The smoke from the gun barrel had yet to dissipate.
Although Rex's body was being sustained by inhuman strength, it was obvious that his level of toughness fell far short of that of an Aberration. As a result, he was directly brought down by Maki's several shots, collapsing to the ground and struggling for a long time without being able to get back up.
However, Maki had no way to show a relaxed expression.
At the moment she sensed the incomparably terrifying, icy oppressive force coming from her side, there was no possible way for Maki to relax.
She had already realized where the crux of the problem lay.
[Please don't misunderstand, I am completely a good person]
Just moments earlier, before Rex jumped down, he had spoken those words.
At the time, Maki had not been able to immediately react to the issue embedded in that sentence, because right after saying it, Rex followed up by jumping down with a climbing pick in hand, looking as if he intended to engage the two of them in close-quarters combat, forcing Maki to hurriedly draw her gun and attack.
But once she did react, Maki immediately grasped the key problem in that sentence.
"I am completely a good person"—
The identity of [human] had been deliberately emphasized.
Thus, within the building ruins not far away, Hedda lifted her head, and that chilling resentment was transmitted along with it.
In the very next instant, Maki violently dove to the side and threw herself to the ground.
A blood-colored light flashed through midair, and Rex's body followed by bursting apart, little by little, being sliced into tiny fragments of flesh.
As the target of having spoken words that must not be spoken, even though he could not be fully considered human, Rex was still the first to bear Hedda's power. He was completely pulverized on the spot, with no possibility of revival.
After striking, the Aberration draped in blood garments turned around. She did not pay any attention to Maki and Chika, but instead continued to direct her gaze toward the fragments of buildings in the research area not far away, as well as Vernon located among them.
Maki's heartbeat almost came to a standstill at that moment.
In the next instant, that terrifying Aberration vanished from before Maki's eyes, returning to the research area, where it continued to stare blankly at Vernon's shattered corpse.
She had not been attacked. Judging by the situation, compared to everyone else, Vernon's existence was clearly more attractive to Hedda at this moment. Unless Maki or Chika were to say something like [I am human], it would not easily shift its target.
A hand suddenly reached out from the side, gripping Maki tightly and helping her up from the ground.
"He ran away!"
Chika's extremely anxious voice rang out by her ear.
What—ran away?!
Sensing that something was wrong, Maki hurriedly scrambled to her feet, and then saw Vernon climbing over a chunk of broken building debris not far away.
This bastard—had he taken advantage of the moment when the female Aberration shifted her attention to once again separate his human side from his aberrant side, leaving the aberrant side behind here to draw attention, while the other side escaped?
Damn it. After all this, he had just been creating an opportunity to flee. No—he could not be allowed to get away. He had to be caught!
Maki did not hesitate. She broke into a sprint, suddenly leapt forward, vaulted over the gap between two fragments, and chased after the fleeing Vernon.
"Eh?"
Chika did not possess an A-level Dusk-level blessing like Maki, and naturally could not run through these building fragments the way she did. Seeing Maki leave, the girl instinctively tried to give chase, but immediately retreated after stumbling into the hollow beneath the broken chunks of debris.
If this kept up, would she only be able to stay here?
The girl frowned, looked around to her left and right, and finally looked at the climbing pick beside Rex, who had already been crushed into pieces.
This sharp climbing pick probably weighed around half a kilogram. It was not too heavy, and when she swung it in her hand, it even carried bursts of whistling wind.
Chika thought about what she could do now, and then noticed that although the research area ahead had been reduced to nothing but incomplete building fragments, it was still maintaining its power supply and could still operate normally. The instruments inside were also running normally, continuing to produce bullets. It was just that because of Andres's disappearance, the black stones inside those bullets were already gone; in substance, they were merely discarded bullets with insufficient propellant.
These things probably would not be of any use.
Think carefully—think about what other direction she could start from, what else she could do.
Chika's brows were tightly knit. For a moment, she could not help stomping in place, spinning anxiously in circles. Then, suddenly realizing something, she lifted her head and looked toward the puddle of mangled flesh on the ground in the research area—the bodily remains of Vernon after aberration.
Hedda's obsession was to eliminate all living humans within the research base, and Vernon was the only survivor. Because he would never truly die, Hedda was unable to find rest.
And now, the human Vernon—whom she ought to go kill—had already run far away. She had not chased after him, because the presence of the Vernon who was an Aberration before her was too strong, to the point that this not-very-smart female Aberration had no way to discover her true target. She was stuck here, unable to leave, unless someone sought death by shouting something like [I am human] to trigger her killing rule.
If I could conceal the presence of this Aberration and make this female Aberration perceive its true target instead?
The girl took a deep breath, stepped back a few paces, silently encouraged herself several times, then suddenly charged forward, leapt into the air, and directly fell onto the ground of the research area ruins.
Cold.
Bone-chilling cold—terrifying cold.
The core obsession Hedda, which stood at this location, merely remained in place, motionless, staring at the mangled flesh of Vernon writhing on the ground, without casting even the slightest attention toward Chika.
Even so, the mere existence of it was already enough to make the girl almost unable to move. With every step she took, it felt as though the joints throughout her body were nearly rusted solid.
Such a terrifying existence.
Takumi, Kaguya, and Maki—they had already faced monsters like this more than once.
So I cannot shrink back either.
Deep breath.
Another deep breath.
Chika took off the soldier's clothing she was wearing.
With only a chest wrap on her upper body and nothing but safety shorts left on her lower body, Chika had no time to worry about things like shame. Holding the soldier's clothing in her arms, she cautiously approached the motionless, blood-skirted female Aberration ahead.
"Mm…"
The closer she drew, the more intense the pain her body felt.
Unlike Andres's core obsession—which was extremely mild, and when considered on its own would only have a Dusk-level danger rating—Hedda's obsession was similar to that of the Shirakawa Apartments, belonging to a completely outward-expressed obsession whose very existence was exceedingly intense. Moreover, because Hedda's obsession itself was fused with the resentment of countless experimental personnel who had died miserably beneath the Great Rift, the strength of this core obsession was astonishing. Merely by approaching to within ten meters, Chika already felt as though her nerves were on the verge of being crushed.
"Ha… mm…"
Scraping bloodstains began to appear on her skin.
Her breathing became labored, to the point where it could almost be said that she was on the verge of stopping breathing altogether.
She seemed to see all kinds of hallucinations—seeing those people who had died miserably, or who had not even died yet before being thrown into the Great Rift, struggling with extreme difficulty inside it, and finally rotting away there, little by little sliding into the depths of the rift—as if she herself had already empathized with them, experiencing the same pain those people had suffered.
She clenched her teeth.
Then moved one more step forward.
The distance to the blood-skirted female Aberration was reduced to five meters, and the distance to Vernon's mangled flesh was reduced to within two meters.
Chika was almost no longer able to move. She felt as though her nerves had nearly fallen completely into chaos, and everything around her presented a state of disorder. She uncontrollably shed tears and saliva, and the skin on her body began to tear apart in large patches, as if she had already fallen into the Great Rift and was being dragged little by little into the abyss.
And yet, in reality, the blood-skirted female Aberration did not pay the slightest attention to Chika's approach. In front of the target of its deepest obsession—Vernon—that thing simply did not care about any other targets besides Vernon. The reason the girl was suffering increasingly severe damage was only because her willpower could not remain absolutely clear under these circumstances, and because she had been eroded too much by the power of the Aberration, producing this kind of reaction.
No… can't…
She cannot… lose consciousness… here…
She stabbed the sharp end of the climbing pick into her own thigh.
But even pain like this was still not enough to maintain a clear state of consciousness.
Chika had already collapsed into a seated position on the ground. She could not advance even a single step further and could only brace herself in place, forcing herself to endure with everything she had. With trembling hands, she gripped the climbing pick, turned it sideways to use it as a shovel, and extended it toward Vernon's bloodied flesh, scraping over a small portion of this aberrant mass and pulling it closer.
Obviously, the climbing pick was not suited to be used as a shovel, and the amount of flesh she managed to scrape over was very small. Even so, for Chika, this was already good enough.
She reached out and directly grabbed those writhing chunks of flesh.
An even more intense cold surged in, but instead it stimulated Chika's mind, allowing her to regain a bit of clarity.
She took a deep breath and stuffed the flesh she was holding directly into the soldier's clothing.
At that moment, the blood-skirted Aberration trembled slightly. The aura of Vernon as an Aberration weakened somewhat, which seemed to leave this female Aberration confused.
Chika no longer had any spare strength to distinguish the female Aberration's reaction. She merely struggled to hold on, stuffing more of the mangled flesh into the soldier's clothing, filling it with these chunks so that Vernon's presence and the identity of a [research base soldier] overlapped, continuously reducing this Aberration's sense of presence.
Bang!
Gunfire rang out once more in the distance.
Maki fired repeatedly, but was unable to hit the astonishingly fast-moving Vernon during the pursuit.
Why was this bastard so fast? Had he used the power of the Aberration to alter his physical attributes?
The girl, who could never quite catch up to her opponent, ground her teeth in fury.
The direction of the escape was extremely clear—it was a fragment of a building in the Cryogenic Area not far away. Evidently, Vernon intended to return to his home ground and attempt to cut the power again in order to transform his form and thus survive without being killed.
"Don't even think about it!"
After once again emptying her magazine without landing a hit, Maki decisively reversed her grip on the gun and hurled it out with full force as a thrown weapon.
The A-level bodily enhancement pushed her physical capabilities to the limits of the human body. The pistol she threw flew forward at high speed, caught up to the fleeing, disheveled Vernon, and smashed heavily into the back of his head.
"Ugh—!"
With a cry of pain, Vernon rolled along the ground. The pristine white uniform on his body was stained with dust, and his meticulously groomed face was smeared with dirt as well.
[You damned little brat—who do you think you are, daring to hit me?!]
He scrambled back to his feet and continued running forward. Vernon was furious beyond measure, almost wishing he could turn back and tear Maki to pieces, but he knew he could not take that risk right now. If he wanted to live, his only hope was to make it back to the Cryogenic Area.
"Is that all you've got? Coward—spineless trash!"
Maki shouted curses from behind.
Vernon's brow furrowed.
"You don't even have the guts to face a little girl. No wonder you ended up accomplishing nothing—no one remembers you at all!"
Maki intensified her verbal assault, even deliberately slowing her running pace to do so.
And Vernon's fists had already clenched tight.
"So this is all you've got? You don't even dare to reply—what a useless piece of trash. You'd be better off crawling back into your mother's womb and being born again. Maybe then you'd turn out a little better?"
Maki, who seemed to have completely failed to catch up, stopped where she was. With both hands cupped around her mouth, she raised her voice and hurled the abuse at Vernon.
The veins on Vernon's forehead bulged as his rage reached its peak.
He wanted to kill her.
He really wanted to kill this damn bastard.
But he couldn't. These players were extremely strange and dangerous—if the group chasing him were to…
Wait a moment—wasn't the other side isolated right now?
The man's eyes lit up as he suddenly realized this.
These enemies had already scattered. They were no longer gathered together, and those anomalous items had dispersed as well. At this moment, he didn't need to worry about being pursued by many people, because in reality, only this one person was still following him—and she was such a thin, powerless little girl.
Of course, in his current state, he was indeed closer to being human and could be killed by external force. If he ran into a super-strong man, it would even be possible for him to be killed on the spot. However, because of his coexistence with the anomalous side, Vernon's physical strength in this state was extremely high—one could say it had already surpassed the limits of humanity. He was nothing like the frail appearance he presented on the surface. As such, how could a young girl who wasn't even one meter sixty tall possibly defeat him? Killing her would be nothing more than a matter of lifting a hand. Moreover, as long as he successfully dealt with this little brat, the enemies should also be weakened to a certain extent, which would be even more advantageous for him.
That was right—this was a very reasonable line of thinking.
In that case, he might as well kill this little brat right here!
Thinking this, Vernon gradually slowed his steps, turned around, and looked at Maki, who was still some distance away behind him.
When she saw Vernon turn back with a face full of vicious malice, Maki smiled as well. She stepped forward, walking straight toward him.
At her neck, the Obsession Item necklace that could induce and guide thought trembled slightly as the girl moved.
[Die—!]
Roaring, Vernon swung his fist and struck out viciously.
Then Maki lowered her head, shifted her body to the side, and drove a punch straight into Vernon's abdomen.
Taking that heavy blow, Vernon screamed, staggered back, only to be chased down by Maki. She leapt up and smashed a punch into his chin, landed, spun her body, and followed with a sweeping side kick.
Beaten until he rolled along the ground, Vernon cried out in pain and struggled to get back up—only to be kicked in the knee and forced down to his knees.
With wind roaring in his ears, Maki brought both palms down hard against the sides of Vernon's head, bursting his eardrums on the spot. In agony, Vernon lunged violently toward her. The girl fell back smoothly with the motion, kicked upward with both feet against Vernon's body, borrowed the force, and flung him forward, sending the man crashing face-first into the ground.
When Vernon managed to crawl back up again, he immediately took another brutal punch to the face from Maki, shattering his jawbone on the spot as three or four teeth flew out of his mouth.
Dizzy and reeling, he finally understood: this seemingly gentle, cute little lamb of a girl was in fact a ferocious tiger. The power and speed hidden within that small body were not inferior to his own at all, and the structure and discipline of her strikes were on a completely different level from his wild, flailing punches.
No—he had to run.
Vernon scrambled up from the ground and bolted without caring about anything else, relying on the excellent impact resistance granted by the strengthening of his body by anomalous power. Even though he was already bruised and swollen beyond recognition, Maki still had no way to stop Vernon and could only chase after him as best she could.
Closer—right in front of him—he was almost there.
Vernon had already seen the hope of survival.
He hadn't lost.
He still hadn't lost.
As long as he could stay alive, as long as he could endure past this stage, then once everything returned to its original state, he would have a way to realize his beautiful dream and become a true god.
He still hadn't reached the time of failure. He would win. He would definitely win!
[Hahahahaha—]
Vernon burst into wild laughter, saliva and snot mixing with blood as it streamed down.
But immediately after that, he felt an intense, icy aura coming from behind him.
What was going on?!
Why had he been locked onto by that female aberration?
Shouldn't it have kept staring at the other him and not left? Why had it suddenly switched targets?!
No, no, no—don't panic, don't panic. I still have a chance!
Right now, the entire research base was collapsing and shattering, and that female aberration's power had been affected as well. It shouldn't be able to instantly teleport across such a long distance to appear in front of him. It should need some time to find him—so as long as he could enter the Cryogenic Area before that, and then cut off the power inside, he could survive!
Victory belongs to me—always belongs to me. No one can take it away!
At this critical moment of life and death, Vernon actually erupted with even greater speed, charging like the wind toward the door of the Cryogenic Area.
That blood-skirted figure was rushing in at high speed from the distance, but it was already too late for it to catch up before Vernon reached the Cryogenic Area.
I won! I won! I won!
[You stupid idiots—idiots who think you can suppress me, wipe me out. Take a good look now and see who gets the last laugh!]
Vernon roared with laughter, then suddenly leapt forward, jumping over a platform and finally arriving at the entrance to the ruins of the Cryogenic Area.
Without the slightest hesitation, he charged straight ahead.
[By order of General Gallagher, the Cryogenic Area is sealed. From this moment on, no one is permitted to enter. Except for me, no one possesses authorization to enter the Cryogenic Area!]
Then he slammed violently into a transparent barrier and was intercepted outside the Cryogenic Area.
Huh?
Vernon froze in place.
His only path to survival—his only chance to live—his dawn of victory was right in front of him.
Just one step away.
All he needed to do was take one step forward.
It was such a trivial thing…
And yet now, he could not do it. No matter what, he could not do it.
[Why… why… why…]
On the verge of losing his mind, the man's psyche collapsed to the point where he was about to scream.
[Hehehehe—]
Then he heard laughter coming from behind him.
A laugh that was incomparably familiar, incomparably detestable, and incomparably terrifying.
Ah, that's right—this laughter was the one Hedda, who had been imprisoned in the confinement room, finally let out after being tortured into madness.
She laughed with that incessant "hehehe" every single day. Anyone who met her gaze would feel their skin crawl; just hearing her voice was enough to cause nightmares. To the point that after this woman went mad, almost no one was willing to approach her anymore to continue conducting experiments on her.
[Hehehehe—hehehehe—]
But others could find excuses to run away; he could not. Because he was the highest leader of the researchers, because of his craving for anomalous power—no matter how much he wanted to stay away from Hedda, who had become terrifying after descending into madness, he still had to face her every day and continue carrying out all kinds of experiments on her.
He remembered it very clearly. One day, when an experiment had ended and Hedda was about to be transported back to the confinement room, the restraint cart pushing her passed by his side. That woman's hand actually broke free from the restraint straps and suddenly grabbed the hand he had been holding at his side.
[Hehehe—caught you—]
The words she said in a low chuckle at that moment made Vernon feel a chill run through him.
That's right—it was that incomparable, gut-rending terror, a fear like his liver and gall bursting apart.
A feeling he hadn't experienced in a very long time, a terrifying feeling he should have remembered.
That's how it was—he should have remembered. The more a scientist walks at the forefront of human civilization, the more reverence one must have for the unknown realms ahead.
But he had already lost that reverence. Before that mysterious power, he became lost, forgot the bottom lines he should have upheld, forgot the unknowns he ought to have feared, arrogantly believing that he could conquer everything—until judgment descended.
[Ahhh…]
He finally remembered…
He could not succeed. He could not win. Because he was already dead—because, in truth, he had already died.
After the power was shut down, the speed at which Hedda stormed into the base far exceeded his imagination. He had always believed that he knew everything about the aberration this woman had become, that he fully understood her level of strength. Yet it was only after she entered the base that he realized this terrifying aberration was so powerful that it was fundamentally impossible to measure.
He had already run toward the Cryogenic Area with all his might.
But when he finally reached the entrance to the Cryogenic Area—when he was finally just one step away from entering—he heard laughter rise from behind him.
[Hehehe—caught you—]
That thing caught him right at the doorway. He thought he had survived. He thought he had succeeded. But in truth, that was merely the final remnant of obsession left behind by a self that refused to accept reality.
So he could not succeed. Someone who was already dead—someone who had already become an obsession—could no longer return to the stage of being human, much less pursue the so-called realm of gods.
At this moment, Vernon finally understood this fact.
Thud—
He collapsed to the ground, trembling as he crawled forward, then turned around and leaned back against the transparent barrier, his face deathly pale as he looked at the blood-red figure standing before him.
[Hehehe—caught you—]
The blood-soaked female aberration smiled at him, smiling happily like a child, yet there was not the slightest trace of emotion or feeling in her voice.
Vernon knew that the moment of judgment he was about to face had arrived.
So he tremulously raised his head and looked up at the sky—at that pitch-black sky in which no light existed at all.
[Ah… ahh… God… if you truly exist…]
[I beg you, I beg you… have mercy on me…]
The next instant came the sound of bones and flesh being pulverized together.
A shrill scream tore through the sky.
And that pitiful, ugly soul—long since dead, yet stubbornly refusing to accept its fate and struggling on until now—was at last torn to shreds at this moment, dragged into hell by those aberrant beings overflowing with hatred.
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