Absolutes distant footsteps grew closer as it reverberated through the walls.
John's mind raced as he sized up his opponents, his breath hitching with the realization of what he was up against. The white-haired Nikke was the most dangerous—her mastery over space felt like a vice tightening around him, the faint shimmer of her Infinity flickering between them. He could sense it: if she gained even a fraction more control, this fight would turn into a slaughter. The fear gnawed at him, but beneath it, excitement flickered.
The tall Nikke with the writhing brain matter stared at him, her spectral threads hovering like limbs of an unseen predator. Each thread was a potential noose or razor, meticulously controlled and waiting to slice through flesh. She needed to be kept at a distance—far enough that her threads couldn't ensnare him. That was a job for Eunhwa and Vesti. Eunhwa's sniper rifle could pin her down, and Vesti's rockets would disrupt her web of threads, forcing her on the defensive.
The short Nikke with blue hair was standing in front of the other two. Her cursed technique was related to creating illusions of herself that attacked from every direction. Emma's minigun, with its overwhelming spray of bullets, was the key to breaking through her fakes. She could suppress the illusions, forcing the real Nikke to retreat or risk being torn apart.
That left the white-haired one for him.
John's eyes narrowed, tracking her every movement. She was the heavyweight of the trio, the one who could turn the tide. He clenched his fists, feeling the warmth of blood against his palm. He could see flashes of Gojo's legacy in her—the echo of a power that had once stood at the pinnacle of sorcery. It sent a thrill through him, but he couldn't let his excitement cloud his judgment. He had to be ruthless, precise, and faster than she could predict.
The Nikkes tensed, their forms bristling with barely contained violence. The sound of approaching footsteps grew louder—Eunhwa, Emma, and Vesti were almost there. John had seconds to decide. He glanced down the dim corridor, the cold, sterile walls pressing in on him.
"Alright," he muttered, feeling the anticipation coil within him. Blood dripped steadily from his fist, pooling on the floor. He locked eyes with the white-haired Nikke, who stared back with predatory calm.
"Let's end this," he whispered to himself, bracing for the final clash.
Eunhwa led the way down the corridor, her sniper rifle slung over her shoulder, eyes sharp and alert. The thundering footsteps of Absolute echoed off the walls, each step a countdown to the chaos ahead. Emma and Vesti flanked her, their weapons primed and senses on high alert. They had heard the distant sounds of combat—the clash of bodies and the faint hum of cursed energy. Whatever was happening up ahead, it was beyond anything they had anticipated.
They rounded a corner, and the sight before them was immediate and jarring. Out of the darkness, the tall Nikke with brain matter hurtled toward them, her body limp and mangled. The stench of blood and burnt metal filled the air. Eunhwa reacted on instinct, spinning to kick the body away, sending it careening back down the hallway. But before it could crash into anything solid, John appeared in a blur, leaping from the shadows.
His expression was a mix of adrenaline and grim determination. Twisting mid-air, he launched a powerful kick that sent the Nikke's body slamming into the wall with a sickening crunch. The impact shook the corridor as she crumpled to the ground, motionless.
The short blue-haired Nikke and the white-haired one charged forward, their movements synchronized. The short Nikke's foot swung toward John's side while the white-haired Nikke's fist shot straight at his head. John blocked both attacks, his arms absorbing the blows, but their combined momentum sent him skidding back, landing just a few feet in front of Absolute.
Emma's minigun whirred to life, ready to unleash a torrent of bullets, but John raised a hand, halting her. "I'll explain later! We need to work together to take them down" he barked, his voice edged with urgency.
Eunhwa's face twisted in frustration. She lowered her rifle but kept her eyes trained on the two Nikkes. "You better," she snapped. "But just so you know, we've been aware that you're a sorcerer from the beginning, dumbass."
John shot her a glance, momentarily stunned but with no time to react to her blunt admission.
He quickly shifted back into combat mode. "Alright, listen up. Here's the plan." He pointed toward the tall Nikke's crumpled body. "Eunhwa, Vesti, keep her at a distance. Use the rockets to destroy her threads."
Eunhwa nodded, her eyes narrowing. "Got it."
"Emma, focus on the short one with blue hair. She's using her cursed technique to create illusionary duplicates. Your minigun can suppress her movements and disrupt the fakes."
Emma gave a thumbs up, determination in her eyes.
John took a deep breath, locking eyes with the white-haired Nikke. "I'll handle her."
Eunhwa huffed, voice dripping with resolve. "Just don't die, Commander. A lot of people have questions for you after this."
John met her gaze, a small, grim smile on his lips. "Trust me. I don't plan on it."
John surged forward, leading the charge with a burst of speed. Emma's minigun roared to life behind him, bullets shredding the illusions of the short blue-haired Nikke. John used the opening, springing off the ground and twisting mid-air. He drove his foot into the back of the short Nikke's head with a bone-rattling kick, sending her hurtling. She careened toward Emma, but Eunhwa and Vesti were ready. Vesti's elbow connected with her ribs, followed by Eunhwa's brutal knee to the gut, keeping the Nikke off balance.
John's attention shifted to the tall Nikke, who was struggling to rise. He seized the moment, grabbing her and hurling her down the corridor. Eunhwa's sniper rifle cracked, a precise shot sending the Nikke flying back even further, followed by the howl of Vesti's rockets. The missiles streaked toward her, detonating in fiery explosions that lit up the corridor.
The white-haired Nikke moved, her hand raised to warp space around the rockets, but John was already on her. Their eyes locked as they collided, sending shockwaves through the narrow space.
John and the white-haired Nikke clashed fiercely, their strikes a blur of motion. His fist slammed against her haphazard infinity, cursed energy crackling with each impact. She swung, her cursed energy glowing, but John ducked, twisting around her strike and driving his elbow into her side. She staggered, her control faltering for a moment.
But she recovered quickly, manipulating the space around her to pull John closer. He gritted his teeth, feeling the pull of her Blue technique, but he used the momentum to drive his knee into her ribs, forcing her back.
Meanwhile, the short Nikke charged at Emma, her illusions still flickering. Emma fired, the bullets tearing through the illusions, while Eunhwa moved in with a punch that knocked the Nikke off course. Vesti followed up with a powerful kick, sending her sprawling.
The tall Nikke, stunned but not defeated, began to rise, her threads twitching. Eunhwa's rifle cracked again, another shot keeping her at bay, while Vesti's rockets detonated near her, forcing her back.
John and the white-haired Nikke continued their duel, each strike more desperate than the last. John's movements were sharp, calculated, as he pressed her, refusing to give an inch. But just as he was about to land another hit, space twisted violently, and in a blink, both he and the white-haired Nikke vanished, swallowed by her cursed technique.
John's vision blurred as the world around him twisted violently. The cold, sterile corridor was gone, replaced by the vast, open sky. He felt a sudden weightlessness, his stomach lurching as he and the white-haired Nikke reappeared high above the ground, suspended in the open air. The wind howled in his ears, a deafening roar that drowned out everything but the frantic beating of his own heart.
They were falling.
John's mind raced, fear clawing at the edges of his consciousness. The cityscape below was a dizzying blur of steel and glass, the ground rushing up to meet them at terrifying speed. There was no time to think, no time to plan—only the instinct to survive. The white-haired Nikke's eyes glowed with a predatory intensity, her body twisting gracefully in the air as if she were weightless, unfazed by the plummet.
John snarled, adrenaline surging through him as he launched himself at her with all his strength. His fists blurred, a flurry of punches aimed at her head, her torso—anything to break through her guard and turn the tide. But each strike slowed almost immediately as it neared her, like moving through thick, invisible molasses. His blows stopped just inches from her skin, held back by an unseen force.
He tried again, pouring every ounce of power he had into his attacks, but it was useless. His fists came to a halt, trembling in mid-air, unable to reach her. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead as the horrifying realization sank in. She had done it. She had mastered her cursed technique—her Infinity. A barrier of infinite space now surrounded her, impenetrable, untouchable.
John's heart pounded, his fear swelling into something all-consuming. He was trapped, his every strike rendered meaningless. The vastness of her power hit him like a wave, drowning him in the hopelessness of the situation. He had seen this technique before in the clans' history books—Gojo's invincibility, the untouchable state of Infinity. But now, it wasn't just words. It was here, it was real, and it was between him and survival.
The white-haired Nikke's expression didn't change. She remained calm, almost disinterested, as if John's attacks were nothing more than a nuisance. Her eyes, pale and empty, locked onto his with a chilling detachment. She raised her hand, moving with effortless grace, and backhanded him across the face. The blow sent John spinning, his vision flashing white as pain shot through his skull. He tumbled through the air, disoriented and powerless, like a ragdoll caught in a storm.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue," she uttered, her voice cold and serene, as if she were simply stating a fact.
A glowing blue orb formed in her palm, swirling with compressed space and cursed energy. She hurled it at John with casual precision. The orb struck him in the chest, and for a moment, everything stopped. John's momentum was halted, his body suspended in mid-air as if caught in an invisible net. The pressure was immense, squeezing the air from his lungs, compressing his very being. It felt like the world was collapsing in on him, every atom in his body crushed by the weight of her cursed technique.
John gasped, struggling to break free, but before he could even move, she was on him. The white-haired Nikke shot forward, her hand glowing with cursed energy as she slammed into him with bone-crushing force. The impact drove the breath from his lungs, stars exploding in his vision as the two of them were sent hurtling toward the ground. She twisted in the air, effortlessly controlling the descent, her mastery over space allowing her to maneuver with unnatural precision.
John's fear spiked as he felt her arms lock around him, her grip like iron. She wrenched his arm into a brutal armlock, her body pinning his as they spiraled downward. Every muscle in his body screamed in agony, his arm twisted at an impossible angle, but he couldn't break free. He was trapped, completely at her mercy.
The ground loomed closer, their speed increasing with every second. John's mind was a whirl of panic and pain, his thoughts a jumbled mess as he fought against the inevitable. The white-haired Nikke's calm, unyielding presence was a stark contrast to his terror. She controlled everything—their descent, the space around them, even the air itself seemed to bend to her will. There was no escape, no way to fight back.
John's breath hitched, the reality of his helplessness crashing over him. He had faced death before, but never like this—never so completely outmatched, so utterly powerless. The exhilaration he had felt earlier was gone, replaced by a cold, paralyzing dread.
This was Infinity.
And against it, he was nothing.
With a final twist, she drove him toward the ground, their bodies plummeting at breakneck speed. The wind roared, the ground rushing up to meet them, and all John could do was brace himself as the world blurred into a chaotic mix of light and shadow. He gritted his teeth, pain lancing through his arm, his thoughts fracturing under the weight of her cursed energy.
There was no winning this.
Not against her.
The ground rushed toward them, a blur of gray concrete and fractured steel. John's mind was a storm of fear and pain, the white-haired Nikke's armlock squeezing every ounce of fight from him. Her grip was unyielding, her presence suffocating, like the weight of the sky pressing down on him. His arm was twisted at an impossible angle, every nerve screaming in protest, and for a moment, John could only see his end—the ground would meet them at terminal velocity, and it would be over.
But then, something shifted. The raw terror that had seized his mind began to crack, replaced by a surge of adrenaline, hotter and more urgent. He gritted his teeth, his eyes snapping open as he forced himself to think, to see past the pain and panic. He could feel her cursed energy all around him, the oppressive weight of Infinity like a cage of airless glass. And then it struck him: she had him in an armlock, inside her Infinity.
He was inside her barrier.
John's heart pounded, realization cutting through the haze. Infinity protected her from the outside world, creating an impenetrable barrier between her and any attack. But within its confines, they were connected—her defenses meant nothing against something already inside. His mind raced, calculating, timing every second as they hurtled toward the unforgiving ground. If he could break her control, even for a moment…
The white-haired Nikke's focus was absolute, her pale blue eyes locked on the ground below, guiding their descent with terrifying precision. She didn't see it coming. John braced himself, pushing past the searing pain in his arm, and twisted sharply against her grip. For an instant, he felt the give—the faintest flicker of weakness as her control wavered.
This was it. This was his chance.
With a burst of raw strength, John wrenched his arm free from her armlock, ignoring the flare of agony as his shoulder strained against the motion. He spun around in mid-air, twisting his body as the wind roared in his ears, and looped his arm around her neck in a tight headlock. The sudden shift caught her off guard, her eyes widening in shock as she felt his grip tighten. John locked his legs around her waist, anchoring himself against her as they continued to plummet.
"Got you," he snarled through gritted teeth, his voice trembling with pain and defiance.
The ground was seconds away. There was no time left, but John didn't care. He tightened his hold, squeezing with every ounce of strength he had left. The white-haired Nikke struggled, her hands clawing at his arm, her eyes blazing with fury and panic as she tried to twist free. But John's grip was unrelenting, driven by the raw, desperate will to survive. He could feel the cursed energy around them warping wildly, her control slipping as they plummeted faster and faster.
The moment of impact came in a deafening, bone-rattling crash.
The world exploded around them, a massive kinetic blast that tore through the ground with the force of a meteor strike. The shockwave rippled outward, shattering concrete and sending debris flying in every direction. Dust and rubble filled the air, the sheer force of the impact shaking the entire structure as a massive crater erupted beneath them.
The world shook violently, the entire underground corridor trembling as John and the white-haired Nikke's impact reverberated through the facility. Concrete groaned and cracked overhead, dust raining down in thick clouds that stung the eyes and choked the air. Below, the remaining Nikkes and John's team were locked in a fierce battle, the sound of gunfire and clashing bodies mingling with the distant echoes of collapsing walls.
Eunhwa fired her sniper rifle with precision, her shots ringing out like thunderclaps in the confined space. Each bullet was a calculated strike aimed at the tall Nikke, whose spectral threads whipped through the air, slicing debris as easily as they would flesh. Vesti darted between the rubble, launching rockets to disrupt the threads, the explosions lighting up the darkness in bursts of fire and smoke.
Emma's minigun roared to life, unleashing a relentless hail of bullets that tore through the illusions of the short blue-haired Nikke. The corridor was a chaotic battleground, filled with shifting shadows and the constant rattle of falling debris. Emma's eyes were sharp, tracking each flickering image, her movements fluid as she pivoted, spraying down every corner where the real Nikke might hide.
Concrete chunks crashed down from above, smashing into the ground with heavy, thunderous thuds. The ceiling was fracturing, splintered by the shockwaves from John's and the white-haired Nikke's clash above. The entire underground complex felt like it was on the verge of collapse, and every combatant moved with the desperate speed of those fighting for their lives.
Emma ducked under a falling slab of concrete, her minigun still blazing, bullets carving a path through the swirling dust. The short Nikke's duplicates danced around her, flickering in and out of existence, but Emma's barrage left no room for evasion. One of the illusions shattered under the assault, revealing the real Nikke behind it. Emma grinned, eyes blazing with determination, and shifted her aim.
"Got you!" Emma yelled, her minigun's barrels spinning as she prepared to unleash another burst.
But the short Nikke was fast. She dove into a roll, coming up with a handful of debris, and threw a volley of concrete and rebar as the entire laboratory shook. Emma ducked, the ruble whizzing past her head as she kicked off a crumbling wall, flipping to her feet and returning fire. The two exchanged projectiles, each moving with the grace and speed of seasoned fighters, their clash echoing amid the rumble of the unstable ceiling.
Eunhwa, positioned further down the corridor, had her rifle trained on the tall Nikke. The spectral threads darted toward her, thin and almost invisible, but Eunhwa's sharp eyes tracked their movements. She ducked, narrowly avoiding a thread that sliced clean through a metal beam, and fired back. The bullet tore through the air, striking one of the Nikke's threads, and sent it whipping back like a severed wire.
Vesti launched herself into the fray, leaping over a pile of debris with her rocket launcher poised. She aimed at the tall Nikke, who was regaining control of her threads, and fired. The rocket screamed through the narrow corridor, trailing smoke before detonating against the far wall in a fiery explosion. The blast sent the tall Nikke staggering back, her threads flailing wildly, temporarily losing their deadly precision.
Eunhwa saw her chance and squeezed off another shot. The bullet whizzed through the chaos, striking the Nikke in the shoulder and sending her spinning to the ground. But the fight was far from over. The tall Nikke's threads lashed out in a desperate counterattack, tearing through the air in a violent, frenzied dance that forced Eunhwa and Vesti to dive for cover.
Vesti rolled behind a chunk of fallen concrete, her heart hammering. She wiped the sweat from her brow, glancing up at the fractured ceiling that continued to shed debris with each tremor. "This whole place is coming down!" she shouted, her voice barely audible over the cacophony of battle and the groans of the unstable structure.
Emma's movements were a blur of speed and precision, her minigun whirring as she danced between falling chunks of concrete. The short Nikke with blue hair reappeared, darting in with a flurry of kicks and punches that Emma blocked with her gun's frame. Sparks flew as fist clashed against metal, each blow echoing like thunder in the enclosed space. Emma twisted, swinging the minigun like a club and catching the Nikke across the jaw, sending her stumbling back.
The short Nikke recovered quickly, her eyes blazing with anger as she charged in, switching from illusions to raw, brutal combat. She grabbed two chunks of rebar like blades, grinning in the dim light as she lunged at Emma, slashing with blinding speed. Emma sidestepped, parrying with her minigun's heavy frame, then countered with a vicious knee strike that doubled the Nikke over.
With a grunt, Emma spun, driving the butt of her weapon into the Nikke's back and sending her crashing into the wall. But the blue-haired Nikke was relentless. She rebounded off the wall, launching herself at Emma with an enraged scream. Emma deflected one rebar rod, the edge slicing a thin line across her cheek, but the second rod came dangerously close to her throat. Emma twisted, using her momentum to bring her weapon up, slamming the Nikke's wrist aside just in time.
Eunhwa and Vesti were locked in their own dance of survival against the tall Nikke, whose threads had regained their deadly precision. They bobbed and weaved between the attacks, each thread slicing through the air with lethal intent. The ground shook again, a particularly large chunk of the ceiling collapsing between them, sending up a plume of dust and shrapnel. Eunhwa fired through the haze, each shot precise, forcing the tall Nikke to retreat.
"Keep the pressure on!" Eunhwa yelled, firing another round that ricocheted off a fallen pipe, barely missing her target.
Vesti reloaded her rocket launcher, sweat dripping from her brow. "She's fast, but she's getting tired!" she called back, launching another rocket that blasted a gaping hole in the far wall. The shockwave rippled through the corridor, rattling the Nikkes' control just enough for Eunhwa to fire a clean shot, striking the tall Nikke's leg and bringing her to one knee.
Emma and the short Nikke clashed again, the air between them a flurry of strikes and counterstrikes, each movement fluid and precise. The corridor shuddered, chunks of concrete raining down around them, but neither combatant slowed. Emma swung the minigun in a wide arc, forcing the short Nikke back, then followed up with a powerful kick to the chest that sent her skidding across the debris-strewn floor.
The tall Nikke's threads flared up one last time, desperate and erratic, slicing through everything in their path. Eunhwa and Vesti coordinated their attacks, bullets and rockets tearing through the air, each explosion shaking the crumbling foundations of the corridor. The tall Nikke's defenses faltered, and in one final coordinated strike, Vesti's rocket connected, engulfing her in a fireball that sent her crashing into the far wall.
Emma and the short Nikke exchanged one final, furious series of blows, each strike landing with bone-rattling force. Emma feinted left, drawing the Nikke's guard, then drove her fist into the Nikke's stomach, winding her. She swung her minigun up, cracking it against the Nikke's jaw with a resounding impact that sent her sprawling, finally breaking her relentless assault.
The tremors from above intensified, shaking the underground corridor with each violent pulse. Dust and chunks of concrete rained down, and the groans of the unstable structure echoed like distant thunder. Emma, Eunhwa, and Vesti stood ready, their eyes locked on the two Nikkes who still struggled to rise amidst the chaos. The short blue-haired Nikke clutched her side, blood trickling from her mouth, while the tall Nikke's spectral threads flickered weakly around her, the once-lethal energy now sputtering like a dying flame.
They were battered, but far from beaten. And if they got up again, they wouldn't hold back.
Eunhwa, Emma, and Vesti exchanged quick, determined glances. They had fought together long enough to understand each other without words. This was it—their chance to end the fight before the collapsing facility did it for them.
"On my mark," Eunhwa said, her voice steady despite the shaking ground. She raised her rifle, taking aim at the tall Nikke's chest, her eyes sharp and focused. Emma and Vesti nodded, their expressions hardened with resolve.
The short Nikke with blue hair staggered to her feet, fury burning in her eyes as she prepared to charge one last time. The tall Nikke's threads snapped to life, a desperate last-ditch effort to reclaim control of the fight.
"Now!" Eunhwa barked.
Emma's minigun roared to life, the barrels spinning as she unleashed a devastating hail of bullets that tore through the short Nikke's illusions, shredding the last of her defenses. The blue-haired Nikke tried to dodge, but the barrage was relentless, every bullet tearing into her with bone-rattling force. Emma gritted her teeth, pushing forward, her feet sliding over the fractured ground as she closed the distance.
Vesti leaped into action, her rocket launcher primed and ready. She fired at the tall Nikke, the rocket screaming through the air before detonating in a fiery explosion that engulfed the Nikke and her threads. The blast sent a shockwave through the corridor, rattling the already fragile structure, and the tall Nikke staggered back, her threads disintegrating in the inferno.
Eunhwa moved with practiced precision, her sniper rifle cracking like a whip. The shot was perfect, striking the tall Nikke in the chest and sending her sprawling to the ground. She didn't let up, firing a second shot that caught the short Nikke in the shoulder, spinning her around and dropping her to her knees.
The two Nikkes fell, their bodies broken and smoking from the combined onslaught.
John's world was pain.
The impact of their fall had been catastrophic, a brutal collision of flesh and concrete that left the ground shattered beneath them. Dust and debris filled the air, and for a moment, the only sound was the faint, irregular wheeze of his own breath as he struggled to pull air into his lungs. His vision swam with dark spots, his ribs felt like jagged glass stabbing into his side with every shallow gasp, and his entire body was screaming in agony.
He rolled onto his side, struggling to push himself up. Pain lanced through his chest, a reminder that his ribs were broken, crushed under the weight of the white-haired Nikke's attack midair. Each breath was a battle, shallow and desperate, barely enough to keep him conscious. Blood filled his mouth, the metallic taste bitter on his tongue, but he couldn't stop. He had to move. Had to get away.
He glanced over at the Nikke, her form sprawled face-down in the cracked concrete, limbs twisted from the violent landing. She was motionless. For a fleeting moment, hope surged in John's chest. Maybe she was finished.
But then she stirred.
With a sickening crack, the white-haired Nikke pushed herself up, her body shaking as she forced her head up from the rubble. Her pale blue eyes, bloodshot and burning with fury, locked onto John. Blood dripped from her mouth, streaking her porcelain skin, but there was no hesitation in her movements, no sign of pain. She moved like something inhuman, driven by nothing but rage and the need to kill.
John tried to scramble backward, but his legs gave out beneath him. A sharp, stabbing pain shot up from his knee, and he glanced down in horror. His right leg was twisted at an unnatural angle, the knee completely shattered, his left ankle barely able to hold his weight. Panic flared in his chest as he realized he couldn't run—his body was broken, pinned by his own injuries.
The Nikke staggered forward, one arm hanging limp at her side, but the other raised, glowing with a vicious, familiar light. The blue orb at her fingertip flickered, unstable but still deadly. John's pulse spiked as he watched the cursed energy swell, the compressed space ready to explode with the force of a bullet. He couldn't breathe, couldn't move, and the air around him felt like it was closing in, suffocating him under the weight of his injuries.
Desperation clawed at his mind. He couldn't outrun this. He needed something—anything to defend himself. With shaking hands, he tried to force a domain expansion, his cursed energy frantically searching for something, some shred of control he could grasp. He pushed, his mind straining to form the familiar contours of a domain, but nothing happened. It was like reaching into darkness, pulling on threads that weren't there. He didn't have one. He had never had one, and now, when he needed it most, there was nothing but emptiness.
The Nikke's lips curled into a vicious sneer, and she took another unsteady step forward. Her cursed energy flared, wild and unstable, the blue orb growing brighter as she prepared to fire. John's breath hitched, his thoughts splintering into a frantic mess of fear and anger. This was it. He was trapped, broken, and she was going to kill him.
But just as she raised her hand, something went wrong.
The Nikke's head snapped back, and blood began to trickle from her nose, dripping down her lip and staining her chin. Her eyes widened, the blue glow at her fingertip flickering, then sputtering out entirely. She swayed on her feet, clutching at her forehead as if trying to steady herself, but the blood kept coming, a steady stream that stained the ground beneath her.
John's mind raced, trying to make sense of the sudden shift. She was powerful—far too powerful to lose control like this. But then he saw it: the faint, disoriented look in her eyes, the way her movements had become uneven, almost erratic. She was bleeding from her right nostril, the side of her head that had slammed into the ground when they crashed.
The prefrontal cortex.
John's eyes widened as he pieced it together. The impact had damaged her brain, specifically the area responsible for her cursed techniques. It was where the control over her powers resided, and now it was malfunctioning, sending her cursed energy into disarray. He watched as she tried again, her fingers twitching as she attempted to summon the cursed technique. The blue orb flickered back to life, but it was weak, unsteady, like a dying ember barely clinging to existence.
The Nikke's expression twisted into one of frustration and pain as she tried to regain control, but the bleeding wouldn't stop. Her cursed energy stuttered, sparking erratically, and she stumbled, disoriented. John could see the strain in her eyes, the panic creeping into her normally cold demeanor as she realized her powers were slipping away.
She turned and ran, leaving John thanking his lucky stars.
The underground base groaned and shuddered, the walls trembling as the entire structure began to collapse around them. Metal screeched and twisted, and chunks of ceiling rained down like deadly hail. Dust filled the air, turning each breath into a choking, gritty gasp. Absolute sprinted through the crumbling corridors, their movements sharp and urgent, muscles burning with the desperate need to escape.
Eunhwa led the way, her sharp eyes scanning for any signs of stability amidst the chaos. Vesti trailed close behind, clutching her rocket launcher as if it could shield her from the falling debris. Emma, with her minigun slung over her shoulder, kept pace, her expression uncharacteristically tense. They reached the big metal door that had separated this section of the lab—the thick steel barrier now bent and twisted from the seismic shocks rocking the facility.
"Through here!" Eunhwa ran to the side of the door and lept first, followed by the other two towards a ventilation hole. Without hesitation, they dived into the narrow vent, the same one John had used to enter earlier. The metal groaned under their combined weight, already weakened from their earlier entrance. The thin walls buckled slightly, threatening to give way at any moment.
"Move! Move!" Emma urged, pushing Vesti forward. The vent creaked ominously, the sound echoing with every frantic step as they crawled through, the confined space adding to the suffocating sense of urgency. Every shift, every slight movement sent ripples through the frail metal, and Absolute could feel the structure bending beneath them, struggling to hold their weight.
Vesti glanced back, wide-eyed, the fear stark on her face. "This thing isn't gonna hold much longer!"
"Just keep going!" Eunhwa barked, her tone sharp but laced with an undercurrent of urgency. She pressed forward, muscles straining, propelling herself faster toward the hole John had carved into the barrier. The breach was still there, a gap in the once-impenetrable barrier that had encased the lab. It was their only way out.
Emma gritted her teeth, forcing herself to crawl faster, her shoulders scraping against the sides of the vent. The entire structure trembled violently, sending jolts through their bodies as pieces of the vent began to buckle and twist around them. Dust and debris rained down, and the metal began to scream under the strain, bending inward with each passing second.
They reached the end of the vent, bursting through the gap just as the structure behind them gave way. With one final, frantic push, they leapt out onto the crumbling lab floor, scrambling to their feet. The world around them was falling apart—walls collapsing, pipes bursting, the sound of destruction all around. They sprinted toward the staircase, the last stretch to safety.
"Go! Go!" Eunhwa shouted, her voice barely audible over the deafening roar of the collapsing base.
They charged up the stairs, each step a desperate race against the relentless tide of debris crashing down behind them. The stairs shook violently, cracks splintering through the stone as the entire underground facility threatened to pull them back into the depths. The roar of destruction was deafening, drowning out everything but the pounding of their own hearts.
Just as they reached the top, the final section of the base gave way, collapsing in on itself with a tremendous crash. The force of the collapse sent a shockwave through the ground, knocking them off balance as they staggered out into the open air. They stumbled, gasping, coated in dust and grime, but alive.
They turned back, watching as the entrance to the lab was swallowed by rubble, sealing the horrors of the underground facility away beneath tons of concrete and metal. The dust settled slowly, hanging in the air like a shroud over what was left of the base.
Eunhwa's breath came in ragged gasps as she looked back at the collapsed ruin, her eyes narrowing. "Damn it… John better not be in there."