Chapter 153: A Highlight Move (2)
Arya had been on that experiment table for what felt like forever and missed seeing her friend, Unit-01. She missed those moments when the gentle tendrils would wrap around her hand, listening to her share dreams and stories.
Sometimes, when things got really bad, Arya wished she could be more like Unit-01 than a human.
Then, after a really long time, she heard a voice she knew. But it wasn’t the innocent and sweet voice from before. Now, it was super powerful and super angry. The ground shook, and this big monster broke through, smashing up the super tough human base from the inside.
Cold, strong tendrils shot up from below, grabbing Arya by her feet.
Arya kept talking to Kestrel, "I made a promise to her. I said I’d leave my human self behind and join her."
"She had this mind-blowing psychic power. And when I connected with her, she gave me so much energy. With that, I made my psychic landscape way, way bigger, creating a whole new place away from the human world."
"That place became what you guys call the Polluted Zone."
"I lost who I was and turned into what you call the Backbone of the Polluted Zone. She became the Polluted Zone itself."
"We were basically one. If I fell apart or died, this world would end too."
"I was the first one, the first beta, to become the Backbone. Maybe I’m also one of the bad guys in the whole human story."
Kestrel listened to all of this without saying anything to make Arya feel better.
She saw flashes of Arya’s life. But even seeing it didn’t let Kestrel truly get how deep Arya’s sadness and hurt went.
Kestrel used her tendrils to touch Arya’s hand gently, sending her thoughts to her. "This wasn’t on you. It’s on the really bad people who wanted too much, and the messed-up times."
Kestrel remembered seeing other Backbones in the Polluted Zones and thought of Kaworu. She realized that every Backbone in these zones was a beta. These super strong betas got worn down by the insectoid stones, causing all these sad stories.
"It’s gonna be okay," Arya said. "Even the scariest dreams end. I’m at the end of my story now, and I’ll soon be at peace."
Arya’s grip on Kestrel’s hand loosened, and she started fading, like she was falling apart. "But they want you to be the next one here, to be the new Backbone. Watch out... Unit-01 isn’t like she was before. She’s super powerful, unpredictable, and doesn’t want her story to end."
"Be careful... really, everything inside the Tower is dangerous."
As Arya faded away, the hand she used to hold Kestrel’s turned into dust in the dark world.
Suddenly, the dreamy psychic scene disappeared. Kestrel was under a research building, inside the ancient temple that no one had visited in forever. There was a shiny altar at the end of some creepy red steps, and the air felt heavy with the sadness of many people who had terrible things happen to them here.
Kestrel then saw Unit-01. It was the same Unit-01 that had been around for a super long time. But now, without the Backbone and its psychic power, it looked old and rotten, like dead tree branches. It was huge and seemed to go on forever, spreading throughout the whole bottom of the temple.
When Arya’s psychic power totally disappeared, a scary noise came from deep inside the temple. It sounded like a big creature that was about to die. The massive, dried-out form began to shake and twist, making the whole temple shake too.
...
Ren quickly pulled his hand away from what was grabbing him. A cold, pale hand let go, and he saw Taja wearing a white dress in front of him.
Half of Taja’s face was hidden in the dark, and the half he could see looked pale, like she was a ghost. There were even more tendrils coming out from under her dress now, all looking old and dry.
"You’ve turned into a real-life monster," Ren said as he pulled out his knife. "Actually, you’ve always been a scary monster."
"So what if I’m a monster? It’s better than being someone people pick on," Taja replied. She slowly crawled up the wall in the dark. "You’re strong, so you wouldn’t get how it feels to be weak and hurt. I don’t care what happens. Even if I have to give myself up to that thing, I would never want to go back to being scared and powerless."
Everything around Ren changed, and he saw an alpha... actually, a lot of alphas. Some were tricked by how innocent Taja looked; some thought she was pretty. In this creepy place, these strong warriors were like bugs stuck in a spider web, one by one getting caught under her dress.
They tried to get away, looking really scared, super weak, and in a lot of pain. Taja tortured them until their minds broke, and she even controlled their bodies, turning them into zombie-like puppets. They were trapped in this nightmare and couldn’t get out.
Ren even saw himself being grabbed by the tendrils and pulled deeper into this scary place.
Everything started to get blurry and fade away. From the darkness, there were creepy voices crying out.
"Hehe, you’ve felt it too, haven’t you?" Taja’s voice echoed infinitely in the darkness. "Your powerful beta must have often done various things to you. I’ve always wanted to see you weak and begging."
Half of her face emerged from the darkness, satisfied to see a look of embarrassment and anger on Ren’s face.
"In truth, alphas are the real fragile ones," Taja laughed, stealthily reaching out with her borrowed psychic tendril towards Ren.
"You’re all sensitive and delicate, completely defenseless. You’re all terrified of my psychic control... Ah!" Taja screamed as she clutched her arm, which was severed by an alpha, retreating with disbelief written on her face.
Knife in hand, Ren’s eyes shimmered with a fierce glow, resembling a desperate killer, in stark contrast to the previous image of him being weak and easily disarmed under Kestrel’s touch.
"Why?!" Taja roared, "I know what you fear. You should be afraid. You can’t resist psychic control. None of you alphas have any resistance."
"Did you get it wrong?" Ren stared coldly at her, eyes filled with mockery. "I might be a bit scared of this, but what truly terrifies me is that formidable and unparalleled individual. How could it possibly be a creature as weak and pitiful as you, inside and out?"
Ren’s blood-red blade slowly emerged, its reflection mirrored in Ren’s icy eyes where a powerful spirit resided. "I pity the alphas you’ve deceived. If I ever show a hint of weakness before you, consider it my loss."
The red blade’s glow was the flame of Ren’s vengeance, shattering the deceptive illusions in its wake. The body of Taja, who had deceived countless alphas, was covered in cracking patterns, eventually dying in this dark world as the weak creature she truly was.
Ren spotted Kestrel. At the foot of a cave, Kestrel stood by an altar, confronting a massive beast.
Ren rushed towards Kestrel. She looked up and saw him approaching.
Their eyes met for an instant, gazing intently at each other – Ren’s face smeared with blood, while Kestrel was no cleaner, looking disheveled.
They had lost each other once again, even though they had held hands tightly before. Yet neither panicked this time, trusting they would soon reunite.
Kestrel felt the approaching Ren was slightly unfamiliar, not the reserved figure from before. At this moment, it seemed as if the anger within him had been ignited, shining brightly like a blade.
As he rushed forward, Ren’s handsome face bore a wild charm, looking more dashing than ever.
He flashed a smile towards Kestrel. Facing formidable foes, his smile was cold, sharp, and unstoppable.
Once on the ground, there was some distance between the two, but they didn’t reach out to hold each other. In that moment, their psychic power connection was even stronger than a physical touch, ensuring neither feared losing the other again.
