Harlow blinked, trying to clear his head as the strange, heavy feeling drifted away. When his eyes adjusted, he found himself back in the mall, standing in the middle of a bright, bustling food court.

The place was filled with people, no monsters, no chaos. Just people, shopping bags in hand, laughing and chatting like it was any other day. It looked...peaceful. Harlow's mind struggled to catch up, and then he scowled. His fists clenched, and he stomped a foot hard on the polished mall floor.

THIS IS SO ANNOYING WHERE'S MY MANGA!!!

He could still remember holding that volume, and could practically feel the weight of it in his hand.

I was almost done with a chapter again too...

He didn't have time to spiral, though. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted someone familiar. That girl—the one who'd been staring him down with that dead-eyed look.

Only, this time, she looked... different. She was walking down the mall, smiling brightly, practically skipping, alongside an older boy. Harlow squinted. He hadn't seen this guy before, but judging by the way the two interacted, it seemed like he was her brother.

Ignoring his surroundings, Harlow jogged over to them, his frustration simmering back to the surface. That girl had made his life a hassle earlier; he was more than ready to give her a piece of his mind.

Maybe a punch would do her some good too. He started to raise his fist, but then he stopped short. She had something in her hands, something that made him stare.

Volume 1 of Gods Don't Bleed.

His own Volume 1—the same one he'd lost.

Harlow's mind took a second to piece things together, and in that second, the girl and her brother walked right past him as though he weren't even there.

Harlow frowned.

Was he seeing things? No, the cover was unmistakable. The girl was carrying his manga. He cleared his throat, expecting her to turn, to flinch, to react—but she didn't. Not even a blink in his direction.

Harlow stepped forward, waving a hand in front of her face. She didn't flinch, didn't react. She just kept smiling, her eyes focused on her brother, completely ignoring him.

A realization started to form, one that made him uncomfortable. Maybe this wasn't the mall. Or, at least, it wasn't the mall in the way he was used to seeing it. Could he be in someone's mind?

He didn't know how that worked, but he remembered that in the prologue of Gods Don't Bleed, there was a villain with the power to manipulate minds and create entire worlds that weren't real.

"Wait... Am I in someone's imagination or something?" he mumbled.

The boy, noticing that his sister was distracted, turned to her. "Hey, Kyoufu. What are you staring at?"

Kyoufu gave a small, puzzled frown, casting a look over Harlow's shoulder.

"I don't know. Thought I saw... something." But Kyoufu shook it off and looked back at the boy, her expression lightening. She held up the Gods Don't Bleed volume, her eyes sparkling.

"Anyway, I've been waiting all week to reread this one! There's this scene I absolutely love..." Kyoufu started.

Harlow barely heard her as he eyed the volume in her hands, his fingers itching. He reached out to snatch it, to finally get back his precious manga, but as soon as his fingers brushed the cover, they passed right through. His hand went straight through the book—and through Kyoufu's hand too.

He froze, watching his hand go in and out like he was nothing but air. Harlow's mouth hung open as he stared at his own fingers in bewilderment.

He tried again, more determined this time, but his hand still passed through the volume.

Why isn't it working? Why can't I just grab it and be done?

"Come on... Come on!" he muttered. In a last-ditch effort, he reached out to tap her brother's shoulder, to do something that would get their attention, but his fingers just phased through him too. Harlow's fists clenched, his whole body tensing with irritation.

He gripped his head with both hands, feeling like he might explode. This was impossible. Nothing made sense. He was so close, but at the same time, it felt like he was worlds away. After a moment, he looked back at Kyoufu, watching her animatedly talk about the manga in her hand.

She seemed so wrapped up in the story, her smile widening as she described her favorite parts. It reminded him of himself, how he felt each time he opened a volume of Gods Don't Bleed...

"Ugh...really?" he muttered to himself, grumbling. But somehow, seeing her look so happy holding that manga, Harlow felt a tiny pang of... something close to sympathy. He shook his head and folded his arms, watching her talk about the story. She seemed just as attached to it as he was.

Not that he'd ever admit that out loud.

...

The silver-scaled eel beast continued to ascend, snaking through the clouds like a monstrous titan, its scales shining against the stormy sky. Delta, Yowaya, Suzune, and Dr. Sunji watched in awe, grappling with the overwhelming sight. This beast was enormous, far beyond what they had anticipated. They'd barely escaped the crumbling mall roof and landed in the trembling streets below.

As Dr. Sunji clung to Suzune's back, his voice quivered with urgency. "If this creature's powerful enough to cause earthquakes, its destruction will ripple through the Green Zone soon."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Delta's robotic eyes flared, analyzing the colossal eel's biology with calculated precision. She turned her gaze to Suzune, shouting above the cacophony, "It's roughly 1.5 kilometers long. If we take it head-on with our suits, we'll be electrocuted, or worse—explode!"

Yowaya, clinging to Delta, shuddered as the beast's massive tail suddenly began to swing downward, directly at them. "LOOK OUT!"

Delta and Suzune reacted on pure instinct, vaulting out of the way just as the tail crashed down, shattering the pavement and creating a powerful shockwave. The ground quaked violently as the air was filled with dust and debris, cutting off their line of sight. Yowaya and Dr. Sunji shielded their faces, barely able to see through the swirling dust as Delta and Suzune braced themselves for another assault.

They sprinted down the street, zigzagging past abandoned vehicles and debris. "Delta! Their organs are vulnerable! If I can hit it with a megasonic wave directly, it might be enough to destabilize it!" Delta shouted, her speed increasing.

Suzune nodded, clutching her mace tightly. "Got it! Let's move!"

The two soldiers dashed around the wreckage, scanning for a safe place to stash Dr. Sunji and Yowaya. They needed somewhere away from the eel but also far from the wave of monsters that seemed to be pouring out of every shadowed alley.

As they tore through a dense stretch of woods, the quakes intensified, shaking the trees as though they were mere saplings. The ground began to crack, breaking apart beneath them. Adapting swiftly, Delta and Suzune leaped from branch to branch until they cleared the forest, landing near an old, crumbling building.

"SUZUNE! NINE O'CLOCK!" Delta yelled.

Without a second thought, Suzune twisted mid-leap and smashed her mace into the head of a nearby monster, splattering it into the ground. They could barely pause to catch their breath before more creatures emerged, drawn by the noise.

"WHERE ARE THEY ALL COMING FROM?" Delta shouted, her voice edged with frustration as she incinerated a line of monsters with an energy blast. The creatures seemed endless, swarming toward them like a flood.

"Ugh, can't shake them!" Suzune muttered, dodging a monstrous claw that sliced through a parked car as if it were paper. The creature's laughter grated on her nerves as it lunged again, its speed unsettlingly quick despite its size.

"SUZUNE! DUCK!" Delta warned, firing a massive energy bolt. Suzune dropped instantly, letting the searing blast fly past her and obliterate the horde chasing her. She grinned as she sprang back up, regrouping with Delta, who was already primed for the next wave.

Panting, Yowaya's hands shook as he watched the monstrous onslaught from Delta's back. "I don't... I don't sense any more coming," Delta finally said, her eyes scanning the surroundings. "Maybe we scared them off for now."

Suzune glanced back at Dr. Sunji, catching the thoughtful look on his face. "Any ideas? I'm not leaving you two here without some plan..."

Dr. Sunji straightened. "We might be fine. Besides, you've cleared the area. And if you don't go now, that beast will reach the Green Zone. This is our only shot to stop it."

Delta's gaze hardened as she studied him, rain beginning to fall, dripping down her crimson hair. "So... you're saying we're dealing with a full Cataclysm Level Threat?" Delta asked.

Before Dr. Sunji could answer, a sleek black helicopter suddenly emerged from the clouds, whirring loudly as it descended toward them.

Suzune smirked, her confidence reigniting. "Looks like your transportation has arrived."

...

Kyoufu's head felt foggy. There was a never-ending cloud that was present, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get rid of it. She had encountered this cloud when she had first sensed the three individuals that entered the mall—her domain. However, out of those three individuals, one of their presences' felt different.

Harlow...he's a true monster, I know it. How else was he able to affect me in my own mind?

Kyoufu gritted her teeth. She refused to let anyone walk over her, especially some random jerk who clearly didn't care about anything other than manga. Wait...manga...

He did say that he was looking for something on the third floor, and when I followed him, I ended up in a book store. What manga could he be looking for?

Kyoufu thought for a moment and then it clicked. Just like her, he was a fan of the Gods Don't Bleed manga. The only reason that she even started reading the manga was because her brother had convinced her to watch anime. After she started her anime binge, she got bored and went off her brother's manga list: horror and dark fantasy stories.

My brother...I don't even know where he is, and yet, my memories tell me that monsters have killed him. I'm scared, really scared. Could they have killed my parents by now too? No, it doesn't make any sense. If monsters were the reason that I'm like this, then how did I survive?

"Because you killed them all..." Harlow said, appearing right in front of her, his fists clenched. Kyoufu didn't say anything but stared at Harlow in utter shock. He had managed to traverse her own mind and find out where she was hiding. Since she was in close proximity with him, her thoughts were amplified so much that Harlow could hear them. How he was able to do it would never be known.

I knew it—a true monster...

"You're lying, I know you are. I would never willingly kill people who aren't monsters..." Kyoufu said.

"Huh? Who said willingly? You said it yourself: monsters have no free will and can't tell the difference between right and wrong." Harlow said, pointing at her. Kyoufu frowned.

"Yeah...but..."

"No buts. You were scared and didn't know what you were doing, so you killed everyone in the mall." Harlow said, getting closer to her. Kyoufu couldn't take it and she burst into tears.

Harlow crossed his arms as he watched her sob. Eventually, he decided to kneel and put an arm around her. It was surprising that Kyoufu didn't attack him at that moment.

"So...you have my book, don't you? From your memories, I saw you carrying it. Well, since I lost the version of my book, could I have the version of yours?" Harlow asked with puppy eyes. Kyoufu sniffed.

"Can you please just stop? You're a horrible person. The entire time you've been talking about that book. Don't you have other things to worry about?" Kyoufu asked, sniffing some more. Harlow's mind went to his grandmother, then, back to his manga. He scratched his head.

"Yea, I guess I do...but first...I want that manga volume back." Harlow replied.

"I don't know where it is, and I don't care. I'm sure my brother is dead, and my parents could be dead too. I have no one else in my life." Kyoufu started, her bottom lip quivering. Harlow didn't know how to reply, until Kyoufu said: "Should I just...kill myself?"

Harlow was a little surprised by the prospect. Why would anyone want to kill themselves anyway? Monster or not, that was a waste of life.

Harlow stood up.

"No, definitely not." Harlow said.

"But...I'm a monster...my father told me all the stories of what they do to monsters when they catch them—how they torture them..." Kyoufu started, her voice turning into fear.

Harlow frowned again.

"So what if they call you a monster? They can label you whatever they want. I don't believe in any of that monster crap anyway. It's plain stupid, and everyone who believes in it is stupid too. Anyone can be a monster...doesn't mean they can't work their way back."

Kyoufu nodded. She had understood what Harlow was saying, but unfortunately, the world didn't work like people. People had either seen you as a monster or not, and if you were, well, you were going to die sooner or later. Kyoufu grunted.

"Thank you for helping me regain my lost memories, but...I refuse to believe whatever you're saying. I refuse to continue living as a monster. I refuse to disgrace my own family..." Kyoufu said, slowly raising.

Harlow was confused.

"But...your family is dead. Who cares—?"

"SHUT UP!" Kyoufu screamed, clapping her hands so hard that the shockwave had destroyed her entire mental network. Basically, she was brain dead.