There was a resounding ringing of alarms at the height of the situation. There was a sight of all soldiers on duty running for the scene.

*BOOM!*

The facility resounded with a loud explosion inside of it. Dark dusty smoke emerged and created a smoke screen. A group of soldiers fired their guns aimed at the last location where they had seen him before.

The sound of gunshots echoed throughout the room as bullets flew across the room.

Several of the soldiers stopped to reload a short time later and by then the smoke screen had faded, revealing an unharmed Gray who was completely unscathed. The pellets that were empty could be observed falling to the floor one after the other in front of him.

It was almost as if there was an invisible wall blocking the bullets from progressing.

After seeing that the six soldiers in front of him had already emptied their magazines and were reloading, Gray suddenly charged at one, unpausing the air so that he could do so.

*Swing*

Having reached a distance of two steps from the first guy, Gray swung his leg and delivered a kick that hit him straight in the temple. As a result of the man's body crashing against the wall besides, Gray was able to knock him out almost instantly.

Gray then proceeded to leap at the other two ahead of him, grabbing them by the face before slamming them down against the ground. The ground beneath their heads, cracked as they were taken out.

The remaining three had just about reloaded, but they were in a state of panic. In spite of this, they still pulled the trigger.

In the end, however, they found themselves left with nothing but a surprise, since their guns were jammed, frozen even. It wouldn't budge.

By the time they realized it, it was too late.

"What the fu-"

*BAM!*

Gray's fist pounded into the soldier's face as he interrupted him. As soon as they saw this, the other two soldiers pulled out their knives, thrusting them at Gray.

[Unpause]

Their knives were only inches away from Gray's body as their guns dipped to the ground. At that point, however, the knives halted in place while their hands continued to move forward, which caused them to land a semi-punch on Gray.

[Unpause]

[Pause]

At that moment, their knives dropped to the ground after being unpaused, and their bodies went rigid. They couldn't move.

"Sleep," Gray ordered as he sent a kick from the side, which landed right on the side of the chin of one of the men.

A knee went drew closer and closer to the other individual's, before crashing into it's face, as it was powerless to do anything about it.

His nose was caved in, and remained that way while he was paused.

Without looking back, Gray proceeded to walk, down the prison halls, making his way towards the next room where the soldiers were coming from. He was looking for the exit.

[Unpause]

"GRAH!!!"

"ARGH!!"

Gray ignored the pained groans and continued to walk ahead.

'Shouldn't I be getting a quest for this? Or is it because I already have a main quest active?'

Gray had thought about this before, but what was even the point of having them here when they could just send them out into the apocalypse? There was only one reason for this; they wanted to keep people with potential captive until they could join them.

"Maybe I should pay a visit to one of the higher ups of this refuge" He considered.

Despite the odds, Gray was able to break through on his own. Each group of soldiers dispatched were unable to do much against Gray. This was not because of their lack of abilities or their guns being ineffective. Although many of the soldiers' abilities were repetitive and generic, they still gave them an advantage.

[Rising Earth Spikes]

Suddenly, earthen spikes rose out of the walls and from below Gray's feet. Gray easily avoided them however, by leaping across all the gaps. There was a significant increase in his agility at 19, which was approximately four times higher than it was when he started.

That topped off with, his skill Pause. The thought of catching him was unfathomable.

That being said. Those who awakened were also given physical boosts along with their abilities. In Gray's observation, the users of the ability with which he fought had a tendency to use more strength in their punches than the soldiers normally would.

But it was futile.

"What do you mean you can't stop him!? Where's our defensive squad at?

What?! Most of them are out on expedition or defending the dome walls!? Axel's squad is still in recovery?! What about Realm!?

They're already on the way?! Tell them to hurry up! We've already lost over fifteen soldiers!"

The higher ups who were watching the situation through the cameras couldn't bear to watch. They slowly grew more and more anxious as Gray got closerto his escape.

"Scorching Heat"

[Scorching Heat]

During the turnabout, a wave of flames could be seen being directed toward Gray. Gray took cover by one of the walls, as pausing the air to create an air rectangle to use as a shield would have been useless. He would simply be scorched by the flames going around it.

"COME OUT YOU COWARD!!" The soldier yelled out in fear. The droplets of saliva from his mouth evaporate into steam as he grinds his teeth in rage.

[Pause Step]

"Okay." said Gray as he suddenly appeared behind him.

After turning around, the man tried to turn Gray into a barbecue, only to end up frozen in place just like all the others.

[Pause]

In that moment, Gray grabbed him by the neck and put him in a choke hold for as long as he could. As the timer was active and he was paused, the man could not feel anything. However, once the timer expired.

While struggling desperately to breathe, his eyes were bulging. Despite countless swings at Gray as he emitted flames from his mouth, Gray wouldn't let go. The man repeatedly slammed his back against the wall with Gray on it, but to no avail.

The flames that were escaping his mouth had resulted in him starting off with less oxygen, resulting in him being knocked out much quicker than he would have been had he not done so.

*Thud*

The man collapsed and Gray carried on.

"That makes twenty" He muttered.

He hadn't planned on using pause step a single time due to how much stamina it consumed, but once was fine. Gray estimated that he could use it nine more times before reaching his limit based on how it felt before. So he'd need to use it wisely.

Walking up the staircase, Gray couldn't help but get flash backs of his time in the labyrinths as the memories flooded his head. Memories of that day returned, the day he had first taken a human life.

The day he had stabbed that bastard of a man that had adopted him. He hated it... These memories.

*Step* *Step* *Step*

Gray walked past the Prison's reception, everything was empty.

Through their front door he left without so much as a bye. He stopped just ahead of the facility. He was facing upwards. Rain drops could be seen splashing against the transparent dome as the sound of pitter pattering flickered inside the refugee.

"You know Before this all began, I genuinely felt like killing myself. I didn't have a purpose for living, every day felt suffocate just by being alive." Gray let out a sigh as he shut his eyes. "Recently however, I feel like I've found a purpose."

There it was, the same feeling as before. The feeling of a grim reaper having it's scythe on his neck. Previously, the feeling had filled him with fear, but it was not a life-threatening fear. It had to do with Aurora becoming entangled in the fight.

Now that she isn't here. It's a completely different story.

"And If I have to kill everything in my path to keep this purpose, then I will. Even I have to become the devil himself." Said Gray, as he looked down and faced the golden Blonde young man ahead of him.

Ahead of Gray stood but a single man. The young man giggled after hearing Gray's speech. He placed his palm on his face as if to cover his expression

"We're a lot more similar than I thought... If we had met under different conditions, I feel like we could have become best friends It's a shame, If I don't do what those guys tell me, I'll also lose my purpose." Said the young man with a smile as he unsheathed his blade.

"Sorry For doing this." He uttered as he gave Gray an icy stare, the smile still present.

"Right back at you." Said Gray as he got into a stance using the knives he had taken from two of the soldiers he had defeated.

- : Realm Against Pause! The battle for purpose!

[Realm]

[Pause!]