caught his eye. A raised section of the floor near the front screen that had three vertical slits spaced evenly across its surface. Slits that looked like a card reader. Incidentally, the key he had obtained from the chief was a card.

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There was text on the large screen, but before Ronan could read what it said, a shout interrupted his observation. "What are you doing here? You're meant to be watching the gate!" A tall man with a bit of flab around his midriff stormed up to Ronan as he walked inside.

Have they seriously not realised what just happened outside? They must think I'm the shapeshifting bastard that tried to steal my identity. He met the angry man's gaze without flinching. "There's a problem. Some guard managed to expose the chief and kill him. The entire bunker is on high alert. I wouldn't be surprised if some of my 'colleagues' turn up to inspect this place." Ronan was impressed with his quick thinking. Clearly the doctor had rubbed off on him.

The man frowned. "That's not good. How did that idiot manage to expose himself and then get killed?" He scratched his chin and turned to look at the others in the room. He pointed at two women who were in conversation and two men who were pointing at one of the screens and arguing about something. "You four get outside and watch the perimeter. We can't afford to be interrupted now."

One of the two men grumbled something under his breath. "What was that, you bastard?" The larger man was practically salivating as he roared in a sudden display of anger. Ronan took a step back so that he wasn't sprayed by the flying drops of spittle.

"I said, does it even matter if they get in here? We have all the keys in our possession and the unsealing sequence has already been activated. They can't stop us from succeeding!"

"Of course it bloody matters, you short-sighted fool. What use is our success if the humans kill us all before we can experience the bliss of the outside world once more? What if someone among them knows how to override the system and cancel the unsealing even without the keys? You're a damned grunt for a reason. Now get out there and prepare to use your fangs and fists, because clearly your brain is lacking in sharpness."

Ronan chuckled, earning a sharp glare from the larger man in response. He couldn't help it. Seeing them argue amongst themselves at such a pivotal moment was amusing. Almost human. He had to remind himself that they were literally plotting to unleash death on everyone in the bunker.

The four started to move towards the door. One of the women stopped and pointed at the door. "What the hell happened to the lock? That—" Ronan knew the act was over. Before another word could be spoken he conjured a hammer and swung it at the leader. His head crunched under the blow before bursting in a gruesome spray of blood and brains. An instant kill.

Ronan didn't have time to marvel at the effects of his huge luck stat before the others turned to him. "What the hell?"

"Bastard!"

"Get him, it's one of the humans!"

The next few seconds were pure chaos. Ronan marked the nearest five shapeshifters and let a torrent of blades fly into the air around him. Meanwhile he precisely fired off mana bolts to take out those who weren't caught in the storm of flying knives.

For the gorzerk, it was a brutal massacre. None of them were strong enough to overcome the sudden display of terrifying magic and might from Ronan. About twenty seconds later, all of the shapeshifters save for one was dead. A dozen notifications blinked for his attention, but he ignored them.

He grabbed the remaining gorzerk by the throat and lifted him into the air. "How do I stop the unsealing sequence?"

The monster squirmed in his grip, making pained choking noises. Ronan released his hold slightly, enough that it could speak, but not enough for it to slip away. "Fuck you, I'll never tell! Even if all of us here die, the winter will bring life and a new dawn for all gorzerk beneath the ground. Long live Gorz'Arak!"

Ronan slapped the annoying monster. "Yeah, none of that. Just tell me or things are going to get real painful for you." He squeezed harder and cut the gorzerk across its midsection.

The monster grunted and squirmed but it didn't talk. They went back and forth like that for a few minutes but he quickly realised it was a lost cause. The shapeshifter was never going to tell him anything. It would be far quicker to try and find someone human who knew how the system worked, if one even remained.

He finished off the last gorzerk and let it fall to the ground. "Doctor, it's safe to come in now." Doctor Valen's head appeared in the doorway. She looked at the aftermath of Ronan's battle and gagged, hand rushing to her mouth. Ronan grimaced as she bent over and emptied the contents of her stomach.

"So much blood. You… Never mind. They were going to kill us all. They deserved it." Her eyes lit up with steely determination and she stepped over a few corpses until she was next to Ronan.

He was a little surprised at how fast she adapted, but it was a good thing for someone who wanted to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. He would know better than anyone after living through the integration over fifty times.

"You don't happen to know how the sealing system works, do you?"

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