撕衣服

Chapter 869  Four Pillars: Regret

As a cacophony of loud roars overwhelmed his hearing, Vaughn was forced awake by the sound as he swiftly looked around in a daze.

Seeing a great number of beasts unfamiliar to him roam the streets that were once filled with people going about the lives, the man felt a twinge of pain, recalling all of the humans that once fought side by side with him.

Though, as the beasts roared out once more, with some of them even looking in his direction, that pain was soon replaced by another feeling.

Fear.

Even though Vaughn felt like he had an above average level of strength thanks to the genetic rewriting and the constant exercise he did, the man felt an innate fear as he felt the beasts\' gazes on his body.

From what he could tell, he felt that he had gained a sixth sense that allowed him to sense the auras that the beasts were emanating.

And from there, he eventually felt that he was in no way strong enough to fight against the beasts.

Especially with how many there were roaming the streets.

Going through a plethora of worst-case scenarios in his head, Vaughn eventually decided to stand up and head towards a place that he and many others considered to be Veldanyr\'s last strand of hope.

A place that would assure him safety against the beasts.

Whoosh!

At the very moment he began running, Vaughn felt as if he was running at a speed far greater than what he could achieve before.

Mulling over it as a hint of shock traced his face, the man surmised that he was running as fast as the humans that chose to enhance their agility to their limit with genetic rewriting.

"Is this the effect of the Apparatus?" asked Vaughn to himself, feeling as if the sixth sense he\'d gained came from it as well.

In the end, the man decided to entertain such thoughts for another time, focusing his attention on heading towards the location he had in mind. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Whoosh! Whoosh!

With his position as the leader of humanity, Vaughn knew the topography of Veldanyr\'s capital city by heart, allowing him to go around all of the beasts that seemingly barred his way while running.

Of course, he thought about using the various transportation methods Veldanyr had to offer at some point, only to remember that none of them were usable with him now being the only person around.

In the end, the man arrived at his location purely through running, faintly gasping for air once he had arrived.

"Haah… haah…"

Giving himself some time to catch his breath, Vaughn looked around his surroundings for a bit to see if there were any beasts roaming around nearby.

Seeing that there was none close to him, he inwardly let out a faint sigh before turning around, coming face to face with what looked to be a somewhat dilapidated house.

When compared to the modern buildings Veldanyr housed, the house before Vaughn looked more like what one would find in a suburban area.

Ignoring its outer appearance, the man eventually made his way in, letting out a faint sigh of relief after seeing that the security system barring him from entering still worked.

\'Thank the heavens the generators here are still running.\'

Making his way inside, Vaughn slowly made his way down to the basement, only to go through another entrance that had a lock on it.

Inputting the code into the lock, the man grinned with glee after hearing the locks inside unlatch themselves, allowing him to finally enter the place that he and many others considered to be Veldanyr\'s final bastion.

"I guess I gotta give it to those geezers for green lighting the project. Who knew building a self-sufficient laboratory with the best technology Veldanyr has to offer would eventually come in handy?"

Looking around the various machinery that populated the large laboratory sectioned into various quadrants, a satisfied smile appeared on Vaughn\'s face as he took it all in.

Though, not long after, this smile began to distort as tears began to stream from his eyes.

"Why did end up like this…?" Falling down to the floor, Vaughn began to feel an immense amount of regret for the choice he\'d made that time.

Then again, if anyone were in his shoes, he was certain that they would have made the same choice as him.

Yet, that choice had undoubtedly killed all of those that once lived on the surface of Veldanyr, those that once had a long life ahead of them.

"If I only knew…" murmured Vaughn to himself, internally beating himself up for what he considered to be the greatest mistake he ever made.

With that, the man\'s continue to drown himself in his sorrow for many days upon end, only stopping whenever he felt an immense pang of hunger or thirst.

Though, at some point, he even began to ignore these pangs as well, instead choosing to let himself starve to death or die from thirstas he felt great remorse from his actions.

Unfortunately, with the \'curse\' of immortality given to him, even if he was at the brink of death, Vaughn could not die.

And it was only there did he realize why he was given what seemed to be a benefit from first glance by the two Arbiters.

It was because they knew he would be hounded by the regret and remorse he felt over the entire situation.

They knew it would eat him up and devour him whole, turning him into a shell of his former self.

"I guess dying really is the easy way out," murmured Vaughn at this realization, not knowing how many days or weeks had passed since he first broke down in the laboratory.

Though, judging by his hoarse voice, as well as how his body had become more than emaciated, the man felt that he had probably spent a month at the very least, perhaps more with him losing his sense of time.

With that realization, Vaughn slowly got himself up, using the vestiges of energy that remained after all that wallowing.

Walking around the laboratory, he eventually found the item he was looking for, a surgical knife.

Picking it up, the man went over a few scenarios in his mind, only to end up reaffirming his first decision to the bitter end.

With a deep breath, Vaughn slowly moved the knife closer and closer to his neck.

Only to stop after seeing his reflection in the knife.