𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙡 ♥︎

Chapter 74: Her Paradise

"Urgh..."

I groaned, feeling the impact left in my abdomen. Aching as my legs quaked whilst trying to stand up, holding onto my scythe, clutching it tightly. My breathing was ragged and unstable, and my vision was blurring.

Mere hours ago we were able to capture Nihilister, the Heretic we've been chasing after for a good few years now. Her state was... barely functional, looked like she had just went through a skirmish with another Heretic.

We were able to retrieve her and trap her in the Atlas Cage. Everyone rejoiced at the accomplishment, there  was no telling the amount of information we could beat out of her and the technology we can reproduce.

Johan alerted Dorothy, who later reached out to 'the Monk', whoever that may have been. Noah and Isabel finally could take a breather from the constant missions they'd been getting sent on, and so could I.

... At least, that's what we thought. For only a few hours.

The alarms at Eden blared, my ears felt as if they were being pricked by needles. Entire facilities entered lockdown, and we were dispatched to deal with the intruder.

Isabel went first in an attempt to locate whoever it was who came unannounced, but that was the very first mistake we would make that day.

Battered. Completely torn apart in a gruesome scene of gore and mutilation. It was an entire miracle in itself that her head had remained intact. Whoever she engaged with had to be a Heretic.

Noah was tasked to protect the Atlas Cage if the intruder were to attempt freeing Nihilister. The plan was short lived, however. Her shields barely managed to make a difference, and she fell just as gruesomely as Isabel.

I had no idea where Johan or Dorothy were, Alva Particles in the area had increased drastically, preventing me from contacting Cecil.

I tried to remain steady, I tried to remain calm. But knowing the fact that all of my squadmates fell without a hitch, and that I was the only one left, made me crack open like a faltering egg.

I dropped my guard, for one split second, and that was all it took.

Someone blew a hole right through my abdomen and kicked my side so viciously I flew through the barrier. I dropped my scythe in the chaos, and the pain I felt served to distract me further.

Trying, again and again, to turn off my pain sensors, but nothing worked. My head spun, it felt as if the world around me as I knew it was crumbling without a second of struggle.

My mind was in ruin.

... Thud.

Then, she landed in front of me,

while holding Nihilister's limp body over her shoulder.

No matter how blurred my vision had gotten, I could see her perfectly. A figure towering over me, her white hair flowing in the free wind with a shine I could only dream of.

Black armor enveloped her body. It glistened in the setting sun's light, and I could have see my reflection on it.

Her eyes were red... but they did not feel threatening. I knew that was a Heretic, nothing else could explain the power I witnessed, but her eyes... they made me feel calm, despite the situation unfolding before me.