From intact to ruined - all in an instant.
The entire research facility was torn apart.
Floors collapsed, shattered, breaking into fragmented tiers. Below, the Red Nut Ash Cave completely crumbled like a child's broken toy - some fragments plunging into endless void, others barely maintaining structure but clearly beyond repair.
CRACK—CRACK—
Amidst breaking sounds, rubble kept falling into the abyss below... just like Shirakawa Apartments' final phase. The countdown to total destruction had begun.
But it wasn't enough.
Takakai surveyed the floating debris around him.
The collapse had stabilized.
Despite the devastation, the scenario wasn't fully destroyed - because two core grudges supported it. Only resolving one wouldn't suffice.
Andreas was freed... but Hedaar remained.
Why? When Hedaar entered the freezer zone, she should have slaughtered Folnern and been liberated.
Did that bastard have another trick?
Standing on a half-destroyed corridor, Takakai noted his door now led to void - Chika couldn't maintain her grip during the collapse, so her door was lost forever in the endless falling.
Carrying this door while platform-jumping across floating debris was impossible.
Regretfully discarding it, Takakai looked upward. The "sky" was pure darkness, though the fragments themselves emitted faint light. At the top, a winding staircase led to a relatively intact platform - clearly the cave's exit.
Reaching it would be treacherous. Falling into the void meant permanent death - no Minecraft-style respawning here.
Moreover, the "perfect clearance" requirement meant Takakai couldn't leave yet. He needed to discover why Hedaar's grudge persisted... and find that cockroach Folnern who somehow still lived.
Huff—
After a deep breath, Takakai leaped onto another platform.
Then Maki's communication revealed the truth:
"He actually pulled a fusion move? So we need to separate his human and aberration halves now?"
The reason became clear - the "pure aberration" Folnern from the prison zone had appeared in freezer zone, merging with his human self.
Takakai knew from Shirakawa Apartments that aberration energy could split people. Folnern must have replicated Lixue's human experiments on himself, creating a puppet-like aberration clone from his corpse in the lab zone.
Now fused, Folnern regained aberration status - making him immune to Hedaar's execution. Worse, the collapsing scenario prevented Hedaar from manifesting fully, allowing Folnern to escape.
Of course, this wasn't without cost - as an aberration, Folnern's mind degraded, becoming more rule-bound like other monsters.
Currently, Hedaar kept tearing apart Folnern's grotesque flesh-puppet on a research zone fragment, while the mad doctor kept trying to conduct experiments despite being repeatedly shredded - a sight so horrifying that Chika nearly vomited, with Maki and Kaguya also visibly shaken.
The challenge now? Separating Folnern's halves to expose his human form for execution.
As Takakai platform-hopped, a bloated, dripping rescue worker suddenly lunged at him from one fragment, forcing him to flee to another platform.
He'd forgotten - while core grudges vanishing didn't destroy lesser ones, his watch could harvest them as fuel... but only during full scenario collapse. With one core remaining, this function stayed locked.
{Maki, stay alert - other aberrations remain active, and the collapse has mixed all zone monsters together}
{Understood. You stay safe too, Kai-kun}
After this brief exchange, Takakai paused again.
Near a half-collapsed guard post, Shelby, Ed, and Wang Gui were assessing their surroundings. Spotting Takakai, Shelby stepped forward:
"Mr. Takakai! Thank goodness you're alive. Do you know what's happening?"
Her controlled tone couldn't mask her trembling - clearly she'd never witnessed scenario collapse before.
"Someone resolved a core grudge, causing this collapse. See that highest platform? That's the exit. With rules failing, reaching it means escape. Go now - I have unfinished business."
As Takakai turned to leave, Shelby called out:
"Wait! Why stay? This place is dangerous!"
"I have teammates to retrieve. Just go!"
Before jumping to the next fragment, a calm male voice spoke:
[These mindless horrors are easily avoided. I can guide you out.]
Looking up, Takakai saw a scruffy, middle-aged firefighter on a higher fragment. His face looked familiar...
[Let me escort these players to safety - it's my duty. But your problem is more pressing, Mr. Takakai. You don't know how to kill that bastard, do you?]
The man jumped down beside Takakai, who instinctively stepped back before recognition dawned.
[Ah, I never introduced myself. Call me Howard. You probably already know who I am - which saves time. I can't guarantee how long I'll stay lucid enough to help.]
Howard Smith - key figure throughout Red Nut Ash Cave's history, imprisoned by Folnern after the research facility's establishment... until now.