Chapter 13: An Abandoned Factory...?

"Chaos breaks at the dawn of time, and all phenomena begin to manifest. The world is but a phantom dream, bound by vanity and delusion. Seek only the truth to shatter this ignorance. Return to the origin and become one with Him..."

The chant was starkly different from what had come before, permeated with a sense of profound compassion and detachment.

The oppressive weight gradually dissipated, and her consciousness began to clear.

She did not understand the meaning of these words, but her intuition told her that this was a turning point.

She drew a deep breath, forcing herself to remain calm. This was no time to be ruled by fear; she had to find a way to escape.

"Xingyu! Are you in there?" From the distant doorway, she heard Hill's urgent shout.

Xingyu scanned her surroundings, searching every corner of the storage room in hopes of finding an exit.

Beneath a pile of debris, she spotted a narrow ventilation shaft.

A loud crash echoed from outside; Hill seemed to be throwing herself against the bolted door.

At the same time, the floor began to tremble slightly, accompanied by a faint crackling sound. Within the factory, countless subtle vibrations seemed to resonate in unison.

"Xingyu! Hang on!"

Hill’s voice came from outside the far door. Xingyu could not afford to look toward the entrance, but with each increasingly heavy thud against the door, she had a premonition—it was about to give way.

Just as Xingyu prepared to scramble into the vent, the door to the storage room collapsed inward with a roar.

A familiar voice, now distorted and twisted, echoed slowly: "Fou...nd... yo...u."

Xingyu turned her head, her body stiffening as she witnessed a sight she would never forget.

The scattered chunks of flesh and pools of blood on the floor began to writhe and contort, emitting a bone-chilling, viscous sound. As if imbued with a life of their own, they rolled and surged in a fluid, pliable state, converging toward a single point.

They squeezed and ground against one another, producing a grating sound of bone and sinew that set her teeth on edge.

The dark red bloodstains came to life as well. Like a colony of starving ants, the mottled blood crawled and snaked across the floor, merging into viscous, winding rivers of Acheron that flowed toward the mass of flesh. The stench of blood permeated the air, thick and nearly nauseating.

Flesh and blood merged in a carnal, blasphemous orgy, reshaping themselves into a massive, distorted humanoid silhouette.

As the final piece of gore embedded itself into its body, the colossal monster completed its rebirth. It slowly straightened, fixing its gaze upon Xingyu with two black, crater-like sockets.

No eyes, no eyelids—only a deep, pitch-black void that seemed to threaten to suck the very soul from its victim. It let out a low, hoarse roar.

Xingyu felt as though her blood were turning to ice.

Her eyes widened, her legs trembling and weakening, yet she found herself pinned to the spot by some bizarre force, unable to move.

She had never imagined that organic flesh could be reconstructed and pieced together in such a horrifying, unnatural manner to form this grotesque monstrosity.

The monster’s hollow sockets stared unblinkingly at Xingyu, as if piercing through to her very soul.

A chilling sensation crept up her spine, raising gooseflesh across her body. She could clearly hear her own rapid heartbeat and ragged breathing, and the thundering roar of blood rushing through her veins.

This must be... an endless nightmare...

...No...

...It isn't.

Not this.

This is not right.

A strange sense of dislocation suddenly struck her, as if the entire world had shattered before her eyes and was instantly reassembling.

Xingyu jolted awake, her clarity of mind returning in an instant. She took a deep breath and bolted toward the entrance of the storage room.

Though the move seemed reckless, it proved unexpectedly effective—she darted and dodged with agility, shielded by the scattered debris. The giant made of flesh, while terrifying, was slow and clumsy.

Every time it swung its arms, it only succeeded in smashing the surrounding equipment. The remaining machinery was pulverized, and flying shards pierced Xingyu’s clothing.

A metal fragment embedded itself directly into her arm, bringing a searing, agonizing pain. Xingyu gritted her teeth, forcing herself not to let out a groan.

She glanced down at her left arm, where blood was gushing from the wound, trickling down her skin in a frightening, dark red hue under the dim light.

...Blood?

Behind her, the monster let out a deafening roar, like a demon from the depths of hell. Its heavy footsteps thundered like lightning, shaking the entire storage room until it seemed ready to collapse.

A violent impact came from the direction of the door. The iron frame groaned in protest under the brutal assault; the sturdy metal was already deformed, on the verge of being smashed open.

At the critical moment, the warehouse door burst open with a crash.

Hill rushed in, scanning the room anxiously. When she saw Xingyu sprinting from the other end of the corridor, a look of relief flashed across her face.

"Xin—"

However, before Hill could finish, the sharp crack of a gunshot shattered the air. Blood sprayed from her neck, tracing a horrifying red arc through the air.

Hill turned her head in disbelief to find Queenna standing behind her, smiling as she held a gun, the dark barrel still wisping with smoke.

"Why..."

Hill's pupils dilated, her words choking in her throat. Her body swayed twice before collapsing to the ground, where her blood gathered into a jarring pool of red.

Queenna maintained her elegant smile, as if what had just occurred had nothing to do with her.

She walked forward leisurely, looking down at the fallen Hill. She then crouched, and with a gentle motion, straightened Hill’s messy collar.

"What a pity, Hill," Queenna murmured, her tone laced with playful amusement. "I told you, didn't I? You mustn't interfere with our 'assessment'."

Everything was like a meticulously crafted nightmare, pushing her into an abyss of despair.

Queenna turned slowly to face Xingyu, the muzzle of her gun pointed steadily at her heart. She tilted her head, a glimmer of mockery and amusement in her eyes, as if savoring the expression on Xingyu’s face.

"Well? Do you find all this interesting?" Queenna’s voice was soft and languid, as if discussing the most trivial of matters.

Behind them, the monster made of flesh continued to emit its terrifying roar, its heavy footsteps shaking the entire space like thunder.

Its hollow sockets remained fixed on Xingyu, as if it might pounce at any moment to tear her to shreds.

Xingyu clenched her fists, a surge of unprecedented fury rising within her.

Yet, her face remained as still as a stagnant pool.

"...When did you start lying to me?"

Queenna paused, seemingly caught off guard that Xingyu would ask such a question in this situation.

She turned around, the smile on her lips fading slightly, a flicker of inscrutable emotion crossing her eyes.

"Lying to you? We never lied to you, little one," Queenna said lightly, as if this were all nothing more than a harmless joke. "All of this is simply your 'employment test'."

Hearing this response, a cold sneer curled the corners of Xingyu’s mouth.

She glanced back at the twisted monster behind her, which now appeared somewhat laughable and foolish in her eyes.

"I know this isn't real. How did you do it? Is this a dream, or something else?"

Faced with Xingyu’s persistent questioning, Queenna seemed slightly uncomfortable. She parted her lips, intending to say something, but swallowed the words back.

"...Enough."

At that moment, a cold, young female voice cut through the air, shattering the atmosphere of the narrow warehouse like broken mercury.

Accompanied by a crisp sound of fracturing, the entire world began to peel away in shards, like a mirror being smashed to pieces.