After escaping the soon-to-be battlefield in extremis, Rhodes Island and I arrive in another destroyed street — vehicles trashed everywhere and houses in ruins.
As we continue running through, we see a person standing alone, wearing heavy armor and carrying a shield. Before I can clearly see who it is, Dobermann reacts first.
D:Ace!
Ace turns toward the voice calling his name. We can see a hint of relief on his face when he spots Amiya and the rest of the team — but his expression freezes for half a second upon seeing me, before returning to a friendly look.
Ace:Looks like you made it out alive.
Dobermann closes the distance, glancing around in confusion before turning toward Ace.
D:This isn't the rendezvous point… Why are you here alone?
Before Ace can answer, the sound of footsteps can be heard in the distance. When we turn around, a group of Reunion members are running toward us — one of them shouting to the others:
Reunion:They're the ones who escaped from the central area! Don't let them get away!
Dobermann's expression twists in frustration.
D:Tsk, they keep coming after us! Team E2, prepare to eng—
Ace cuts her off.
Ace:Dobermann, don't get overzealous. Retreating is our top priority.
He turns toward Amiya and Doctor.
Ace:Amiya, Doctor — quick!
We move to hide while Reunion continues searching, growing frustrated. Dobermann looks toward Ace again.
D:It's not safe here either.
Ace:That's right. We need to push toward the next rendezvous point.
While they discuss our next move and the enemy slowly approaches, I pull out my PDA, open my inventory, and select Abnormality Extraction.
[Are you sure?]
The confirmation message appears as I press Use. I glance up at the approaching Reunion group, then back at the PDA, and press Yes.
Instead of the usual chain-and-ball animation that pulls loot from the mirror world, I see a containment door opening. Der Freischütz steps out, smoking his pipe, resting his rifle on his shoulder. He looks at me like he was expecting me, then pulls a mirror shard from his cloak. I click it, and the shard shatters into dust before the screen fades to black and my reward appears:
[You have been Bestowed the E.G.O. Synchronization — Der Freischütz]
This ability lets the user synchronize with Der Freischütz for 30 minutes, granting limited access to the Abnormality's powers.
Zenith: "Ego Syncro? Isn't that from Ruina?" I mutter to myself, somewhat satisfied — though this isn't the time to drool over it. Just as I finish, I hear voices outside. Reunion has found our hideout.
Reunion:They're over here! Hurry, get them!
Z: "Shit!"I shove my PDA back into my pocket and brace for the incoming confrontation unsheathing my blade, then i follow Dobermann Outside
Then comes the Doctor's order:
Doctor:Move out immediately!
Ace raises his shield, nods, and shouts:
Ace:Team E3, back up Dobermann!
What follows is chaos — gunfire, mechanical whirs, and the clash of metal. Reunion soldiers fall one after another, struck down by crossbow bolts and gunshots.
Dobermann:An ambush?! E3 was undercover the whole time… I see — they were waiting to pincer the enemy.
Damn, seeing such coordinated teamwork in real life is way different than watching it behind a screen. I listen as they talk about the extraction point, but once the team moves to attack, my focus returns. Without hesitation, I dash toward a stunned Reunion fighter and, with a single horizontal slash, decapitate him.
Okay, before this I was killing pretty cleanly — but now that I've actually decapitated someone, my body starts to lose the steady rhythm I'd been following. I cover my mouth, trying not to vomit in the middle of the battlefield.
[-5 Sanity]
After a few seconds, I regain focus. Taking a few steps forward toward another enemy, my [Aware] trait triggers — a Reunion soldier behind me is aiming a crossbow. Without thinking, I deflect the nearest melee strike, grab that fighter, and use him as a human shield. The bolt pierces his ally's neck — blood splattering across my face — and stops just inches from my eyes.
[-10 Sanity][Current Sanity: -15]
The gruesome sight and the fear of the bolt nearly hitting me only worsen my already deteriorating mental state. The crossbowman reloads quickly, aiming again — but before he can fire, a black projectile pierces his head, killing him instantly.
I glance toward where it came from — Amiya. She nods. I nod back, drop the corpse, and move toward another enemy.
My stamina begins to drop, sweat mixing with the blood on my face. Thankfully, since our group is larger now, the fight ends quickly — though I narrowly avoid a headshot.
I look around at the aftermath. Some kills are clean; others, brutal. Even with a conditioned mind thanks to my template, the reality hits hard. Killing… isn't normal for me. My body can't keep up — I drop to my knees and vomit. Unfortunately, since I haven't eaten since transmigrating, it's just gastric fluid, burning my throat on the way up.
A feline medic rushes to me, pulling out a syringe filled with an unknown liquid. Once I'm done, she injects it. My condition stabilizes, though the cold sweat doesn't stop.
I try to stand, but my legs give out halfway. A guard catches me and helps me stay upright. I thank them both, and we move toward the others.
Amiya approaches, worried.
Amiya:Are you okay? You were fine a minute ago — what happened?
Her concern is unexpectedly heartwarming, but I try to keep a straight face.
Zenith:Dunno… but I was half expecting something like that to happen.
I reach into my pocket and mentally summon one of my Sanity Ampoules. When I pull my hand out, I'm holding a small, bright blue vial. Before anyone can question it, I casually inject myself with it.
Medic:Are you sure that thing's safe?Her concern is genuine — medics know medical equipment well, and seeing me inject something that glows blue understandably worries her.
I reply casually:Zenith:It's fine — just some meds to keep me mentally stable. I won't have another breakdown like earlier, at least for now.
As I finish, my strength quickly returns, and I can stand without support. Amiya still looks unconvinced, about to say something, but I cut her off.
Zenith:I know what you're thinking, but we don't have time for that. We can talk once we're out of this hell.
Amiya hesitates, but Ace places a hand on her shoulder.Ace:He's right. We'll talk about it back at base.
Amiya finally agrees to let it go — for now — and we continue toward the rendezvous point.
TBC
Current Sanity : 0 | Stable and keep increasing but anything could overwhelme the Ampule please act with caution[1]
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Hey ! i know im not that active on my story but it could really help me if you could share this story and comment it motivate me to continue
if you have any suggestion about future loots it would be really helpfull you can suggest everything | buff - Curses - troll item - Power - weapon - R18 shit etc im doing this for fun but if you could participate it would be really cool !
my discord is : zenith_abyss03 if you wish to contact me
[1] Sanity will affect his current ability to fight during confrontation aswell as the ability to not corrode some ability will have effect depending if Zenith is Stable or Instable