Principality of the Lungs, Oxygen Gate.
⟪T–1:31⟫
The gate creaked open—yet no fresh breeze flowed through.
Instead, a sticky gray haze rolled in, heavy and choking.
As the host, Choi Juhui, drifted toward unconsciousness, the smog spread across the Lung Principality like a shadow of suffocation.
Alveoli.
They should have swelled like crystal bubbles, transparent and alive.
Now they sagged like torn umbrellas, inverted and collapsed.
No air, only the rasping echo of coughs rebounding off dead walls.
Time itself felt frozen.
"The alveoli… they've shriveled! We opened the gate, but the haze already swallowed everything!"
The lymphocyte's voice cracked, her small body trembling. Even she could barely endure this toxic air.
Zero clutched his chest. Each breath felt like swallowing stones, a blunt weight crushing into his lungs. His wrist throbbed with dull golden rhythm. Alternate Pulse—the ability to temporarily prop up the failing heart. He would have to use it, to force the alveoli to breathe again.
Then—
The haze quivered.
From within, dozens of thin tendrils slithered out.
Same color. Same texture. Perfectly camouflaged shadows of the smog itself.
"Those are Oxygen-Deprivation Chaos," the lymphocyte hissed. "They're born whenever the host fears breathing… shadows born of terror itself."
Dozens of tendrils lashed out. The gray tide surged toward Zero.
Bang! Whoosh!
He twisted his body, dodging by instinct. His wrist snapped and a golden pulse burst forth, exploding the tendrils back. The smog rippled, the Chaos shrieking—only to reform again, larger, angrier, crashing forward like a tidal wave.
The lymphocyte's small body was caught. Tendrils coiled around her, squeezing. Her face turned pale.
"Kh—! Zero… the Chamber of Breath… the Lord—!"
"Hold on!"
Zero unleashed another blast of golden rhythm, shattering the coils that bound her. The tendrils tore apart with a sickening rip. He seized her and ran, lungs burning, as if sprinting through deep water.
"Where is the Chamber of Breath?!" His voice echoed, muffled by haze.
"The largest alveolus… the Lord is… inside…"
She coughed violently, barely lifting her hand to point. Her eyes shimmered with despair.
Principality of the Lungs, Chamber of Breath. Entrance.
⟪T–0:55⟫
At last, a massive dome loomed ahead.
The Chamber of Breath.
Once clear as crystal, now veiled in a murky pall, standing silent like a tomb.
⟪Warning: Suffocation threshold imminent⟫
⟪Mission: Rescue the Lung Lord, restore oxygen flow⟫
Zero hurled himself at the dome—only to be slammed back. Its surface clung to him like living skin, elastic and unyielding.
"The pressure difference—! We can't break through!" the lymphocyte cried, hammering her fists on the wall to no avail.
Wummm—
From within, something stirred.
The smog condensed, shaping a monstrous frame.
A ribcage, swelling like a grotesque lung, dozens of eyes set into the flesh, each burning with red gleam.
⟪Boss Appears: Carbon-Dioxide Chaos 'Horp'⟫
"…Why enter…? You'll choke… you'll die…"
Its voice was a rasp, half-moan, half-curse, swelling as its body inflated. The haze thickened, suffocating both inside and out. Even the thin pocket of clean air around Zero vanished.
The lymphocyte doubled over, coughing blood.
"Horp… it feeds on the Lord's despair. Each time the host fears to breathe, it grows stronger…!"
Chamber of Breath. Assault attempt.
⟪T–0:23⟫
Zero's vision blurred. His lungs felt like they'd swallowed boulders. Even his heartbeat dulled, each beat slower than the last. The lymphocyte lay limp in his arms.
He stared at his hand. The golden rhythm flickered weakly. 'Alternate Pulse'—but in this suffocating mire, even his power struggled.
No. He could not give up. Not while Juhui's life hung in balance.
He forced the rhythm outward, spreading it through his entire body. For an instant, the haze recoiled, opening a thin pocket of air. He sucked in the brief breath. Already the haze pressed back in.
"With this power… I'll carve the path."
Horp shuddered, massive frame shaking the dome.
From the ceiling, droplets of sticky black liquid rained down—poison, seeping into every alveolus.
"Lymphocyte! Find the purification device! I'll hold him here!"
He pressed her against the dome's wall. She nodded faintly, wings trembling as she shot into the haze, scattering light.
Dozens of red eyes flashed.
The monster's voice rumbled like an avalanche.
"Your hope… I'll devour it."
⟪T–0:07⟫
The tendrils surged like a storm, slicing from all directions. Zero twisted, golden rhythm flaring.
Boom—!
The pulse struck Horp's chest, carving a jagged fissure across its ribcage. Red light and gold clashed, shaking the Chamber itself.
The true battle had only just begun.
To be continued.