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“Brother… the shield is down, they’re ready to go.” Hannah’s voice cracked out over my communicator.
I have a nod, and the first group jumped, several people, sliding down the trolley line in a batch. These were several of the boldest girls among those of the Freshman. I noticed that none of the guys had volunteered to test the equipment. The trip looked dangerous and fast, and by the time they reached the bottom, the only way to see them was with binoculars. I was looking through exactly one of those when I saw the leader raise her thumb up and untie the group. It looked like it worked.
The way it was rigged, when the second group slid down, the equipment from the first should return. As to how many people were sliding down, it was about twenty a trip. The trolley line could probably hold a hundred people, but we weren’t going to test things. Given the thousand students that had been recovered, that meant it would be some time before everyone was off the island. Meanwhile, my foot was tapping impatiently.
The rescue operation had turned out to be a shocking success. I was expecting many more seniors, but they seemed to be disappearing as the night went on. Some of them had been caught by the Freshman. There were already nearly two hundred girls that have been tied up between Hannah’s group and the surface ones. The rest of them must be at the WRA HQ with Miss Monic and the WRATH girls. Perhaps some of them fled when things started getting violent and are hiding. Either way, we had no trouble emptying out the girl’s dorm and getting everyone to meet up at this line.
“Whatever is going on, it’s not just on campus,” Brooke said, pointing out to the city.
For the first time, I looked away from our target, the trolley station down on the ground floor. My mouth fell open as I realized there were numerous areas where smoke was rising from the city. When I listened carefully, I could hear sirens blazing in the distance. Occasionally, there was a bang or a sound that might have been gunfire. Amaryllis appeared to be suffering from a disaster!
I had been convinced that this whole situation was just something between me and WRATH. Apparently, we were only the visible tip of an iceberg which went far deeper than I could have imagined. It was a warzone out there. It was no wonder that there was no rescue operation as of yet. Various parts of the city clearly had blackouts, and there seemed to be riots going on somewhere distant. Once again, I was reminded of how little I understood about the world around me. I felt just like the kid that I pretended to be, completely oblivious to my surroundings. I had been so focused on the past, that I never really paid attention to current events. Was all of this sparked just because of my trial? I could only give Brooke a stiff nod as I watched the city.
Meanwhile, once seeing that the set up was safe, the boys started pushing to the front of the line. A few of the girls made angry mutters, but just as many were happy to ingratiate themselves to the men by stepping aside. These weren’t the WRA women who hated men. In fact, many of them still had the old beliefs that men were to be chased and admired. Therefore, the few gripes that came with the men sliding down next quickly ended. I could only stare with a frown as twenty men abandoned the floating island.
I didn’t join them, and it was the men who weren’t with them that lead to me frowning. Of those there, I didn’t see Ben, his friends, or the Senior who had orchestrated the night of rape. I was somewhat relieved by that. I wasn’t sure what I would do if I did see them. Most of the Freshman were there, and it turned out Takasha was there as well. Any cockiness with his behavior seemed to have melted away. It wasn’t like I was in charge really anyway, but at least he wasn’t trying boss people around. He gave me a complicated look, but he didn’t seem to desire anything more than to leave quickly.
When it came to sex, these men would act like pharaohs, demanding and brutalizing with sadistic glee. However, seeing them now, they looked like cowards. They gave pleading glances to the women to protect them, their heads lowered with beaten looks. This was truly what the men of this world were. Beaten down minorities surviving at the whim of the women around them. The men started to take on a different appearance in my head now. They were like affluent children acting out against their rich parents. Their acts of defiance, their sadism, even their rape… these were all just attempts to scream out in an oppressive world that threatened to smother them.
Part of me still hated these men who would callously rape women; however, another part of me came to pity them a little bit. Was I any better? I was fleeing this island just as much as they were. I had started all of this, and I planned to just run to my home and hide there until this all blew over. I anticipated the same would be true for most of the guys here. In the end, it’d be the women who would clean all of this up.
As I thought through these ideas bitterly, Brooke grabbed me and started pulling me to the next line. “You’re the number one most wanted, getting you back to the mansion where it is safe is important.”
I nodded dumbly as Brooke clicked herself into the conflagration of harnesses and then clicked me next. The boys had already hit the ground and scattered. They didn’t even bother to stay behind and make sure the rest of the people made it down alright. This load was sending down the last of the boys. There were still over a thousand frightened women huddled together in the cold waiting for their turn. It was men first in this world.
Lyra… Rigor… Trey… Hannah… all of them were still on the island. Rebecca was still on the island. Diba Monic was still on the island. My eyes closed, and then I opened them again, my mind made up. In a swift motion, I undid all of the safety straps on me. There was no way that this was finished. I had said it before, I needed to finish it. Was it stupid? Yes. Would I even be able to do anything? I didn’t know. The only thing I did know was that I had to try. Mia and Ashton’s faces flickered in my mind. I lost two people I had cared about today. I would never forgive myself if there were any more because I chose to run.
“Clyburn?” Brooke only now realized that my straps had fallen helplessly to the ground. “What are you doing?”
I looked back at Brooke and smiled. “I’m sorry, I can’t risk losing you as well.”
“What?” Brooke’s eyes widened, and then fury grew on her face as she reached for her straps. “Clyburn, don’t be stupid. You can’t do any-“
“Go!” I shoved the group of twenty people.
Everyone was already strapped in, and the boys, in particular, were nearly desperate to get off the islands. Hours of man-hating women shouting slurs at them while trying to burn down and break into their building had caused terror to grow deep in their hearts. Thus, the men didn’t hesitate to move forward dragging the rest of the group with them. Brooke barely managed to unbuckle a single strap when she got yanked off the side of the island.
She grabbed on and could only shout back an incoherent yell as she and the other people attached to her were dragged away drown the trolley line thanks to the weight of gravity. Once she hit the bottom, she immediately started arguing with the people there. She seemed to want to be strapped in and ziplined back up. She wouldn’t be able to. If someone heavier than her ziplined down with her still strapped in, the two would slam into each other somewhere in the middle and both get hurt. For all intent and purposes, it was a one-way down.
A few of the girls gave me surprised looks, but no one blocked my way when I turned and left. I was happy when no one followed me. I didn’t want anyone else getting hurt on my account. My destination was simple. I planned to go right into the hornet’s nest. I consciously recalled the magic breaking ability I had learned with Mako. I suspected I’d be using it soon. As I got closer and closer to my target, I started sneaking more and more. I still wore the tracksuit and wig. From a distance, I looked like a girl. That would be about my only advantage if I ran into anyone.
I ducked into a bush as I finally made it to the courtyard in front of the magic building. I was so nervous getting there, that blood had rushed to my head and there was a pounding in my ears. I closed my eyes, forcing myself to calm down after getting under cover. Only then did I glance out to get my bearings straight. That’s when the sight in front of me caused my mouth to drop open in wide-eyed horror.
In the middle of the courtyard was a giant tree. I had heard from Hannah that this was where all of the prisoners were being taken. The last I had heard, there was a threat of punishment, but they had left the prisoners alone with a few guards. My hope was to take out the guards and free the prisoners. Once I saved Lyra, Rigor, and Trey, I could leave the island in peace. If I was lucky, Rebecca would be a guard, and I could take her with me.
However, it looked like the women outside had gotten bored and started delivering their punishments now. I almost threw up. Up in the branches of the tree were various men. They were all swinging by their necks. Some were still struggling, while a few were completely blue, clearly dead. There were only about five guys left, who looked absolutely terrified. The WRA was openly killing all of the men. Had we not saved the guys in the dorms, this would have likely been their fate as well.
At the men’s feet was a sight that was just a horrible. The females that were considered traitors had been stripped naked. There were a total of ten WRATH girls around the tree, and three of them were currently in the process of systematically raping the other girls. They wore strap-ons with large dildos and were fucking the girls, seemingly one after another. They’d break their hymens and their assholes, but that was only the start. They had paddles and were also beating their asses until they bled.
The girls that had been “punished” were crystal clear. Besides bleeding from just about every orifice, the WRATH girls had used pens and marked all over them. Words like ‘slut’ and ‘traitor’ were exceptionally common. They were written across their foreheads, they tits, and even their butts. Some of those didn’t look like writing, but like they had been burned into their skin! They had blank looks in their eyes as if all hope was lost.
As to what prompted more abuse in some girls than others wasn’t crystal clear. Perhaps these girls were well known for their connections to boys. Perhaps these girls had tried to protest the boys being hung, or help the boys escape. Perhaps the WRATH girls just didn’t like them. One of the girls in particular currently being punished caught my ears because she was screaming the most. It was only then I realized that her punisher wasn’t using a dildo to fuck her pussy, she was using the broad-side of the paddle, forcing it in even as the girls screamed and cried. She had clawed the ground in front of her until her fingers were bloody.
With horror, I realized I recognized the girl. Her name was Rosetta. I had encountered her once before, and she was a prideful woman who had many connections to men. She might have even been partially responsible for the event at the Precipice. I couldn’t be sure. However, now, all of her pride had disappeared. It looked like this hadn’t even been her first torture section. By the looks of her wrecked body, it was possible she had been punished several times.
Then, I noticed the face of the person currently punishing her. She had stopped trying to shove the paddle into her pussy and was now trying to shove it in her ass. Her face was also one I recognized. She was the girl whom Takasha had sodomized his first day. She hadn’t dropped out like expected. It looked like she had joined WRATH. After facing months of teasing and vitriol from the other students, she was now torturing them. Her once cute face was twisted in hate. I believed her name was Nema.
The women who had yet to face punishment wept and kept their faces down, trying to avoid being seen. They gave no protests towards the punishment the other women received. They gave no protests to the men dangling over their heads. If they were released this moment, they would still suffer nightmares for the remainder of their lives. My only consolation was that Rebecca wasn’t there. If she had been involved in this brutality, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to look at her the same way again.
Bile, vomit, hatred, shock… all of these things rose to the surface at once. This went far beyond anything I could imagine. It was always said that men were the violent sex that propagated the most hateful and violent massacres. Seeing what women were capable of doing to each other, I was once again reminded of how false this was.
Three of the men were being forced to stand up onto chairs at this point. It looked like they were starting the next round of hangings. I bit my hand to keep from shouting out. The three next people to be hanged were Rigor, Trey, and Ben. I gaped in astonishment. I couldn’t see most of the guy’s faces very clearly hanging from the trees. The shock of it all had kept me from noticing too many details. It looked like the senior who had orchestrated the rape at the Precipice was already hanging, along with several of his buddies.
Perhaps they had formed a special trap for them, making sure they were out of their dorms before they attacked. It was the same for me. Had the timing differed by ten seconds, I would have been caught with Ashton and the rest. Heck, if I hadn’t run back into the fire looking for Mia, they might have caught me right away. Either way, with the ropes already wrapped around the three boy’s necks, I knew that I couldn’t wait any longer.
Ten against one, I couldn’t hope to beat them. I really only had one chance. The girls were only tied up with rope. If I could remove the rope, perhaps they would rise up and help. It would then be a hundred on ten, completely turning the tide. Luckily, the WRATH girls had seemed to completely lose their minds. They weren’t watching out for anyone. They were instead completely invested in gaining whatever vengeance they felt they deserved. Whatever sanity they once had was long gone.
I ran behind the buildings, coming out behind the large grouping of tied-up women. I considered taking off my clothing. As the only dressed person in the group, I would stick out like a sore thumb. However, I decided against it. I was pretty sure something was bound to stick out if I was naked as well. Thus, I could only keep low and be as quiet as possible. Fortunately, the bushes got to only five feet away from the farthest girl.
Without anyone seeing, I ran up and covered her mouth. Her eyes were afraid that she had been selected, but she was in too much shock to truly cry out. I let her get a good look at my face, and then I cut her restraints. I then pressed a pocket knife to her palm and nodded to the backs of the rest of the women. I waited until she gave a single, distinct nod. After releasing her, I drifted back into the bushes.
I ended up heading back to where I started. Meanwhile, the girl very slowly moved up, cutting the ropes one at a time. It started out going good, but as more and more of the girls noticed what was happening, a few couldn’t help but grow excited. From all hope being lost and the expectation of being brutally raped by women to possible escape, they were starting to make a commotion. By that point, only about a third of the women had been freed. I bit my hand in agitation as I noticed the guards all looking in the direction of the prisoners.
It’d only be a second before the guards would realize what was going on. With only about 30 girls free, would they be willing to fight the guards? It was at this point that one of the women started casually kicking the chairs out from under the men. She was also someone I recognized. She was the woman who had hit on me, nearly sexually assaulting me, back when I dressed like Clarice. I was out of time. I either moved now, or it’d be too late.
I burst from the bush and ran and full force. Half the guards were walking over to the prisoners to see what the commotion was about. The three rapists seemed completely distracted in their tortures, and barely even paused as they assaulted the women under them. That left only two women near me. The woman who assaulted me, her name was Pookie or something like that, was the first I cut down. I roared in anger and chopped her like wood. The sword didn’t cut through her neck. Instead, it got caught half-way.
I could only curse. I had expected it to cut her head off. Then, I could have attacked the second girl. Instead, I brought every eye on me as I struggled to get the sword from her neck. I managed to pull it just as the second girl got over her shock and raised her hand. I immediately pushed out my chakra, and it struck her. Then, I barreled at her with another roar. The girl expression turned from complete dominance to absolute fear. That was the expression she had as I ran her through.
I didn’t end with that, as I immediately turned, pulling her body in front of me. It was just in time, as two spells struck the women I had just run through. I hadn’t killed her, but she was electrocuted and set aflame at the same time. Her screams filled the air. Knowing I had no room to be lenient, I pushed her forward, throwing her burning body at the women.
It was at this point, I was staring down 8 women. The five women had turned back to me, while the three who were raping were standing up and glaring. It was at that point, a roar of fifty women exploded from behind. Dozens of women ran out, leaping onto the five women from behind. They were caught completely off guard as they were dragged down to the floor. These girls had also been pushed to the breaking point. Fear left them savage, and I could hear tearing as they ripped off the guard’s clothing. They also pulled out her hair, scratched her eyes, and didn’t stop until they were as in bad of shape as the punished.
One of the remaining three rapist girls immediately turned and fled, her dildo flopping as she ran away in fear. A few of the naked women started trying to chase her down, complete hatred in their eyes. I cut down the one that stayed behind, but barely got my sword out when I got struck in the head. I stepped back to realize I had been hit by the paddle Nema was using. She had a vicious and hateful look on her face, completely crazed.
Her eyes grew surprised as she was suddenly tackled. The person who tackled her was Rosetta, the girl she had just been raping. Despite the condition of her body, She didn’t hesitate to force Nema down. Reaching out with desperation, she grabbed the paddle. She didn’t use the width of the paddle, but the handle, and she didn’t stick it in her pussy, but her eye socket. Nema screamed, but Rosetta didn’t stop slamming it down until Nema’s face was indistinguishable.
Even after she stopped moving, Rosetta hit her over and over again, screaming and crying as she did. Eventually, the other girls pulled her off. A choking noise was the only thing that brought me away from this sight. I let out a cry, and swung my sword, cutting down the rope for Trey and Rigor. They had been choking to death, and I had just been standing they’re oblivious. The entire situation was so intense that I could barely wrap my mind around it. However, when I heard both boys grabbing their necks and coughing, I let out a breath of relief.
With that, I glared in the direction of the school. I noticed that there were no reinforcements coming from the magic school. In fact, it was eerie how quiet it was. It was the same was with the boy’s dorm. I had expected them to keep coming, yet it looked like most of the Seniors had fled when they had the chance. In the end, I supposed it really was only the 20 core WRATH girls who had made this happen. However, I’d only run into a dozen of them. That meant the rest had to be in that building.
The girls finally finished tying up the guards. Their clothing was actually in a pile nearby, and the girls quickly got dressed. Most of the punished couldn’t move much at all, whether it was a physical problem or a mental one. Other girls helped them dress. As I watched, I realized I had lost my wig at some point during the fight.
“Where is Lyra?” I demanded.
“They took her inside,” Rosetta said, her throat raw, and her arms wrapped around two other women.
Most of the other girls had to be carried, but Rosetta insisted on standing up. Her face was bruised and battered, and her body was even worst. She had a grim look on her face, but she also looked resolved. I told her about the ziplines and how everyone else escaped off the island. She nodded, and the gestured for the other girls to pick up everyone and go.
I didn’t consider asking them to join me. Lyra was in that building. I wasn’t done yet. I had a distinct feeling that Diba Monic was waiting for me. There was still something I was missing here. What was she trying to do? Was it just kill men? There had to be something I was missing. The answer was in the building on the other side of the courtyard.
As the four guys started to leave with the women, a voice suddenly spoke up. “Hey, guys, what are you doing? You’re not leaving me here, are you?”
Ben was still standing on the chair, a rope around his neck. He hadn’t been knocked down before I burst out of the bush. However, he also hadn’t been cut down by me. He was still wrapped up, sweating nervously. I finally turned my eyes on him.
“L-look, man, I know we had our differences, but we’re still both guys, right? We need to stick together.”
“Together?” I raised an eyebrow.
“It’s all about balance…” He nodded excitedly. “Men need to show how powerful they are, or the women, they tip the scale. That’s why men are stronger.”
I walked up to him, “Oh? I think I understand. What you’re saying is that men should tilt things back into their favor. That’s what we should do?”
“R-right…” He said, looking desperate.
I kicked the chair out from under him. He let out a surprised squawk as he fell and the rope tightened around his neck.
“Oops… I guess if you tip things too far, you knock the ground right out from under your feet.” I said, looking up at him unemotionally.
I wanted to feel something from this act, but I had seen too much horror today. There was already too much death. Perhaps, that was the reason I chose to kill him now. Once the shock was over, and I had to deal with my turbulent mind, I’d no longer have the capacity to kill him.
He stared wide-eyed, his lips moving, but no words coming out. When I turned to look at the other guys, they all turned and looked away. The girls also kept walking, completely unperturbed by one more man swinging from that tree. I stayed behind until the group was out of sight. Once again, I was back on my own. I stared at the magic building, which was still completely quiet. Just how was I going to get into that place and back out in one piece?
Ben had stopped kicking. However, as his feet swung back and forth, my eyes started to twinkle.
“Balance, huh?” I started to smile grimly as an idea formed in my head.