It was hard to tell whether that thing was still Shana.
The peerless beauty—once radiant, with her flowing auburn hair and legendary, overwhelming presence—was now suspended in midair, engulfed by layers of slick, quivering flesh above a colossal golden throne. The mass of meat had sealed almost everything shut; the only part left exposed was her lips. That was what Duyen noticed immediately.
"SHANA!" she screamed.
There was no response. Shana remained motionless, as if lost in a deep, unnatural sleep.
How had this happened? And for how long?
Just how long had Shana been imprisoned here?
Even Mina couldn't help but feel horrified by the sight. Her face twisted in visible discomfort. Only Amuro seemed oddly unsurprised. His gaze dropped to the golden needle clutched in Duyen's hand, then lifted back to her.
"We've arrived, Miss Duyen," he said calmly, pointing forward. "Now you must stab it straight into Lady Shana's heart. Immediately."
Sure enough, deep within Shana's chest, a deafening heartbeat echoed. Every single pulse sent violent tremors rippling through the entire city, as though the very world was shuddering in sync with it.
Duyen stared at him, eyes wide in disbelief.
"S-Stab her…? You want me to kill her?!"
Amuro stiffened, unable to answer right away. Mina's voice cut in sharply.
"Then why did we spend so long searching for her, only to come here and stab her to death?" She glared at him.
"Amuro, explain yourself. You've been dodging questions this whole time. What are you still hiding from us?"
Faced with Mina's suspicion, Amuro suddenly looked flustered—unnaturally so.
After all, Mina was his true master. He couldn't disobey her.
After a long silence, he finally let out a heavy sigh.
"My lady… Miss Duyen… the truth is—"
He never got the chance to finish. A thunderous roar erupted, like an enormous engine backfiring, shaking the ground and warping the air itself. The sound was so unbearable that all three of them had to clamp their hands over their ears.
"Damn it!" Mina snarled. "What now?!"
The noise scraped against teeth and bones alike. Amuro endured the pressure and looked up. His eyes flew wide open, glowing blood-red with terror.
"That's impossible… Why is it here…?"
Descending from above was a colossal, aberrant entity—larger than an aircraft.
Its form resembled the gigantic smooth-skinned beasts they had encountered before: pallid flesh like a massive exposed intestine, a long trailing tail, and enormous razor-sharp claws meant for digestion—or slaughter.
But its head was far worse. Grotesquely deformed, it was riddled with oversized lips and lidless eyes scattered across its surface. It looked like a horrifying hybrid—something born from the living structure of Yomi City itself, fused with those earlier monsters.
Eight elongated, misshapen arms dangled from its body, crudely stitched together like human limbs. It hovered in the air on wings made of living flesh, its countless eyes darting wildly in every direction.
Duyen gasped in horror.
"Th-That thing… What is it?!"
"The invaders' thrall," Amuro replied coldly.
His crimson gaze sharpened as he continued, voice trembling with fury.
"They are the result of the Red Star's twisted creations, fused with the Queen's blessing. They turn civilians into mindless servants—breeding grounds for larvae—forcing them to torment their own kind for millions of years."
He clenched his teeth.
"Now that the beings from the Red Planet have left, these things still linger… without purpose. That's why."
Duyen frowned, disgust churning in her stomach. Mina scoffed, staring at the creature with pure contempt.
"I don't fully understand this story. But traitors are traitors—and I hate traitors most of all."
She reached out, preparing to strike.
"Wait!"
Amuro shouted, stopping her. "I've seen many of them before—but never this kind. Its form, its timing… appearing in this sacred place—this is bad!"
Before he could finish, the monster let out a roar—hundreds of mouths opening at once across its head, or rather, across grotesque tumor-like protrusions that pulsed violently.
It had noticed them. The three exchanged tense glances. Was it about to attack?
Then—
Behind them, where Shana hung suspended in the writhing mass of flesh, something moved. Duyen screamed,
"Shana! She—she's moving!"
Amuro stared in horror.
"No… That's not right… This is—this is bad!"
Suddenly, Shana's mouth split open, revealing rows of razor-sharp fangs. A scream erupted from her throat—so piercing it shook everything around them. At the same time, a blinding golden light burst through the gaps in the crawling flesh.
An anomaly was unfolding.
Flesh began to sprout everywhere—endlessly—covered in squirming eyes that multiplied and spread, threatening to engulf the entire throne room. Even the ground beneath them warped violently.
"Ah!" Duyen cried out.
Something latched onto her leg—sticky, alive—dragging her downward into the mass of flesh.
"Why—ah!"
"Duyen!" Mina shouted.
A biological blade erupted from Mina's arm. She slashed through the obstruction, tearing the flesh apart.
"Duyen! Are you hurt?!"
Mina reached out to grab her—but the ground shifted again, violently separating them.
"My Lady! Be careful!" Amuro warned.
Mina barely had time to react before realizing she had become the monster's target. Its arms stretched unnaturally, shooting straight toward her.
But Mina sliced them clean off in a single motion. Her eyes burned with icy killing intent.
"An ugly traitor like you thinks you can touch me?"
The monster shrieked—whether in pain or shock, it was hard to tell. Perhaps this was the first time it had ever seen a mere mortal sever its limbs. Enraged, it regenerated more arms—faster, stronger—and launched them at Mina in a relentless storm.
Yet she moved with miraculous grace, dodging effortlessly while cutting down each limb without mercy. Flesh rained onto the ground.
Still—it didn't stop.
Shana's screams echoed again, agonized beyond endurance. With each cry, the monster grew more limbs—more grotesque, more resilient.
"Damn it!"
Even with her speed, Mina was being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. A second blade formed in her left hand. She leapt into the air, cutting through the swarm in all directions until blood trickled from her lips.
"Mina!" Duyen cried.
Nearly crushed by the writhing flesh, Duyen kicked free and forced her way through the battlefield, weaving between Mina and the monstrous entity. Amuro muttered grimly,
"That thing bears the Queen's blessing… It can keep reproducing endlessly. It won't fall easily."
He growled.
"Then I have no choice."
His body transformed. Muscles swelled violently, coarse hair bursting from his arms. Razor claws extended from his fingers. His fangs bared, skin darkening as his legs reshaped into massive wolf-like limbs.
Amuro howled—an inhuman roar that shook the air. Through that monstrous voice, he shouted so Duyen could hear:
"Miss Duyen! Use the golden needle—stab it into Shana's heart! Now! We don't have much time!"
With that, he leapt—hurling himself at the colossal beast, despite being a thousand times smaller. Duyen heard him clearly.
Her heart twisted painfully. She knew what she had to do—and knew she had no right to hesitate. Mina's screams of struggle only deepened her torment.
Clutching the golden needle tightly, Duyen ran—straight toward the throne where Shana writhed in madness.
The ground shifted constantly, forcing her to climb, jump, and scramble through deadly terrain. One mistake could mean death.
And then—
The monster noticed.
Among the three of them, one was missing. Its enormous, malformed eyes locked onto Duyen as she dashed across hills of living flesh, heading straight for Shana. Silently, new arms began to grow. They shot toward her—fast enough to kill her on the spot.
BANG!
A thunderous gunshot—like the roar of a massive cannon—tore through the air, startling Duyen so badly she nearly fell backward.
The sound came from an enormous biological cannon, formed from Mina's left arm. It fired just in time, blasting the monster's grasping hands into bloody shreds. Blood spilled from the corner of Mina's mouth as she screamed,
"RUN, DUYEN! RUN—NOW!"
The moment Duyen heard that, she didn't hesitate for even a second. She forced every ounce of strength out of her body, pushing herself to run forward as fast as she could.
But the monster wouldn't let her go so easily.
It let out a distorted, furious roar—an inhuman sound, as if something deep inside it had been violently provoked. It lunged again and again, trying desperately to stop Duyen.
Explosions thundered through the space as Mina kept firing, tearing massive holes through the creature's body and wings. Its cells writhed like countless tiny hands, clinging together, desperately trying to stitch its wounds back up.
Mina didn't give it the chance. She kept shooting.
Driven mad by pain and rage, the monster seized an opening in the chaos. With a brutal strike, it severed Mina's left arm—the living gun itself.
"AARRRRGHHHH!"
Before she could recover, the creature poured all its strength into attacking her, surrounding her completely—wrapping around her like a colossal sphere of living flesh.
"MINA!"
Duyen saw it. She saw everything clearly—yet there was nothing she could do. Tears streamed down her face as she finally reached the throne.
She climbed the grotesque mass of vines made of raw flesh, forcing herself upward toward Shana—who was held high above, in a place impossibly dangerous and steep.
The flesh surrounding Shana seemed to sense the threat. It swelled, becoming slick and unstable. One of Duyen's hands slipped free, leaving her hanging in midair.
She struggled desperately, grabbing at anything she could, all while keeping a tight grip on the needle in her hand.
And then she saw it. Shana's heart.
A massive heart—larger than Duyen's own face—pounding wildly, completely out of control.
She knew this might kill her. She didn't want to do this. She truly, truly didn't want to.
But then she heard Shana's scream—forced to use that cursed "blessing."
And behind her, Mina's desperate struggle to hold the monster back.
"Shana… I'm sorry…"
Summoning every last bit of strength she had, Duyen plunged the needle straight into the violently beating heart.
Shana's scream of agony echoed through everything—so powerful it felt as if the ground and space itself were trembling. The scream lasted for ten endless minutes.
Then… the heart stopped.
The space around them ceased its grotesque growth, collapsing at a terrifying speed. The entire structure imprisoning Shana crashed down—dragging Duyen with it.
Through the pain, Duyen forced herself up. She threw herself onto Shana's body, sobbing uncontrollably.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, Shana…"
She cried as she gently caressed Shana's cheek. But she was dead.
She wasn't breathing anymore.
Duyen wrapped her arms around Shana's lifeless body, shaking with grief. Suddenly—a piercing scream from Mina snapped Duyen out of her despair.
She turned around in a panic. What she saw froze her blood.
The monster, though severely damaged by Mina's fierce resistance, had driven its arm straight through Mina's chest.
Mina hung there, motionless, blood pouring from her mouth.
"MINA!"
Duyen screamed so hard her voice cracked.
The monster pulled its arm free. A massive spray of Mina's blood burst into the air as she was thrown aside without mercy.
"MY LADY!"
Amuro instantly reverted to his human form and caught Mina's falling body. His face was twisted with pure terror.
"No! My lady! If your soul dies here—before your ascension is complete—you won't be able to reincarnate!"
"Duyen… Duyen…"
Despite her condition, Mina still tried to call her name. Each word sent fresh blood spilling from her lips. She reached out weakly toward the woman she loved—
And then her arm fell limp.
"MY LADY! NO—YOU MUSTN'T!"
Hearing Amuro's anguished scream as he held Mina's body, Duyen finally grasped the truth before her.
"Mina… Shana…"
No…
This couldn't be happening…Why—why did it all end like this?
In her mind, memories of Shana flashed by… the warmth they shared… and Mina's smile.
And now, they were both dead. Right in front of her.
Why…
Why…?
"WHY—!!!"
Duyen clutched her head and screamed in madness. A shockwave erupted from her body, freezing the monster in place.
"WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?! WHY?!"
Each word she screamed unleashed another violent shockwave, slamming directly into the monster. Her eyes blazed with a radiant indigo light, completely filling her eye sockets as she screamed questions no one could ever answer.
This was Duyen's breaking point.
After enduring endless pain and loss, she had finally been pushed beyond her limits. Even the gentle, compassionate person she once was had been consumed by anguish and hatred.
"Miss Duyen… the ascension phase…"
The monster writhed violently, as if Duyen's very voice was inflicting unbearable pain. Its wings stopped moving midair. It fell.
The impact was deafening—like an explosion ripping through the ground.
Yet even then, Duyen remained lost in her madness. Unconsciously, she kept releasing shockwaves that ravaged everything around her.
She screamed and cried, clutching her head—
Until suddenly, as if awakened by her own scream, a voice spoke from behind her.
Soft.
Gentle.
Sweet, like honey dripping into her ears.
"My, my… who would dare make my precious little darling this sad?"