The audience could guess:
These monsters were either summoning their "Lord"—
or breaking free.
Neither outcome boded well.
Beside them, D-14134's face twisted with visible despair.
He couldn't forgive himself—not just for playing into the monsters' hands, but for—
"I failed Barclay."
"I knew it," he muttered.
"I knew I'd screw up. I always do. Those people weren't wrong. My suffering wasn't because of my birth—others like me made better lives. No, it's just... I'm a fool."
Watching this man crushed by regret,
the chatroom ached with helpless empathy.
By any measure,
he'd pushed a normal human to their absolute limits.
Even some superpowered beings across the multiverse wouldn't have done better.
Yet—
It all seemed pointless.
Silently, viewers wondered:
What now?
Death?
Marvel Universe – S.H.I.E.L.D.
The air hung heavy.
This mission had defied all expectations.
The recruited agents—outshone by a D-Class nobody.
D-14134's humanity had moved them all.
But reality struck back—harder.
"Against servants of an eldritch god... a normal man was always outmatched," Natasha said softly.
Nick Fury opened his mouth—then froze.
On-screen, D-14134 straightened, resolve reigniting.
Fury's breath hitched.
"He's... not giving up?"
The Epiphany
D-14134's gaze drifted from the horror before him—
Landed on the altar.
The "key."
As his eyes traced its intricate patterns, the shadow's words echoed:
"Thank you for everything you've done."
"...our true form... evolution..."
"...use the 'key' to unlock the cage..."
Wait.
His mind snapped into focus.
"A key opens a lock..."
The half-formed thought crystallized.
Three-Body Universe – Earth
Luo Ji's jaw dropped.
D-14134—rising from despair—stirred something in him.
But that phrase—
"A key opens a lock..."
"This man... is a genius," he breathed.
A naive hope, perhaps—
But what other choice was there?
Most viewers didn't grasp D-14134's plan.
Yet his defiance electrified them.
Inventory Check
2 bullets left.
A notched dagger.
A two-thirds-full alcohol bottle.
Wooden floorboards beneath him.
He studied these meager tools, then:
The swelling shadow-mass (a viral monstrosity).
The altar (he'd tinkered with it before—enough to understand).
His silent prayer: Don't notice me.
The Shadow's Ecstasy
It basked in perfection.
Its Lord approached, enveloping it in divine favor—earned favor.
Every sacrifice, every struggle—redeemed.
Even its past doubts had vanished.
Then—
"D-Class! You alive?!"
Its eyes snapped open—rage.
BOOM.
A fireball erupted, lighting the void.
Jinx and Dante crash-landed into the fray.
D-14134's Voice
"Here."
Even Dante blinked. "Holy shit. You lived?"
They'd followed his trail—hoping, not expecting.
Surviving here alone?
They might not have managed it.
Yet this ordinary man had.
The Shadow's Wrath
The ritual's climax—ruined.
"KILL THESE SACRILEGIOUS WORMS!"
A tidal wave of demons surged.
As for D-14134?
The shadow sneered. "A half-dead nobody."
Besides—
He was the ritual's vessel.
Eyes closing, it resumed chanting.
D-14134's Smirk
Hidden in darkness, his lips curled.
Watching Jinx and Dante fight, his resolve hardened.
A silent vow:
"Morituri te salutant."