My Childhood Friend Turned Yandere in the Apocalypse

Chapter 258: Ch 258: Sacrifice someone

Shelly kept walking further away from her mother with a clear intent to leave her behind. But the more she tried to walk away, the more she realized that she was not moving. Once again, her mother was holding her in place.

It enraged Shelly, and she threw her sword at her mother, only for it to phase through Karina.

"Calm your rage down. There is nothing you can do to me in this place that was created using my flesh and blood. You will only lose yourself faster if you try to fight me here."

Karina told Shelly, only for her advice to be ignored by her daughter.

Sigh

"Looking at you is like looking at my past. Although, I used to be much less passionate about what I wanted back then. Ah, those were some good times."

Karina sounded reminisicent, but Shelly kept fighting the bonds holding her back.

They loosened without her realizing it, but Shelly’s steps were still heavy enough to slow her pace down.

She looked back at Karina with an annoyed look on her face and a voice filled with rage.

"Why are you still blocking my way? You died together with Father, so leave me alone now-"

A hand touched her shoulder lightly and pulled her body into a light embrace. Her mother’s warmth, which she had never felt in her life, suddenly surrounded her, and it made Shelly nervous.

"My dear daughter, calm down a little. Your mother has never shown you affection like this before, right? Then let me hold you one last time and confirm that we are headed toward the same fate."

Karina told Shelly, but the more she acted like a mother, the more she unnerved her.

"You and I are nothing alike. Even our ways of loving are different-"

"Is that what you think? But Shelly, I know you better than anyone else. You will follow Rin to the end of this world. If anything were to happen to him, you would doom this world in an instant to save him."

Shelly did not even have the words to deny that claim. Rather, she was proud to say that her mother was right.

If there was a choice between saving Rin and saving the world, then saving Rin took priority for her, even if that was not what Rin wanted.

"See, you don’t even have the words to deny me right now. So how are you and I any different? We are just going after what we want."

"Besides, your precious Rin is in danger as well. The system is trying to latch onto him and drag him into its roots to use his body. Soon, you will lose Rin like I lost my husband, and then you and I will truly be the same."

Karina let out a laugh, and she was beginning to look more and more unstable.

But Shelly was not focused on that weird laughter, but on her mother’s words.

"What does that mean? Why do you say that Rin will be used by the system? What even is the system in the first place?"

Shelly asked, but her mother started to disappear before she could finish answering her question.

"Looks like I can no longer hold on. That Rin of yours sure is a menace. He managed to get the core."

Shelly’s mother ignored her question, and as she disappeared, her hold on Shelly lightened, allowing her to head toward the older woman and try to grab her.

"Hey! Answer me right now. What is this system, and why is it targeting Rin? What does it want with him, and why specifically him?"

Shelly asked, but it was too late. Her mother refused to answer her until the end.

But that mysterious smile on her face remained for a few more moments, and she left Shelly with her final words.

"There will come a time when you lose everything as well. When that time comes, you are more than welcome to use my lab."

Karina told Shelly, leaving her with an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Shelly gritted her teeth before she stabbed her hand into the ground where her mother’s body had fallen.

"Darn it! That woman remained useless even in death. Tsk, I better find Rin and get out of here."

Shelly complained, but her heart felt heavy for a second.

While it was true that she had never felt more than detachment toward her mother, that did not erase the fact that Karina was her mother. And Shelly had just lost her to the system.

And her last words...they worried her.

"What is the system planning with Rin? No, whatever it is planning, it does not matter. It is my duty to protect Rin, and I will see that it is fulfilled."

Shelly promised as she ran toward Rin. She could sense him clearly now, which allowed her to reach him in record time.

"Rin, are you alright?"

She questioned, only for her eyes to widen as she took in Rin’s tired expression.

He was walking toward her on unsteady feet, and his body looked too heavy to move around.

"Shelly...thank god you are here. I don’t think I can make it out...on my own. Can you help me out?"

Rin asked as his legs buckled. It made Shelly move, and she grabbed him before putting him on her back.

"Don’t worry. I will get you out of here soon. You can lean on me for anything."

She promised and began to help Rin get away from the collapsing space.

[Would you like to exit the calamity chamber?]

The system asked Shelly as she kept moving forward. She pressed "yes," and the system lit up. Before she knew it, a passage had opened up in front of her and led her out.

Everyone else was waiting for her and Rin to make it out, and she stepped into the open space.

However, there was a sudden build-up of energy behind her that made her pause. She turned around, intending to shield Rin from the explosion, only for him to raise his hand and encase the body of the calamity in ice.

The impact broke the ice, and Rin followed it by making an ice shield around them. It worked, and the force of the explosion was absorbed by the ice.

Finally, it was safe once more, and Rin collapsed beside her due to exhaustion.