"Is that it?"

Ryan asked in a mocking tone. Shane had just transported Lydia to Earth and was now face to face with Ryan Fox, the King of the Martians.

I never thought he would be this powerful. He always hid the full extent of his powers, but for him to outclass even me...

"I like that look in your eyes right now, that fear... same as the one you all had when I revealed my true self."

He chuckled to himself a bit and said with an incredibly cold glare,

"You're all beneath me, and I will engrave that fact into your body."

"Guh?!"

The next moment, Shane was sent flying by that same invisible force that struck Tsuruno. 

What is this? 

He wondered as he continued the preparation of his ultimate skill, unbeknownst to Ryan. With a flick of his finger, Shane was sent flying in the opposite direction, completely powerless to do anything against the mysterious force. 

Why can't I... resist?

It was incredibly strange, as if, at that moment, everything had to obey him regardless of their free will. 

S-such authority...

But he would not be cowed into submission. He had his pride as an Administrator, after all, so he quickly deleted the space separating them and tried to punch his gut with everything he had. Ryan stood there with a confident smile on his face as Shane's fist was redirected by the same mysterious force to the ground, creating a massive crater in the process. 

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! What a waste!"

He declared from his lofty position, where he looked down on Shane. He had filled his fist with destructive energy, so the crater formed was nothing to sneeze at. It was so wide that Shane could barely make out Ryan's image from where he was, but he was not concerned by that, as he had bought enough time. 

"You're so weak, and yet you claim to be one of our overlords!"

He shouted as he jumped into the crater with a half-crazed look on his face. 

"I don't know what you have against us, but I think your anger is misplaced..."

He tried to reason with him but to no avail.

"I refuse to listen to the words of one weaker than me,"

He taunted with a really nasty smile on his face.

I can't let his attitude get to me, but why is he so obsessed with proving his strength? Does he have some kind of superiority complex?

As he was thinking this, Ryan suddenly appeared before him and said,

"How foolish of you to let your mind wander in battle..."

But Shane caught his fist and replied,

"How foolish of you to walk right into my trap."

"Wha- no! What did you do to me?!"

He started panicking as soon as he realized what was happening.

All that power, that incredible mass of authority, gone in an instant...

He thought with a sadistic grin on his face.

"You should have killed me when you had the chance."

"No! My power! Why isn't it..."

The answer struck him like a bolt of lightning, and his face twisted in fear as he realized what was about to happen.

"No, please, spare me!"

He started begging, but it was of no use. Shane smiled and said,

"Don't look down on Administrators,"

And in the next moment, everything was enveloped in white. As Shane's consciousness started fading, he remembered the life he had at Lydia's side. 

It wasn't all that long, but I was...

He paused there and thought about it for a while. Lydia had always tried her best for him, pampering him almost like a mother would a child. He understood she was trying to teach him the value of life, but in the end, he could never see it. He saw no value in a life that had been saved apart from giving it back to the one who saved it, so he would feel wrong whenever he enjoyed himself. He thought he shouldn't have been alive in the first place, and that sentiment strengthened whenever he remembered his friends.

Myles...

He remembered Myles, who had been full of hope until the moment he died, a scene he could never get out of his mind. He kept on smiling... even while being scourged till his muscles were visible. After that, with such terrible wounds on him, they roasted him over a slow fire until he died. 

Why did he have to suffer like that?

Shane wondered one last time. He also remembered Lydia and how she had taken such a liking to him. As a man, it made him happy to know that she loved him and that she could sacrifice the world for him, but that just made it all the more painful. 

I don't even know how many times I thought I didn't deserve it, that I didn't deserve to live, didn't deserve to be loved, didn't deserve to play such an important role in the Irregular world as an Administrator.

If he could sigh right there, he would, but his body had already been erased, so his consciousness was all that was left of him.

Ah, how sad. 

He thought as he drifted into an eternal slumber.