The smoke slowly thinned inside the abandoned building.
What had once been a small office complex was now half-swallowed by nature. Moss crawled up cracked concrete walls. Thick roots had burst through the floor tiles, lifting them like broken teeth. A tree had grown straight through the roof, its branches stretching toward the open sky.
In the centre of it all, the black-haired woman who was carrying Ren suddenly released him from her arms.
Her fingers slipped from his arm.
"Gh…!"
She staggered back one step, then another, before collapsing heavily onto the moss-covered floor. Blood spread beneath her, dark and thick, seeping between broken tiles.
Ren stood frozen.
"…What?"
His breathing was heavy because he felt affected by some kind of a smoke. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he stared at her unmoving body. Surprise flashed across his face, followed quickly by confusion, then anger.
"No… no way…" Ren muttered.
