"SHUT UP!"
That shadow's mocking smile. I hated it. Why me? What did I do to deserve this? Why can't it just die! Why can't it just leave me alone?
Without thinking, I threw myself at the void spawn. It blocked me with ease with its transformed arm, sending sparks toward me. I pushed against it, but I quickly found out this thing was far stronger than I was.
"Mother…how…could…you…" the void spawn spoke in a voice that was distorted with the voices of several children.
*THUMP THUMP*
I found myself pushing harder as the disembodied heartbeat echoed loudly in my head. The shadow that blocked the creature's face grew fuller, its mouth expanding ever wider.
Wouldn't this be how Rinne will act once she learns the truth? A little ball of rage that will rip you to shreds. She has the blood of a Goddess in her. So did Rinara. So that makes you a Goddess killer. Die here, and you'll be free of that fate.
The shadow spoke directly into my head using my voice as it smiled creepily. Then the sounds of my gears stopped. The creature's arm had worn down the gears to the point where it was no longer operable.
"Stop…I said it HURTS!" the void spawn screamed as a black mass bulged out from behind it. A tentacle, or something that resembled one, shot out and jetted towards me. I leaped back, narrowly avoiding the pointed tip of the tentacle-like appendage. "Where's teddy?"
I slid on the slick ground below me, catching myself from falling backward. Once I stabilized myself, I faced the void spawn that had dug its arm into its side with its human-like arm. It pulled out a black mass that morphed into the shape of a teddy bear.
Its wrench arm transformed back into a black tentacle that hung low as it held the teddy bear close to its chest with its other arm.
*THUMP THUMP*
I instinctively pulled the trigger of my Gearsaw, but it made no sound. With the click of my tongue, I flipped my sword around so that the blade side was facing that monster.
"Tell me," the void spawn spoke clearly in the tone of a little girl. "Why do you lie?"
I forced a grin as I lowered my stance. This thing was really trying to have a conversation with me. To think void spawns could be this intelligent. Then again, I've never seen one make it this far before today.
"Is it because of your fragile ego?" it spoke, this time in the tone of a little boy. It held the bear closer to itself.
Desire, that was what Muller said our target was forcing us to feel. Each echoing heartbeat forced that feeling upon us. While my desire to kill only grew, this thing seemed to be docile, child-like in a way.
It was an easy prey.
"Is it because you have sinned? Or could you not handle the sins of another?" Its voice changed to that of an older teen's.
I cursed my good hearing. It made it impossible to block out sounds I wished never existed. But then again, that's nothing my sword cannot fix. One swing to its face. The same mocking face that has been haunting me since Rinara's death. Maybe then I could get the noise to stop.
I felt a sharp grin stretch across my face as I dug my heels deep into the corpses below me. There was no need to pay heed to the dead; we all die, and our bodies turn into the dust that drifts across the wasteland.
Pushing hard against the bodies, I heard something pop. That was when I launched myself forward. I braced my body for a hard impact while holding my blade angled sharply towards the void spawn's neck. It was gonna be difficult without my gears to grind away at its hardened body, but my blade was sharp, which I personally make sure of.
"You learned of Mother's sin." The creature…no, the shadow spoke out loud. Its mouth moved as a voice that sounded like Rinne's came out, "That was why you killed her."
My foot stopped short of the creature's body. The momentum threw me off balance as my blade missed the creature's neck and tore through its human-like arm. It felt just like killing a human. Crimson blood sprayed out, painting my face with that metallic smell, the same way it did the day I lost her.
My sword fell to the ground. Its weight felt like my gun did that day.
"Ted…dy?" the void spawn spoke in a distorted voice as I stood in place, unable to lift my legs. At my feet was the bear it was once holding, held tightly by the severed hand.
"IT HURTS!"
"THERE YOU ARE!"
"STOP IT!"
"LET IT GO!!!"
The creature screamed in a deafening rage with several voices that overlapped.
"GAH!" The next moment, I felt a powerful blow slam into the center of my back. My light armor creaked as the blow rippled through my body. My legs lifted off the ground and I was sent hurling towards a wall of pipe.
"AAHHHHH!!!" Scolding steam sprayed into my right eye. I pushed off the pipe and crawled backward, holding my eye in pain.
My right eye stung too much for me to open it, but my left was still usable. Before me was a red mist, as a bright light illuminated the area, indicating pressure failure. On the ground was a broken pipe, its bolts sheared off from the mating plate.
I felt my chest; it slightly stung, but the armor I wore was completely shattered from the impact. Its jagged edges were digging into my skin. But strangely, it did not hurt as much as I would have thought.
With my hand still on my right eye, I turned around. The void spawn was frantically digging through the corpses with its remaining arm morphed into a shovel.
"Whe…re…ted…dy!?" It dug, dug, and dug. Tearing apart the corpses at its feet.
I step forward. A moist crunch filled my ears. At my feet was the teddy bear it had created using its body. It had the appearance of a bear passed down from child to child. Several of its original features were replaced by improvised items.
It reminded me of the toys that we children would hide from the adults back at the orphanage. Their original owners had long since passed, but we held onto it as it was the only thing that kept us sane.
Sane, huh?
I picked up the bear. That void spawn behaved differently while it was holding it. Then again, it never really saw me as a threat.
"LET…IT…GO!"
Within the blink of an eye, the void spawn had appeared mere inches away from me. Time felt like it slowed to a crawl as I watched its arm, now in the shape of a pickaxe, aimed straight between my eyes.
"Go join her."
He will not!
While time hardly moved, the shadow spoke to me. But as a rebuttal, there was a voice that echoed in my mind—Rinara's.
*BANG*
A single shot tore through the air as time returned to normal. The creature took a hit to the head, staggering to its left, grazing my right hand that covered my eye.