Chapter 486 – From despair, hope is born [67]

(POV – Victor Hale)

Victor had been through every kind of week imaginable throughout his life. From the busiest, most eventful ones, which, unfortunately for him, were exactly the kind he hated the most, to the calmer, quieter ones that, although rare, gave him the most pleasant sense of comfort. That said, as much as Victor hated hectic, stressful weeks filled with problems, he also knew that escaping them was practically impossible.

Sooner or later, an exhausting week always came along, the kind that seemed to last far longer than the usual seven days, with each new morning bringing yet another problem. And to make matters worse, there was the small detail that his job was irritatingly deadly. There wasn't much Victor could do to change that reality.

Whether he liked it or not, he worked in a place that simply didn't give him many options besides enduring increasingly exhausting, stressful, and occasionally dangerous weeks. In the end, all he could do was take a deep breath, keep working, and hope that the following week would, by some miracle, be a little more peaceful.

As a matter of fact, even on his “Days,” when he was normally supposed to be resting and enjoying some peace and quiet, Victor somehow ended up being dragged into all kinds of situations by his friend, Laura. Victor genuinely hated those moments.

They almost always started out relatively peacefully and ended with him involved in situations that were extremely dangerous, uncomfortable, or, in some cases, simply absurd. Still, no matter how much he complained, he knew Laura would never back down.

She was a scientist to the core, completely obsessed with the pursuit of new results and discoveries. If there was even the slightest possibility of obtaining some interesting data, Laura would probably be willing to risk her own life to get it. And that was precisely why Victor couldn't simply leave her on her own.

He could complain, grumble, and even threaten never to accompany her on another experiment again, but in the end, he always found himself following after her. After all, both Laura and Emily were extremely dear to Victor.

They had been the only ones willing to help him when he needed it most, especially when it came to his younger sister. Because of that, even knowing he would probably regret it later, Victor simply couldn't turn his back on them.

But why exactly was Victor reminiscing about the past? The simplest answer was that, at this very moment, he found himself in an agonizingly stressful situation. Tentacles made of fibers with a texture resembling that of a mushroom, sprouting directly from the gigantic mushroom, were lunging at them from every direction.

Victor, Rupert, and Arthur barely had time to breathe as they struck, fired, and destroyed every monstrous appendage before they could reach them. Every tentacle that appeared was immediately met with a gunshot or some improvised attack. And they had to keep doing it.

After all, behind them was the only being capable of putting an end to the strange events that had been plaguing the city, the abnormally high suicide rates, the growing number of people reporting disturbing thoughts, and the inexplicable feeling of despair that seemed to be spreading silently throughout the population.

While trying to keep the tentacles from reaching the group, Victor and his companions also had to remain in constant motion. A single mistake, a fraction of a second of distraction, could be enough for one of those things to break through their defenses.

And as if all of that weren't enough, there was another problem. Every so often, the ground trembled beneath their feet. The tremors came from behind them, accompanied by the distant sound of impacts so violent that they seemed to make the very air vibrate.

It was impossible to ignore them. Even while focused on the battle in front of them, Victor and his companions inevitably glanced toward the sounds for brief moments. Back there, the [Angel of Death] was facing the mushroom colossus.

However, given the circumstances, Victor barely had time to look around. The tentacles seemed to multiply with every passing second, emerging from every direction like annoying insects that simply refused to stop coming. Every time he knocked one away, another two or three took its place, forcing him to keep all his senses completely focused on the battle.

It was then that Rupert's voice, coming from beside him, cut through the chaos and caught his attention: “Is it happening now? What the hell is she trying to do?”

Victor stopped moving for a brief moment. His eyes naturally shifted toward Rupert, who looked extremely bewildered as he stared at something over Victor's shoulder: “What?”

Victor followed his gaze and noticed that Arthur had also stopped for a moment, wearing the same confused expression. That alone was enough to put him on alert.

Victor slightly furrowed his brow before finally turning around to look. And the moment his eyes caught sight of the scene, his eyebrows shot up in utter confusion, almost as if his brain had refused to immediately process what he was seeing.

What the hell was she doing? The [Angel of Death] remained completely motionless, standing only a few yards in front of the mushroom colossus. The scene was, to put it mildly... strange. The countless tentacles spreading around the humanoid mushroom moved erratically, slithering across the ground and through the air as they searched the area.

They seemed to be looking for something, or, more specifically, someone. Most likely, the [Angel of Death] herself. The strangest part, however, was precisely the fact that she was standing completely still. Only a few yards separated the [Angel of Death] from the tentacles, yet none of them seemed to notice her presence.

They passed dangerously close to her, sometimes coming within inches of touching her, only to change direction at the last second and continue searching as though she simply didn't exist.

Victor narrowed his eyes as he watched the scene. There weren't many possible explanations for this. Considering what they already knew about the [Angel of Death], the conclusion he, and probably his companions as well, came to was fairly obvious.

She was using some kind of anomalous ability. By this point, it was already known that the [Angel of Death] possessed several abilities of this kind, some of which they couldn’t even fully understand.

Whatever was happening in front of them was probably just another example. Even the tentacles advancing toward Victor, Rupert, and Arthur would end up freezing when they got within a few yards of their positions.

They simply stopped moving, as if an invisible barrier was preventing them from advancing any farther. Victor watched this for a few seconds, remaining on high alert. If the [Angel of Death] could do something similar with the tentacles, then perhaps this strange paralysis was also the result of one of her abilities.

In any case, Victor had countless thoughts racing through his mind, but this was definitely not the right time to sort through them. Besides saving their own skins, he, Rupert, and Arthur still had to make sure none of the tentacles reached Charlotte.

One mistake, and the entire plan would fall apart. Thinking about turning his attention back to the task at hand, Victor began to turn around, but his attention was suddenly drawn back to the [Angel of Death]. Something had changed.

One of the anomaly’s arms was slowly taking on a strange color, an unusual mixture of blue and orange that seemed to be spreading from the inside out. At first, the change was confined to the arm, almost as if a light were spreading beneath its surface.

Then it began to advance. Inch by inch, the strange coloration spread across the limb, reaching the shoulder and, shortly afterward, beginning to cover the rest of the [Angel of Death]’s body. The transformation was silent, but there was something deeply unsettling about the sight.

Victor’s eyes widened. A chill ran down his spine. For a brief moment, he thought it was just a bad feeling. No. This was different. It was a warning.

His anomalous sense, inherited from the [Angel of Death], had awakened with an intensity Victor had rarely felt before. It wasn’t simply a vague sense of danger, but an instinctive, almost primal alarm screaming inside his mind. Whatever was about to happen... It wasn’t a joke.

“Oh, shit!” That was the only thing Victor managed to say before an intense flash exploded in front of him, illuminating the entire area in an instant. The light was so bright that his eyes immediately began to burn. Purely on reflex, he squeezed them shut and raised his arm, trying to shield his face as he took a step backward.

The next instant, the ground beneath his feet began to shake violently: “What the fuck is this?!” Rupert shouted, though his voice was almost completely swallowed by the thunderous roar that engulfed the area.

An ear-splitting noise reverberated through the walls, making the air itself seem to vibrate around them. Victor gritted his teeth and brought a hand to his ear as a sharp pain shot through his head. A continuous ringing filled his ears, drowning out every other sound.

For several seconds, he couldn’t hear anything except an irritating high-pitched whine: “Damn it...” he muttered, still keeping his arm in front of his eyes: “What the hell just happened?”

There was no answer. In fact, Rupert and Arthur were going through exactly the same thing as Victor. All three of them felt as though their heads were about to explode, the deafening ringing vibrating inside their skulls without showing any sign of fading.

At the same time, the light emanating from the [Angel of Death] was so intense that it pierced through their closed eyelids, making their eyes burn as though they were being scorched. Then came the blast.

The sound was so violent and uncontrolled that the ground seemed to tremble beneath their feet. Victor felt his legs buckle for a moment, his muscles contracting purely on reflex as they struggled to keep him standing. He could barely make out what was happening around him.

“What the hell... was that...?” he muttered, more to himself than to the others.

Victor had absolutely no idea what was happening. He didn’t know what the [Angel of Death] had done, much less why she had released such an absurd amount of anomalous power, or whatever the hell it was. However, amid all the confusion, there was one thing Victor was completely certain of.

The [Angel of Death] had just done something insane. And knowing the [Angel of Death], it was probably the kind of insanity he’d have to figure out how to fix as soon as he got back to base.