In the midst of the struggle, Nugia tried to grasp the feelings emerging like a passing nightmare. He caught the metallic scent and saw the color of Amae's blood—something so familiar it triggered a memory long locked away in the depths of his soul.
Slowly, Nugia's eyes changed. A blue glow surfaced, as calm and deep as the ocean in the furthest trench.
Instantly, an invisible aura exploded outward, choking every inch of the air in The Hollow Rim. Bim X-50, only a second away from obliterating Zilla, suddenly froze in mid-air.
The monster stood rigid. Its stride, once so formidable, now trembled violently. It was as if it smelled a scent of death far more concentrated than its own.
Silent and weightless, Nugia stepped forward.
He passed like a cold wind, invisible to the eye yet bone-chilling to anyone in his path. The world seemed to slow down; the sounds of screams and sobs faded into a low hum, leaving only Nugia and the monster on a stage of lethal silence.
He stopped and knelt right beside Amae.
The monster abruptly turned. Its primal instincts shrieked; it saw a blinding aura of threat radiating from Nugia's small frame.
"Amae, where is your thunderous fist? Wait here, okay?" Nugia whispered, wiping the blood staining his friend's face.
In the chaos, Bim X-50 lunged. It charged toward the threat as if Nugia were provoking it with that invisible pulse of mana. Bim X-50 reached Nugia's back in an instant. They were within a single arm's reach.
It slammed its massive hands together, attempting to crush Nugia in a lethal clap. But in Nugia's eyes, everything moved so slowly—so fragile.
Nugia didn't flinch. He stood tall and turned.
He continued to walk forward with calm strides. The blow from the giant hands passed right through where he had been, striking nothing but air, as if Nugia were a shadow impossible to touch.
In the control room, the camera lenses zoomed automatically, as if they too were wide-eyed at the horrific scene. Fear no longer just stained Varkas's face; sweat dripped from his forehead, landing on the cold control panel.
"He truly is my favorite child!" Captain Snake roared, breaking the silence.
"Keep your heart in check, Snake! Don't make things difficult for both of us!" Lion snapped, though the corner of his lip curled upward again.
"Colonel, I will make him the greatest masterpiece in PETERUMMAN if you let me forge him!" Snake replied. His voice sounded strange, like a predator in heat.
In the arena, a fierce wind whipped through Nugia's hair. The blue flash in his eyes burned like freezing embers. Nugia raised his twin blades. Twin Fangs. Jet-black daggers.
Sret! Sret!
Nugia sliced through both of the monster's arms as they still hung in the air. He then spun like a dancer in the middle of a death stage, severing every joint in the monster's limbs with impossible accuracy. His glowing blue eyes seemed to possess X-ray vision, seeing the weakness behind the hardest layers of crystal.
Without a sound. Without mercy.
Thick blue fluid sprayed from the severed joints, staining the once-cold concrete floor.
Bim X-50 tried to roar, but the sound caught in its throat as it watched its own limbs hit the floor before it could even feel the pain. It tried to retaliate with its stumps, but the beast faltered. Without arms, it lost its balance; its massive body fell to its knees right in front of Nugia. Its roar was no longer a terror—it was the whimpering of a creature pleading for the end.
Nugia stopped just an inch from the monster's chest. The blue glow in his eyes dimmed, leaving a vacant stare far more terrifying than any rage. He raised his hand, not to slash again, but to point exactly at the cracked crystal that Reyna's shot had missed.
"For every drop of blood you spilled from my brother," Nugia whispered. His voice was flat, devoid of emotion, yet capable of freezing the very air.
As he raised the blade, Nugia paused for five long seconds. In that silence, a fluid dripped from Bim X-50's eyes.
Nugia gave a slow nod. "I'm sorry," his lips mouthed.
KRETEK.
Nugia plunged his dagger into the crack, twisting the weapon with a force that shattered the monster's entire energy core. The red light in Subject Bim X-50's eyes dimmed, fading slowly as its body began to crumble into crystal dust.
KRETASHH!!!
Silence enveloped them once more.
Nugia stood amidst the remains of the monster's dust, slowly turning his gaze toward Varkas's surveillance camera. In the control room, Varkas jolted back as if Nugia's gaze could pierce the screen and snatch his soul right then and there.
Nugia collapsed. His body had reached its limit. In the edge of his darkening consciousness, he could only see Amae's body still lying still in the distance.
"Amae..."
The world went black.
***
In the control room:
"Ha-ha-ha! You see, Snake? He is the child we've been searching for! The trigger for the Crystal Stone Fragments!" Lion chuckled.
"Colonel, you are playing with destruction! The Crystal Stone Fragments are the Core of the Earth. Even with current PETERUMMAN technology, we cannot harness true magic!"
"But that boy will lead us to infinite energy, Snake! When Tiger handed him over, he almost tried to kill me. He defended this child with his life! Now I know why Tiger tried to defy me!" Lion stood up. "I will not give that boy up. Lord Vier wants him to be PETERUMMAN's limitless resource! Varkas, make sure he becomes a submissive machine!"
Lion walked away. The hiss of the door vanished along with his laughter, leaving the thundering sound of footsteps echoing in Snake's hollow ears.
"YES, COLONEL!!" Varkas stood in a rigid salute.
Soon, the control room left Varkas alone. Behind the cameras, Varkas froze, staring at the monitor without blinking. His face was pale, unable to digest the insane scene that had just unfolded. His foul plan—a massacre he had neatly wrapped in the name of a "test"—had just been torn apart by a group of children.
Brakk!
He slammed his fist onto the metal desk with enough force to bend steel. The glare from the monitor reflected his distorted face; hatred and fear fought for space in his bloodshot eyes. Varkas knew that from this second on, he was no longer facing a collection of experimental scraps, but a storm ready to swallow him alive.
However, unlike the cold lens of the camera Varkas looked through, the reality in The Hollow Rim was far more human. The room that had just been a slaughterhouse was suddenly warm, filled with sobs that washed away the rust.
Reyna was still sobbing, clutching her Silent Banshee-X, which felt thousands of times heavier. The weapon was no longer just an instrument of death, but the weight of the lives she had almost wasted. Her sobs were the atonement for the two inches of her failure.
Zilla sat right beside Nugia. She reached out and gently pulled Nugia's hand—still covered in crystal dust—into her own. Zilla gripped it tight, then kissed the back of his hand with such tenderness—a kiss of profound gratitude, as if it were the last kiss she could give at the edge of the world.
"Amae..." Zilla whispered.
Zilla then approached Amae to treat him, followed by Reyna, who stepped slowly with shoulders still trembling. "Zilla! For... forgive me!" Reyna whimpered, her voice heavy. She clutched her own chest, her breath catching in her throat at the sight of Amae's wounds, knowing her actions had triggered the chaos that nearly cost him his life.
Behind the thick walls of The Hollow Rim – Delta Sector, a static alarm began to hum, signaling the end of the work cycle and the beginning of a deeper darkness. For Unit 009, the passing of time was not about the coming of light, but about how much longer they could endure before the void out there swallowed them.
Reyna and Zilla treated Amae with first aid, leaving behind the remnants of Subject Bim X-50's body. Without them realizing it, he was a child just like them, now reduced to worthless dust on a cold floor.
The world outside remained the same—a vast, endless expanse carrying an invisible curse lurking behind its silence. Their war with the monster in the lab was over, but the war against this frozen, cursed world had only just begun.
Beneath a sky that no longer knew the dawn, they realized one thing: in a place where sunlight was but a forgotten myth, the only thing that continued to shine was the fire of rage now burning in their eyes.
Darkness was not a color, but a void that devoured. It lurked in every corner where you stood. Behind your own shadow, which might choke you when you let your guard down. Yet, often, it became a hiding place for predators watching from the walls. Behind an untouched corner of the room, a pair of eyes stared sharply at Unit 009. Those eyes looked like bloodthirsty sword blades, watching more keenly than the strike of a knight.