Natasha's towering figure loomed over me, her gaze filled with smug satisfaction. But I remained unfazed. I wiped the last traces of vomit from my lips with the back of my hand and slowly rose to my feet.
Somehow, I felt better after throwing up. Not at a hundred percent, but close enough.
I looked back at Natasha, but her eyes were fixed on the spatial tear hovering just above my head. She probably didn't expect my ability to be used this way.
"Yo—"
Just as she began to speak, I noticed a blood thorn creeping in from her blind spot.
"Watch out!" I shouted, but made no move to leave the safe zone I'd created for myself.
If she couldn't defend herself, that was her problem.
Sizzle! Sizzle!
My eyes widened as one of her miniature suns intercepted the sneak attack. The blood thorns recoiled but too late—the fire caught, engulfing them in an instant as they thrashed and burned.
"Your ability's interesting. Not as useless as I thought," Natasha said calmly, as if unaware of the chaos behind her. But I knew better.
That wasn't ignorance.
It was confidence.
She trusted her talent—and it delivered.
I hadn't realized her spheres had a will of their own, just like the blood thorn vines.
Ding!
My brow furrowed at the sound. I glanced at the corner of my vision where the system message blinked.
[Medicas left: 10/15]
What?! I gasped. How the hell did five people die in just a few seconds?
Natasha noticed the change in my expression.
"What's wrong?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!
A scream cut through the battlefield from the right flank. A girl from our class was yanked into the air by a blood thorn. It dragged her toward the wall—she wasn't the only one.
More than ten students were caught, thrashing and pulling against the vines, but to no use. Oddly enough, the vines didn't finish them off right away.
But more importantly...
"There!" I pointed.
Nestled among the mass of vines was a large, perfectly carved, crimson hexagonal crystal.
No, not nestled—it was the source.
With some squinting, I could see it clearly. The vines were growing out of the crystal.
"How strong is your talent?" I asked, snapping my gaze to Natasha. She flinched.
She didn't answer right away. Her eyes locked onto the red crystal. She understood my plan. She saw the madness in my eyes.
She's going to back down...
"Do we—"
"Scared?" I cut her off, aiming straight for her pride.
One thing people would die for was their image. Most would kill to protect it.
"Don't worry. You don't have to get close." I waved my hand and the spatial tear above me disappeared in a puff of white smoke.
"I-I'm not scared," she muttered, but even she didn't sound convinced.
"Good. Just get your strongest attack ready. I'll make the opening," I said, unbuckling my bulletproof vest to lighten my load.
Natasha stared at me in genuine disbelief. I wasn't sure what shocked her more—my newly gained muscle, or the fact that I was planning to charge straight into danger.
People were trying to escape this death trap... and I was diving deeper in.
"You're insane," she whispered, almost breathless.
But I just shook my head.
"I'm strong."
Calmly, I lowered myself and carved an X on the ground. A bright white light shone from the mark.
[Door Subskill: Door Post Used]
This was one of the abilities I learned from my first Door purchase. It allowed me to mark spots where I could open a door later—no matter how far away I was.
"I'll get close enough to give you a clear shot," I explained. "I'll open a door here so you'll have a direct line to the core."
Maybe that's what made Natasha realize I wasn't bluffing. Her hesitation vanished. She nodded firmly.
"You can count on me."
Without another word, I charged forward, Rai'ki gripped tight in my hand. My eyes followed the girl still being dragged by the blood thorns. Strangely, the vines were moving slower now. Only then did I notice it—they weren't just dragging her. The vines were burning, phasing into the crystal while dragging the victims closer.
Was it planning to pull them into itself?
What happens if it succeeds?
I pushed the questions aside and kept moving, using the chaos around me as cover. If I was lucky, I could sneak close to the wall—
Ding!
[Medicas Left: 9/15]
The system notification hit me like a punch. Another one down.
Were they dying every five seconds?
How pathetic can they be?
The thought distracted me just long enough to almost miss the blood thorn lunging in from my side. I stomped down hard and launched into a backflip with a full twist, slashing clean through the vine with Rai'ki mid-air.
Thud!
I landed on one knee and raised my head. Four more vines were slithering toward me through the crowd—fast and angry, like a mother cobra out for revenge.
"I'll take you on," I growled, clapping my hands together.
Buzz!
The air trembled. With a sharp pull, I opened a spatial tear. The incoming thorns flew straight into it.
Pa!
Something latched onto my leg.
I looked down—another vine. The fifth one. It had stayed low, hiding in the chaos.
Before I could react, it yanked me off my feet. I hit the ground hard, vision blurring.
Then—more vines.
They clamped around my wrists, thorns digging into my skin.
"Gah!" I yelled, thrashing and kicking. But the more I struggled, the deeper they dug.
The vines hoisted me off the ground by my limbs. Another one coiled tightly around my waist.
"Aaah!" I screamed. Rai'ki slipped from my hand and hit the ground below.
"ADAM!" Natasha's voice rang out in the distance—panicked.
But through the pain, I gritted my teeth and barked my response.
"STICK TO THE PLAN!"
And just like that, the vines yanked me straight toward the crimson crystal—the heart of the formation.
"Gah!"
A groan slipped through my lips as I opened my eyes—only to see something that even made someone like me feel sick.
The girl I had been tracking was now right in front of the gem.
Unlike the vines that burned as they merged into it, the gem poured out like blood-colored jelly, slowly covering the girl's body.
A loud sizzling sound filled the air, followed by the horrible stench of burning flesh. Her screams got louder—wild, filled with madness—but even that wasn't the worst part.
The blood jelly pulsed.
So did the vines.
Like a heartbeat—pulsing with light, sound, and life.
It was feeding.
"It's getting stronger by consuming people," I muttered, eyes widening. Then I clenched my jaw. "I know what to do."
Ding!
[Medicas Left: 8/15]
The system alert barely cut through the screams of three other male students ahead. They were in the same situation as me—and they knew that once the girl was done, one of them would be next.
"Not on my watch!"
Buzz!
Space twisted.
White smoke poured from two rifts—one near the blood jelly, the other behind Natasha.
The vines' biggest mistake? Thinking I needed hand gestures to activate my powers.
That was just for show—to make enemies guess wrong and make allies think I had limits.
Truth is? I didn't need to move at all.
[Door Activated!]
Buzz!
Two glowing white doors burst open in different parts of the battlefield. I kept my eyes on the one between the students and the jelly.
Then came the light.
A boulder-sized mini sun blasted out of the door—so bright it painted the whole battlefield red and gold.
Natasha's voice echoed like thunder.
"NOVA CORE!"
BOOM!
The blast was cataclysmic.
Every blood thorn went limp.
The shockwave hit us like a truck, sending bodies flying across the battlefield.
I couldn't hear. Couldn't move. The world spun too fast to understand. Then—
Darkness.