Due to the possibility of being discovered, Noid didn't use a flashlight. His hands felt along the side of the wall, fumbling in the dark.
Finally, the stairs led down to an old corridor lined with stone and wood. These structures were not unfamiliar to him. Because of the existence of the doom, all citizens were encouraged to build bomb shelters. But even for a bomb shelter, there was no need to dig 20 meters underground.
Noid remained at the top of the stairs, using the darkness to conceal his body. Instead of peeking out, he extended the camera part of his phone and took a picture. The left corridor was empty, with only one corner. The right corridor was also empty, leading to a large wooden door.
Two paths were laid out before him, and the danger factor for both was very high. Except for the yellow light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, the corridor was empty, leaving him with no place to hide.
Noid decided to go left. Even though he knew it wouldn't do much, he crouched down and hugged the wall, quietly making his way to the corner. Peeking out, he saw the corner of a cell's iron bars and heard some muffled noises.
Poking his head out, he saw a place that resembled a prison cell. Inside, there were children and adults, all tied up with ropes on their hands and feet, their mouths sealed with tape. The prison door was open, and a man in a black jacket was holding a little girl with one hand and fondling her with the other, speaking disgusting, obscene words.
He recognized this man as one of the two he had followed here.
Seeing the child struggling in despair, Noid's mind was filled with rage. To the shock of everyone in the cell, he rushed out and hit the pedophile hard on the head with the butt of his gun. The sound was so loud that it seemed as if a skull had cracked, but before the man could scream, he was hit with a tranquilizer dart and fell face-first to the ground.
In that moment, Noid truly wanted to kill the disgusting man. But his reason quickly stopped his rage. Right now, saving people was the most important thing.
He quickly untied everyone there. All of them wanted to cry, but thinking about where they were, they all held back, only letting out small sobs.
"Has anyone... seen a boy this tall, who looks quite smart? His name is Jack, Jack."
Noid frantically asked around because he didn't see Jack among the people there. The little girl from before started to wail when she heard Jack's name.
"He... he... to protect us... was beaten... beaten so badly."
"Jack... Jack was taken away by a man in black."
His chest tightened. Noid looked in the direction of the wooden door at the end of the corridor. A sense of foreboding rushed through him.
"Everyone, run up the stairs and get out of here."
Hastily reminding the people in the cell, Noid sprinted toward the wooden door. Not paying attention to the people fleeing behind him, he kicked the wooden door open.
Inside was an empty area where more than a dozen people were kneeling before a cage. Inside was a doom larvae shell. The shell was still wet, proving that the doom had been born not long ago.
But all of that was automatically ignored by his eyes. His entire gaze was focused on the image of Jack in the cage, being trampled by the doom larvae. The boy tried to fight back, leaving a few shallow wounds on the larvae. But even a doom larvae was not something a child could fight against. Jack's entire body was soaked in blood, and a few of his fingers were eaten off by the larvae's mouth.
The string of reason in his mind snapped, accompanied by a furious roar.
"What are you doing!!!!"
He ignored the shouts of the kneeling cultists and rushed toward the small, bloodied figure. He hit the man guarding the cage with a tranquilizer dart, then snatched the key to open it. By the time he rushed inside, it was unclear whether Jack was alive or dead. The doom larvae screeched and lunged at him, but this time, he didn't use the tranquilizer gun. He repeatedly stomped on the larvae with his foot, giving it the most brutal death.
Ignoring everything else, he went to Jack, hastily propped the boy up, and repeatedly called his name. But Jack remained motionless. He put a healing capsule into the boy's mouth.
"He dares to ruin the doom lord's meal!!!"
"Kill him!!!"
"Kill him!!!"
"Kill him!!!"
"Kill him!!!"
The fanatical members of the doom cult screamed, wanting to kill Noid, the intruder.
But immediately after, a whooshing sound appeared. It was Sasha. She had set out as soon as Noid sent the message.
Even without her armor, Sasha was a superhuman. Dozens of cultists were knocked down on the spot in less than ten seconds, letting out pained groans.
"Noid, are you hurt...?"
Her voice trailed off. In front of her was Noid's trembling back and a blood-soaked Jack.
"Don't... don't... please... don't leave. Don't leave!"
"Someone... someone... please save him! Save the boy!"
His voice was hoarse from screaming, and tears streamed down his face. But no matter how loud he screamed, the little life in his arms did not respond.
"Stop! The boy... he's gone."
Sasha embraced Noid from behind. He stopped screaming and hung his head, trembling. At first, he decided to take care of Jack only because he felt the boy shouldn't be alone like that. But after two years of living together, even though their life had been peaceful, they had long considered each other brothers. And now, he had to accept that his brother was gone forever.
The police arrived not long after and arrested all the cultists. The victims were also returned to their families. The police investigated the remaining bone fragments and found that at least a few people had been eaten by the doom. The doom was now missing, and no one knew where it went. The police then informed the military, and a large-scale sweep was organized. The cultists, cornered, fought back frantically. All citizens were forced to stay indoors and lock their doors. Only the police and military were allowed to operate outside.
However, none of that mattered to Noid. He stood silently, watching the car carrying Jack's body drive away, rooted to the spot. Sasha stood next to him, holding his hand, like a small flame in the wind and snow, warming him.
...
"It's strange. This boy died with such a peaceful smile."
The forensic examiner who was checking Jack's body couldn't help but sigh. The assistant who had just walked in looked puzzled and asked, "Is there anything special about him?"
"Before he died, the boy was beaten to the point of a collapsed lung, had many bruises on his skin, three broken teeth, his entire chest was crushed, six fingers were missing, broken bones, internal bleeding... To have endured such horrific injuries and still be able to smile peacefully, don't you think that's strange?"
In truth, Jack should have been eaten alive by the doom in the very first moments, but the boy had bravely fought back, just as he had used the pen on his person to leave a message in the orphanage's courtyard when he was kidnapped, or as he had protected the little girl from that disgusting pedophile. Jack had always firmly believed that Noid would come and save him, just like two years ago.
The moment Noid kicked open the wooden door and ran toward him, the boy was happy that his hero would finally appear and rescue him. He died with a contented smile, in Noid's arms.