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Quote of the Chapter:
"There are only so many seats open in my life, and I don't want to let my heart be swayed by anyone who's not sitting in one of them. Of course, there are also people like you who bring their own seat and sit down."
— Nobara Kugisaki. (Jujutsu Kaizen).
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The brilliant white cocoon surrounding Lady Rose continued to pulse violently as cracks spread across its surface like shattered porcelain.
[CRRRRKKK... CRRRAAAKKK...]
The entire corridor trembled, and the lights overhead flickered uncontrollably as a strange pressure settled over the hallway, making it harder to breathe.
"...Yeah..." Lorenzo slowly took another step backward, both Driver cases tucked tightly beneath one arm. "...I've seen enough anime to know where this goes." He turned around immediately and prepared to run. "...BYEEEEEE—!"
[BOOOOOMMMM!!!]
He barely managed two steps before the cocoon exploded in a blinding flash of light, followed by a violent shockwave that blasted through the corridor, throwing Lorenzo off his feet as chunks of crystallized shell embedded themselves into the surrounding walls.
"...WHOOOAAAHHH—!" He rolled across the floor before catching himself against a broken support pillar with dust swirling everywhere, and a graceful foot suddenly stepped out of the smoke.
[...Tap...Tap...Tap.]
The dust slowly parted with each measured step as a tall silhouette emerged from the haze.
Lorenzo squinted in the direction as his eyesight had never been particularly great when it came to things farther away. Through the lingering dust, the figure was little more than a blurry white silhouette. "...Why does she kinda look..." He leaned forward, trying to focus. "...Pretty?"
A horrendous stench crashed into him like a physical force, and the expression on his face died instantly. It smelled like a flower garden built on top of an open grave, sweet enough almost to fool him for a split second before the overwhelming odor of rotting flesh invaded every breath.
"...Mmmph—!" Lorenzo's face slowly turned green before he immediately clamped both hands over his mouth as his stomach lurched violently. "...HUUURK—!" His entire body shuddered before he dropped to one knee. "BLLLEEEEGGHHH!!" A stream of bitter yellow-green bile splattered onto the floor as violent dry heaves wracked his body.
More bile spilled from his mouth as tears formed in his eyes. "What the fuck is that smell?!" he gagged between retches. "Did something crawl up your ass and die or something?!" He wiped his mouth with the back of his arm before another wave hit him. "...HUUURK—!" Another splash of bile hit the cracked concrete.
As Lorenzo slowly looked back up through watering eyes, the dust finally settled. Lady Rose no longer resembled a human. Her body had transformed into a humanoid form, wrapped in ivory bio-armor resembling overlapping flower petals.
Delicate black patterns resembling vines and lace spread beneath the pale armor, giving the illusion that living roots were growing beneath porcelain skin.
Massive petal-like structures blossomed from her shoulders, arching upward and outward like the unopened bloom of an enormous rosebud. Dark petal-shaped crests curved gracefully from either side of her head, framing her face like the crown of an exotic flower, while long silver-white hair flowed elegantly down her back.
Her once-human eyes had become pools of glowing white light with none of her previous anger within them; instead, they were replaced by a cold, emotionless gaze that silently judged everything within her sight.
Below her neck, overlapping floral armor spread across her torso before blooming outward around her waist into dozens of layered petals that concealed her lower body like a dress.
Her forearms had lengthened slightly, ending in clawed hands whose slender ivory fingers curved into delicate talons reminiscent of flower stamens. Golden accents adorned her elbows, shoulders, and hips, breaking up the monochrome colors.
[IMAGE]
"..." She stood silently for a moment, her eyes never leaving Lorenzo as he began to recover from the smell. "...Are you finished?"
Lorenzo muttered, wiping another string of bile from his mouth while pinching his nose shut. "...Jesus Christ, you smell like someone sprayed perfume on a dead fish in a dumpster."
[BOOOOMMMM!!!]
Without warning,the floor beneath Lady Rose shattered as she shot forward, moving with a speed that completely betrayed her size and shape.
"...OH SHIT!" Lorenzo barely threw himself backward as her clawed hand swept past his face.
[SHRRRAAAKKK!!!]
The wall behind him was ripped apart as though it had been made of paper. "Oh...FUCK NO!" Lorenzo turned on his heel and bolted as his bare feet pounded against the floor while Lady Rose silently chased after him, her footsteps almost nonexistent despite the terrifying speed at which she moved.
[BANG!!]
[BANG!!]
[BANG!!]
Every time one of her clawed hands lashed out, another section of the hallway exploded behind him. "...SHIT, FUCK, FUCK LEAVE ME ALONE DAMN IT!!!" Lorenzo yelled over his shoulder.
Lady Rose offered no reply; instead, she accelerated.
"Oh SHIT—!" Lorenzo rounded another corner before his eyes suddenly widened. "ELEVATOR!" He practically dove towards it, then repeatedly smashed the call button. "COME ON, COME ON, COME ON—!"
[DING.]
The doors slid open. "YES!" Lorenzo threw himself inside, then immediately mashed the button for the lowest floor. "CLOSE! CLOSE! CLOSE! CLOSE!" The elevator doors began sliding together, and it moved incredibly slowly.
Lorenzo stared at the narrowing gap before looking back into the hallway and saw Lady Rose standing there...MENACINGLY, merely watching. "..."
"...Huh?"
Then—
[BOOOOOMMMM!!!]
She disappeared with a burst of speed toward the elevator like a white blur.
"...OH SHIT!...FASTER! FASTER!"
The doors continued closing slowly as she quickly began to cross the distance, and just as Lady Rose thrusted her hand forward, her claws were about to slip through—
[CLANG.]
The elevator doors slammed shut. "..." Lorenzo stared at the closed doors before he threw both hands into the air and began to celebrate early. "...HAHA! GET FUCKED!" The elevator lurched downward. "I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT ACTUALLY WO—"
[SKRRRRAAAAKKKK!!!]
A violent screech echoed overhead, and Lorenzo froze. "For the love of God, let that just be normal sounds from the elevator..." Another metallic groan echoed through the shaft.
[CRAAAAAAKKK!!!]
Then the ceiling above him dented inward. "...haven't I suffered enough in one day..." With nothing but brute strength, Lady Rose had pried the elevator doors open on the floor above before dropping onto the roof of the descending elevator. The entire cabin groaned beneath her weight. Lorenzo slowly looked upward. "...You have got to be kidding me."
[THUNK.]
Cracks rapidly spread across the roof as long ivory claws suddenly thrust through the steel. They continued growing, stretching farther and farther until they resembled living whips, their joints bending unnaturally as they searched the cabin like predatory vines.
Lorenzo slowly leaned away from one as its tip stopped inches from his face; however, the warmth of his breath brushed against it, as the claw froze in place. "...Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." The whip-like claw suddenly snapped toward him.
[SHRRRAAAKKK!!!]
Lorenzo threw himself to the side as the ivory tendril carved straight through the elevator wall before being followed up immediately, one after another.
[SHNK!!]
[SHRAAAKK!!]
[CRASH!!]
The claws tore through the walls, ceiling, control panel, and even the floor of the elevator as though the steel were made of cardboard, forcing Lorenzo to throw himself from side to side inside the cramped cabin. "...WHY DOES EVERYONE HERE HAVE A PHASE TWO?!"
Lady Rose gave him no time to breathe as three tendrils shot through the ceiling simultaneously. Lorenzo ducked beneath one, rolled under another, and sprang over the third
[SHRRKKK!!]
The claws collided with each other, tearing huge chunks out of the elevator. "...HAHA! YOU MISSED—" A sharp pain exploded through his chest. "...GHHK!" He stumbled. His injured ribs screamed in protest as pain surged through his entire body. "...Shit..."
"...AH—!" Another claw came screaming toward him, which missed his face by barely an inch, slicing several strands of hair away before embedding itself into the wall behind him.
His expression flattened completely. "I'm done." He turned toward the elevator doors. "...I'm cutting my losses." Lorenzo planted one foot forward before sprinting. "OUTTA MY WAYYYYYY!!" He reeled his fist back. "...HAAAAAH!!"
[BBOOOOOOOMMMM!!!]
His punch exploded into the elevator doors, and the metal folded inward before blasting completely out of the shaft. Lorenzo followed right behind them, diving through the opening just before the elevator continued descending.
Behind him, Lady Rose immediately leapt from the roof of the elevator and burst into the open shaft in pursuit. Lorenzo glanced back. "...Oh, come on!" His eyes landed on the mangled elevator doors lying nearby. "...Perfect." He bent down. Grabbed the several-hundred-pound steel doors with both hands. "...Eat Shit!"
[BWOOOOOMMMM!!!]
With every ounce of strength, he hurled the massive slab of steel straight down the shaft before Lady Rose barely had time to look up.
[CCCRRRAAAASSSSHHHHH!!!]
The elevator doors slammed directly into her, carrying both her and the elevator downward in an avalanche of twisted steel. The entire shaft echoed with deafening impacts.
[BOOM!!]
[CRASH!!]
[BANG!!]
Dust blasted upward from below. Lorenzo stood there for a second, breathing heavily. "...That should keep her dow—"
"AAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHHH!!" A familiar scream echoed from somewhere nearby before Lorenzo blinked. "...Victor?" He immediately took off running as his feet pounded through the ruined corridors until— "...The hell?" Ahead of him, he saw a gigantic and a smaller blur, and something or someone pinned beneath the giant one. "Well...I don't know who's who... but I'm ninety-nine percent sure the giant bastard is Ox...GOOD ENOUGH!" Lorenzo accelerated.
[BANG!!]
[BANG!!]
[BANG!!]
The floor shattered beneath every step as he built more and more speed. "OI, BIG GUY!!" He planted one final step.
[BBOOOOOOMMMM!!!]
The concrete exploded beneath him as Lorenzo launched himself into the air with his entire body twisted and every muscle in his legs tightened. "...DYNAMIC ENTRY!!"
[BBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!]
His strongest kick crashed directly into Ox's head, and the impact detonated like a missile, and a shockwave erupted throughout the hallway as the giant Orphnoch was blasted sideways. The already damaged floor finally gave way.
[CCCRRRAAAASSSSHHHHH!!!]
The entire section collapsed beneath everyone as everything fell together. "...WOAAAHHHHH!!" Lorenzo immediately spotted the person who had been trapped beneath Ox, and without hesitating, he reached out. "...Gotcha!" He grabbed the falling figure by the wrist with one hand while his other hand caught the broken edge of the collapsing floor. "...GHHH...!"
His shoulder screamed from the sudden weight as chunks of concrete continued raining into the darkness below. Lorenzo strained before finally pulling the person back onto solid ground. "...Haaa..." He collapsed onto one knee, still breathing heavily, then he looked at the person he'd rescued. "...This is Victor...right?" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "...It'd be really embarrassing if I just saved one of the bad guys."
Victor let out a pained groan before laughing weakly. "...Heh...yeah...yeah, man..." He coughed. "...It's me."
Lorenzo let out the biggest sigh of relief all day. "...Thank God."
Before either of them could catch their breath—
[RRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!!!!!]
The entire underground complex shook, and Lorenzo's smile slowly disappeared. "...You've gotta be kidding me."
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To be continued in the next chapter of
RIDING THROUGH THE OMNIVERSE!
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