Swimming through the shadows that danced down on the black, metallic floor of the warehouse quarters, he caught up with the two, masked low-ranking members who carried the mysterious jars.
This led him into an area past the warehouse, quietly lurking behind the two as a single bridge expanded over a vast canyon.
'--What is this?' He thought.
For a moment, he stopped when walking onto the metallic bridge, looking down at the abyss below, finding it even more unbelievable just what sort of vastness the base held. It felt as though there was too much of the area to explore and find out information on, and not enough time to do so.
Continuing to follow the two low-ranking members across the bridge, he lurked in the very shadows they created, not having to move as he simply tagged along their path. Across the abyssal bridge, only one door was found on the other end, etched into a wall built of circular, metallic rims.
"...Almost there," the masked woman said, shuddering at the thought.
"Just stay focused. You know how Krimjaw is–if he senses weakness, you're done for," the masked man told the woman.
The door was nothing less than ominous, kept secured by arm-shaped, stone arms that unwrapped themselves as the masked member stepped close to it.
"Open," the man commanded nervously.
Jin stayed within the shadows, watching the unorthodox door unseal itself. As it opened, the veteran instincts of the man flared up, sensing something deeply disturbing laying beyond that door.
'...This mana signature, it's rotten. It's human, but doesn't feel like it–far too cold and relentless, more like a human-loathing monster than anything else,' he thought.
Nonetheless, he betrayed the warnings given by his own instincts as he silently followed the two grunts beyond the door, entering into an odd facility tucked away within the base. Metal tubes ran along the walls and the floor, which was slick with blood and grime.
"Eugh…" The masked woman shuddered as she walked down the hall.
"Stay calm," the masked man whispered.
In his experience, all of the members of the nefarious organization that Jin encountered were death-welcoming lunatics; to see a pair of them frightened to the core by one of their own was something he didn't expect.
"Ghh—"
Without intending to, he unintentionally let out a wince as his chest tightened with another set of heart pains.
The sound he made immediately alerted the two grunts of the mysterious group, who turned around at the same time.
"What was that?" The masked woman asked.
The masked man looked around for a second, unable to see the figure that was hiding within the shadows themselves, "…don't know, probably something of Krinjaw's. Let's go."
"Right…" The woman hesitantly continued.
After the two grunts moved on, Jin stayed for a moment in the shadows, holding his chest as he slowly steadied his breathing.
BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP.
'My clock just keeps ticking. Not ticking any slower,' he thought.
After allowing his heart to settle down, he continued through the pipe-ridden corridor on his own before discovering the chamber that lay beyond.
"What the…"
As Jin entered the area through the shadows, he found a horrific room awaiting; a vast chamber filled with liquid-filled tubes that contained abominations that used to be human. It was a disgusting showcase of abhorrent creations; the horrific people in the tubes were morphed, resembling mutated monsters more than humans, but Jin could recognize what they once were.
Slipping through the shadows, he moved closer to one of the tubes filled with red liquid, seeing what looked like a man with his flesh morphed to resemble scales of a dragon.
'What are they doing here? How did they get this many people–no, those people in the tubes…those are members of the organization as well. Why?' He questioned.
"Ah, you brought it!"
–As he heard a new voice, Jin instinctively sank into the shadows to hide, looking over as he watched the two, low-ranking members greet an unfamiliar figure.
"W-we brought the flesh of the Aspect to you, as promised…" The masked man stuttered out, presenting one of the jars to the figure.
The masked woman did the same, holding one of the jars forward in total fear to the man in front of them.
Standing there, a thin man with long, messy hair of a snow-white complexion rubbed his chin, seeming pleased with what was delivered to him. He wore black goggles that only covered his eyes, nothing more, covered in odd tattoos across his body; the dark ink took the form of spirals drawn across his bare body.
'That's "Krimjaw",' Jin observed.
"Good, very good," the snow-haired man nodded, pleased as he took the flesh-bearing jars from the two.
For a second, the two grunts stood there like statues as the thin man inspected the long, thin jars before he looked up at the two.
Krimjaw snarled, "Huh? What're you waiting around for? Your job is done, so leave."
"R-right!" The masked man and woman said in unison before hurrying out of the abhorrent chamber.
Jin completely sank into the shadows as the two frightened grunts shuffled out of the room, leaving him alone with the mysterious "Krimjaw". The chamber itself seemed like a twisted utopia for unhinged experiments;
Along with the vast amount of abomination-containing tubes were shelves of discolored jars, seeming to be an unholy concoction of things that Jin couldn't begin to guess.
'He's a high-ranking member of the organization. There's no doubt about that–is he an Aspect, though? Aspects always have the same feeling about them: inhuman, distant, and a cold, boundless aura. I don't feel that here–but I feel something,' Jin observed.
The snow-haired, maddened man adjusted his goggles after placing the jars down, looking at the contents inside closely past the glass as a smile stretched across his lips.
"Yes, yes, yes–it's here, it's here–I cannot wait any longer!" Krimjaw excitedly said to himself as his wicked words echoed throughout the chamber.
All Jin could do was watch as the eccentric figure unscrewed the lids to the jars, which caused steam to release from the magically-sealed containers.
"Carefully now, remove the contents," Krimjaw commanded to seemingly nobody.
Around the table that the jars sat on, an odd mechanism made out of light-gray wood activated; artificial arms made out of the wooden material moved as their mechanical limbs cracked. From what the half-elf man could observe through the shadows, the set of a dozen, long arms of wood were empowered by a large core in the form of a white-and-black magic rune.
'A sort of golem? Never seen one like that,' Jin thought.
The wooden hands reached down into the jars, slowly removing the drenched contents inside: a pitch-black heart and a blackened liver.
Jin's eyes immediately widened at the sight of it, taken aback by the wicked items, "--?!"
"There it is! I feared it was lost in the aftermath of that unfortunate battle: the flesh of Dread itself!" Krimjaw said in delight, caressing the accursed organs.
Hearing the name that rang like taboo to the eyes of the stealth adventurer caused the hairs on his arm to stand up as a chill ran up his spine.
'Dread?...The Aspect that escaped during the last world-class trial? How the hell did they get their hands on that, wasn't Dread erased by one of the rookies? Either way, this is bad–I feel it in my gut,' Jin thought.
Every fiber of his being wanted to act, feeling as though it was deathly necessary, right then, at that very moment, to strike Krimjaw down. It wasn't as though he knew what threat the mere organs of Dread held, but the impossible horrors of all spectrums was understood; he knew well that the Children of Chaos could not be predicted–and that was their true weapon.
Just watching the thin, goggle-wearing figure gawk at the accursed pieces of flesh made his skin crawl as he manifested his shadow daggers into his grip.
'Just one strike. One strike and I can end this,' he thought.
Focusing himself, he prepared to strike down the figure who was too busy being enamored with the accursed organs, however–Jin found himself paused at the sight of something else, past Krimjaw.
Suspended in one of the liquid-filled tubes was a young girl with long, silver hair that seemed to subtly glow like a night star. Compared to the abhorrent creations in the other containers, she seemed completely unchanged.
'A girl? It doesn't look like he's gotten to her yet–shit…' He thought.
BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP.
Before taking any action, he sat against one of the containers while staying hidden, holding his own chest as his chest tightened with an inevitable condition. It was a painful development for him, finding something that can be saved amongst the terror of the hideout.
For the half-elf man, he already accepted this mission to be his last, forsaking any chance of leaving the Godless Continent, however–the existence of the lone girl gave him something to protect.
Glancing at the unconscious girl that was suspended in that clear-glass container, he felt a heartwarming nostalgia when seeing her, reminded of a younger sister he hadn't seen in some time.
'...I can't just abandon her. Not in a place like this. Nobody deserves that,' he decided.
–Still, this didn't change what needed to happen. As he gripped the daggers forged out of shadows, he waited for his perfect moment to strike before–
"I see you."
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