"Wake up!!"
Being struck in the face nonstop, Skyler tried to open his eyes, only to receive yet another violent blow.
The man in front of him, Paul's brother, smiled with a mixture of malice and fury, resting his hands on his knees and lifting the other man's bruised face, laughing mockingly.
"Impressive, you regenerate so fast that your wounds vanish in just a few seconds! I'm going to love this!"
Without waiting, he punched him in the jaw, making some teeth fall from his mouth, only for new ones to grow back instantly.
"Seriously, how do you do that?!"
He grabbed his hair and smashed his head against his knee, pure brutality.
"You're truly pathetic without those gloves, that beautiful coat, or those impressively technological glasses!"
His fingers pried open Skyler's closed eyes, forcing him to stare.
"You really are a tough guy, Skyler. That's undeniable… but you… you got yourself mixed up with the wrong people!"
Another blow to his stomach made him spit blood, and the chair holding him broke apart, leaving him on his knees as he struggled against the tight bindings on his wrists, one bionic, the other ordinary.
'How did I end up here? Why can't I muster strength? He must've drugged me with something really strong. I'm weak.'
Before he could think further, another kick struck his chest, making him groan louder and louder…
"I'll call my brothers so they can have some fun with you, too. Now it's my turn to deal with that Vector and Lucy."
He left the room, revealing a small base with a tormenting view of the Renkai Creatures wandering alone through that Inferius.
***
"Know one thing, darling: I loved doing that to you."
The elegant-looking man threw Alice against the wall of a room. The woman stood up, her vision blurry, her body exhausted.
'It's him… Julian Mori.'
Before she could react, the man before her grabbed her shoulders, insane.
"And I'll do it again, Alice! But you're stronger than you were years ago. I need to have some fun first!"
His hand, engulfed in flames, wrapped around her neck, lifting her off the ground as she struggled helplessly.
"Let me go!..."
As a defense system from her Mana Liberator, wood enveloped her neck. Surprised, Julian laughed.
"Impressive! Already gathered some strength? But it won't help."
The flames began burning through the wood. Alice's eyes filled with tears as she suffocated… her palm revealed a small wooden stake, which she immediately pressed against her ex-husband's face.
"Damn it! You bitch!"
He shoved her away, clutching one of his eyes. Alice grabbed her neck, dizzy from lack of air.
'I can't let him hurt me anymore.'
Staggering, she pulled a dagger from her jacket pocket and tried to stab his stomach. The man caught her wrist and twisted it.
"You'll learn to never attack me again!"
Reacting quickly, she kicked him in the… groin.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
He collapsed, holding his crotch. Taking the chance, Alice began stomping on him there repeatedly.
"This is for you using this against me!"
"Stop!"
"I asked you once to stop, but you never did! You'll feel this pain, you worm!"
"STOP!"
"I'LL NEVER STOP!!!"
As a last resort, Julian struck her knee with full force, breaking the bone. Alice fell, and he climbed on top of her, strangling her.
At the back of the room, Flowey watched everything in silence, too afraid to cry.
***
In the room where Skyler was, several men beat him mercilessly. They ripped off his legs, his remaining arm, and everything regenerated in seconds.
Spines pierced his flesh, fire burned his skin, ice froze his very soul, and shocks shattered his limits bit by bit.
Without a voice to speak, without strength to fight, all he could do was endure it all while the devilish voice whispered mockingly in his ear.
"When I was a child, because of my physical abilities, the other kids loved cornering me in lonely places and beating me until their arms… or legs… got tired. My parents, while I kept them alive, never believed me because there were no wounds on my body. And you know something? Watching you suffer worse torture than I ever endured as a child, I finally understand those kids. Watching someone weaker suffer is way too pleasurable!"
The demonic laughter echoed endlessly in his mind.
"But you know what's worse, Skyler?... I NEED YOU TO KILL SOMEONE AND YOU'VE DONE NOTHING!"
The limit, after so many blows, so much pain, finally broke. His mouth grotesquely snapped open, shadows bursting violently out of him. His eyes bulged from their sockets as darkness poured out of every orifice in his body.
The other men had no time to be shocked, they only managed desperate screams. Agonizing screams. The door burst open, and terror swept through the rest of the base like crashing waves.
***
"This is… terrifying."
The sight before the two Pillars was pure horror: massive shadowy hands swung in the wind with a threatening motion.
Ferinish gripped the hilt of the blade at her waist. Aurora kept her hands in the pockets of her lab coat, her gaze fixed ahead.
"I'll try to fight those hands, Aurora. Go investigate."
"Alright."
As Aurora moved away, cutting down every Renkai Creature in her path, Ferinish dashed toward the massive shadow that was steadily growing in size.
Suddenly, both Pillars found themselves somewhere else. Farther away.
"What happened, Aurora?"
Ferinish asked, surprised.
"I don't know…"
Each time they advanced, they were teleported, again, again, again… and again.
"Damn it!"
Aurora exclaimed. Ferinish observed the darkness spreading further across the Inferius. Every Renkai Creature flying toward them dropped lifelessly at their feet, turning into statues of ash.
"Something bigger is doing this, Ferinish. It doesn't want us near that place."
"What should we do?"
"Wait… it's the only thing left."
The sight before them was as awe-inspiring as it was horrifying. The shadows wiped out all demonic life as though they were nothing. The battlefield of corpses formed before their very eyes…
Until the darkness suddenly vanished.
***
A few minutes earlier, the fight between Alice and Julian raged on. Flowey's desperate sobs, begging for the violence to stop, went unnoticed as the two focused only on each other.
Both were exhausted, the man covered in cuts and shards of wood, the woman with half her body burned. Taking advantage of his closeness to the baby, Julian grabbed her, holding her hostage.
"One more step, and I'll kill her."
Flames flared in his hand. Alice's heart raced, screaming in fury.
"She's your daughter, you sick bastard!"
"I don't care! I can have as many women as I want. This little girl, born from a… whore like you, deserves to suffer just like her mother."
He brought the fire closer to the child, who screamed in despair. With no other choice, Alice drove her dagger with all her strength into his chest.
The ex-husband groaned in pain, grabbing the blade and dropping Flowey. Without hesitation, wood sprouted from Alice's hand, thrusting into the ground and launching her forward. She caught her daughter in her arms and clutched her tightly to her chest.
"Sweetheart…"
When she looked up, Julian had fled, leaving the dagger behind. Her heart sank in guilt and failure, and she began to sob, soon breaking down into tears.
"Why! Why won't you die!? Why can't I make you pay?"
She pounded her fists against the ground in frustration. Her daughter cried along with her, as though hurt by her mother's self-blame.
The door burst open. Vector and Lucy rushed in, their eyes widening at Alice's miserable state.
Both ran to her, battered as well. Lucy took the child into her arms while Vector held Alice, comforting her.
The sound of shadows grew louder and louder. All of them embraced, believing it was the end. Until the darkness reached the room and everything went black.
***
In a city building, a shadow landed, dropping Skyler, who coughed desperately, and the rest of the group, unconscious.
"You owe me for this, Skyler."
With a laugh, the demonic voice abandoned him along with the darkness.
Exposed, Skyler felt sick, vomiting black sludge, remembering all the pain he endured.
He felt his blind, mechanical eye in its socket after being ripped out; his jaw still ached, though not broken; and his body seemed "unharmed"… but his mind was shattered.
***
When Ferinish and Aurora entered the base, it appeared… empty before their stunned eyes.
No corpses, nothing to tell the story, just fallen objects. No bodies, no trace… completely empty.