Adam was thrown forward, instinctively covering Yuruki just as her eyes widened in shock. Something ignited in her palm—a barrier, sudden and unfamiliar—erupting outward. It propelled itself violently, expanding around them, and the force sent both of them crashing to the ground like falling meteors.
She coughed, breath ragged."Adam… are you alright?"
She looked up, her gaze catching on shapes she could barely comprehend—abominations twisted into forms he could never have imagined. Her voice lowered, drained."I suggest we leave this place. I don't think there's any hope left in this world."
Adam groaned and forced himself upright, coughing as he stood. His eyes flicked to her first, fear sharp in his chest—not for himself, but for what might happen to her because of him."I… I don't know."
Yuruki studied his face. She could see it plainly—every thought, every hesitation. Contempt flickered briefly, then faded into something resigned."You think I'll get hurt, don't you?"She sighed. "It's fine."
Before anything else could be said, the ground seemed to recoil. A creature—nearly twelve feet long—lurched into view. Its dark mouth pulsed as it absorbed the surrounding miasma, thick black sludge stretching and recoiling within it. A single piercing red eye locked onto them.
It charged.
Adam raised his sword just in time. The impact shattered the blade into fragments, shards flying in every direction—splintering trees, striking Yuruki's barrier. She dodged on instinct, her body moving before her mind caught up.
Hundreds of binding chains erupted from Adam, streaking through the air toward the monster's flashing form. It snarled, accelerating unnaturally, then slammed into him—pummeling him into the ground again and again.
Yuruki froze, terror rooting her in place. Then she screamed and fired. A concentrated laser tore through the monster's head, blasting it apart. She ran to Adam, breath shaking."Damn it…"
She stared at him, doubt gnawing at her. Did he really have that kind of body?He was healing—far too quickly. Faster than she expected. Faster than felt possible.
She grabbed his hand.
In the same instant, the monster struck again, swiping her aside. Trees shattered as her body was hurled through them. Something inside Adam snapped.
Rage flooded him.
He bought a sword—no, formed it. A carbon composite blade, impossibly dense. Layers stacked upon layers, molecules compressed again and again until the weapon felt more like a slab of gravity than steel.
[Buying a carbon composite sword]
He dashed forward.
Tentacles fired toward him in an instant. He closed his eyes—
—and when he opened them, the world burned orange.
[Complete integration: dual consciousness]
Everything slowed.
Not time itself, but perception. Yuruki's drones hovered and fired, lasers carving into the monster as it regenerated relentlessly. Kagune-like tentacles—hard, sharp, stretching ten meters long—lashed toward him in numbers beyond counting.
Yet each attack unfolded like a pattern laid bare.
He knew where they would strike before they moved.
With perfect precision, his muscles obeyed without hesitation. He stepped left, leaned, jumped. Rolled sideways as the creature vomited torrents of black plasma—darkness mixed with red aura, tearing through the air.
Adam slashed midair, severing a tentacle as he landed on another, springing upward again. The monster was atomized repeatedly by ten drones firing in unison—only to knit itself back together faster, denser, more violent. It cracked the ground as it ran, moving faster than sound, rushing straight for him.
Its hands became a storm of blades. It screamed—maniacal, desperate, refusing to lose. Adam met it head-on, deflecting strike after strike, blocking, retreating step by step as the creature smashed and hacked at him, trying to break through.
The miasma thickened, choking the air. The monster no longer cared that its body was being sliced apart. A tentacle grazed his cheek. Fireballs of red-black darkness tore past him, close enough to burn.
Then—
Blue chains snapped around him.
His thoughts sharpened instantly. Not the monster.
Before the tentacles could reach him while he was restrained, Yuruki unleashed everything. Her robots fired nonstop, converging beams drilling through the creature—its stomach blown open, arms severed, legs erased, head and neck torn apart again and again.
"Wait!" Adam shouted. "Yuruki—stop!"
She turned to him, confusion flickering across her face. Then she smiled—uncertain, but relieved. Happy he was still there. She stopped.
The monster remained—barely. Its body twisted, deforming, struggling desperately to regenerate."I… I don't know what I'm doing," Adam muttered.
"Karrin," he said suddenly.
Adam huffed, startled by the name, by the moment.
The monster screamed. The hollowness of it shook the ground itself. From every direction, hundreds of abominable creatures poured forth—flesh malformed, bodies barely holding together.
Adam dashed back to Yuruki, scooping her up. She gasped in surprise, clinging to him as they leapt away. The horde surged beneath them—rabid, rapid, hands reaching.
Something nearly grabbed his leg.
He flicked his finger.
A cross-shaped burst of blue fire ignited and detonated, erasing the creature in an instant.
His eyes widened.
From the sky, hundreds of stripping vines descended, writhing as they fell. Doubt crept in, heavy and cold—being here was a mistake.
Around them, deer walked on four legs, each bearing a single massive eye. They were as tall as trees, horns stretching impossibly wide. The forest had turned red—rotted, corrupted.
Above it all floated a horse with a grotesquely elongated neck, suspended in the air. Cross-like patterns marked its body, flesh bound tightly against its frame. Blue, red, and black light pulsed through it rhythmically.
This wasn't a battlefield.
It was hell.
Then the sky split.
A colossal sword of blazing fire descended, its arc swallowing the horizon. It struck an abominable being as large as a mountain—one that had been expanding endlessly—and forced it to shrink, compressing it again and again under overwhelming force.
"Watch out!" Yuruki shouted.
Adam's eyes widened as the creature's massive body collapsed toward them.
Yuruki wrapped her arms around him tightly. Adam ran—faster than he ever had before—dashing with everything he had left.
Even with Rehan forcing every muscle to activate—pushing my body beyond its limits, tearing it apart again and again—it wasn't enough.
The force was overwhelming. My bones screamed. My flesh ripped, regenerated, and ripped again under the strain, my body flickering on the edge of collapse.
But it didn't matter.
It was too big.
Far too big.
Beyond the broken trees, an abandoned facility emerged—white and gray, stripped of life and memory. The moment I crossed its threshold, the ground ruptured. Thunder cracked beneath us, not from the sky but from the earth itself. The monster's body collapsed inward, sealing the entrance, trapping us inside with its mass.
We were enclosed.
A confined space—tight, suffocating—held together only by Yuruki's barrier. The creature's skin pressed against it from all sides, oozing red matter that dripped, melted, and pooled around us. I slashed again and again, my swords biting into the flesh, but it only liquefied further, reforming endlessly... And decaying.
Minutes passed.
My arms grew heavy. My breath turned ragged. No matter how much I struck, nothing changed.
Yuruki held my hand. Her grip was steady."Well… I guess I expected something like this."
I moved without thinking and shoved her aside. She nearly fell. She caught herself, silent, forcing herself upright, her eyes fixed on me. Shame crushed down on my chest. I dropped to my knees, covering my face.
"Ugh… forgive me. I—"
My voice broke.
"I failed. And now you're stuck here…"
I rose again and resumed slashing at the monster's skin, my own flesh burning as it melted and regenerated. Behind us, slime sealed the last opening. There was no way out.
We were completely trapped.
Minutes blurred into moments. Moments into hours. Exhaustion hollowed me out. A single thought kept circling: Someone is going to die because of me.
Fear settled deep.
I collapsed to my knees again. This time, I didn't get back up. My body shook as everything spilled out. It hurt—physically, mentally—but worse than that was the certainty that no matter what I did, I always failed. Every path ended the same.
Yuruki smiled softly. She placed a hand on my shoulder."It was your choice, wasn't it?"
A voice echoed faintly, almost teasing.
[C'mon, Adam. This isn't the end…]Rehan smiled somewhere beyond my sight.
I stood slowly.
Something clicked.
Yuruki hadn't eaten. She hadn't complained. She hadn't questioned me once. She had just followed—quietly, endlessly.
"Well," she said, resting a hand on her hip. Her stomach growled, and she ignored it. Her lips were dry. She was thirsty. "Don't just throw yourself at something you know will hurt you. Punching and striking blindly only makes it worse."
She exhaled."It'll only escalate."
Rehan looked away, silent, contemplating.
"If there really is no way out…" Yuruki continued gently, opening her bag, glancing at its contents. "Don't shame yourself for what you did. There's nothing to be upset about."
She paused.
"Adam."
I looked away.
She patted my head, shaking her own with a genuine, tired smile."There's something here. It can send you to another universe. You'll find a way out." Holding a cube that was pulsating with endless energy.
My throat tightened."Fine... Let's go"
Yuruki just smiled and waiting for me
As adam realise something, she can't go...With me
Damn it. I'm a loser.
I was chasing something far beyond me. I just wanted to be… good. That was all.
[Why not… just go back to the Tower?]
My eyes snapped open.
"Everything lied to me!" I shouted, pacing inside the barrier, stomping the ground. I clawed at my hair, covered my face, shaking as Yuruki tried to steady me.
"The system lied! Time doesn't stop! When I left—everything was hopeless! What lies did you feed me?! Rehan! System!"
Yuruki stared, confused. Rehan stood in silence, weighed down by something unspoken.
She took my hand.
"I don't know what that is," Yuruki said quietly. "But I promised you. No matter where you are. No matter your decisions. No matter your choices… I'll always be by your side."
I laughed weakly, hollow."If I leave… you'll starve here. You'll die suffering."
Tears threatened, burning at the edges of my eyes. I forced them back.
She stood still. Blank.
"I don't need you to wait for me," she said. "I don't want to have any connection to you… because I know that would hurt you."
I stared at her, confused.
She stepped closer and looked me directly in the face."It is what it is. If I die… I only need to help you. That's all."
"That's inhumane!" I shouted.
She smiled—emotionless."Take it."
Power surged uncontrollably. My eyes flared white. My body began to fade, flickering as if existence itself was tearing me apart. I coughed, nearly collapsing as my form destabilized.
My existence erasing... If i do more.
Yuruki's voice hardened."If you ever do that again… I'll do something."
I clutched my chest, nails digging in, teeth clenched."I have a way out. I'll be back!"
Even as I said it, my mind raced—how to save her from something indestructible.
Something.. i dont even know.
"Then go," she said softly. "And don't come back."
—
[Go back to the Tower][Yes] [No]
I pressed Yes.
White light swallowed me. My body glitched, pulsing violently as it disintegrated into fragments. Piece by piece, I vanished.
Adam disappeared.
Yuruki stood alone, smiling faintly—empty."Adam… you know… it's really terrifying in here."
Countless eyes watched her from the darkness. Voices whispered, waiting.
"You never really know what someone is thinking inside their mind," she murmured. "I'm afraid too… even when I try to comfort you."
Darkness closed in.
Only the barrier remained.