2024-10-10 01:32:289 Neo entered the building, glancing around to find his way. It didn't take him long to find the light source, likely triggered by Scholar. The whole place was pitch black because there were no windows. Even the oxygen seemed thin. The security was... admirable. And best of all, it made tracing the light source much easier.
Neo suddenly entered the room, making Scholar tremble. A dry smile appeared on his face as Neo walked up to the control deck to check out what Scholar was doing. What he saw made his eyes widen. There were two buttons beeping red. They seemed to be working on some kind of separate energy reserve, so the energy shutdown on the DCC didn't affect them. Beside both buttons were written: ... INITIATING NUCLEAR DECONTAMINATION ... INITIATING PERMANENT SHUTDOWN Neo's fist tightened as he stared at Scholar with murderous intent. His face demanded an explanation. Scholar's lip suddenly trembled, and he replied, "Fine… fine, now that you have found out, I guess there's nothing to hide anymore. All I'm doing is for the greater good anyway, but you just don't seem to understand, do you?" "When this virus was first discovered among three of you, you were quarantined by our seek-out squad. They wanted to eliminate you immediately, but I told them that the virus might be out there and we needed a vaccine, but that was the greatest mistake of my life," Scholar said, dropping his head. A tear fell down his eyes. He lingered for a moment and then continued. "I gathered the best specialists. I received orders from the management, and we headed for the core chamber. I was experienced, the best of the best. I was conceited in my abilities to the extent that I mutated the virus and created a variant that would always seek and destroy the virus in case things went south. I fed it to a coyote, birthing that monster out there. It felt so good. I wanted to do more. Then I proceeded to create the first vaccine. I fed the vaccine to you all, and it worked! It suppressed the presence of that virus in your body. So that's why we were invisible to the monster and wraiths at first, but now that its effects are waning, we will inevitably end up like them. I thought I was the only one who contacted the virus during the research session, but it turned out I was wrong. Everyone perished, and my vaccine only saved a few people. Shame!!" Scholar paused a bit. A maniacal laugh escaped from his lips, and he then continued once again. "I might have failed, but I proved them all wrong. They locked up the monster with us to devour us if I failed, but now the monster is feeding on them. How ironic. But still, I'm a man of my words... I'm sorry, I'll have to clean up this mess myself. If this virus gets out, the whole world will be doomed." Scholar said, his gaze darkening. He raised his weary arms in an attempt to slam a button. Neo clenched his jaw. An expression of cold, icy calculation made its way to his eyes. "I'm sorry too." Neo thrust the bone in his arm into Scholar's chest. Scholar gasped in surprise as his heart pounded for the very last time. Streams of hot blood flowed down Neo's arm, and Scholar's body fell steadily. * A cold, lifeless, bloodied body was lying on the floor. A piece of bone protruded from its chest, with its eyes wide open. A young man was sitting right beside it, weeping. He looked at his bloodied hands, and a pang of regret filled his heart. Right beside him was the first human he ever murdered... in cold blood. It might have been an illusory world, but it felt too real. And worst of all, Reaper didn't declare his victory, which meant that Scholar also wasn't the threat. He felt really miserable, but there was no time to sulk just yet. Death was still looming in the corner. Neo stood up and wiped his tears. He glanced at Scholar's corpse for the last time, then he used his hands to close its hollow eyes. As he cleaned the blood on his hand with Scholar's lab coat, he suddenly felt something in its pockets. Neo rummaged through it and found a silvery liquid encased in a glass casing. There were a few words scribbled on it: DCC SS PRODUCT ARV prototype vaccine "So this is what you've been hiding," Neo thought aloud as he proceeded to read the cautions. CAUTION: Taking vaccine twice or more poses risk of death. "Well, that explains a lot," Neo thought, putting it away. Neo approached the control deck. The vast and complex streams of keys, buttons, and screens befuddled him for a moment. He simply didn't know how to operate them. He stared at the words beside the buttons again, as a sense of foreboding crept into his mind. If he had allowed Scholar's hand to touch the buttons, the DCC would have been shut down permanently without remedy, and there would have also been a nuclear decontamination? Although Neo didn't know what the latter really meant, he could more or less make a rough guess as to its purpose. If there was anything that could destroy any virus, organism even, it's heat… intense heat. So, judging by the name, Neo was quite sure it was some kind of nuclear explosion. Neo suddenly shuddered, not because of his harrowing discovery, but because someone entered the room. Neo quickly turned, only to meet Beauty staring at Scholar's corpse with dark excitement. Her lips curved up slightly as she said, "Ahah!! I see you have killed him, now we are even."
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CHAPTER 45
"Crap!"Neo cursed, the word a tight knot in his throat. He ground his teeth together, channeling the last vestige of momentum from his swing, forcing himself forward. willow vine and the Bone of Contention were already plunging into the abyss below. Neo released his grip on the vine; he could summon his spectres back, but not himself from a potentially fatal fall. Spectres were expendable, but a half-insane Neo was not.The last surge of inertia flung him ten meters past below chasm's edge. Knowing the brutal impact was imminent, Neo summoned twin blades, driving them deep into the rock face. The swords bit, arresting his descent just short of a bone-shattering collision, Neo stared at the abyss below and smiled. "Not as bad as I thought ehh?"He dismissed his falling specters and began to climb, using his swords as improvised knives, hauling himself upwards inch by agonizing inch.Finally, he crested the rim of the chasm, emerging into the oppressive silence. Beads of sweat slick
CHAPTER 44
After staring at Neo for a few fleeting seconds, Blob averted its gaze back to the ice above. It seemed to wrestle with some inner turmoil. The sun was rising, its light filtering through the ice, and a cold sweat traced Neo's spine despite the chill. It wasn't fear he felt, but anxiety. He had never faced a creature of such power before. Yet, if push came to shove, he was prepared to stand his ground and go toe to toe with the creature, even if victory was uncertain. At the very least, Blob would not emerge unscathed."Blood for blood; that's the afterlife currency."Blob finally appeared to reach a decision, meandering toward the distant chasm and disappearing within. Neo finally took a breath and felt a weight lift off of him.He was still reluctant to move, though, lacking a concrete plan of action. Neo began to mentally retrace his steps, sinking into deep introspection. But something quickly disrupted his thoughts. Emerging from the chasm in droves were familiar figures, crawl
CHAPTER 43
Neo's vision and breath were momentarily stolen; the water muffled his hearing as the world spun around him. Then—Bam!!!He slammed against the floor, a jarring thud echoing in the cavern. A groan escaped his lips as he tried to roll over, but his entire body ached. To make matters worse, water continued to cascade onto his face. With considerable effort, Neo finally managed to roll out of the waterfall's path and stand, finally taking in his surroundings. The air hung heavy and still, a damp blanket pressing against his skin. An earthy scent permeated the space, a blend of wet stone and a peculiar, almost fungal, scent of antiquity. Above, a vast expanse of azure ice covered nearly everything, its light almost divine. This celestial radiance was punctuated by shadows lurking in the distance, where the light couldn't penetrate. A wide chasm, seemingly devoid of light, divided the two sections of the cavern. This was no ordinary cave; it was a subterranean chamber, a colossal cathed
CHAPTER 42
Neo sat in a meditative pose within a cave, positioned several meters above the lake on the far side of the valley. The lake's waters silently lapped at the mountain's base as Neo stared blankly into the distance, seemingly indifferent to the leviathans battling far below. In truth, he couldn't see them at all; his consciousness resided in a different realm entirely.Neo’s feet dragged along the dark, charred sand. The silent breeze of his soul nipped at his skin. Around him stretched an expanse of the same strange, silent sea of dark sand, with a thick mist billowing in the distance. The only source of light was a pristine orb looming above. Though obscured by the heavy veil of mist, Neo could still discern its form.He had been mistaken all these years. The pristine orb was the soul core, the light that illuminated his inner being. He himself was within his own soul. The meaning of the billowing cloud of mist, however, remained a mystery.In the center of the dark desert lay an oasi
CHAPTER 41
A sharp, rhythmic, metallic clang dominated the valley of endless battles, a sound interwoven with the distant echoes of death and destruction from the ongoing bloodshed. A young man relentlessly hammered a large, crystalline-looking mallet against a jagged ledge below his feet. Its head, twice the size of his own, moved with surprising ease as he struck at the base of a jagged ledge near the ground. He stood upon this very ledge, working to separate it from the mountainside. Each powerful blow sent tremors through the stone beneath his feet, sparks erupting as the mallet connected, sending shards of rock flying. This was Neo, and he was far different from what he used to be. Neo’s body, once frail, was now honed and athletic. Sweat glistened on his bare chest, the muscles coiling around his chiseled form. His upper body was exposed and dirt-streaked, while below, his lower body was covered by Azure, a material that had folded itself into makeshift shorts for him. With a final
CHAPTER 40
Neo gritted his teeth, fighting to anchor his teetering consciousness. This was, invariably, the moment he loathed most: the agonizing wait, eyes closed, as the mental assault from the stronger killing intents ebbed away. Yet, on this day, he forced his eyelids open, compelled by a suspicion that had gnawed at him since he first discovered the ice barrier. With strained eyes and sheer willpower, Neo managed to pry his vision open, just as the lake's water level began to plummet drastically. Then, a grotesque, blob-like mass began to swell from within, its size expanding exponentially. Simultaneously, another massive creature, eerily reminiscent of a lion save for its deep obsidian skin and tenebrous steel wire-like veins coiling throughout its body, descended. Its enormous wingspan towered over the battlefield, an omen of death. Its mane was a thick cloud of dark mist, obscuring the evil that lurked in the depths of its eyes, and where a tail should have been, an enormous stinger, wi
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