"ROAR!"
Two wolf-men charged up the slanted cathedral walls on all fours, launching a rapid assault on Putato. They offered no words, only wide, fanged maws dripping with thick saliva as they tore at the air.
"Thanks, Elena."
"Don't thank me. Do what you have to do. I'll hold them off."
"Be careful then."
Putato knew something had gone horribly wrong inside the cathedral. Without a second's delay, he plunged into the inky black hole.
The constant sprinting and fighting had left Putato breathless. He was forced to slow his pace, which was for the best, as the darkness here made rapid movement impossible.
A fierce white light appeared ahead. The extreme contrast from the darkness blinded him, leaving him staring into a vast whiteness. He squatted low, inching forward.
"This is?!"
Putato had expected the cult's headquarters to be as crude as the exterior, perhaps splattered with gore. Instead, he faced a labyrinth of countless two-way mirrors.
Dense mirrors lined the light green floors and ceilings. Putato felt as if he had stepped into a green ocean, seeing nothing but endless reflections wherever he turned.
BANG!
As Putato climbed out of the hole, the sound of continuous gunfire erupted from his right. He fumbled through the room to find the source.
These flawless mirrors were designed into a complex maze. The reflections were so deceptive that Putato bumped into them, making his nose sting. Any lapse in focus would send him stumbling headfirst into glass.
"How extravagant! Do cults spend all their money on places like this?"
Raising his knuckles, Putato punched a path through the glass, shattering reflections until he spotted a figure flashing by.
He suddenly came face-to-face with a female dwarf carrying a massive firearm. Seeing the confusion in Putato's eyes, she lowered her gun and gripped the long blade at her waist instead.
"Don't shoot! I'm not one of these cultists! Don't waste your time on me."
Tamaki tossed her white ponytail, scrutinizing Putato.
"Hmph, Association intelligence didn't mention any Syndicates fighting among themselves. You'd best retreat."
Putato noticed her speaking softly into a communicator in her ear.
Full-Stop Office. This was a professional assassination Office specializing in firearms. Its lead was a Grade 4 Fixer named Liwei, a man of considerable strength.
"I won't get in your way. Just tell me where the Me Me Me Pontiff is. I can even cover your retreat."
Several wolf-men suddenly rounded a corner. They moved with incredible familiarity through the terrain, their wide swings never once grazing a mirror.
Tamaki, wary, gave a quick answer as she neared the exit.
"Climb to a higher hole and you'll see where that guy is. If you want him, be fast. He might have already fled."
Tamaki ran off with her gun. She glanced back, sighing in relief when Putato didn't follow. Just then, Liwei's voice crackled through her earpiece.
"Nothing. Just ran into a lunatic. He's busy stopping those stinking beasts for me. He'll be minced meat soon."
"Following the retreat path now. Are you sure the Commission is done?"
"He's got a hole in his head, brains everywhere. No problem."
"Good job."
SWISH!
A wolf-man's furry arm was severed cleanly at the root by Honesuki. Putato, wielding his Violent Knuckles, swung his fist like a flail. Another charging wolf-man's head exploded like a shattered watermelon.
Putato's momentum surged. The one-armed beast and two others suddenly hunched over, abandoning their attack to flee in a panic.
"They really are like dogs, bullying the weak and fearing the strong."
The Violent Knuckles were more useful than expected, enough to terrify these They They They fanatics.
Patting his aching thigh, Putato took a breath to recover. Following a new opening, he found Fixers and wolf-men locked in a brutal struggle.
Putato ducked behind a mirror. Observing them, he realized they were part of the same Commission but were now trapped.
"The Association and Corporation are so shady. They just send the weaker Offices to be the rearguard and die."
"All that work just to be a stepping stone."
Putato cursed under his breath, then noticed something strange. A series of gray lines had appeared on his sleeve.
[Congratulations on your promotion in Molar Office]
[Acquired Work Item: Workshop Mindcord]
[Description: What binds a weapon is not the hand, but the human heart.]
[Effect: This Mindcord can, according to your will, bind Workshop weapons.]
Putato's heart raced. Thin threads began to coil from the hem of his clothes, wrapping around mirror fragments and suspending them in mid-air. The force was roughly equal to a normal human's strength.
This was the result of his Grade 7 Fixer certification coming through from Molar Office. He guessed Olga had handled the paperwork. He had been promoted without even being on-site.
WHOOSH!
Startled by the noise, Putato dodged a crashing mirror. He looked up to see an imposing tiger-man.
"Not good! It's a You You You priest! Didn't the Association say the other priests were drawn away? Why is there another one here?!"
"Don't panic. These They They They are running out of time for their transformation. They're retreating in an order."
Putato watched closely and saw the tiger priest tear through the Fixer's defensive line. Screams filled the air.
From their shouting, it seemed the Pontiff was currently without any powerful protectors.
"Bastard! You think you can run alone?!"
I didn't see this kid during the first clash.
A Fixer noticed Putato creeping toward the edge. They all glared at him. In such peril, did he really think he could escape alone? No one was going to let that happen.
Looking at the priest, who tilted his head and stared, Putato knew he couldn't simply get away. The other party even pulled out that familiar silver hammer.
"Just for those artificial hindrances, you actually came to destroy Me Me Me's great work."
"The City is indeed afraid of this utterly disgusting relationship being destroyed. I absolutely will not allow you to destroy this light of freedom."
"Even if I am only a They They They who has not fully enlightened, to dedicate myself to this, I am willing."
What Putato hadn't imagined was that this Tiger-man still had the rationality to communicate with him, and was not a priest. Then, with suspicion and uncertainty, he watched the other party strike his own chest with the small silver hammer.
This certainly wasn't a good sign.
"Hey, hey, calm down. Don't you think your connection to the Me Me Me cult's beliefs should be severed first?"
"You selfish ones can only see what's here. Me Me Me declares to all They They They and You You You."
"Once the light of freedom is opened, Myn Church will no longer need to exist. We, too, must sever ties with each other. Only then can we welcome a pure world."
"The new world needs nothing; it only needs to consider eating, with no other hindrances."
"I, too, will no longer need to remember my slaughtered wife and daughter, nor regret and feel guilty for all the damned cyclical relationships created by The City."
As the words left his mouth, the Tiger-man's entire body suddenly swelled, instantly transforming into a terrifying, monstrous, giant beast. Only from its shape could one still discern that it was modeled after a tiger.
WHOOSH!
All the wolf-men frantically fled the area. Only the Fixers remained, dumbfounded in fear for a moment.
"No! No! No!"
No matter how the Fixers pleaded, even desperately swinging their sharp swords and hacking the tiger's arm into a bloody mess, they couldn't stop the terrifying pressure that was about to crush their chest cavity, lungs and all.
Finally, the remaining people reacted and immediately took advantage of the lack of cultists to escape. Only two remained, wanting to rescue their comrades, and Putato, who was next to them answering a call.
"Putato, what are you doing?! Risking yourself for a single Syndicate member!"
"I've already asked Parui. Get your ass back here, for f***'s sake!"
Mo's mechanical voice sounded very agitated. Putato could vaguely hear the car engine from the other end of the call.
"I have my reasons. You stay there."
Putato didn't wait for Mo to retort and immediately hung up the communicator. Looking at the screaming Fixer, he gritted his teeth, intending to bypass the monster.
RIP!
A scream from his left immediately stopped Putato. He saw a fleeing Fixer, just before stepping into a hole, being cut in half by a wolf-man that had sprung out from a stack of mirrors beside him.
Compared to their claws, these cultist wolf-men's biting force was incredibly astonishing. Putato watched as large chunks of flesh were torn from the Fixer's mid-section, and he immediately felt a phantom pain in his waist.
WHOOSH!
Putato punched back the harassing wolf-man, and immediately noticed that those guys hadn't fled far but were ambushing in the mirror-formed forest. Reckless action would only lead to certain death.
After all, the numerous mirrors were truly disorienting, making it impossible to immediately discern from which direction the enemy was attacking.
"Don't run around!"
A Fixer, who had haphazardly run into a hole, hadn't had time to rejoice before he saw a wolf-man, who had been lying in ambush on the inky black ground, open its gleaming brass jaws.
He blocked the opponent's sharp claws with his weapon, but couldn't free his hands to block the wide-open, 180° blood-soaked maw. He immediately felt the executioner's block of death laid before him.
RIP!
Putato, holding the Fixer's head, leaped up, driving his blade through the wolf-man's throat. The tense oral cavity immediately loosened, and the corpse rapidly transformed back into human form.
"Get back here!"
The startled Fixer, brought back to reality, was dragged by Putato back into the cathedral's interior. He immediately glared at Putato with a mix of joy and anger. Putato's contradictory actions, saving him yet harming him, were truly incomprehensible.
In a short while, the Fixers who had been forced back were once again gathered together.
"Outside are all the cult's hounds! Even if you escape the Cathedral, you'll be too conspicuous. You won't be able to get away!"
"Is that why you dragged me back? I was almost out!"
"Listen to me. These cultists believe so fiercely in that Pontiff. Why don't we go capture him? Even if he dies, he'll die pretending not to."
"If we stick together, we won't be easily ambushed. Besides, wouldn't that be much safer than escaping alone? I don't need to tell you how big the cult district is."
Putato's words were still cautious about the cultists ahead.
Under the diversionary rescue efforts of two companions, the tiger monster finally flung the Fixer in its hand to the ground, then roared and charged at the crowd.
BOOM!
"Sasa, don't worry about me!"
The blood-soaked man was supported by his companion, emotion showing on his face and in his heart. But a wolf-man descended from the ceiling, making his pupils contract as he tried to push Sasa away.
RIP!
A Workshop greatsword from the side cut horizontally, severing the wolf-man in mid-air. Blood and guts splattered over the man and Sasa, the crimson covering their entire bodies like a joyous wedding gown.
Putato's forehead veined. Behind him, three Workshop longswords, wrapped by Mindcord, now floated. He had collected them from the ground earlier when he called the others back.
Now, he felt that the Workshop Mindcord brought him a completely different experience of body manipulation, like controlling a game character. As long as he wanted to perform an action, his body would act without compromise.
Even if this mission required using heavy weapons like carving knives!
"What's your name?"
"Putato."
"We'll go with you to abduct the Pontiff!"
Putato's eyes immediately lit up. He watched Sasa support the man, and the remaining Fixers, seeing Putato's strength, simply weighed the pros and cons for a moment, then agreed one after another.
After all, it was confirmed that there were no other You You You priests in the Cathedral, which was far safer than that horrifying ocean of cultists outside.
"You all, tying your relationships together again, The City's prison chains are growing incessantly."
The Tiger-man covered his face, wailing in agony, as if his heart had been cut out and his lungs dug up. His human form finally collapsed at this moment. A monstrous creature, barely recognizable by its limbs, charged recklessly.
Taking advantage of the crowd's restraint, Putato strenuously pursued, continuing to collect Workshop weapons from the ground.
In less than half a minute, Putato's back was lined with a large number of Workshop sharp tools, densely packed gray lines binding them tightly.
"Everyone, get out of the way!"
Unparalleled agility allowed Putato to instantly pierce through the battle line. Honesuki precisely and flawlessly cut through the monster's skin and flesh and bone. He performed a sophisticated and peerless dissection surgery, like a butcher carving a bull.
CRUNCH!
Only after Putato stood up from the bloody carpet did the Fixers swallow and exchange glances, unable to believe that monster died so easily.
"Go!"
No one dared to object to Putato, who was covered in blood.
Charging straight through the annoying mirrors, Putato saw a vast, light green clearing. In its center hung a familiar black conical object, clearly a miniature version of the Cathedral.
Everyone was surprised because, apart from a corpse directly beneath the conical object, there was no one else.
"How could the Forest of Absolution be unguarded? Did someone escape?"
"No, that corpse is the target of the commission!"
"If we wipe off the bloodstains, it should still be usable. Anyway, those fanatics don't seem to have high intelligence."
Suddenly, a pale hand reached out from a hole in the hanging Black Cone. That Black Cone, the size of a football field, actually had an interior space just like a real Cathedral.
Putato nervously watched the face that emerged. To his surprise, its features were perfectly regular, not filled with the wildness of the others.
"Why does he look exactly like the Me Me Me Pontiff? Is he a clone?"
THUMP!
The Black Cone suddenly fell, vibrating with an incredibly piercing sound wave. Putato hastily covered his ears, feeling his stomach churn, but his strong resilience still allowed him to continue forward.
The Pontiff was dead. He could only ask this emerging fellow about Green Journey. Having come this far, he absolutely could not retreat empty-handed.
The temporarily balding man who had just crawled out was snatched up by Putato, who immediately pressed him against the Black Cone with force.
"I ask you, what exactly are Green Journey researching?! Don't tell me you want to capture me!"
The man merely looked at himself in a daze.
"Have you forgotten? We walk in the forest, pursuing that light of freedom."
An unimaginable delight emerged. Whatever the other party said, Putato could accept it. He only feared asking something and getting no answer. Otherwise, when would he ever figure out the matter of the suicide squad?
Even though he had only encountered one attack so far, this feeling of being constantly watched was truly tormenting him day and night.
"Don't be cryptic, tell me!"
Putato pulled out a Workshop greatsword, pinning it next to the man's ear. He urgently grabbed his shoulder and again pressed him against the Black Cone, making him cry out.
The man's expression became extremely strange. Putato couldn't even discern whether these were tears, laughter, anger, or sadness. He only felt that the answer was close at hand, and his heart grew more and more anxious.
"The cone can solidify the experimental subject's inner being. It will even completely extract the experimental subject's consciousness when extracting the personality. Personality Chips have already verified this."
"And that mirror allows us to observe parallel worlds. Unfortunately, only personalities can be transmitted through it."
"Releasing consciousness into another world is too dangerous. If it were a transmitted personality, we could still prepare a precise location. But if it's released, it's very likely to land in an abyss or the deep sea, or even consciousness falling onto a rock."
"However, there is a kind of Singularity technology that can restore a body's state according to its consciousness: that is K Corporation's Helapoiesis. Could there be any greater coincidence than this?"
Half-believing, half-doubting, Putato put down the Workshop weapon. He couldn't find any related plot in the game.
"Purple Tear brought us a means to turn Singularity technology into a serum to be injected into tools. What other reason do we have not to grasp that ultimate light of freedom?"
"There's nothing more free than traveling to another world. No relationships can bind you, not even The Eye or The Claw can restrict you."
Putato was greatly alarmed. He hastily turned to look at the other Fixers, only to find that behind him was just a pack of wild beasts tearing and fighting each other.
When did they turn like this? Was there another cultist ambush?
"No, no, no! Green Journey is related to you! Do you know who I am?"
"You're just spewing nonsense here!"