"What..."
Adam stood completely still for a mont, a stupid look plastered across his face. His mouth hung slightly open, eyes unfocused as he slowly pulled his hands away from his head. He blinked once, twice, then started shaking his head vigorously from side to side, but nothing felt different.
There... doesn’t seem to be anything inside his skull.
"What... happened?" he muttered again, touching his forehead with trembling fingers.
"A fucking black crystal went inside you!" Carn still pointed at him. "Ah! El diablo! You a monster, gringo! I knew it! I knew—"
[The Administrators are explaining sothing. Please refrain from talking.]
Carn’s mouth snapped shut instantly when the voice spoke again. Everyone in the vicinity—IBAA agents, civilians, even the scattered ergency responders—looked first at the transford Leak, then up at the sky above.
[Scrimmage has two modes. One is Hunt mode, like what all of you have already been doing. And now you will have access to Survival mode. In Survival mode, the strongest within the vicinity of the gate will be chosen as your Emperor, and a corresponding Crystal will materialize and be put inside them.]
Every head turned toward Adam as those words echoed across the broken street. The IBAA agents exchanged glances. Even Carn’s wings twitched nervously. The distant civilians who hadn’t fully evacuated also stopped to stare at Adam.
[Once the countdown above the gate trickles to zero, Champions from other worlds will co rushing in. Defend your Emperor. Once your Emperor dies, the crystal inside them will be exposed. If this crystal gets destroyed, it will explode and destroy everything within the vicinity. Catastrophic, no? Well, I would love to say more, but that’s all the Administrators are willing to explain. Figure it out yourselves! Good luck!]
Survival...?
Adam looked down at his hands, his eyes widening as pieces slowly clicked together in his mind.
The others realized it too, their faces shifting from confusion to dawning horror.
"Hunt mode...? Survival mode? What do they even an...?"
"Stupid, didn’t you fucking listen?"
"We’ve... always been on hunt mode? What?"
"Survival...? Champion? What?"
Everyone was confused, or perhaps they were refusing to understand what the implications ant. Adam, however, understood exactly what all of it entailed.
This entire ti, they’d been killing monsters who were actually just trying to defend themselves. Or, in the Administrators’ words, survive them. But then, the monsters from the Leaks had always attacked them first.
But then again, maybe that was all they were—monsters. They didn’t know any better, just like how humans didn’t know.
Or... maybe so of them weren’t monsters? Don’t, Adam. Don’t you ever feel sorry for trying to save people.
Adam’s thoughts started to spiral down into a dark pit.
The verdlecks did have human bodies—maybe they were people? What about the rainbow plant-looking insects? Were they truly monsters? And each ti they destroyed a crystal... it exploded? How powerful? What if they couldn’t understand each other since they were too alien? No. The Administrators ntioned sothing about combatant worlds like them, so... these combatant worlds contained people? Was that—
"Chiquito!"
Adam snapped out of his spiraling thoughts as Carn suddenly slapped him across the face, the sharp crack echoing off the damaged buildings.
"What are you doing?! We have to secure you!" Carn glared at him, then pointed at the Leak, or rather... the ticking numbers floating above it.
Twenty-nine minutes and nineteen—eighteen seconds.
Adam blinked several tis, shaking his head to clear it.
"Wh—" He was about to say sothing, but then noticed sothing that made his blood run cold—the sky and horizon were completely dark, as if night had fallen instantly—it was the sa sky and horizon the worlds inside the Leak held.
"Wait... Are we... trapped here?" Adam asked as he looked around.
Carn grabbed his shoulders. "What are you doing?! We need to get you out of here!"
Adam stared at her in confusion. "Where...? We’re trapped here."
"Huh? The fuck are you saying?"
"We’re surrounded by a black do, like in a Leak. We can’t pass through it."
Carn raised an eyebrow. "What the fuck? Are you on crystal? What do?!"
"Huh?" Adam stared at her. "You... don’t see it?"
"See what, you puto?! We need to get you—"
"If you don’t see it, then..." Adam blinked, looking around at the do that only he could perceive.
It ans you’re the only one trapped here.
He then turned to the IBAA staff and shouted, "The civilians should be evacuated first! Now!"
The IBAA staff looked at each other uncertainly, then started moving with urgency. Adam was about to join them in the evacuation, but Carn pulled him back by his arm.
"What are you doing?! Didn’t you hear the fucking voice?! If you die, this city will be destroyed!"
"...?" Adam looked at her with an almost pitiful expression. "Die?"
"You..." Carn stared him in the eyes, and then slowly let go.
"We need to evacuate the people," Adam repeated firmly. "And we need your help."
Carn stared at him for several seconds, then sighed heavily. "What do you want to do...?"
Adam looked around the destruction until his eyes settled on a city bus that had been abandoned during the initial chaos, but still very much intact.
"Think you can carry a bus?"
Carn rolled her eyes. "You want to break the laws of physics?"
"Carry it from the fra. I’ll lift it... just don’t fly at the speed of sound. How about it?"
"Why don’t you fly and carry it?" Carn groaned, but nodded in the end. "Fine, fuck. Saving Aricans wasn’t on my to-do list today."
And with that, ti passed in a blur. Once again, with Carn’s help, they were able to evacuate hundreds of people from the imdiate danger zone.
Now only five minutes remained on the countdown. There were still people in the distance, but they were far away and continuing to evacuate with the help of the IBAA.
Adam now stood in front of what appeared to be a black wall that stretched endlessly in both directions—the edge of the invisible Do that only he could see and touch.
Adam placed his hand on the dark surface, causing it to ripple outward from his touch.
"It... really is the sa as—?!?!" Adam stepped back in surprise as Beatrice’s head suddenly erged from the dark wall so casually.
Beatrice squinted at him. "You... really can’t pass through? You can’t see anything beyond this point?"
Adam nodded. "It’s... like being inside the edge of a Leak."
"I see."
Beatrice, along with Harvey, had arrived a few minutes earlier. Adam had already explained to them about him being chosen as the Boss. Now they were experinting with the Do that only Adam seed able to see and touch.
"Interesting." Beatrice fully stepped out of the wall, looking at her tablet. She swiped her fingers across the screen before showing it to Adam.
"If I’m right, then this is your area of responsibility, Adam. I think we can deduce that the do you’re trapped in is the sa do we see whenever we go inside a Leak as... Hunters," she said, a slight pause in her breath.
Adam looked at the map where Beatrice had drawn a circle around the affected area. He stared for a while, then sighed deeply.
"Why... is this happening?" he muttered.
Beatrice also looked exhausted, but took a heavy breath.
"The monsters spawning makes sense now. It isn’t that they’re infinitely spawning—they’re coming in from the edge of the Do. We just can’t see it."
Beatrice looked at Adam intently. "And it’s also the reason why the Boss usually remains in one spot."
"Beatrice..." Adam whispered. "Do you think we’ve been killing people this—"
"No." Beatrice cut him off imdiately. "They were monsters, nothing more."
"...But that changes soon." Adam turned toward the direction where the Leak should be.
"Wh—" Beatrice was about to say sothing, but Carn’s loud voice scread at them from above.
"What the fuck are you guys still doing?! Why isn’t el jefe hiding?!" Carn landed hard next to them, kicking up dust and debris.
"Eh, what the fuck did you call , you bald demon?!" Carn pointed beside Adam accusingly.
Adam looked behind him—but there was no one there. But after a few seconds, Harvey erged from the dark wall.
"I said, what the fuck is a child doing here?!" Harvey pointed down at Carn.
"Huuuh?" Carn didn’t back down, standing on her tiptoes as she snarled at Harvey.
Harvey casually placed his hands in his pockets, making sure to look down at Carn. "What? Can’t hear from all the way down there?"
"Let’s do it. Co on!" Carn’s wings exploded from her back.
Beatrice could only sigh, stepping between them. "Calm down. We only have a few minutes left—we need to go back to the Leak, now."
"That’s what the fuck I was trying to say!" Carn scread at Beatrice. "Let’s go! Let’s go!" Carn floated up, then pointed at Adam. "Hide."
Adam, however, shook his head firmly.
"No. That’s not going to happen."
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