December 4, 2008, 02:16.
Katsushika District, Tokyo Metropolitan Tōbu Chiiki Hospital.
Terk… Terk~Tit… Tit…
Only the sound of the wall clock and the cardiac monitor echoed through the corridor. The hospital hallway felt unnaturally quiet and cold.
Tek… Tek… Tek…
The soft sound of fingers typing on a keyboard could be heard. A nurse behind the desk appeared focused on finishing a report in the middle of her night shift.
Srheekkksss…
A faint dragging sound slowly moved along the dark and silent hospital corridor. Long hair swept the floor. Feet that never touched it as it slowly approached the desk.
Tek… Tek… Te-!
The fingers stopped pressing the keyboard. The nurse looked up just as the silhouette stood right in front of her.
"Ad- Hakksss…!" Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the horrifying figure standing and smiling before her.
A scaly face with fangs protruding from its mouth. A pair of blood-red eyes stared without blinking. A single horn rose from its forehead, partly hidden beneath long hair that swept across the floor. Its lips curved into a terrifying grin, with saliva dripping onto the floor.
Brakk!
"Kya-GROKK-SLIKKK!" Before she could even scream, the nurse had already lost her voice.
The chair was pushed and fell backward as fear reached its peak. The nurse's body trembled violently. Her tongue felt stiff, her voice unable to form a single word.
Grebhh~CRRRASHHH~SLURRRRRP!
Roughly, the creature grabbed and pulled her by the neck, then without hesitation bit into it. The sound of the bite and tearing flesh filled the silent corridor.
SRAKK~Tik... tik..!
The ripping sound was followed by drops of blood falling onto the cold marble floor, masking the ticking of the clock and the beeping of the heart monitor in the darkness of the hospital corridor.
CHOMP~SLURPP~CRUNCH!
The Urqell embraced the nurse's lifeless body, devouring it greedily. The sound of chewing fresh flesh echoed faintly through the corridor, where patients remained unaware of what was happening around them.
***
Tit… Tit… Tit…
The sound of the cardiac monitor echoed inside Jōgan's ICU room. Diana appeared to be asleep in a seated position, her legs crossed and her arms folded over her chest.
Slowly, Diana opened her eyes, as if sensing something from the direction of the corridor. With a calm movement, she rose and stepped out of the ICU room, leaving Zulo, Sanna, and Kaito who were still fast asleep beside Jōgan.
Srekh~Klik.
The ICU door opened, then slowly closed again. Just after the sound of the door faded, Sanna opened her eyes. She heard the sound of Diana's footsteps moving farther away.
Sanna lifted her head, looking at the door that had already closed. The chair shifted softly as Sanna stood and walked toward the window.
Outside, in the parking area drenched by heavy rain, a tall, massive figure stood motionless. Its gaze was fixed straight toward the window. A flash of lightning struck for a moment, revealing a horrifying scaly face and two red eyes with a single horn.
Vummm~Singhhh…
Sanna smiled calmly, far too calmly. There was no fear, no surprise, completely different from before. She glanced toward Jōgan, who was still unconscious, before her body slowly floated into the air and became transparent.
***
Hospital corridor.
Tap… Tap… Tap…
Relaxed footsteps echoed, approaching the female Urqell who was still absorbed in enjoying her meal.
GLAP~NYAM~KRAKK!
The Urqell sensed a powerful pressure of energy approaching. The female Urqell stopped chewing. Fresh flesh still filled her mouth. Not because she was full, and not because she was afraid. But because something was staring at her from behind.
The corridor was silent, far too silent. The air seemed to harden, as if the space between them refused to breathe. Diana stood without a defensive stance, without any intention to attack, and without even the slightest trace of a normal human aura in her gaze.
The Urqell's pair of eyes narrowed. Its blood-red gaze met Diana's cold, calm stare, hungry in a very different way.
For a moment, both remained still. No movement, and no sound. Only two creatures at the peak of the chain, measuring and weighing one another.
"Oi… ugly." The voice broke the silence of the corridor. Diana stood calmly in the middle of the hallway, staring straight at the Urqell.
SLOP~SLOP~GRRR!
The female Urqell slowly grinned, revealing sharp fangs. Blood and flesh filled the inside of her scaly mouth as she swallowed, fresh blood dripping from her lips.
Sssshhh~Ploopp!
Diana opened one palm. White mist slowly swirled around it, her shadow creeping across the corridor floor.
Brughhh!
The nurse's lifeless body was casually released from the Urqell's embrace, crashing onto the floor in a pitiful state.
Gerhh~Syuhh!
With a deep snarl, the Urqell floated toward Diana, fast and aggressive.
Diana glanced around. Rows of ICU rooms and the slow rhythm of cardiac monitors. Bodies that were still alive, yet powerless.
Tch… not here." Diana's jaw tightened. "Too many bodies. Too many witnesses." Halting her attack as she glanced toward the emergency door.
The Urqell lunged, its claws aiming directly for Diana's body, ready to tear the girl apart.
Grebhh~WUSSHH!
Diana dipped to the side, swiftly catching the Urqell's wrist. In a single motion she twisted, swung, and slammed it toward the emergency door.
SYUHHH~BRAKHH!
The Urqell's body was hurled away, crashing violently through the emergency door at the end of the corridor.
VUUUMMMM~KREEEK!
The female Urqell's claws, coated in Gamma energy, pierced into the floor, anchoring her body to prevent herself from falling into the depths of the emergency stairwell.
Diana walked forward casually, approaching the emergency door now hanging wide open.
Vuuu~Zinggg!
Before the Urqell could fully climb back up, Diana had already moved. "Bayang-Loka." Diana spoke calmly, her voice nearly flat. The vibrations of Stellar Remnants condensed within her palm, pulsing at a high frequency that made the surrounding air tremble softly.[1]
Alealeale~Whush!
A chorus of childish high-pitched, mocking giggles burst out, echoed thin and rapid, bursting out the moment they appeared. Several small pale spheres instantly formed into the shapes of bald-headed childlike ghosts. They shot out from Diana's palm like living shadows newly freed from a prison of light.
BRAGHH!
The female Urqell's long hair suddenly burst to life and moved violently. Thousands of strands transformed into tentacles, stabbing into the walls and ceiling with repeated tak! sounds. Then with one brutal pull, the Urqell's body was launched like a bullet.
Brughhh~BRAKK!
The two bodies collided violently, smashing into ICU furniture. Chairs were thrown aside, tables overturned, glass rattled wildly.
Kringg... Kringg~Tapp... Tapp..!
The ICU alarm wailed as panicked footsteps from other nurses echoed through the corridor.
"Hakksss… D-Diana!" Kaito shouted, his face pale as he saw Diana caught directly in the clash within the Urqell's writhing hair.
"Quick! Evacuate the patients and move away!" Zulo shouted, immediately pushing a patient's bed without hesitation.
Kaito quickly helped, followed by the nurses who had awakened on the lower floor, rushing to evacuate the patients.
Grebhh~Grebhh~Grebhh.
Several small hands of Bayang-Loka, the ghosts formed from cosmic dust, gripped the Urqell's hair, pulling and slamming it mercilessly.
BRUAKKKKK~Brakkk!
The female Urqell's body shot uncontrollably, crashing through two ICU walls, leaving wide cracks and dust scattering through the air.
***
At the same time, in the rain-soaked parking area.
Plap... Plap... Plap…
The sound of bare footsteps touched the wet asphalt, calm and measured as they approached the Urqell.
The silhouette of beautiful feet could be seen, stopping right in front of the male Urqell beneath the pouring rain. A mysterious and absolute aura surrounded her, different from the others.
Tuk... Tuk... Dreshhhh…
KRAKKKK~BLAARRRR!!
The rain grew heavier, thunder splitting the sky and flashing across the night.
The male Urqell stood frozen in place.
Its eyes trembled slightly as its instincts realized who was standing before it.
A thin Cosmic Illusion covered the parking area.
The space around them distorted, as if reality itself was being pulled away from its own center. A stream of Quasar Light, Isolation-Radius under low pressure, formed a circular array around the Urqell's body. The lines did not touch, did not press. Yet they left not the slightest gap to resist.
Tangg~Prakkk!
The Urqell's weapon slipped from its grasp, falling onto the wet asphalt. Its body stiffened as if realizing that it could no longer resist what stood before it.
"Spatial Anchor-Lv23." The girl's voice sounded faint, almost drowned beneath the heavy rain.
Vummm~thwip!
A low hum emerged from an invisible structure. Thin lines of light formed a spatial cube, sealing the Urqell completely inside it.
The air trembled.
Plop!
Like a bubble bursting, the space collapsed inward, crushing the male Urqell inside. A choking hiss of air was pulled into the shrinking hole of space.
Total silence.
Thwip!
The cube shrank into a single small silver point, flickered for a moment, then vanished, together with the Urqell inside it, leaving no trace behind, not even a scream.
Krrt~krrt!
The parking cameras flickered wildly. Their lenses rotated on their own before freezing, their screens filled with gray static.
BEEP~BEEP~BEEP!
Dozens of cars in the parking area sounded at once. Hazard lights turned on without command, then went dark simultaneously.
The silhouette of the bare feet slowly turned.
Then she walked back toward the hospital building, mysterious and utterly deadly.
[1] Bayang-Loka :Inspired by a ghost known as the Tuyul or Toyol. A spirit originating from Indonesia and Malaysia, resembling a pale-skinned, bald child. It is known as a childlike ghost active, mischievous, and fond of causing trouble.