Chapter 123: The Fading Corruption
The ruins of the illusionary house were nothing but a charred memory under the oppressive grey sky of the Frost-Spire. Mina was on her knees, her hands shaking as she gripped Ren's tactical suit. His body was unnaturally cold, and those abyssal black eyes remained fixed on nothingness.
"Ren! Please, wake up! Don't leave us like this!" Mina's voice was hoarse from screaming, her tears falling onto Ren's pale cheeks.
Beside her, Adam Lee let out a choked gasp. He looked down at his own hand—the one that had unleashed the "Thunder Mode." His skin was beginning to blister and turn a charcoal black. Smoke rose from his pores as if his very blood was boiling.
"Adam! Your body... you're burning!" Mina cried out, momentarily distracted by the sight of her comrade's flesh searing from the inside out.
"It's the price... of that technique," Adam wheezed, his teeth Grit in agony. "My Vane-circuits are fried. But look..."
As they watched, the last remains of the wooden house dissolved into grey ash, carried away by the freezing wind. It had never been real. It was a psychic construct designed to drain their life force. But the danger wasn't gone; it had simply shifted form.
Suddenly, Ren's body jerked. His black eyes didn't fade, but a low, guttural growl escaped his throat—a sound that was completely inhuman.
"Ren?" Mina whispered, leaning closer.
In a split second, the man she knew was gone. Ren lunged upward with animalistic speed. His fingernails had grown into jagged, obsidian-like claws, sharp enough to tear through Vane-reinforced armor. He swung his hand in a lethal arc, aiming directly for Mina's throat. The "Butcher" was gone; only a predator remained.
"GET BACK!" Adam roared.
Using the last of his strength, Adam delivered a powerful kick to Ren's chest. The force sent Ren skidding across the frozen ground, his claws dragging through the ice and creating deep gouges.
"We have to leave, Mina! Now!" Adam shouted, struggling to maintain his balance as his legs trembled from the burns. "Fire at him! Stop him before he kills us both!"
"No! I can't... I can't kill him, Adam!" Mina stood up, her pistol raised but her finger frozen on the trigger. She looked at Ren, who was slowly rising from the snow like a demon from the underworld. His movements were twitchy, irregular, as if his muscles were being pulled by invisible wires.
Ren let out a shriek and sprinted toward them, his body low to the ground. He was a blur of black shadow against the white snow.
"Give me that!" Adam snapped, snatching the pistol from Mina's trembling hand. He didn't hesitate. He aimed for the center of Ren's mass and pulled the trigger. BANG!
The Vane-bullet slammed into Ren's chest. The impact threw him backward, his body spinning before he hit a jagged rock and slumped into the snow.
"NOOO!" Mina screamed, rushing toward the fallen man.
"Mina, stop! He's not human anymore!" Adam grabbed her arm, trying to pull her away. "That blood he drank... it's controlling him! He's a puppet for the Void now!"
"Let go of me!" Mina snarled, wrenching her arm free with a strength Adam didn't know she possessed. She ran to Ren and knelt beside him, frantically checking his vitals. "He's still breathing! Adam, he's alive!"
Adam limped over, the pistol aimed directly at Ren's head. His finger was white against the trigger. "He's a danger to the entire mission. If he wakes up again in that state, I won't be able to stop him. Step aside, Mina. I have to finish this."
"You will have to shoot through me first!" Mina stood her ground, shielding Ren's body with her own. She looked into Ren's eyes—the blackness was still there, but it seemed to be flickering, the sapphire blue trying to break through the darkness.
"Look at his eyes, Adam!" Mina pleaded. "The corruption is fading. That lady... that thing... it didn't have enough time to finish the ritual. The amount of blood he drank was small. It wasn't enough for a permanent takeover!"
Adam lowered the gun slightly, his eyes narrowing. "You're gambling our lives on a 'maybe', Mina."
"I'm gambling on him!" Mina countered. "He saved me in the bunker. He saved you from the White Titan. He fought his own memories to protect a ghost! If there is even a one percent chance that Ren is still in there, we are taking him with us."
She began to wrap a bandage around Ren's chest wound, her hands moving with frantic precision. "It was a controlled dose. His body is fighting the infection. If we can get him to a recovery point, if we can stabilize his Vane-flow, he will come back."
Ren's hand suddenly twitched, and his fingers brushed against the red scarf still wrapped around Mina's neck. A faint, pained groan escaped his lips—not a growl, but a human sound of suffering.
Adam watched them for a long moment, the smoke still rising from his own burnt skin. He looked at the vast, empty wasteland surrounding them and then at the broken man and the defiant Captain.
"Fine," Adam whispered, holstering the gun. "But if he turns again, I won't wait for your permission. We need to find shelter and a way to purge that black blood from his system. But look around us, Mina... we have no meds, no heat, and the Titans are hunting. This 'cure' might be harder than the fight itself."
Mina ignored the doubt. She gripped Ren's hand, feeling a faint warmth returning to his skin. "We'll find a way. We have to."
The storm began to howl again, as if the Frost-Spire itself was disappointed that the Butcher had not yet fallen. But as Mina held Ren, she saw a spark of sapphire return to his left eye. The battle for Ren's soul had begun, and the North was about to get a lot more dangerous.