Chapter 530: SCP-173, The Sculpture! Super-State? Supreme Divinity!
"Hmm? What's going on?" The two looked out. A group of people were screaming in terror, others fleeing in panic.
Before they could react, they felt a black shadow flash by. Thud. A woman fell to the ground, unmoving. Her entire head and neck were twisted beyond recognition.
"D-Dead!" Sonoko, encountering such a situation for the first time, felt her head buzzing. But how did her neck suddenly get twisted? Was there something strange standing next to her? Her brain trembling, she could only see a bizarre statue there.
"Utaha…" She wanted to pull her to hide, but then she heard Ren's cool voice from behind them. "Don't blink."
"?" Although her heart was full of questions, she did as she was told.
"Ren-kun, what is that?" Utaha had also noticed. The woman's neck was twisted by that statue.
"An anomaly." His expression was grave.
[Inorin's Note: The following entity is SCP-173, "The Sculpture," from the SCP Foundation. It is a statue that is immobile when directly observed but moves at extreme speed to snap necks the instant line of sight is broken, including during a blink.]
Upon noticing SCP-173, Ren had already stopped time. But even so, he felt it wasn't safe enough. Snap! A crisp finger snap was heard.
"!!!" Sonoko, struggling to keep her eyes open, saw two masses of black substance emerge from under Ren's feet, expanding into a transparent, semi-spherical object about two meters in diameter. On its inner wall, countless large, inward-facing eyeballs grew. The object passed through the glass and enveloped the statue, its hundreds of eyes staring directly at it.
Only then did Ren relax. Until he was sure of its capabilities, it was better to be cautious.
"This is…" Utaha had never seen him so vigilant.
"It's alright now. Let's go take a look." He walked out, and she followed.
"…" Sonoko felt like she was dreaming. Not only the jellyfish monster, but also the strange phenomenon she had just discovered: everything around them was motionless. Yet Ren and Utaha ignored all of it. Gritting her teeth, she followed them out.
Ren observed SCP-173. A statue made of concrete with strange patterns. A large, curved head that resembled a face. It was undoubtedly "The Sculpture." Can it be killed?
His Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, which could see the death of the universe, saw a 'line of death' on its body. This meant it could be killed. But he did not act. A certain intuition told him it was better not to.
"D-so many people died!!!" Sonoko, after stepping out, collapsed in terror. Just behind the statue, bodies with twisted necks lay scattered across the mall floor.
"What should we do?" Utaha poked Ren.
"Let's leave it. It's up to you to comfort her," he shrugged.
"Tsk." Utaha was helpless and went to comfort Sonoko.
Ren, meanwhile, pinched his chin and looked at the statue again. For now, locking it up seemed to be the only option, just like with 096. His intuition told him this thing was absolutely dangerous. It was likely its true form, the "Super-State," was a Supreme Divinity he couldn't handle. "Let it keep 096 company." With a wave, he sealed it into a Different Space.
"Sigh, what a mess." The terrified crowd had seen thirty to forty people die. This was no doubt the Cognitive Doomsday advancing. For him, resurrecting them or making everyone forget was simple. But he had a question. Even if I reverse time, can the process of cognition still be reversed? This seemed worth observing.
[Inorin Note:
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