Ethan, transformed into a mechanical monstrosity, stood alongside the spectral Eveline, floating at his side. Chris and the Hound Wolf squad, clutching Rose and Mia, could only watch in awe as Ethan charged toward the mold's beast—a tidal wave of rot that had swallowed even the helicopter soaring above.
"Get ready, Mold! I'll make you wish you'd burned in that bomb!"
"…I'm so sorry for neutralizing it, okay?"
"Don't call me Mold!"
The mold roared, bristling at the name, as Ethan slammed a circular saw formed from his right arm into its mass. The mold retaliated, entangling the saw with tendrils, halting it and crushing it into scrap.
"Mother Miranda called me the Black God. Thus, my name is Zeu Nugru!"
Zeu Nugru—the Black God in Romanian. Its massive fist crashed down, but Ethan, undeterred, reshaped his mangled right arm and left into crane-like appendages. Spinning his wrists like drills, he caught the blow, tore through the fist, and burrowed forward, shredding the mold's tendrils with relentless precision.
"Ethan, below!"
"What?!"
The ground beneath him erupted, a tower of mold tendrils thrusting upward, hurling Ethan and his mechanical shell skyward. From above, the mold's colossal form unfurled like a blooming flower, its circular wave engulfing the bridge and river below, forming a vast black plain. At its center stood the fetal core of the mold, collapsing into a humanoid shape.
"I am a god. I am Eveline. Thus, surrender Eveline and Rose… my priestesses!"
It was a woman, six black wings sprouting from her back, draped in a robe of crow-like feathers. Her body was Miranda's, but atop it sat Eveline's face, her hair cascading to her waist—an adult Eveline, as if the fetus had matured. Zeu Nugru, the Black God, raised its hands, glaring at Ethan in the sky as tendrils sprouted from the mold plain below.
"Don't steal my face when you don't even have a self!"
"Jet Soldat!"
Stranded midair, Ethan invoked Heisenberg's command over the Soldats, summoning four Jet Soldats from the factory. They fused with his steel frame, equipping him with jets and twin drill-claws on each wrist. Dodging the tendrils, he slashed through them with his claws and dove, aiming for Zeu Nugru's humanoid core.
"Mere steel cannot pierce my body."
"Tch!"
A wall of mold rose, blocking his attack and snapping his drill-claws like twigs. Ethan hammered the wall with steel fists and retreated skyward. Below, Chris and the Hound Wolf squad struggled to keep the mold's waves at bay.
"Feasting on countless sacrifices has made my body limitless! Be consumed!"
Zeu Nugru, the insatiable mold beast, pressed its assault. Ethan, weaving through the air, slashed at liquid tendrils with reformed saws and chainsaws, but the onslaught wore him down.
"I… I made it so strong by devouring everyone… ugh, sob…"
"Don't try to puke; just let it out. Eating the people you thought of as family… that shock's gotta hurt."
Ethan fought on, glancing at Eveline, who floated beside him, teary-eyed and retching. The "memories" he'd seen in the mold had erased his old hatred. Three years of a peaceful yet violent life as a mischievous, innocent girl—and her tragic end—had stirred his empathy.
"I can't forgive you, but letting that thing ruin you is wrong."
"Ethan…"
"I'll take revenge for your family in your place."
Junk metal gathered in Ethan's hands, forming two massive drills. His target: Zeu Nugru's humanoid core, raising walls and tendrils in defense.
"And above all… I won't let you touch Rose!"
Ethan dove, spinning his drills. He crashed into Zeu Nugru's dome-like barrier, scattering tendrils and cracking the surface. As dawn's light seeped through the fissures, Zeu Nugru's face twisted in disbelief.
"Impossible! You're piercing my body?!"
"No matter how tough, focus enough heat and force on one point, and it'll break! Once there's a crack…"
Ethan's frame morphed, his drills becoming a massive turbine. It spun, whipping up a tornado that pulverized the mold debris. Zeu Nugru, glimpsing its doom, spread its wings to flee, but Ethan shed part of his frame, drew a magnum, and fired six shots, shredding its wings. The humanoid core was swept into the vortex.
"Stop! My memories—the essence of me—is being destroyed!"
"Good riddance, you moldy bastard!"
"Eveline, save me!"
Even as the turbine ground it down, Zeu Nugru's durable core held, pleading with Eveline. She snapped back, furious.
"Don't mess with me! You made me devour Bela and the others, stoked my fear of Ethan, and left me alone!"
"It was for power! You wanted it, didn't you?"
"I never wanted power like that!"
"Submit to me! Stop, please, I don't want to vanish…"
"Bela and the others didn't want to vanish either, so don't you dare!"
Enraged, Eveline watched as Zeu Nugru broke free, stopping the turbine and soaring skyward with its wings. Dawn broke, the sun glinting as it targeted Rose, held by Mia in the factory.
"Don't let it through!"
"Out of my way!"
Chris and the Hound Wolf squad blocked the entrance, but their efforts barely slowed the mold's waves. Chris, stopping Ethan with a glance, confirmed Mia had escaped through a back exit she'd mentioned. He flipped a switch.
"Gotcha—blow!"
"The bomb you mentioned!"
The factory erupted in a massive explosion. But the blast, smaller than the planned N2 bomb meant to level the village, left Zeu Nugru unscathed, its wings unfurling from the ashes. The Hound Wolf squad gasped, their confidence shaken.
"I am immortal!"
"Damn monster!"
Chris charged with his assault rifle, but Ethan, landing on the ground, pondered.
"Chris's bomb and Heisenberg's turbine plan failed…"
"It was Karl's plan… wait, what about the Sturm he built to fight Miranda? That might…"
"Nah, I trashed that… wait, that's it!"
Ethan, inspired, charged as the wrecked turbine roared back to life. Chris and the Hound Wolf squad dove aside, Mia staring in shock as Ethan grappled Zeu Nugru. Its wings morphed into spider-like legs, stabbing Ethan repeatedly, blood and bile spilling from his mouth. But he clung tight, the turbine overheating and igniting.
"Mold's weak to fire, right? At this range, you can't block it!"
"You…!"
"Sorry for your loss!"
"GYAAAAH!"
The turbine's thermal runaway unleashed a flamethrower, engulfing Zeu Nugru. It collapsed, writhing, onto the mold plain, the fire spreading into a massive inferno.
"Ethan, you okay?!"
"Barely…"
Chris dragged a bloodied Ethan from the wreckage, leading Mia and the Hound Wolf squad through the flames, across the bridge, and past the ceremonial grounds to a waiting helicopter at the village's edge. They escaped into the sky.
"Ethan, thank you… what do I do now…?"
Eveline's voice faded as she vanished into the horizon.
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