Smoke twisted in coils around the shattered remains of the greenhouse, curling into the night like a phantom's hand. The air tasted of ash and betrayal.
Lin stepped through the rubble, his black mask gleaming beneath moonlight slashed by flickering security lights. His steps were silent. Precise. Lethal. Behind him, Yumi crouched beside Rika, who lay trembling but conscious.
"Take her," Lin ordered, voice cold beneath the mask. "Get out. Now."
Yumi hesitated, eyes scanning the scorched terrace. "And you?"
"I end this."
A pulse of heat flashed. Shinji emerged from the smoke, his suit burned away at the chest, revealing veins that pulsed like magma under translucent skin. His eyes shimmered crimson.
"Too late," he rasped, a slow grin crawling across his face. "I am the Helix."
His blood began to steam. A long gash ran down his arm—self-inflicted—and his blood sprayed into the air like threads of crimson silk. But it didn't fall. It danced. Twisted. Then—
Boom.
The greenhouse exploded again, a secondary pulse triggered by Shinji's corrupted Spiriter fusion. Glass and petals rained. Lin shielded his eyes, rolling forward as a red tendril shot toward him like a spear.
Shinji laughed, twisted and primal. "Project Helix isn't just an experiment. It's a revolution. My blood is the gate. Every drop… a key."
He hurled a blade of blood toward Lin. Lin deflected it with his forearm guard, sparks flying.
"You killed innocent men," Lin said.
"They were never innocent," Shinji barked, charging forward. His fists were wrapped in hardened crimson plasma, each strike detonating with seismic force.
Lin ducked, parried, then countered with a flurry of palm strikes—striking vital points along Shinji's ribs, neck, temple.
Nothing.
Shinji's skin cracked, but blood hissed out and sealed it instantly.
Lin grunted. "Your body's reacting like a Contractor. But this isn't Spirit binding. This is… synthetic possession."
"Exactly." Shinji grinned. Then he stabbed his own stomach with a clawed hand, twisting deep. "I'm not just a host. I'm the vessel."
His body expanded—muscles ballooned, face twisted, arms elongating. He was no longer human. Not entirely.
Lin surged forward.
They clashed. Blow for blow. Lin dodged the searing arcs of blood-laced whips, responding with vicious kicks and elbow strikes that targeted Shinji's joints. His movements were an artform—Northern Phoenix Style, adapted for assassination. Silent. Fluid. Brutal.
But Shinji was unrelenting. He swung with a feral edge, a bloodborn creature driven by madness and purpose.
"Rika was never meant to lead," Shinji snarled. "Only to bleed!"
Lin ducked under a bloody cleaver formed from Shinji's palm, slid across the wet floor, and slashed upward with a hidden blade from his wrist gauntlet.
Shinji's neck tore open—gushing.
Lin spun. " Take Rika! Go!"
Yumi didn't argue. She dragged Rika toward the stairwell as the terrace groaned beneath the stress of the collapsing infrastructure.
Shinji roared. His blood—now glowing like magma—poured out of his mouth and began boiling the ground.
Lin knew what came next.
"I told you..." Shinji gasped, smiling with gore-stained teeth. "We all become gates. We open with death."
Lin ran.
And jumped.
Midair, he twisted and cut—his blade flashing with an unnatural sharpness. Shinji's head flew, blood exploding into a cyclone of red light.
BOOM.
The terrace collapsed as the explosion engulfed Shinji's body. But Lin, already diving, vanished into the smoke.
Later.
Lin's apartment. Neo-Tokyo's Lower Crescent.
He sat at his desk. Mask removed. Bruised.
Rain tapped steadily against the grimy windows of Lin's apartment in Sector 3. The neon glow from the streets below painted the walls in waves of pink and blue, dancing like ghosts. Lin sat alone at his desk. A steaming mug of dark coffee sat untouched beside a cracked datapad.
The stolen file lay open. Bloodstains marked the edges.
He plugged in the recovered pendrive. A soft hum. The screen flickered to life.
PROJECT RUNE – SHIZUMA MEDICAL ARCHIVES
Confidential. Level 0 Clearance Required.
A loading bar crawled. Then—the first image.
It was Rune.
A photo. Smiling. Younger. Before she vanished. Before the Gates.
Lin's breath caught. His gloved hand trembled slightly. She was wearing the green jacket he bought her. Her eyes were bright. Unbroken.
Then came the scans. Tissue samples. Genetic extrapolation models. Neural maps.
Subject: Rune Lin-X137.
Status: Deceased. Designation: Prime Donor.
His mouth went dry.
Then a voice log played.
> "This is Dr. Ryonnosuke Shizuma. Subject Rune shows exceptionally high resonance compatibility with Gate signatures. Attempts to clone her have failed due to instability post-phase three… but iteration 7B is holding. The neural core has been stabilized using synthetic Contractor infusion—"
Pause.
> "If successful, she will become the New South Gate's first vessel. A living conduit. The Helix strain embedded in her will be irreversible."
Lin's chair creaked as he stood.
The image changed. A clone in a stasis tank. Face blurred but familiar. A pale mimic of Rune. Sleeping. Cold. Wired to machines with blinking red lights.
"Project Rune will open the Gate permanently… under Shizuma Medical control."
He stared. Frozen. Memories of Rune laughing. Holding his hand. Vanishing behind a spiraling gate, screaming his name as her body broke apart into light.
And now—they were bringing her back. Not to save her. But to use her. As a weapon.
A knock came at the door.
Lin didn't move.
A quiet voice: "It's Nel."
He opened the door.
She stepped in, wet from the rain, holding a file. "There's more."
She placed it down.
Another photo. Not a clone. A lab. Underground. Dozens of stasis tubes.
Lin's voice was hoarse. "Where?"
Nel met his eyes. "Sector 0. Beneath the old Shizuma Core."
Lin said nothing. Just closed the pendrive, took a breath, and looked out the window.
Outside, thunder cracked.
The war hadn't ended with Shinji.
It had just begun.