Gun smoke still curled from the barrel.
Though enhanced by inhuman forces, Lixue's body lacked an aberration's true resilience. Maki's bullets had dropped him instantly, leaving him writhing helplessly on the ground.
Yet Maki couldn't relax.
The terrifying, bone-deep chill creeping up her spine left no room for relief.
She'd realized the critical detail too late.
[Please don't misunderstand - I'm completely on your side.]
When Lixue had first spoken those words before jumping down, she hadn't immediately grasped their significance - too focused on his threatening approach with the climbing axe.
But now she understood.
"On your side" - human side.
"Goodwill" - human goodwill.
From the research area ruins, Heldar slowly raised her head. That icy hatred focused directly on them.
Maki threw herself to the ground just as a crimson flash sliced through the air where she'd been standing.
Lixue's body disintegrated - methodically, meticulously shredded into mincemeat.
As the speaker of forbidden words, even if not fully human himself, he'd drawn Heldar's full attention. There would be no coming back from this destruction.
The blood-soaked aberration showed no interest in Maki or Chika afterward, her hollow gaze returning to the research area rubble where Forne's remains twitched.
Maki's heart nearly stopped.
Then the terrifying entity vanished, reappearing beside Forne's mutilated form in the research sector.
They hadn't been attacked. It seemed Heldar's focus remained locked on Forne above all else - unless someone foolishly declared [I am human], she wouldn't shift targets.
"HE RAN!"
Chika's panicked shout snapped Maki back to reality as the girl hauled her up.
Ran?!
Maki scrambled to her feet just in time to see Forne's human half scrambling across distant debris. The bastard had split himself again during Heldar's momentary distraction, leaving his aberration half behind as a decoy!
"Damn it! After him!"
Without hesitation, Maki sprinted and leapt across floating wreckage in pursuit.
"W-wait!?"
Chika, lacking Maki's A-rank Twilight enhancements, couldn't possibly follow across such terrain. After one aborted attempt nearly sent her tumbling into the void, she retreated, scanning desperately for any way to contribute.
Her gaze fell on the climbing axe beside Lixue's remains.
The weapon felt solid in her hands - about half a kilogram, swinging with satisfying heft.
But what could she possibly do?
The research sector's machinery still functioned despite the destruction, continuing to produce bullets now rendered useless without their black stone components.
Chika paced anxiously, then froze as realization struck.
Heldar's grudge is to eliminate all living humans from the research base. Forne is the last survivor - that's why she can't rest.
But now his human half has escaped while his aberration half remains... and Heldar's not smart enough to realize she's being tricked.
Unless...
Steeling herself, Chika took several deep breaths before charging forward and leaping into the research sector ruins.
The cold hit instantly - a soul-numbing chill radiating from Heldar's motionless form. Though the aberration paid her no attention, merely standing near it made every movement feel like wading through frozen tar.
Takakai-san... Maki-san... Kaguya-san...
They've all faced horrors like this before.
So I can't back down now.
Gritting her teeth, Chika stripped off her soldier's uniform down to her undershirt and shorts - modesty be damned. Clutching the fabric bundle, she crept closer to the blood-drenched entity.
Each step sent fresh waves of agony through her body.
Unlike Andres—a relatively mild core obsession that would barely qualify as Twilight-class on its own—Heldar's obsession was more like Li Zhaodi's: an overwhelming, outwardly radiating presence. And because Heldar's obsession had absorbed the collective hatred of countless victims who died horribly in the Great Fissure experiments, its intensity was terrifying. Just approaching within ten meters made Fujiwara Chika feel like her nerves were being crushed.
"Huff... ugh..."
Blood began seeping from scratches appearing spontaneously on her skin.
Her breathing grew labored—almost to the point of stopping completely.
Visions flooded her mind: people dying miserably, some thrown into the fissure while still alive, struggling desperately before slowly rotting away as they slid deeper into the abyss. She could feel their suffering as if it were her own.
Gritting her teeth, she forced herself another step forward.
Now within five meters of the blood-drenched aberration, and less than two from Forne's twitching flesh-mass, Chika could barely move. Her nerves felt completely scrambled, the world around her distorting chaotically. Tears and saliva flowed uncontrollably as her skin began splitting in large patches—as if she herself were being dragged into that terrible fissure.
Yet the aberration paid her no attention whatsoever. Faced with the primary target of its obsession, it ignored everything else. Chika's worsening condition came purely from her willpower faltering under the entity's corrupting influence.
No... can't... lose consciousness...
She stabbed the climbing axe's sharp end into her thigh.
Even that pain couldn't fully restore her awareness.
Collapsed on the ground now, unable to advance further, Chika could only tremble as she used the axe like a shovel to scrape a small portion of Forne's flesh toward her.
The implement was ill-suited for the task—only tiny bits came loose—but it would have to suffice.
She grabbed the squirming meat chunks directly.
The intensified cold actually helped briefly clear her mind.
With a deep breath, she stuffed the flesh into the soldier's uniform she'd brought.
The blood-drenched aberration twitched slightly—Forne's presence had diminished just enough to confuse it.
Too exhausted to analyze reactions, Chika kept working, packing more rotting flesh into the uniform to intertwine Forne's existence with the "[Research Facility Soldier]" identity, steadily eroding the aberration's presence.
BANG!
Gunfire echoed in the distance.
Maki kept firing while chasing, but couldn't hit the unnaturally fast Forne.
How is he this quick? Did he use aberration powers to enhance himself?
Frustration burned through her as the gap between them persisted.
Forne was making a beeline for a floating fragment of the cryogenics sector—clearly hoping to reach his stronghold, cut power again, and transform to survive.
"Like hell I'll let you!"
After emptying her magazine, Maki hurled the pistol like a projectile.
Her A-rank enhanced strength sent the gun flying with bullet-like speed, smashing into the back of Forne's skull.
"Gah!"
The man tumbled, his pristine white coat now filthy, his carefully maintained face smeared with dirt.
You little bitch! How dare you?!
He scrambled up, still running. Rage demanded he turn and tear her apart, but survival instinct won out—the cryogenics sector was his only hope.
"That all you've got? Coward! Weakling!" Maki taunted from behind, deliberately slowing.
Forne's brow twitched.
"Too scared to face a girl? No wonder you failed at everything. Nobody remembers you!"
She turned up the verbal assault, now jogging in place.
Forne's fists clenched hard enough to bleed.
"Seriously? Won't even talk back? Worthless trash! Should've stayed in your mother's womb!"
Maki stopped completely, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify the insults.
Veins bulged on Forne's forehead.
Kill her. Tear that fucking mouth apart.
But no—these players were dangerous in groups, their strange items—
Wait.
She was alone now.
The realization struck him like lightning. The enemies had scattered, their items divided. Only this petite girl pursued him—a child he could easily—
No.
Even in this more human form, his body—enhanced by lingering aberration energy—far exceeded normal limits. This tiny girl stood no chance. Eliminating her might even weaken the others.
Yes. Perfectly logical.
I'll murder her right here.
Forne slowed, then turned to face Maki with a venomous smile.
Seeing this, Maki smiled back and strode forward.
Around her neck, the mind-influencing obsession necklace swayed gently with each step.
"Die—!"
Forne's punch came like a sledgehammer.
Maki ducked, pivoted, and drove a fist into his gut.
"AGH!"
Doubled over, he took an uppercut to the chin, then a spinning kick that sent him rolling.
As he struggled up, a stomp to the knee forced him back down.
Maki clapped both hands over his ears—rupturing the eardrums instantly.
Blind with pain, Forne lunged wildly. Maki dropped onto her back, planting both feet in his stomach and launching him face-first into the ground.
His next attempt to rise met a jaw-shattering punch that sent teeth flying.
Dazed, Forne finally understood—this "little girl" was a goddamn tiger. Her petite frame housed strength and speed matching his own, and her technique made his flailing look amateurish. She was dismantling him like a professional fighter beating up a drunk.
Run. Must run.
He scrambled up and bolted, relying on his aberration-enhanced durability. Though battered beyond recognition, Maki couldn't physically stop him—only keep chasing.
Closer. Almost there.
The cryogenics sector fragment loomed ahead.
He hadn't lost.
Not yet.
Survive this, and when everything resets, he'd achieve his dream. Become a true god.
This wasn't the end. He'd win. He WOULD—
"HAHAHA—!"
Bloody drool flew as Forne laughed maniacally.
Then he felt it.
That bone-deep chill from behind.
What?!
Why is it targeting me?!
It should be fixated on my other half!
No no no—stay calm!
With the facility shattered, the aberration's power is diminished too! It can't teleport—needs time to cross this distance! If I just reach the cryogenics sector first—
Victory will still be MINE!
In this life-or-death moment, Forne found impossible speed, practically flying toward the cryogenic doors.
The blood-drenched figure pursued—but too slowly.
Yes! YES!
You idiots! Thought you could beat me? Watch who laughs last!
With a final leap across floating debris, Forne reached the entrance.
No hesitation—he charged forward—
[By General Shegira's authority: Lock down cryogenics! No entry permitted without my exclusive authorization!]
—and smashed face-first into an invisible barrier.
...Eh?
Forne stood frozen.
His only escape. His sole chance at survival. His certain victory—right there.
One step away.
All he had to do was take that step...
Yet now, he couldn't.
No matter what, he couldn't.
"Why... why... WHY—?!"
His mind began fracturing under the strain.
[Hehehe—]
Then he heard it.
That laugh.
So familiar. So hated. So TERRIFYING.
Ah, yes—this was the laugh Heldar started making after finally breaking in solitary confinement.
That constant "hehehe" that made everyone's skin crawl. Just hearing it gave people nightmares. After she went mad, hardly anyone would even go near her for experiments.
[Hehehe—hehehe—]
Others could avoid her—but not him. As head researcher, as the one most obsessed with aberration power, no matter how much that laughing face terrified him, he had to face her daily.
He remembered clearly—one day after experiments, as they wheeled her restrained form back to confinement, her hand suddenly broke free and grabbed his wrist.
[Hehehe caught you—]
That whisper had chilled him to the marrow.
True, primal terror—the kind he hadn't felt in so long.
Right... I should have remembered.
The closer science approaches the frontier of human knowledge, the more humility it requires.
But he'd lost that humility. Lost himself in pursuit of that mysterious power. Forgotten the fear of the unknown. Arrogantly believed he could conquer everything.
Until judgment came.
Ah...
Now he remembered.
He could never have succeeded.
Because he was already dead.
When Heldar breached the facility after the blackout, she moved faster than he'd ever imagined. He'd thought he understood her capabilities perfectly—until that moment.
He'd run desperately for the cryogenics sector.
Made it to the threshold.
One step away from survival.
Then heard that laugh behind him.
[Hehehe caught you—]
He'd thought she grabbed him at the door. Thought he'd survived.
But that was just his final delusion—a dying mind refusing to accept reality.
A dead man couldn't return to life.
A obsession couldn't become human again.
And no one clinging to such illusions could ever reach the divine
At this moment, Forne finally understood the truth.
Thud—
He collapsed to the ground, trembling as he crawled forward before turning to press his back against the invisible barrier. His face was deathly pale as he stared at the crimson figure standing before him.
[Hehehe—got you—]
The blood-covered aberration smiled at him like a delighted child, though its voice held no trace of genuine emotion.
Forne knew his judgment had come.
With shaking hands, he raised his head toward the sky—that lightless, endless void.
"Ah... ahh... if you truly exist... oh god..."
"Please... have mercy on me..."
Crunch.
The sound of splintering bones and rending flesh echoed through the air.
A piercing scream tore through the cavern.
And thus, the pitiful, ugly soul who had died long ago yet stubbornly refused to accept his fate—who had struggled so desperately until this very moment—was finally torn apart completely, dragged down into hell by the very aberrations born from his victims' hatred.