Faust slowly lowered his arms.
The black blade dissolved into threads, returning to his sleeve.
He stared at the ruined laboratory.
"Hahaha..."
His laughter gradually weakened.
Eventually, only his uneven breathing remained.
For a long time, he stood without moving.
He did not know what to do.
His revenge was complete.
The people he hated were dead.
There was nothing left for him to accomplish.
Yet somehow, he had been given a new body.
A body that refused to die.
Faust closed his eyes.
He remained like that for several minutes before finally taking a long breath.
"Haah..."
He opened his eyes again.
His expression had become unusually calm.
He looked toward the damaged laboratory entrance.
'There's no point staying here.'
He began walking.
The underground facility had suffered extensive damage.
The corridors were filled with rubble, and most of the emergency lights had stopped working.
Entire sections of the ceiling had collapsed, blocking the passages.
Faust moved through the darkness, stepping over broken machinery and shattered concrete.
His footsteps echoed along the empty corridor.
Faust stopped before a collapsed passage.
Several enormous concrete slabs blocked the way forward.
Twisted reinforcement bars protruded from the wreckage.
He looked toward the other end of the corridor.
There was no other visible route.
'What a mess...'
He approached the rubble.
As he considered how to get through, his jacket suddenly rippled.
Faust looked down.
The fabric around his sleeve began moving.
Thin black threads separated from it, quickly gathering into a blade.
He frowned.
'I didn't tell it to do that.'
The weapon extended several feet in front of him.
Faust watched as it slowly turned toward the concrete blocking his path.
'Does it know what I'm trying to do?'
He raised his arm.
The blade moved with him.
He made a cutting motion.
SWISH!
The black edge passed straight through the concrete.
CRACK!
An enormous slab split apart.
Faust blinked. 'That easily?'
He looked at the blade.
There wasn't even a scratch on its surface.
He moved his arm again.
SWOOSH!
Another section of concrete was cut apart.
This time, the blade passed through the reinforcement bars as well.
CLANG!
The severed metal struck the floor.
Faust stared at the result.
The cuts were remarkably clean.
Even the steel appeared to offer almost no resistance.
'What exactly is this material made of?'
He had developed many experimental substances throughout his career, but nothing came close to what he was seeing.
The material was flexible enough to become clothing.
Hard enough to form a blade.
And somehow capable of responding to his thoughts.
He looked toward the opening he had created.
After a moment, he continued walking.
As he approached another pile of rubble, several more blades emerged from his jacket.
They moved ahead of him, cutting through the debris.
Faust no longer needed to swing his arms.
The blades simply cleared the path on their own.
He watched them work with a complicated expression.
'So it can act independently too...'
He continued deeper into the ruined facility.
RUMBLE!
A sudden vibration interrupted his journey.
Faust looked up.
A deep cracking sound came from the ceiling.
Before he could react, a large section of concrete broke loose.
CRAAAAACK!
The enormous slab dropped directly toward him, dragging several steel reinforcement bars along with it.
Faust raised his head.
'Oh...'
CRASH!
Something black flashed before his eyes.
Several blades erupted from his clothing.
SWOOSH!
The first blade struck the falling concrete.
The enormous slab split into two pieces.
Another blade immediately followed, cutting through the exposed steel bars.
CLANG! CLANG!
Fragments of concrete and metal scattered across the corridor.
The remaining blades continued moving, slicing the larger pieces into smaller chunks before they could strike Faust.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Debris fell around him.
Dust filled the passage.
Faust remained standing in the same place.
Not a single piece had touched him.
He looked down at his clothing.
The blades slowly withdrew, returning to ordinary fabric.
'It protected me?'
He had not even tried to defend himself.
The moment the ceiling collapsed, the clothing reacted on its own.
Faust touched his jacket.
The strange material remained completely still.
'Interesting...'
He glanced at the shattered concrete around him.
Then he resumed walking.
He had no idea how powerful this thing was.
And at the moment, he lacked the energy to care.
After walking through several damaged corridors, Faust entered another section of the facility.
The air here smelled different.
There was a strong, unpleasant odor mixed with the dampness of the underground environment.
Faust frowned.
'What's that smell?'
He looked around.
The floor was covered in broken tiles and debris.
Several large pipes had burst, leaving pools of stagnant water across the passage.
Something moved in the darkness ahead.
SCRATCH! SCRATCH!
Faust stopped.
He looked toward the sound.
'An animal?'
A pair of red eyes appeared between the shadows.
Then something enormous slowly stepped into view.
It was a rat.
However, its body was almost as large as a tiger.
Dark, matted fur covered most of its enormous frame, while several patches of skin had been torn away, exposing raw flesh underneath.
Its long tail dragged across the floor.
Two enormous front teeth protruded from its rotting lips, and its claws scraped against the broken tiles as it moved.
Faust looked at the creature.
'What the hell...?'
He had seen laboratory rats before.
He had even worked with genetically modified animals during some of his experiments.
But this thing was far beyond anything he had encountered.
Its proportions were completely wrong.
Its muscles were unusually developed, and parts of its body appeared to have grown at different rates.
The creature lowered its head.
"GRRRRR..."
Faust glanced at its exposed flesh.
'Mutation?'
His eyes narrowed.
'Did the substance react with the radiation?'
The thought had barely appeared when the creature suddenly charged.
SCREEECH!
Its enormous body shot forward.
The rat opened its mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth behind its oversized incisors.
Faust watched it approach.
He did not move.
SWOOSH!
A black blade suddenly emerged from his sleeve.
It struck the creature across the side of its face.
SPLASH!
Dark blood sprayed across the floor.
The rat's head snapped sideways.
"SKREEEEE!"
It stumbled, scraping its claws against the tiles before regaining its balance.
A deep wound ran from its cheek toward its neck.
Faust looked at the injury.
'That didn't kill it?'
Despite the blood pouring from its wound, the creature remained standing.
Its red eyes locked onto him.
The rat let out another furious screech.
Then it charged again.
Faust remained where he was.
This time, the rat swung one of its enormous front paws toward his chest.
CLANG!
The black blade intercepted the attack.
Its edge struck the creature's claws, producing a sharp cracking sound.
Several claws broke apart.
The rat recoiled.
However, before it could retreat, another blade extended from Faust's jacket.
SWISH!
The weapon cut across the creature's shoulder.
More blood splattered across the corridor.
"SKREEEE!"
The rat twisted its body, trying to escape the blade.
Despite its enormous size, its movements were surprisingly fast.
It jumped sideways, pushing off the wall before rushing toward Faust from another direction.
Faust turned his head.
'It's quite agile.'
The creature opened its mouth again.
A foul smell reached Faust as its jaws approached his face.
SWOOSH!
The blade moved upward, intercepting the attack.
CRACK!
The rat's enormous teeth struck the black edge.
One of them broke.
The creature shrieked.
Faust watched the exchange with an expressionless face.
The black material was moving faster than the rat could attack.
Every time the creature tried reaching him, the blades intercepted it.
It was almost as though the clothing could predict the animal's movements.
The rat attempted another attack.
This time, it leaped toward Faust with both front paws extended.
Two black blades emerged simultaneously.
SWISH! SWISH!
The first cut across its chest.
The second sliced through one of its legs.
Blood splattered across the walls.
The creature fell heavily onto the floor.
THUD!
For a moment, Faust thought it was finished.
However, the rat immediately struggled back to its feet.
Its wounded leg trembled.
Dark blood continued pouring from its injuries.
Yet the creature showed no intention of retreating.
"GRRRRR..."
Faust stared at it.
'Even with those injuries, it can still move?'
The rat's muscles twitched beneath its damaged fur.
Its remaining claws scraped against the floor.
Then, with another furious screech, it rushed forward.
Faust lowered his eyes.
'Persistent little thing.'
The blade suddenly extended.
SWOOSH!
Its sharp tip pierced the rat's exposed underside.
SPLURT!
Blood and entrails spilled from the wound.
The creature screamed as the blade continued passing through its body.
Its movements became increasingly erratic.
The enormous rat twisted violently, trying to free itself.
The black blade withdrew.
Dark blood poured onto the floor.
The animal staggered.
Its legs could barely support its weight anymore.
Yet it still attempted to bite Faust.
Faust looked at the creature.
For a brief moment, he wondered whether it could even feel pain.
Then the blade moved again.
SWOOSH!
A black line passed through the center of the rat's enormous body.
The creature froze.
A moment later, its two halves separated.
SPLAT!
Both pieces fell onto the floor.
Blood and internal organs spilled across the shattered tiles.
The corridor fell silent.
Faust stood motionless.
The black blade slowly withdrew into his sleeve, leaving his clothing completely clean.
He looked down at the dead creature.
Its dark blood spread across the floor, mixing with the stagnant water between the broken tiles.
The smell was almost unbearable.
Yet Faust barely reacted.
He crouched beside the remains.
'What kind of mutation could produce something like this?'
His eyes moved across the creature's exposed organs.
Its bones were unusually thick.
The muscles surrounding its limbs were far larger than those of an ordinary rat.
Even its internal organs appeared different.
Faust examined the remains more closely.
Then he noticed something strange.
'Wait...'
Deep within the exposed chest cavity, the creature's heart was still moving.
THUMP.
THUMP.
Faust stared at it.
'It's still beating?'
He leaned closer.
Despite the creature having been split completely in half, its heart continued contracting.
Dark blood flowed through the severed vessels, slowly spilling onto the floor.
Nearby, sections of its exposed intestines continued twitching.
Faust watched the movements.
The creature was clearly dead.
Yet some of its organs were still functioning.
He looked at the dark blood.
Then at the exposed muscles that continued contracting around the damaged bones.
His amber eyes narrowed slightly.
'Just what happened to this world...?'