{ THIRD PERSON POINT OF VIEW }
The thick red liquid pooled across the cold floor, slithering toward the small drain, drop by agonizing drop. A scalpel clattered against a metal tray, its silver blade smeared crimson. One of the scientists wiped his bloodstained hands on the front of his already-filthy apron, barely acknowledging the mess.
Rows of glass jars lined the dimly lit lab, each one holding something grotesque—pairs of disembodied eyes, floating lifeless in murky liquid. Hanabi’s eyes. There were hundreds of them. Other body parts sat preserved in similar containers, untouched by decay. The scientists didn’t question why anymore.
On the metal bed in the center of the room, a girl lay still, her breathing slow and ragged. She wasn’t unconscious, but she was close. Her throat burned from screaming, her body limp from exhaustion. And yet, the operation wasn’t over.
The air in the room was thick, suffocating. The only sounds were the clatter of instruments and the steady drip of blood onto the floor.
Then the door slid open.
Heads turned. A man in a lab coat stepped inside, a small boy following close behind. The escort near the door immediately recognized them.
715’s eyes widened.
His mind struggled to process what he was looking at. He had never seen anything like this before.
At the center of the room was a person—broken in ways that didn’t make sense. Her limbs twisted unnaturally, joints bent in directions they shouldn’t. Patches of her skin were missing, exposing raw flesh and muscle. The sheets beneath her were soaked in red.
"Who the hell—?! What are you doing here? We’re in the middle of an operation!" one of the scientists snapped.
"Natsukawa! Tell them to leave!" another shouted.
But Taniyama stepped forward instead. His expression was unreadable, but his grip on his bag was tight. The boy beside him followed, his gaze fixed on the scene before him.
"Natsukawa!" a scientist barked, growing impatient. "Do something!"
Taniyama's voice cut through the room.
"This operation is over."
Tears slipped silently down Hanabi’s face. She didn’t know why. She didn’t even know what she was feeling.
Taniyama stepped closer, reaching for the restraints.
"What do you think you’re doing!?" A scientist grabbed his arm, trying to yank him back.
"Natsukawa! Restrain him!"
Natsukawa walked forward but didn't even look at Taniyama.
Instead, he turned and drove his fist into the scientist’s face. The man hit the floor with a dull thud, unconscious.
The room froze.
The other scientists took cautious steps back, eyes darting between each other in confusion.
Taniyama didn’t stop. He focused on Hanabi, his hands working quickly to undo the restraints.
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This time, no one got in his way.
"Did something happen?" Natsukawa asked, just as the alarms blared through the facility.
Hanabi, despite her blood-soaked clothes, got up as if nothing had happened.
"We're busted," Taniyama muttered, glancing at Natsukawa. "And I take it you're joining my fall?"
"You're the one joining me. This was my idea."
Taniyama let out a short chuckle and shook his head.
The four of them sprinted through the halls. Hanabi didn't know why, but she followed. Perhaps she trusted them, or maybe deep down, running from that lab was something she'd always dreamed of doing. The sterile white lights flickered red, sirens screaming from every direction. If it were just Taniyama and Natsukawa, they could've navigated their way out with ease. But with the facility on lockdown, every door and elevator was sealed.
And then, someone stepped into their path.
A man stood before them, his presence sharp and calculating. Beside him was a young boy. His eyes—they were eerily familiar. That same blank emptiness.
The man whispered.
"714, shoot."
Taniyama barely had time to react before space itself seemed to warp. A swirling distortion formed in front of 714, a portal that resembled a distant galaxy, dark and ominous. It pulsed with raw energy, a force so foreign yet instinctively terrifying.
Taniyama's breath caught. He didn't know what that meant, but it reeked of danger.
"715!" he yelled. "Project the boundary—(t - 2)^2 + x^2 + y^2 + z^2<=25!!!"
Light flared from 715, golden and radiant, as if the very fabric of reality bent to his will.
"1 ≤ t ≤ 3, !!!"
The air trembled as a massive transparent dome materialized, sealing them inside just as a wave of pure, dark destruction burst forth from the portal, crashing violently against the barrier.
Taniyama and Natsukawa flinched, instinctively raising their arms to shield themselves, while Hanabi stood unfazed. The sheer destructive force crashed against the golden dome, unable to break through. Instead, it splintered outward, ripping through the walls and ceiling, exposing the steel framework and tangled wires beneath.
A second after the blast was over, the barrier vanished.
Hanabi turned to 715, her expression shifting as she saw him drenched in sweat.
"What the hell…" Natsukawa muttered under his breath.
Taniyama clenched his fists. "Who are you?"
The man ignored him. "Adjust the output to 2%."
714 raised his arm, and another swirling portal formed in front of him, aimed directly at Taniyama’s group.
"Shoot."
Taniyama didn’t hesitate. He recited the four-dimensional coordinates, and once again, a golden dome materialized around them.
But this time, when the blast hit, 715 staggered. The three of them gasped as thin cracks began to form across the dome’s surface.
"Impossible!!!" Taniyama exclaimed, his eyes widening even more.
"Oi, oi… this shit is no joke..." Natsukawa muttered under his breath, eyes darting between the cracks forming in the dome.
715 was struggling—his face said it all. His brows furrowed, sweat dripped from his chin, and his breathing grew heavier as he fought to maintain the barrier.
Everything around them was obliterated. The walls, the ceiling, the columns—completely erased. They weren’t burnt or shattered. Whatever destroyed them wasn’t heat or pressure. It was something else. A force Taniyama had never seen before.
As the blast finally faded, 715 collapsed to his knees, gasping for air.
"But how!?" Taniyama shouted, still in shock. "The absolute effector withstood a nuclear explosion!"
Hanabi immediately crouched beside 715, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Hey! Are you alright!?"
Taniyama’s mind raced—not just because they had to defeat the enemies before them, but because of curiosity. The Absolute Effector was supposed to be indestructible, a force that defied the laws of nature. Yet, it had cracked.
It had suppressed an atomic explosion powerful enough to wipe out an entire city. The attack that damaged it wasn’t even close to that level—or so he thought.
His mind went through every possibility, eliminating one after another—until only one remained.
"Adjust the power to 5—no, 6%."
715 clenched his teeth, staring at his opponent—another boy, around his age, just as emotionless as he'd once been. His vision blurred, and a strange metallic taste filled his mouth. Moments later, blood dripped from his nose, and his heart pounded violently in his chest.
"So that's it..." Taniyama muttered.
Natsukawa shot him a look. "Do you have a plan?"
Taniyama turned to 715. "The Absolute Effector’s strength… it's inversely proportional to its size."
"Huh!?" Natsukawa blurted out.
Taniyama didn't waste another second. He recited a new coordinate.
The man across from them gave the command. "Shoot."
"Now!!!" Taniyama shouted.
The moment the portal formed, the golden barrier instantly locked onto its mouth, its surface area reduced to the bare minimum—just enough to coat any space the dark energy might escape from.
The effect was immediate. 714 coughed up blood, his body convulsing as the overwhelming energy failed to discharge properly. He collapsed to his knees, trembling.
"Tch!" The man scoffed, glancing down at 714, who was still on his knees, coughing up blood.
Natsukawa didn’t waste a second. He grabbed 715, lifting him up as the boy struggled to stay on his feet. "Now’s our chance!"
Just as they were preparing to run, a sharp voice cut through the blaring alarms.
"Freeze!"
They spun around. A squad of security personnel had arrived, rifles trained on them, fingers hovering over the triggers.
"Shit," Taniyama muttered under his breath.
Natsukawa carefully set 715 down before he and Taniyama raised their hands. The security team advanced slowly, wary of any sudden activation of the Absolute Effector. They knew better than to rush in—one wrong move, and they could end up impaled.
On top of that, they needed the test subjects alive. Hanabi wasn’t a concern in that regard, but 715… he could still die.
'We can't stop here!' Taniyama's mind raced, searching desperately for a way out.
All of a sudden, 715’s eyes glowed again—this time, without any orders.
Taniyama and the others turned to him, stunned.
Golden rings of energy wrapped around the security team’s rifles, shrinking in an instant. A sharp crack echoed through the hall as the weapons were permanently disabled.
Taniyama let out a short laugh, a smirk tugging at his lips. “Ha! That was brilliant!”
“Not so fast,” the man beside 714 interrupted.
They turned—and to their horror, 714 was already back on his feet, blood still dripping from his mouth.
“Use multi-openings.”
Several portals appeared at once, surrounding them from every angle. Each one opened into a swirling void, revealing glimpses of distant galaxies. With the dark blast coming from multiple sources, there was no way 715's barrier would be able withstand them.
A cold chill ran down Taniyama’s spine.
“Let’s see you block this.”
[ To be continued ]