Two fools stood before an empty void, unbothered by the gloom radiating from its surface.
"So, this is an inverted void?"
"Yeah. And definitive proof that we're dealing with something capable of terraforming. Ah, I love being right."
"Wait, didn't Oliver technically–"
"Are we saving your comrades or not?"
"Sure, but do we just… walk through?"
"You can try, but I wouldn't."
"Why not?"
"You're already pushing your luck by sticking your hand in like that. Let your whole body slip through, and there's no coming back."
"Gah! You could've said that earlier."
"Well, it's a hassle having to explain everything. I would've had to tell you that being swallowed by an inverted void means getting trapped in a state of eternal dissonance. You'd become your own limbo. Existing within an infinity that simultaneously doesn't exist in the natural world, finding no beginning or end as you drift as a paradox without a will to speak of."
"..."
"Or so the theory suggests. I guess I could've explained it after all… why are you looking at me like that?"
"You're telling me that is what stands between us and the girls?!"
"Calm down, genius. Like I said, if I can still sense them, there must be openings that lead into the zone they're stuck in. That's why I sent those two to find it while we search for another method."
"They could get swallowed if they don't know how dangerous this thing is. Is that why you made me link them together?"
"Exactly. If even a fragment of them stays connected to the real world, they'll be able to pull each other out."
"Okay, but have you considered what happens if they decide to jump in at the same time?"
"..."
"..."
"Let's go after them. Now."
"I knew it."
…
Attempt twelve. I finally understood Whitney's ability, and the reason she refused to tell me. Or rather, the reason she refused to tell Rita.
Without Red around, my steel could only shatter uselessly against the creature's hide, but at specific moments, my blade managed to hold firm and pierce it.
At first, I assumed it was just another inconsistency in its durability. But by the tenth attempt, I noticed a pattern: every successful breach carried intention.
On the eleventh attempt, I shifted my focus away from the beast entirely, determined to identify the true catalyst.
Each time I managed to inflict even the slightest wound, Whitney's level would dip, subtly, but unmistakably.
It made sense.
She possessed an authority that allowed her to transfer her level to others.
Naturally, she had to use it with precision.
A single miscalculation would leave her exposed, and could easily result in hers or out deaths.
It's safe to say she was carrying far more than I ever gave her credit for.
And if Rita's habit of rejecting any help directed her way was something she'd always done, even back at the academy, then it's no wonder Whitney never tried to tell her.
…
Attempt twenty‑two. I began to sense Litho before he appeared.
I started calling him that because his default introduction is trying to swallow you whole.
Funnily enough, since he doesn't have a digestive system, you only get about halfway in before he gives up and bites you instead.
So he sort of reminded me of a bullfrog.
"Sensing" Litho might not be the most accurate term. It's more like I simply know when he's here, even when I don't see him or sense anything tangible.
Logically, it makes no sense. But maybe we're starting to develop a friendship that transcends these cycles.
Or not.
"Aaaarrrrgh!"
I took the worst damage I'd ever suffered in the zone.
And even though the damage resets at the start of a new cycle, the pain still lingers for a brief moment.
It was always a bad sign when Whitney didn't get to say her first line. That meant I'd let my reaction to the previous cycle bleed into the next.
This time, I was screaming while clutching my shoulder.
Conniving Litho managed to clamp down on my arm when I tried to manually drive a blade through his head. Then he had the audacity to perform a death roll on me.
That was definitely excessive. It would've been better if he'd simply taken the arm.
Instead, Tzuri's scales tried to stop him from getting away with the limb.
Pain was never a factor for the uniform whenever it mitigated or healed damage, so the result was my arm being wrung and twisted like a rag between their bizarre tug‑of‑war.
Unfortunately, the left side of my torso had to serve as leverage for the scales until Litho finally gave up, which made the pain even worse.
Needless to say, I was out of commission until the cycle restarted.
I still wasn't sure what would happen if I actually died here. And the possibility wasn't worth testing, so I wasn't inclined to switch the uniform off.
If I had a choice, I'd only risk removing it if I could put it on Whitney instead. That way, she wouldn't have to be so hesitant in battle.
Alas, it was assimilated to my body alone and rejected merging with anyone else. I had to assume that was deliberate. Oliver and the Captain were meticulous in their own special way.
"Are you alright now?" Whitney asked as she received the flask of water she'd given me.
"Yes, I'm okay."
After I repeatedly refused to calm down, but still insisted we continue working through our quota of raptors, Jínxī and Dylan volunteered to put in double the effort while Whitney stayed with me.
If I didn't agree to at least that much, it would seem like I didn't trust them to handle such an easy task on their own. So I relented and sat down.
"You said you couldn't tell us what happened, so I won't ask. We can talk about something else, though I can't think of anything that wouldn't bore you."
"Is that fine? Dylan and Jínxī are working hard."
"Meh, boys love hunting anyway, so it's good for them. Besides, they probably want a chance to show off for once, since you always upstage them."
"Er… alright then."
Whitney was the kind of girl people considered bland and basic on the surface, at least, that's what Jínxī liked to say.
She was supposedly as "girly" as it got, obsessed with hairdressing, beauty in appearances, romantic fiction, and she hated excessive violence.
A combination of all those traits made her a "bane of progression" to girls everywhere, or so she joked, but I was never put off by her simplicity.
It became even more interesting when I learned she grew up in a failed society, probably surrounded by the purest forms of ignorance and dysfunction imaginable.
No matter how repetitive she thought she was, "boring" was the last word I'd use for her.
And for the first time since I ended up in the zone, I spoke my heart out.
"...now he's probably worried sick. It's times like this I start thinking it was a bad thing for us to rely on each other so much growing up."
"Haha, sounds like you care about each other a lot. I'm kinda jealous I didn't grow up with a sibling. And I wish you'd told me you had a twin sooner."
"It just never came up," I replied, unsure why she sounded offended.
"Nuh‑uh! If I had someone I was that close with, I'd never shut up about them."
"Well, Blue and Red were always two for one."
"About that, what's with the colorful names? No pun intended."
"Ah. Apparently we both developed a liking for the first color we remembered seeing."
"I guess that makes sense. If you were awakened at birth, the mutation would make your eye colors all weird and bright."
"Right. And since we left with no indication of our origins, the matron named us after those colors."
"No offense, but it sounds like she got lazy." Whitney folded her arms and squinted at me.
"Hey, that's not fair. I like it that way." I laughed.
"By the way, from the way you talk, you make it sound like you're the big sister. But honestly, you rely on him just as much, if not more. If anything, he sounds like the cool and collected big brother."
"What? What makes you say that?"
"Well, it's just a hunch but…"
It was my turn to fold my arms.
I wondered what I'd said that made me seem like the less mature one. I wanted a clearer explanation.
"C'mon… Don't be mad, Rita. Forget I said anything, please?"
"What are you talking about? I'm not mad. If you think I'm immature, that's perfectly fine. That's just your opinion."
"Awww… I'm so sowwy!"
"Nhnga–haha, get off me!"
I pushed against her as her arms wrapped tightly around my waist.
"Wow… that's a sight."
"Eh?"
"Oh, don't mind us. It's not like this is a group mission or anything."
"Oh, don't be so mad, Jínxī. Besides, no one asked you two to go without us."
"You literally did!"
I turned to Whitney as Jínxī revealed what I'd missed during my confusion.
"Whitney?"
"Uh… I…"
She glanced around, avoiding my eyes, then suddenly raised her hand.
Oddly, we assumed she was about to do something meaningful, before she tapped the top of her head and tilted it cutely.
"Teehee…"
"""..."""
"..."
"This time I'm gonna kill you!"
Jínxī immediately lifted her with his cube and held her upside down, leaving her swaying and swiping at the air.
"Hey! You can't do this to me! Rita, they're bullying me!"
Even if I wanted to help her, it was better she face the consequences for pulling a stunt like that, even if it was for my sake, so I let her dangle.
"You can't do this to me, I'm the group sweetheart! Right, Dylan?"
"Please… just leave me out of this."
"Gah! You always say that—mmph…"
Her rambling was suddenly muffled by the ribbon of her school uniform as it wrapped over her mouth.
"Woah, I didn't know you could control inanimate objects too, Jínxī."
I ignored Whitney's muffled "What's the big idea?" after saying so.
"Hm? Well, yeah. I can control anything as long as it fits within the limits of my established domain."
That wasn't a detail I'd ever noted. If he could control anything, could he control authorities as well?
I hadn't considered it before, but it reminded me of the Captain.
If he were here, what would he scold me about?
He'd probably say I wasted too many cycles prioritizing those three, or that I should stop viewing the cycles as good or bad and simply accept them as they are.
Thinking about it, I wondered what he was trying to teach me with my crimson forest, or how it tied into the lecture he gave me after the last game of scramble.
Habits and patterns…
I thought, then sprouted a single blade and pulled it from the ground before walking toward Dylan.
It was such a simple solution. The Captain even repeated it multiple times. Why didn't I consider how our abilities interact? I only ever focused on Litho.
"Heads up," I said as I slowly brought the blade down toward his head.
Well, slow for me.
For him, it was fast enough to panic.
His hands shot up toward the blade, and before they touched it, they stopped.
The blade stopped too.
He'd created his barriers around the space between his palms, which in turn halted the blade.
"That's it."
…
The Shadowbeast slowly crept along the rim of the canyon as it observed the group of humans who had unknowingly drawn its attention.
It was fully prepared to snuff them out at any moment, but it preferred to do so without encountering the sudden, inexplicable surprises humans were sometimes capable of.
Many of them were far more dangerous than they appeared. It was best to gauge their abilities before launching its ambush.
The method it favored was simple.
Intimidate a wave of lesser creatures into charging the humans all at once.
From that, it learned their strengths and weaknesses.
The largest one was its first priority, he seemed to be the key to their overall sustainability.
The one wielding the metallic tool possessed a dangerous power, but lacked the mobility to avoid attacks while using it. He would fall easily.
The girl with the cream colored hair.
Her aura didn't spike like the others. She wasn't a fighter, and when she did, her energy fluctuated wildly. She would be an easy target if it caught her at her lowest.
The most dangerous one was the girl with blond hair and red eyes.
She was the most experienced, and her level more than doubled the others'.
Yet instinct whispered, again and again, that she would not go down easily.
If it faced her alone, it would have no leeway to catch the others.
She would have to be saved for last.
As long as they remained in the canyon, it could see them at all times. All it needed was for them to fall into a certain arrangement, and it would strike.
And sure enough, they did.
The one with the barriers drifted too close to the wall, lagging behind the others.
The red‑eyed girl had taken her attention off him.
And the one with the tool was close enough that his escape could be cut short.
So it leaped, jaws agape, ready to break its target on impact.
The silence of its descent defied all logic, but that was precisely the feature it relied on to catch its target unawares.
Yet the closer it fell toward the canyon floor, the louder its instincts screamed.
Something was wrong about this hunt.
Suddenly, a pair of crimson eyes snapped toward it mid‑dive, and it knew instantly, its arrival had been anticipated.
With no hesitation, it shifted its trajectory, springing off a jutting fin of rock and lunging straight for her instead.
"Gotcha…"
It heard her murmur just before it crashed into a thicket of metal blades, rolling across more of them as its fall was met by weapons made even deadlier by the speed of its descent.
It scrambled upright immediately, alert and scanning its surroundings, but its eyes found nothing except a forest of sharp steel, all gleaming the color of blood.