Harlow searched the soft grass for his missing manga, his brow furrowing in confusion. Sitting up, he scanned his surroundings.
How...How did I get here?
The laughter in the distance drew his attention. Through the trees, he spotted movement - a squirrel, or something similar, darting through the undergrowth.
"Okay, then," Harlow shrugged, stepping over the leafy barrier.
His manga was still missing, and he had no idea where the doctor or the officer had disappeared to. Pushing through the trees, he emerged into a clearing and froze. People. Not the shambling horrors of the mall, but actual people, milling about and chatting. It didn't make sense.
"Whatever, I'm going back to the mall." Harlow decided.
As he approached the crowd, a prickling sensation made him pause. Someone was watching him. Squinting, he scanned the faces until he found her - a small girl with white hair and a black and white striped shirt, her expression flat and unreadable.
Before he could decide whether to approach her, she moved towards him, her gaze unwavering.
"What's your name?" she asked.
Harlow crossed his arms.
"Tell you what. you get me back into that mall and find me the manga I want, and I'll tell you." Harlow replied.
The girl's expression didn't change, but the air crackled with tension. Suddenly, her hands lifted, and the crowd around them erupted in a gruesome display of violence. Blood and gore splattered across Harlow, who recoiled in disgust.
"Gross! What did you do that for?!" Harlow exclaimed.
The girl lowered her hands.
"Are you not afraid?" she asked.
"Huh?"
Harlow wiped gore from his face.
"--Of dying? Since you entered the mall, I sensed something... monstrous. My father always said monsters deserve no kindness, that they can't tell right from wrong. Maybe he was right..." The girl began.
Harlow scratched his head, her words barely registering. He just wanted his manga. The girl turned and pointed towards the mall.
"I'll ask again. What's your name?" She asked.
Harlow sighed, and replied: "It's Harlow."
"Harlow...Walk with me. Let me show you the pain monsters have caused... the pain they caused my sister..." she repeated, a single tear tracing her cheek.
Trauma dump? Seriously? Harlow thought, but he followed nonetheless.
...
Yowaya shuddered, his breath catching in his throat as he huddled beneath the desk, the hollow groans of the monstrous horde echoing through the store.
The silence between him and Dr. Sunji was a deafening void; with no way to contact the doctor, he was utterly alone, blind to the horrors lurking just beyond his hiding place.
Memories flashed through his mind - the sight of Harlow being swallowed by a gaping black hole in the earth, a scene ripped straight from the science fiction films of his childhood. Reality had twisted into something far stranger, far more terrifying, than any movie.
The doctor and he had barely escaped the ensuing chaos, pursued by a horde of grotesque figures, their movements eerily coordinated, their intent chillingly clear.
A sudden thud against the store wall jolted Yowaya back to the present. His heart pounded in his chest, the image of those creatures, those monstrous parodies of humanity, seared into his mind. They were like zombies, but infinitely more cunning.
Fear had painted vivid pictures of gruesome demise. He gagged, clamping a hand over his mouth to stifle the sound, his body trembling uncontrollably.
Just when he thought the silence was his only enemy, a new terror emerged - footsteps. Slow, deliberate, they echoed through the store, shattering his fragile sense of security.
He tensed, every muscle coiled, ready to bolt the moment the creature revealed itself. But then, a sound, not of horror, but of ethereal beauty, filled the air. A chorus of voices, singing a melody both haunting and majestic, seemed to draw the creature away. The footsteps retreated.
The music, whatever its source, had distracted the monster, offering a potential path to escape. Yet, the memory of the grotesque figures made him hesitate. He had pushed his limits before, peering out from his hiding place at the detention center, but these creatures were different.
Thoughts of Fukui, his friend, his anchor, flooded his mind. What would she think of him, cowering in the dark, paralyzed by fear? Could he protect her, if she were here, if they were facing this nightmare together?
He couldn't stay hidden forever. Taking a deep breath, Yowaya steeled himself, slowly emerging from beneath the desk. The hallway was empty, the monstrous groans replaced by the distant, ethereal chorus.
A trail of blood and viscera painted a gruesome path towards the escalators, but Yowaya turned away, drawn instead by the haunting melody. It led him away from the lower floors, towards the opposite end of the mall, towards the unknown.
...
The mall was more stunning than Harlow remembered from his first visit with the doctor and the officer. Crowds of people milled about, enjoying the restaurants and the enticing aromas of noodles and chicken. Harlow smirked.
Wow...nice...
The girl remained nonchalant. After a long silence, she finally spoke: "Follow me." Harlow followed her up the escalator, through the bustling crowds, and into a restaurant. As they walked on the second floor, she pointed out two people standing in front of an ice cream shop.
"That's my brother and me," she said, her voice trembling slightly. Harlow didn't respond, unsure of what to say.
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Uh...ok...so what?
The girl's lips quivered.
"You see how happy we are? You took that from me. Everyone in this mall was happy before you showed up," she accused, pointing a finger at Harlow.
"HUH? BUT I WASN'T EVEN HERE. DON'T BLAME THAT ON ME!" Harlow retorted, his voice rising. The girl narrowed her eyebrows and walked towards him.
"You're a monster, and you're responsible for this. I'll show you what happened...then, if you're lucky, I might make you my slave instead of killing you," she threatened, turning away. Harlow was growing increasingly annoyed.
"Hey, that's not fair. I told you my name, and now what's yours?" Harlow asked, placing his hands on her shoulder. The girl's head whipped around, and she glared at him.
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME! I'M IN CONTROL HERE!" she screamed, her voice so powerful that it knocked Harlow back, sending him crashing to the first floor. BOOM! The surrounding people screamed and panicked.
Most of them scrambled to their feet and ran for the nearest exit. The girl floated down to the first floor to check on Harlow, surprised to find him completely unharmed.
Harlow slowly stood up and dusted himself off.
"NOW I HAVE DIRT AND BLOOD ON ME!" Harlow shouted, clenching his fists.
Alright, I've had enough of whatever this punk is thinking.
Harlow raised his fist, ready to strike if she didn't give him the answers he wanted, but the sudden sound of shattering glass above stopped him. Harlow and the girl looked up to see a horde of monsters invading the mall through the roof.
Harlow watched as the monsters destroyed everything in their path, searching for humans to consume. One monster, resembling a giant eel, absorbed electricity as it slithered around the walls.
Harlow turned back to the girl, who was still floating.
"I don't know what you're trying to prove, but I need to get to the third floor," Harlow said, looking upwards. Before the girl could respond, Harlow leaped, effortlessly breaking through the second and third floors. He scanned the area but couldn't find the store he was looking for, the one that had the rest of the Gods Don't Bleed volumes.
Ugh...oh no...it'll take me forever to find this store...
Harlow picked his nose as he searched for the store. After a while, he noticed the girl had followed him to the third floor.
"Whatever you're looking for, it's meaningless," she said.
Oh, right, I asked her name, but she didn't tell me...whatever...I'll get it out of her eventually...
Harlow suddenly stopped. He had finally found it: the bookstore.
YES! I CAN FINALLY GET THEM!
Harlow rushed into the store, eager to find the volumes. The girl waited outside, uninterested in his quest. Harlow scratched his head, frustrated by the store's confusing layout.
This is so annoying. Why did they have to make it so confusing...?
Harlow continued his search, but after twenty minutes, he still couldn't find a copy of Gods Don't Bleed. He knelt down, clutching his head in despair.
"NOOOOOO! IT CAN'T BE! WHY ISN'T IT HERE?! DID WE COME HERE FOR NOTHING?! NOOOOO!" Harlow screamed. The girl entered the store, her eyebrows raised.
"I don't know why you're screaming, but I hope it hurts," she said, frowning. Harlow stopped screaming and glared at her.
"YOU..." Harlow growled, advancing towards her. The girl remained calm and unafraid.
"What?" the girl asked, but before she could react, everything went black. Harlow had struck her face with such force and speed that she was caught off guard. From Harlow's point of view, the moment his fist connected with hers, darkness enveloped him, leaving him alone.
"HELLO?! PUNK?! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Harlow shouted.
...
The horrifying sound of a monstrous scream, reminiscent of a demon in the throes of exorcism, ripped through the air, causing Yowaya to drop to his knees and instinctively cover his ears.
As the echoes faded, an unsettling realization dawned upon him: Someone, or something, is controlling this mall. Shuddering, he resolved to press onward, his every step now laden with a heightened sense of caution.
Reaching the end of the second-floor corridor, he gripped the railing, peering down at the scene below. His earlier suspicions were confirmed; a grotesque assembly of monstrous humanoids were engaged in a chilling ritual, their discordant voices raised not in song, but in fervent worship of an enormous egg. This egg, dwarfing any he had previously encountered, held Dr. Sunji captive at its center, encircled by the ominous figures.
A wave of despair washed over Yowaya.
Are they planning to sacrifice him? Even if I wanted to intervene, what could I, a mere human, do against such creatures? Doctor, I'm so sorry... Retreating from the railing, he concealed himself from view, his heart pounding in his chest.
The humanoids' chorus continued to drift upward, a disturbing paean to their enigmatic deity: "In the shelter of her watchful gaze, walls rise high, a fortress maze, within her arms, we find solace, in shadows deep, fears released. O Great Mother, shield and light, guide us through the endless night. Your whispers echo down each way, sacred beams above, they gleam. Your presence, warm. O Great Mother, shield and light, you guard us through each stair and—"
The hymn abruptly ceased, replaced by an ominous silence. A cold dread gripped Yowaya as he turned to find one of the monstrous humanoids looming over him, a sinister grin twisting its features. How did it get here so quickly? They're supposed to be singing! This is it...I'm going to die! Panic surged through him as he attempted to flee, but the creature's reflexes were lightning-fast. A vice-like hand clamped around his neck, cutting off his breath.
"Uu-gh...uGH..." he choked, struggling in vain against the creature's unyielding grip. With effortless strength, it lifted him off the ground, its fingers digging into his flesh. Yowaya's legs kicked frantically, desperately seeking purchase as he was dragged inexorably towards the edge of the second floor. The grinning humanoid dangled him over the precipice, the drop below promising a swift and brutal end.
"AGh! Please...I beg you...PLEASE..." Yowaya pleaded, his voice barely a whisper. The creature tightened its grip, silencing him, before callously releasing its hold. Yowaya plummeted towards the unforgiving ground below, the air rushing past him as his life flashed before his eyes.
Just as he braced for the inevitable impact, a figure emerged from the shadows, scooping him up with remarkable agility. The rescuer, a female cyborg with vibrant red hair, landed gracefully on the second floor, then, ascended to the mall ceiling, depositing Yowaya safely away from the edge.
It's the ODW! They've arrived! We're saved!
The cyborg, her movements a blur, descended through the ceiling, leaving a gaping hole in her wake. From below, a chorus of enraged screams erupted. Moments later, the cyborg reappeared, Dr. Sunji cradled in her arms. Yowaya rushed to embrace his friend.
"I'M SO SORRY I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING! THERE WERE TOO MANY OF THEM AND..."
Dr. Sunji, ever composed, cut him off.
"Stop being melodramatic. I had a feeling the ODW would notice the increase of average monsterification nearby, especially with Harlow's proximity to the Green Zone."
Turning to face their savior, Yowaya and Dr. Sunji studied the female cyborg.
"Let me guess, you're 1st Rank?" Dr. Sunji ventured.
"Correct. Delta, a soldier of the 1st Rank." The cyborg replied, laughing smugly.
Yowaya sighed, his relief mingling with lingering fear.
"Well, thank goodness you're here. I was about to–" Yowaya began, but Delta silenced him with a finger pressed to his lips.
Another figure, a human woman clad in a battle suit, materialized behind her, executing a series of acrobatic flips before landing gracefully. Taller than Delta, she possessed long, flowing crimson hair, piercing brown eyes, and a formidable mace strapped to her back.
"Suzune. No further introduction needed," she stated.
Her nonchalant demeanor vanished when her eyes fell upon Dr. Sunji.
"Grandpa? Is that really you?" she gasped, kneeling in disbelief.
Dr. Sunji merely smirked in response, leaving Yowaya utterly flabbergasted by the unexpected connection.
"Didn't I tell you I'd be fine if something like this ever happened? You thought I was dead, didn't you? You young ones need to stop underestimating us old folks." Dr. Sunji chuckled, pulling Suzune into a warm embrace.
Meanwhile, Delta, still holding her finger to Yowaya's lips, leaned in close, her face inches from his.
"I heard the doctor mention Harlow. I sense a monster of immense power below, but it hasn't shown itself, even after I disintegrated the weaker ones. Is this powerful monster Harlow?" Delta asked.
Dr. Sunji and Suzune turned their attention to Yowaya, silently awaiting his response. For a fleeting moment, his eyes met Dr. Sunji's, and then he spoke.
"I'm not entirely sure. There could be another monster down there, but we were taken hostage by one during our journey, and that monster's name was..." Yowaya began.
"Harlow?" Suzune finished his sentence, her voice barely a whisper. Yowaya nodded reluctantly, a sense of dread washing over him.
Before he could utter another word, Delta's voice rang out: "GET OUT OF THE WAY!!"
With incredible speed, Delta, carrying Yowaya, and Suzune, clutching Dr. Sunji, leaped from the rooftop just as a colossal, serpentine eel-like monster erupted through the mall's ceiling, its massive form shooting skyward.