Sorry I had to update this chapter cause I swapped between the last 2 chapters
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Stepping into this area filled with deformed incubation cabins felt like walking into the nightmare workshop of some mad creator.
Viscous liquid bubbled inside the cylindrical tanks. The half-human, half-Tacet Discord fusions unconsciously twitched and slammed against the reinforced glass, emitting dull, heart-stopping thuds.
The mixed stench of potent life energy and rotting decay permeating the air grew even more intense, becoming practically suffocating.
"Careful," Rover warned in a low voice, holding Blood Pact horizontally in front of him. "It seems the 'residents' here aren't feeling very peaceful."
Before his words even finished falling, the doors of several incubation cabins violently burst open. The viscous nutrient fluid poured out, carrying those twisted creations with it.
They let out bizarre, inhuman screeches. Some dragged their mangled human bodies forward, opening bloody maws to pounce; others gathered unstable Resonance energy, launching synchronized attacks at the two of them as if by prior agreement.
The battle instantly became intensely heated.
Not only were these monsters numerous, but they were also entirely unafraid of death. What was even more troublesome was the bizarre coordination in their attacks—it was as if they were driven solely by a ravenous hunger for raw meat, completely devoid of even a shred of sanity.
Rover's sword light spun like a wheel, cleaving the approaching monsters to pieces while nimbly evading the energy blasts. At the same time, he constantly kept a portion of his attention divided to watch over Phrolova.
Currently, she was waving her spider lily baton, attempting to tune these chaotic frequencies to force them into infighting or paralyze them entirely.
However, it was glaringly obvious that trying to tune these extremely chaotic, rampaging anomalous fusions was taking a massive toll on her.
"Their core frequencies... are being overwritten by a much stronger noise," Phrolova panted. Fine beads of sweat seeped from her temples, and the trembling in her arm grew increasingly obvious. "It's the power of the Threnodian... the Gemstone is driving them..."
Just as she was giving her all to deal with a massive wave of Tacet Discords attacking from the front, a Tacet Discord resembling a giant arthropod that had been lurking in the shadows launched a sudden ambush from her rear flank, thrusting its razor-sharp appendages straight toward her heart.
"Phrolova!" Rover shouted a stern warning. He forced back the enemy in front of him with a single slash, attempting to turn back and save her.
But Phrolova seemingly didn't hear him at all.
In that split second, her movements completely stalled, and her spider lily drooped.
The color drained entirely from her face, leaving it pale as a sheet. Her uncovered eye lost its focus, as if gazing upon a scene from an entirely different dimension.
...
"...Phrolova, my good child. Do not exhaust your mind for us anymore." An old, benevolent voice echoed. It was a grandfatherly figure, his illusory silhouette standing in a sea of spider lilies, a compassionate smile on his face.
"Death is a path everyone must walk. We must accept it..."
"No, Grandpa Eskles, don't give up..." Phrolova muttered to herself within the illusion of the other shore, her voice laced with pleading. "I'm almost there... so soon..."
"Take me away, Phrolova... don't leave us behind..." Grandma Lia's voice overlapped, filled with the sheer terror of fading away.
"Big Sister Phrolova, you will succeed! I will always stay right here with you, and I'll sing for you!" The lively, entirely trusting voice of the little girl, Tris, pierced into her heart like a sharp blade.
Reality and illusion intertwined madly before her eyes. The her in the present world was completely oblivious to the lethal threat mere inches away.
In the absolute nick of time, a black silhouette flashed past like a bolt of lightning.
The blade of Blood Pact arrived later but struck first, flawlessly parrying the fatal thrust and sparking a blinding shower of sparks.
The massive impact caused Rover's arm to sink slightly, but he didn't pause for a microsecond. With a twist of his blade, the fierce sword light—wrapped in a surging torrent of Aero force—instantly shredded the Tacet Discord into pieces.
Simultaneously, he swept his left arm out, grabbing the completely limp Phrolova—who was still immersed in the other shore—and pulling her away from her spot, dodging the pounce of yet another monster.
He held her and rapidly retreated until his back was pressed against a relatively sturdy metal wall.
"Phrolova! Wake up!" he barked in a low voice. One hand still held his sword, vigilantly guarding their surroundings, while his other hand pressed firmly against her icy back. Gentle Aero force slowly poured into her, attempting to dispel the inexplicably chaotic resonance wreaking havoc within her body.
Phrolova violently shuddered, as if being forcibly yanked out of a profound nightmare.
She began to cough violently, focus gradually returning to her eye. The first thing that entered her vision was Rover's urgent, serious face, inches away, and the warm power radiating from his palm—a stark contrast to her own freezing body.
"...I..." She opened her mouth. Her voice lacked its previous ethereal quality, sounding incredibly hoarse.
"Don't get distracted." Rover cut her off. His gaze continued to sweep sharply over the monsters attempting to swarm them once more, but his tone carried a nearly imperceptible softness compared to its usual cold hardness. "The Threnodian energy here is too strong; it will interfere with our perception. Guard your own frequency."
He didn't interrogate her about what she had seen, nor did he mock her momentary lapse. He simply stated the facts and delivered the most direct warning.
More monsters flooded toward them.
Rover pushed Phrolova further behind him. Holding Blood Pact horizontally, his sword aura rained down like an impenetrable fortress, blocking every single attack coming from the Tacet Discords.
Meanwhile, the Aero force from his body continued to flow into Phrolova without end, stabilizing her weakened frame.
Leaning against his back, Phrolova could vividly feel the minute tremors of his body as he fought, and the unwavering, resolute posture of his guardianship.
She looked at his back, her gaze incredibly complex.
There was shock, confusion, a lingering trace of fear, and... a bizarre sensation she hadn't experienced in a very long time—the feeling of being protected by someone.
She slowly raised her hand, which was still trembling slightly. The spider lily baton glowed with a faint light once again.
This time, her tuning didn't attempt to control those maddened creations; instead, it focused entirely on assisting the man standing in front of her.
From time to time, she would slightly deflect the energy attacks fired by the Tacet Discords, or occasionally cause the ground to suddenly bulge, tripping the charging monsters... Her assistance was impeccably precise, quietly synergizing with his combat rhythm.
The battle ended quickly. The final twisted monster was decapitated by Rover's sword, dissolving into a puddle of black mud.
The area returned to a dead silence once more, leaving only the drip-drop sound of fluid leaking from the incubation cabins onto the floor.
Only then did Rover fully retract his sword and turn around. Looking at Phrolova—whose face was still pale, but whose eye had regained its clarity—the hand he had pressed against her also slowly withdrew.
"Feeling better?" he asked, his voice steady and calm.
Phrolova didn't answer immediately. She turned her head slightly, avoiding his overly direct gaze, and said in a low voice, "...Thank you."
Coming from her mouth, the word sounded exceptionally awkward and unfamiliar.
"We are temporary allies, after all," Rover looked at her, his tone seemingly carrying a hint of teasing. "You lose your value if you die."
Hearing this, Phrolova shot him a mild glare, but then gently turned her head, her gaze landing on the shattered incubation cabins once more. A profound, overwhelming obsession surged in her eye. "Did you see? These are the failed products of fusing humans and Tacet Discords... fragile, twisted, and in agonizing pain... But this proves that the path exists!"
"It just... it just needs adjustment. It needs a definitive 'Weave' to stabilize it..."
She looked at Rover, a nearly fanatic, obsessive light burning in her eye. "As long as I
Get the gemstone, as long as I finish it... I can fix all of this! I will be able to fulfill my promise and let them..."
"I don't care who they are... but turning humanity into another form of existence?" Rover cut her off. His gaze landed on the shattered remains, his voice extremely low and firm. "Phrolova, you cannot save them."
"What you are doing might feel like salvation to your own perception, but to anyone else... it is likely just another form of imprisonment. Using your eternal obsession, you have imprisoned them, and you have imprisoned yourself."
He paused, looking at her slightly widened eye, and continued, "Promises are very important. But the recipient of a promise should never be an irredeemable past."
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