"Hhhhh…hhhh"
His breath becomes increasingly shaky.
"Hhhhh….hhhh"
Suddenly, the door opens…
Two people enter…
He slightly lifts his head and looks at them from beneath his eyes…
One of them is a young man… with a deep scar running diagonally across his face.
The scar starts above his right eyebrow and ends at the left side of his chin.
The other… is Ghost himself…
"Behold, my masterpiece…"
"Do you really think this will work? Can it reach Apex Helion?"
"Of course… it just needs a few things… for example, something like this…"
He lifts the sack in his hand and pulls out Denis' severed head… throws it in front of Zack…
"Hhh…hhh HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGHHHHHHHH!!!"
He screams, maybe until all his vocal cords are torn apart…
Among those screams, Ghost's disgusting laughter echoes…
"The Dark Angel… huh?" the young man asks.
"Yes… definitely him… I saw it when I kidnapped him… very rare… and useful for me… Not every carrier can reach their Apex form."
Zack continues screaming…
He's in the center of a large circle.
Each of his limbs is chained to specific points of the circle.
The chains are tight enough to keep him suspended at the center…
After a while, he suddenly coughs…
Blood drips from his mouth…
"Aaaghh…kaaaak…ha…"
"Perfect… now let's have some fun."
He walks over and grabs a container of acid from a nearby table…
"I was always good at chemistry, you know?" he says to the young man, and adds Spitting Cobra venom into the acid.
"What do you think? Shall we try it?"
"The moment he gets a chance… he'll f* you first… just saying…"**
Then he leaves the room.
Ghost turns his back and switches off the light…
"Ah… just the two of us again… now open that mouth…"
A brief silence follows… but then, once more, screams erupt—so sharp they could pierce the human heart.
⸻
Taka – 18:19
It's cold outside…
Krauser is sitting on top of a skyscraper, smoking a cigarette.
Denis approaches him.
"How are you? Haven't seen you for a few days…"
"You don't see me because you're always with that girl."
Denis blushes:
"Uhh… no, it's not like that… haha."
"Heh… hang in there, you bastard… we'll get him back… if we can find where he was taken… hehe…"
"Your jokes feel weird when you're sad, you know that?"
"Really? Then I won't make them."
"Don't beat yourself up… we'll find him… and if we do, let's take him to a doctor to check if he's still a virgin, huh?"
"Hehehe… you little brat… words like that don't suit your mouth… now come on, it's cold out."
They go back inside.
⸻
Ayato's Room
Liv enters…
"By the time we arrived at the area we planned to raid, Jerusalem had already cleared it out…"
"Damn it..! You still haven't detected any power waves?"
"Not yet…"
"I know… they noticed the Dark Angel.
They're trying to awaken him…
I'm sure of it."
"Our men are analyzing everything and rotating shifts constantly… that way we minimize fatigue and keep awareness at the max."
Ayato turns his chair slightly…
The sun is setting.
Through the window, the entire city and the crimson-colored sunset can be seen…
"Helios is just like this, isn't it?"
Liv looks in the same direction and understands what he means…
"Yeah… as the sun sets, it turns yellow… and loses its color…"
⸻
Denis enters the room again…
Mia looks up from her book and smiles at him:
"Come here…"
Mia is a girl around 22 years old.
Her long blonde hair is neatly tied back…
"What are you curious about this time?"
"Actually… it's about you… I was wondering… What were you and Zack like? As siblings?"
"I haven't seen him alive since back then… but Bıfrat said he changed…
He used to be so kind and gentle… like you…
So sweet… we were always together when we were little… but after our village was attacked and… our family was killed… (her eyes fill with tears) …he tried to recover his happiness again… Kevin and I always supported him… Kevin was like both our mom and dad… then Bıfrat… Zack started to get better… until… (tears fall down her cheeks) Kevin died… (her voice starts trembling) …he shut himself off… there was not a trace of his old self… even in the hospital, he was still trying to cling to life… for 2 days… during those 2 days, the brother I knew died… Bıfrat must've told you the rest…"
"…I see… P-Please forgive me… I didn't mean to remind you of these things…"
"Don't worry… after losing Zack 5 years ago, I met Ayato… and after Zack escaped the hospital, he took me out of Dragonomica and brought me here."
Denis looks down, ashamed and regretful…
Mia gently smiles:
"You really remind me of him…"
She hugs Denis…
And then… starts crying again…
⸻
File #021
In this artificial universe,
who can really be sure
that the "PURE" water we drink
doesn't contain a trace
of that green liquid?