Chapter 185: The Escape

A deep, unnatural sound rolled through Mensus.

The spatial strands collapsed inward, their light extinguishing one after another as the network lost its anchor. The Black Moon Heart convulsed, its surface splitting along the white fractures that had spread across it. Above Emily, the distorted cube was dragged backward as the crack began closing around it.

Reinhard unleashed one final Spatial Push.

The cube retreated through the opening, and the remaining white tendrils vanished into the collapsing boundary. The crack snapped shut with a flash that threw everyone off balance.

For the first time since the cube appeared, its oppressive presence disappeared.

[Investment Objective Completed.]

[SS-Grade Investment Successful.]

[Calculating Investment Returns...]

Reinhard’s Danger Intuition quieted, though it didn’t completely settle. He took a breath as he ignored the notification and looked toward Emily with a concern look.

"Emily!"

"I’m here!" she answered, still holding Tepes as the Black Moon Heart began to break apart.

Pieces of the sphere peeled away, dissolving into dark Mana before they could hit the floor. Across Marvello, the Black Moon’s influence weakened. The unnatural eyes that had appeared in affected people began returning to normal, while the black-and-white energy spreading through the city flickered and receded.

Emily lowered Tepes, breathing heavily as the final strands disappeared.

Reinhard reached her and caught her by the shoulders. "Are you hurt?"

"I’m fine." Her gaze moved to his cracked barrier and damaged E.G.O. armor. "Are you?"

"Ask me again when we’re somewhere that isn’t trying to collapse around us."

Emily almost laughed. Reinhard pulled her into a quick embrace before looking toward the others. Maki and Yuna were still standing, and Lily’s barrier had survived several heavy impacts. The corrupted Baal Guards and Collectors lay scattered across the floor as their remaining Mana faded.

They had done it.

Then the Black Moon Heart broke open.

A violent shock wave erupted from the sphere.

"Everyone, move!" Maki shouted.

The platform split beneath their feet. Cracks raced across the floor as the walls folded inward, and enormous sections of the ceiling tore loose. With the Mana sustaining the facility disappearing, the entire structure was collapsing around them.

Reinhard immediately pulled Emily close and opened a Space Tear toward the passage they had used to descend. The opening formed, but its edges twisted before anyone could enter.

"That route is gone!" Yuna called out, pulling Lily away from a falling slab.

Reinhard clicked his tongue. "Of course it is."

He summoned the Right Hand of God and drove it into the fractured wall, ripping away enough stone to expose another passage. His spectral lances fired into the ceiling, blasting apart a massive section before it could crush Maki and Yuna.

"Go! I’ll clear the way!"

Maki rushed forward with Lily beside her, while Yuna stayed behind long enough to throw a fallen support beam out of their path. Emily tried to follow, but the floor suddenly dropped beneath her.

Reinhard caught her around the waist and lifted her onto the remaining solid ground.

"Still trusting me?" he asked.

Emily tightened her arms around him. "Always."

"Good. Because I’m improvising."

He carried Emily toward the passage as the chamber collapsed behind them. Then the entire facility shook, and a tremendous crack echoed from above.

Reinhard looked up. Beyond the falling stone, the Black Moon loomed over Marvello, its enormous silhouette swallowing the light. White energy leaked through the cracks spreading across its surface, and the space around it twisted violently as the remains of Mensus began rising toward the darkness.

"Everyone, stay close!"

Reinhard unleashed his Gravity Chains, which shot across the passage and latched onto Maki, Lily, and Yuna. The glowing chains connected them to him just as the Black Moon’s pull intensified, dragging loose stones and broken machinery into the air.

Lily glanced at the chain around her waist. "You couldn’t have picked something more comfortable?"

"Sure. I’ll get you a velvet one after we survive."

"That’s a promise!"

"Keep running!"

Reinhard accelerated, carrying Emily while the chains kept the others together. A negative slash tore across their path, splitting the wall ahead. His Heavenpiercer E.G.O. flared, and spectral lances fired past the family, blasting through the debris and opening a passage beyond.

They rushed through just as the corridor behind them folded inward.

Emily glanced at the damaged armor covering Reinhard. "You’re pushing yourself too hard."

"You’re welcome to take over."

"I’m carrying Tepes. You’re carrying me."

"Exactly. I’m doing the difficult job."

Emily managed a tired smile, but another tremor shook the facility before she could answer. The passage ahead collapsed, leaving a wall of rubble between them and the exit.

Yuna moved before Reinhard could attack.

Her Gnosis erupted in flames, gathering into a brilliant beam that tore through the obstruction. The blast opened a route forward, illuminating the corridor as the Black Moon’s pull dragged everything around them upward.

But Yuna wasn’t finished.

Orange light spread across her body before extending along the Gravity Chains, reaching Maki and Lily and then flowing toward Reinhard and Emily. All five became ethereal orange silhouettes just as another wave of negative slashes swept through the corridor.

The attacks passed through their bodies, splitting around them before tearing into the debris behind them. A moment later, their forms solidified again.

Lily stared at her hands. "Yuna! You can do that?!"

"I can! I’d appreciate it if you praised me after we’ve escaped!"

"You’re amazing! You’re the best! Please keep doing that!"

"Stop talking and run!"

Reinhard smiled at Yuna. "Excellent work! Keep that going if you can!"

He looked toward the exit, where the remaining floor had almost entirely disappeared. They were close to safety, but the Black Moon’s pull was growing stronger by the second.

Unfortunately, the ground between them and safety had almost entirely disappeared.

The remaining platform was collapsing into a widening fissure, and the Black Moon’s pull was dragging everything upward. The family couldn’t cross the gap while running normally.

Reinhard looked at them and made an immediate decision.

"Maki, put Lily in your arms! Yuna, pick them up!"

Maki stared at him. "What?"

"Trust me!"

She quickly lifted Lily, who gasped and wrapped her arms around Maki’s shoulders. Yuna immediately scooped them both up, bracing herself against the pull while her orange Gnosis continued protecting the group.

"This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever experienced!" Lily exclaimed.

"That’s a bold statement coming from someone being carried inside another person’s arms while being carried by someone else," Maki replied.

"Not the time!" Yuna shouted.

Reinhard shifted Emily securely into one arm and reached out with the other, lifting Yuna and the two women she carried. The Gravity Chains tightened around the entire formation.

"Hold on to each other!"

He activated God Speed.

Mana surged through his body, compressing his golden aura until his figure blurred. Heavenpiercer’s spectral lances aligned behind him as he launched forward, carrying his entire family across the broken ground.

The Black Moon’s pull intensified. Walls tore away from Mensus, and the corrupted Baal Guards and Collectors screamed as they were dragged toward the opening, desperately reaching for the family.

Reinhard accelerated.

His figure became a beam of golden light, bouncing off a falling slab to change direction before using another piece of debris as a foothold. A negative slash swept across their path, but Yuna’s orange light flared, allowing it to pass through their ethereal bodies.

The exit appeared ahead.

Then the space around it twisted.

The opening began folding inward, the passage narrowing as the Black Moon dragged the surrounding structure into the darkness. By the time Reinhard reached the final stretch, the exit was barely wide enough for one person.

"You’re kidding me!"

He couldn’t stop to put everyone down. He couldn’t afford to slow down, either.

Reinhard raised his free hand.

"Heavenpiercer!"

The spectral lances fired together, striking the collapsing edges of the exit. The first blast shattered a falling support, but the second only tore away part of the twisted structure. The opening continued shrinking as the ground beneath Reinhard disappeared.

The Black Moon’s pull caught them.

But then a streak of white lightning came down from somewhere, crashing into the black moon and slowly destroying it.

For one terrifying instant, Reinhard felt his body dragged backward even as God Speed carried him forward. The Gravity Chains snapped taut, and Maki, Lily, and Yuna were pulled against one another.

"Don’t let go!" Reinhard shouted.

He poured the last of his strength into his acceleration and fired the remaining lances directly into the obstruction.

The final blast tore the exit open.

Reinhard shot through the gap just as the passage collapsed behind him. His golden figure burst into the open air, carrying his family clear of Mensus a heartbeat. Right before the white light devoured the black moon and then the entire building from behind.

His momentum carried them away from the entrance. He twisted in midair, keeping Emily against his chest as he crashed into the ground and rolled across the ruined surface. He took the impact himself, using his body to shield her.

Nearby, the Mana Barriers around Maki, Lily, and Yuna flared as they tumbled across the ground. The protective magic absorbed the worst of the impact before finally fading.

For several seconds, nobody moved.

Then Lily coughed.

"Are we... alive?"

Maki lay beside her, staring at the sky. "I would like to file a formal complaint about that escape."

Yuna let out a weak laugh, though she was visibly exhausted from maintaining her Gnosis.

Reinhard finally stopped rolling and sat up, still holding Emily. His E.G.O. began fading, and the golden spears vanished one after another.

"Emily?"

She looked up at him. "I’m here."

He checked her for injuries, then exhaled when he found no obvious wounds. Only then did he turn toward the others.

"Everyone accounted for?"

Maki raised one hand. Lily raised both. Yuna gave him a tired thumbs-up.

"Good," Reinhard said. "Because I’m never carrying all of you like that again."

Lily immediately protested. "You were incredible! You can’t promise never to do something incredible again!"

"Watch me."

Emily laughed softly and took Reinhard’s hand as he helped her stand.

For a moment, she watched the entrance to Mensus. She remembered the investigation that had led her here, the records of the hundred victims, and the experiments that had brought her face-to-face with the Black Moon.

She had once pursued those answers alone, never knowing how much the mystery would take from her.

This time, she had confronted it with her family beside her. She had made the decision herself, used Tepes to sever the connection, and helped protect the people she loved.

Emily squeezed Reinhard’s hand.

"We actually did it."

Reinhard smiled. "Of course we did. I was there."

She leaned against him, too exhausted to argue.

Yuna began checking Lily and Maki for injuries, while Lily started asking whether anyone else had seen how fast Reinhard moved.

Maki closed her eyes. "Please don’t start."

"I haven’t even started!"

Reinhard looked toward Marvello. The city was scarred by collapsed buildings and damaged streets, with fires still burning in the distance. Yet the unnatural black-and-white energy that had spread across the city was finally fading.

Then he noticed something strange.

People had begun emerging from ruined buildings and hiding places. Some staggered into the streets, while others sat motionless amid the destruction. For a few seconds, they simply stared around as if waking from a nightmare.

One man blinked.

Then he clutched his head and screamed.

A woman nearby dropped to her knees, sobbing as she covered her mouth. Another person stumbled backward, staring at their own hands before falling against a wall. Across the streets, people began crying, screaming, and clutching their heads as memories flooded back.

The last several hours came crashing down on them.

They remembered the strange energy spreading through their bodies. They remembered the fear, the rage, and the overwhelming compulsion that had driven them to attack people around them. Some remembered destroying their own homes. Others recognized the faces of the people they had hurt.

One man fell to his knees before a motionless figure in the street.

"No... No, no, no..."

His voice broke as he reached for the person, shaking them desperately even though there was no response.

Nearby, a woman stared at the blood covering her hands and began screaming until her voice gave out. People rushed toward their families, only to collapse into tears when they found them injured or missing. Others stood frozen, unable to process what they had done or what had happened to the people they loved.

The city had been released from the Black Moon’s influence.

But the memories hadn’t disappeared with it.

Reinhard stood silently, Emily still beside him. Maki lowered her device without saying anything. Yuna stopped checking Lily’s injuries, and even Lily had nothing to say.

They had saved Marvello from the phenomenon.

They hadn’t saved everyone from what it had done.

Emily’s fingers tightened around Reinhard’s hand as she watched the people below. There was no victory speech that could make those screams disappear, and no reward that could undo the suffering.

Reinhard gently squeezed her hand.

Neither of them spoke.

Behind them, Mensus gave one final groan. The Black Moon cracked before shattering, and its remaining fragments disappeared into the darkness, dragging the facility and everything still inside it out of sight.

The family watched until the last trace vanished.

The connection was severed. The Black Moon’s immediate influence had weakened.

But Marvello was left to face the memories of its own nightmare.