THOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The entire mental world shattered like broken glass.
Maya fell backward violently as the gigantic red eyes opened wider inside the endless darkness.
The pressure alone felt inhuman.
Ancient.
Evil.
Alive.
Luna instantly covered her ears screaming.
"HE'S COMING!!"
CRAAAAACK!!
Massive black chains suddenly erupted across the void.
The darkness itself started moving.
Breathing.
Watching.
Maya grabbed Luna protectively.
"Who is that?!"
Luna trembled uncontrollably.
Her small body felt ice cold.
"The first one..."
"...the original failed god..."
Outside in reality—
LEVEL ZERO was collapsing rapidly.
Emergency lights exploded overhead.
Entire corridors began falling apart.
Scientists and soldiers ran in panic.
WARNING. DIMENSIONAL BREACH DETECTED.
WARNING. HADES GATE STABILITY BELOW 12%.
Kabir stared at the gigantic black gate in horror.
"...why do I feel like we're about to meet Satan's grandfather?"
Nobody answered.
Because suddenly—
THOOOOOOOOOM!!
Something slammed against the other side of the gate.
The entire underground city shook violently.
Even Arman looked toward it slowly.
And for the first time—
fear appeared in his eyes.
Ethan noticed immediately.
"...Arman?"
Arman's voice came out quietly.
"...something is inside."
Director Vale slowly smiled.
Not fear.
Not panic.
Pure obsession.
"After decades..."
"...our god awakens."
Kabir looked disgusted.
"You cult people seriously need therapy."
But then—
BOOOOOOOOOM!!
The black gate cracked slightly open.
And a gigantic hand emerged from the darkness.
Not human.
Its skin looked burned and stitched together from thousands of bodies.
Dozens of eyes blinked across its fingers.
Children's voices echoed from inside its flesh.
"...help us..."
"...it hurts..."
Several soldiers immediately lost their minds.
One scientist started screaming hysterically before shooting himself.
Another dropped to his knees crying blood.
Ethan backed away horrified.
"No..."
"The HADES Core wasn't creating weapons..."
His face went pale.
"It was building a vessel."
Director Vale slowly raised both arms proudly.
"Humanity needed evolution."
"And we created it."
Suddenly—
Arman's body exploded with black-red energy again.
The HADES Core inside him reacted violently to the creature beyond the gate.
WARNING. CORE SYNCHRONIZATION INITIATED.
Arman grabbed his head in pain.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!"
Thousands of voices screamed inside him simultaneously.
Children.
Experiments.
Monsters.
All crying.
All begging.
The energy around him spiraled out of control.
BOOOOOOM!!
The floor beneath his feet completely collapsed.
Kabir grabbed Ethan before he fell into the abyss.
"Bad day."
"Very bad day."
But inside the mental world—
Maya saw the darkness moving closer.
Massive footsteps echoed endlessly across the void.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
Every step cracked reality itself.
Luna cried harder.
"He wants Arman..."
Maya froze.
"...why?"
Luna looked up fearfully.
"Because Arman survived the Core."
"He became the perfect key."
Suddenly—
FLASH.
Memories exploded through Maya's mind.
Children chained inside laboratories.
Scientists cutting open living bodies.
Black energy injected into screaming kids.
And standing above all of them—
a younger Director Vale.
Smiling.
FLASH END.
Maya almost collapsed from horror.
"...monster..."
Luna's voice shook.
"HADES was never an experiment."
"It was a prison."
"The gate was created to keep HIM locked away."
Maya's breathing stopped.
Then everything suddenly made sense.
Project Zero.
The experiments.
The children.
The Core.
They were never creating soldiers.
They were trying to create someone powerful enough—
to open the gate safely.
And Arman succeeded.
Outside—
the gigantic creature behind the gate suddenly spoke.
Its voice shook the entire underground city.
"...ARMAAAAN..."
The walls cracked instantly.
Blood poured from multiple soldiers' ears.
Even Subject Zero started screaming uncontrollably.
Arman's eyes widened.
Because the voice sounded familiar.
Almost...
fatherly.
The creature smiled from inside the darkness.
"...my son..."
Everyone froze.
Kabir blinked slowly.
"...nah."
"...absolutely not."
Ethan stared at Arman in horror.
"That's impossible..."
Director Vale looked emotional again.
"Generation after generation..."
"Failure after failure..."
"And finally..."
He looked at Arman proudly.
"The heir of HADES is born."
Maya's heart dropped instantly.
"No..."
Arman stepped backward slowly.
Confused.
Broken.
"...what did you call me?"
Before Vale could answer—
Subject Zero suddenly ROARED violently.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!
Its massive stitched body lunged toward the gate desperately.
Not attacking.
Protecting.
Luna screamed inside the mental world.
"She's trying to stop HIM!"
Suddenly the children trapped inside Subject Zero all began crying together.
"Don't let the gate open!!"
"Please!!"
"We don't want to die again!!"
Maya's eyes filled with tears.
They weren't monsters.
They were victims.
All of them.
And then—
Arman finally moved.
Slowly.
Painfully.
He looked at the terrified children around him.
At Maya.
At Subject Zero fighting against the gate.
And finally—
at Director Vale.
Something inside him snapped.
Not into darkness.
Into rage.
Pure human rage.
Black-red flames exploded around his body.
But this time—
they felt different.
Controlled.
Focused.
Arman looked directly at Vale.
His voice was terrifyingly calm.
"You used children..."
Vale smiled proudly.
"To save humanity."
Wrong answer.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
Arman vanished instantly.
A shockwave ripped apart the corridor.
Before anyone could react—
Vale was suddenly slammed through three steel walls.
Blood exploded across the air.
Kabir stared blankly.
"...okay remind me to NEVER annoy him again."
Arman walked forward slowly through the smoke.
His black eyes burned like living fire.
"You called this evolution?"
Another explosion.
Vale crashed violently across the chamber again.
Bones shattered loudly.
CRRRRACK!!
For the first time—
Director Vale screamed.
And Arman kept walking toward him.
"Children died for your obsession."
BOOOOOOOM!!
Another punch.
The entire underground city trembled.
Meanwhile—
the gigantic gate continued opening wider.
The ancient creature inside slowly crawled closer.
Smiling endlessly in the dark.
And deep inside the mental world—
Luna suddenly looked terrified again.
"Maya..."
Maya turned quickly.
"What happened?!"
Luna pointed behind her with trembling hands.
The darkness had started opening eyes.
Hundreds of them.
Thousands.
All staring directly at Maya.
And then—
every voice inside the void whispered together—
❝THE MOTHER HAS ARRIVED.❞
Maya's blood turned cold.
Because she realized—
they weren't looking at Luna.
They were looking at her.
The entire void suddenly began trembling violently.
Maya stepped backward instinctively.
"...what did you just call me?"
No answer came.
Only thousands of glowing eyes staring at her from the darkness.
Unblinking.
Hungry.
Watching.
Luna grabbed Maya's hand tightly.
Her voice shook with fear.
"We have to leave... RIGHT NOW!"
But before Maya could react—
FLASH!!
A horrifying pain exploded inside her head.
Images flooded her mind uncontrollably.
A secret laboratory.
A woman screaming while scientists injected black energy into her body.
A newborn baby crying.
Ancient symbols glowing on the walls.
And standing beside the child—
Director Vale.
Smiling.
FLASH END.
Maya collapsed to her knees breathing heavily.
"...what was that?"
Luna looked terrified.
"He finally found you..."
Outside in reality—
the gigantic gate opened another inch.
BOOOOOOOOM!!
A massive wave of dark energy exploded across LEVEL ZERO.
Entire buildings underground started collapsing instantly.
Scientists ran screaming through burning corridors.
Emergency evacuation alarms echoed endlessly.
WARNING. FINAL BREACH IMMINENT.
Kabir grabbed Ethan aggressively.
"We are officially OUT of survival plans!"
Ethan stared at Maya's unconscious body in horror.
"Something's happening to her brain..."
But suddenly—
Arman froze.
His black eyes widened slowly.
Because the ancient creature beyond the gate had stopped looking at him.
Now—
it was staring at Maya.
And for the first time—
the monster smiled.
Not cruelly.
Not violently.
Almost... lovingly.
Its gigantic voice echoed across the underground world.
"...after all these years..."
"...I found you."
Maya's breathing stopped.
Even Luna looked horrified.
"No..."
The creature's red eyes glowed brighter.
"...the true vessel."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Then suddenly—
every screen inside LEVEL ZERO activated simultaneously.
Static filled the monitors.
And one final message appeared everywhere—
❝PHASE THREE INITIATED.
AWAITING THE MOTHER OF HADES.❞
Kabir blinked slowly.
"...okay."
"...I officially miss the days when we only had killer monsters."
And deep beneath the collapsing city—
something ancient began laughing in the dark.