Chapter 849 - 848: Welcome to the Source of Gaia."

Having found themselves on the very top floor of the Shinra citadel, the squad finally personally met the widely known President Shinra. Among the simple, brainwashed people of Midgar he was known as a great innovator who had brought progress and a new source of energy into the world.

However for all the other layers of society he was a real ruthless tyrant who did not shy away from the most repulsive methods: from banal contract killings of competitors and the unleashing of bloody wars to total propaganda — and all for one single goal: to hold absolute power and expand the spheres of his influence.

With his unilateral decisions and insatiable greed President Shinra had destroyed an incalculable number of human lives which he himself simply did not give a damn about. But now, helplessly hanging over the roaring abyss and with the last of his strength clinging with weakening fingers to the metal crossbar, he was forced to beg for help from those very people whose fates he had so heartlessly crippled.

With the exception of Alex and Dean, who had been in this world a little over a week, President Shinra had one way or another managed to destroy the lives of absolutely all the others present. And now, seeing the head of the corporation in such a desperate and pitiful state, no one around was in a hurry to extend a helping hand to him.

Even Tifa, who at first from habit had been about to help, at this moment undertook nothing and only with latent anxiety observed what was happening, waiting for Alex's decision. Barrett with undisguised pleasure watched how President Shinra's fingers gradually slipped from the metal, completely not reacting to his hysterical cries for salvation. Yuffie also was in no hurry to help the one who had once torn her native country apart with a bloody war.

Claudia and Red only calmly and detachedly observed this scene, not even thinking of moving from their place. And only Aerith quietly, heavily sighed, compassionately looking at the back of the squatting Alex. Again bringing the thin cigar to his lips, Alex slightly tilted his head to the side, with cold curiosity examining the old man hanging over the abyss.

"Pull me out! Please, pull me out! I'll pay absolutely as much as you yourself say… I have gil! As much gil as you want, just name any sum!" President Shinra pronounced with enormous difficulty, stumbling from the choking fear, clinging with both hands to the bent metal crossbar with all his strength.

"Hmm… And from what fright, I wonder, should I even do that? You keep declaring a constant hunt on us. Made us enemies of the people, called us crazy terrorists all over Midgar and hung all possible sins on us. So why should I save your hide right now? Isn't it far simpler and more logical to let good old gravity do all the work for me?" Alex spoke in a calm unhurried voice, slowly bringing the orange smouldering tip of the cigar to President Shinra's tense hand.

"I beg you… Help me! Pull me up… I'll fix everything! I'll honestly fix everything!" President Shinra spoke in a panicked voice, already physically feeling the searing heat on the back of his hand from the smouldering cigar.

Alex reacted absolutely not at all to President Shinra's pitiful pleas — in his life he had already managed to see no few such people. All of them were equally intoxicated with power, sacredly considered themselves standing above the others, but, having collided with inevitable retribution, always began to trade humbly.

Even the last idiot he had met in his past — Sullivan Knot — had been no better and just as snottily begged for forgiveness while enduring all possible cruel tortures. Moving the thin cigar away from President Shinra's dry palm, Alex again brought it to his lips and drew deeper on the smoke.

Continuing to choke in desperate pleas for help, President Shinra simply physically could no longer hold his weight, and his numb fingers instantly slipped from the smooth crossbar. But before the old man finally plunged downward from the enormous height of the seventieth floor, Alex timely and with a death grip seized him by the hand, with effort pulling him back toward himself.

Not allowing the old idiot to smash to pieces ahead of time, Alex turned to his group standing on the other side of the railings, nonverbally asking their opinion. Dean only lazily waved it off, with his entire demeanour showing that he absolutely did not care whether this old man died right now or not. Barrett gloomily nodded his head, giving Alex a clear sign simply to release the hand of this old bastard.

Alex did not even ask the girls' opinion, since he already knew the answer in advance: Aerith and Tifa would immediately insist on saving him. Quietly sighing, Alex unhurriedly rose from his haunches, drawing President Shinra upward after himself and still tightly holding him with one hand over the roaring abyss.

He himself at this moment was reflecting on what exactly this President Shinra had personally managed to offend him with. President Shinra, without blinking, looked into Alex's cold eyes and was still vibrating from inhuman fear, even afraid to lower his gaze downward and acutely feeling how his body was blown by the icy night wind while his legs helplessly dangled over the kilometre abyss.

"Just… Just leave me alive! Pull me out, and I'll give you absolutely everything you only wish! You can have everything you are only capable of dreaming of!" President Shinra spoke with enormous difficulty, gasping, still desperately trying to bargain for his life.

"You're clearly bargaining with the wrong person right now, old bastard. For any of us it will be more than enough if you right now turn into a juicy red spot on the concrete," Barrett said in a dangerous tone, heavily climbing over the metal railings and standing right next to Alex.

"But that's far from all you actually want! Listen to me, I can give you all far more if you simply leave me alive!" President Shinra spoke quickly and stuttering, fearfully shifting his gaze to Barrett and trying to convince him.

"More than the final death of the bastard who destroyed our lives to the foundation?!" Barrett said with cold hatred, forcefully poking a finger right into President Shinra's trembling chest.

"Just listen to me! I know… I perfectly know that I committed many bad things! But I can… I can fix everything! Aerith! I'll right now completely cancel any surveillance on you! You'll be able to calmly leave Midgar together with your adoptive mother, and Shinra will never again in life pursue you! And you… I know that I destroyed your Sector 7! Shinra will completely restore it from zero! And you… You're from Wutai, right?! I can with one decree return full independence to your country! If even that's not enough — I'll give you even more!" President Shinra continued feverishly bargaining, in horror trying to find at least someone who would take his side.

"Don't even dare talk to us as if you, bitch, really know what we want! Alex, just release this bastard, and let's go home from here. We're finished here," Barrett spoke with deep irritation, turning his head to Alex.

"Stop! Don't do it!" Aerith and Tifa shouted loudly and desperately in one voice, trying to stop Alex from the fateful step.

Despite the alarmed cry of Aerith and Tifa, Alex completely calmly unclenched his fingers exactly as Barrett had asked him. The moment President Shinra felt the instantaneous horror-inducing feeling of free fall, a piercing deafening scream full of wild terror and desperate unwillingness to die burst from his constricted throat. But before he managed finally to plunge downward from the seventieth floor, Alex slightly moved his fingers — and barely noticeable thinnest steel threads lightning-fast wound around President Shinra's body.

Sharply jerking his index finger, Alex instantly pulled the falling old man back toward himself and with force seized him by the collar of his expensive jacket. Even though he was no longer flying into the abyss, President Shinra distinctly felt how his heart was madly and painfully pounding against his ribs while everything in his chest was literally squeezing from endless animal fear.

Seeing that Alex had after all saved this old bastard, Aerith and Tifa simultaneously sighed with deep relief. They were not at all afraid that their group would in the end be hung with the official murder of President Shinra — they only sincerely did not want the already enormous death count for this day to increase even more.

Even experiencing fierce hatred toward President Shinra, Yuffie also breathed with relief, sincerely fearing what such an end of the corporation's head could turn into for her native country and close friends.

Listening to these collective sighs behind his back, Alex continued confidently holding President Shinra with his left hand by the collar and at the same time slowly ran his thumb over the smooth surface of the Death ring on his index finger. Having learned with its help exactly how much time was allotted to President Shinra, Alex simply could not help smiling: for under absolutely any layout the old man had at most a little over a couple of minutes left to live.

Turning his head to Barrett, Alex in a half-whisper whispered to him that with this scoundrel right now one could purely for show conclude any deal. Barrett for a short moment frowned, hearing such an unexpected proposal from Alex, but, quickly understanding everything, understandingly nodded.

Seeing Barrett's silent agreement, Alex without long thinking with a wide swing threw President Shinra back into his personal office — exactly through the punched hole in the panoramic window. No one even really managed to come to their senses when a heavy body flew past them, and from inside the premises immediately rang out the deafening crash of a body fallen onto the parquet.

"Go on, Barrett. Go in and conduct your long-awaited negotiations," Alex said with a predatory smirk, carelessly throwing the extinguished cigar downward into the abyss.

"Hah! Right now you'll all see with your own eyes exactly how I can conduct negotiations!" Barrett snorted, in one motion jumping over the metal railings and hurriedly heading after the crawling President Shinra.

"He's… He's definitely alive?" Tifa decided to clarify just in case, looking at Alex with doubt when Barrett ran past her with a frowning look.

"Yes he's alive, alive. If I really wanted to finish him off, I'd simply have allowed him to fall downward at full speed. Let's better go look at what this old bastard is ready to go for when his precious life is no longer under direct threat," Alex answered with an innocent smile, slowly stepping over the bent railings and standing right next to Tifa.

"I bet a hundred that this old bastard will first of all convulsively grab a pistol from the desk," Dean said in a sarcastic tone, deftly taking a brand-new hundred-gil bill from his pocket.

"Fully support," Claudia briefly nodded, calmly taking a similar hundred gil from her belt bag.

Having accepted the bet from Claudia, Dean excitedly turned to the others, proposing that they also participate in this dispute. For even Tonberry Steve did not remain on the sidelines and placed a piece of dried meat on top, also deciding to make his own bet.

It is unknown where he got the money from at all, but Nanaki pulled a tightly rolled bill right from under his leather collar and calmly placed it on Dean's open palm. Having taken yet another bet, Dean turned to Tifa and expressively extended his palm in her direction, proposing to join the game.

Looking at the extended hand, Tifa only negatively shook her head, preferring to abstain from such entertainment in their current tense situation. Not hiding his amusement, Alex shifted his gaze to Aerith and with a smile asked her opinion — whether she also wanted to make her bet.

Slightly pursing her lips, Aerith sweetly turned out her empty pockets, showing that she had no gil at all. Slightly smiling, Alex took a weighty stack of money from his pocket and counted out two hundred at once — for himself and for Aerith. And before he managed to step away, Yuffie carefully and embarrassedly tugged him by the edge of his shirt, quietly asking to make a bet for her as well.

Casting a short glance at Yuffie, Alex nodded his head and without unnecessary words placed yet another hundred gil on top. Before returning to President Shinra's office, Alex one last time asked Tifa whether she had changed her mind and whether she still wanted to participate after all.

Having once again expressed her complete unwillingness to participate in anything similar, Tifa decided to operatively change the topic and proposed that everyone catch up with Barrett as soon as possible before he did some stupidity. The moment Tifa pronounced these words, from the smashed panoramic window rang out Barrett's angry rolling voice which was already fully putting forward harsh conditions that President Shinra was obliged to fulfil for the salvation of his pitiful life.

"Well then, let's go, or we'll still miss the most interesting. Time, as is known, waits for no one," Alex said in a calm tone, taking an exquisite pocket watch from the pocket of his jeans.

"Hmm… Time is like an inexorable river that continuously moves only forward…" Nanaki spoke in a thoughtful tone, slowly nodding his shaggy muzzle at Alex's words.

"Listen, buddy, if you so strongly want to throw around smart philosophical phrases, do it exactly not when you just made a gambling bet on whether the old bastard will pull a pistol from the desk or not!" Dean immediately spoke, instantly putting Red in his place who had again tried to seem a wise elder.

From Dean's ironic words Nanaki only dryly coughed into his paw, preferring to pretend as if he had said nothing of the sort and had not made any gambling bets at all. Slightly nodding his head, Alex carefully put the pocket watch back into the back pocket of his jeans when with the help of the ring he saw that President Shinra had literally less than a minute left to live.

And right after that a quite unpleasant part of the coming events was supposed to begin — especially the inevitable collision with one of the direct projections of Jenova formed from her own physical body. However, a victorious meeting with this monstrous creature would in the end allow him to tear out the very first root of Jenova right from the depths of the Lifestream.

Stopping at the massive doors leading back into President Shinra's office, Aerith softly and tremblingly took Alex by the hand, perfectly feeling what exactly would happen further. For being next to him she felt herself incredibly calm and absolutely confident that together they would definitely cope with absolutely any problems.

Opening the panels, they as an entire group stepped inside — and exactly caught the ideal picture of how President Shinra with all his strength was aiming at Barrett from his exquisite golden pistol. The old man was showering him with habitual arrogant insults and cheerfully telling about how truly great this entire world could become under the unbreakable rule of the Shinra corporation.

Listening to all this fiery false propagandist bullshit about the genuine greatness of Shinra, Barrett experienced only irresistible disgust. Completely not afraid that at any moment they might shoot at him, he with pleasure poured selected swear words at President Shinra in response. Seeing that Barrett was under direct aim, Tifa was already ready to rush to help, but she was timely stopped by Claudia, calmly laying a palm on her shoulder and not allowing her to move from the place.

Yuffie slightly narrowed her eyes and slowly pulled several sharp shurikens from her belt bag, seriously intending to throw them right into President Shinra's hand. Red emitted a low threatening growl and tightly pressed to the parquet, preparing for a rapid dash. Noticing the entered company, President Shinra with a click took his pistol off the safety and for a moment turned his head in their direction.

"Don't even think of moving from the place, slum rats, otherwise your friend will die right now!" President Shinra shouted, aiming the blued barrel of the pistol right at Barrett's forehead.

"Barrett, without extra questions take one step to the right. In five seconds…" Alex said in an everyday tone, looking straight at Barrett and completely not paying any attention to President Shinra's furious threats.

"What-what?!" Barrett asked back in bewilderment, sincerely not understanding the reasons for such strange words of Alex's.

"Three… Right now, quickly take a step to the right," Alex repeated, expressively waving his index finger at Barrett so that he would finally do what he was insistently being asked.

Staring at Alex, Barrett sincerely and completely did not understand why he needed to take this stupid step to the side right now. However, seeing Alex's extremely serious and admitting no objections face, he instantly felt how somewhere deep inside him a strange sticky feeling flared up — as if he really vitally needed to do what he was being asked, otherwise in the next second something catastrophic would happen.

Yielding to this saving feeling, Barrett instantly and thoughtlessly stepped aside. And exactly at the very moment when Barrett moved, right from President Shinra's chest with a dull crack a long shining katana blade jumped out which only slightly grazed the body armour on Barrett's chest.

Seeing the deadly blade that literally a fraction of a second ago had practically pierced his own chest, Barrett distinctly felt how absolutely everything inside him went cold — as if someone had suddenly poured a whole bucket of ice water on his head.

Quickly patting with his palm the deep cut on his armoured vest, Barrett made sure that he himself was not wounded, after which he slowly shifted a shocked gaze to the frozen President Shinra and with silent surprise raised an eyebrow. Exactly the same shock feelings at this moment were experienced by Tifa, Claudia, Yuffie and Nanaki when with their own eyes they saw how right behind the dying President Shinra a foreign tall silhouette began slowly materialising.

First in the air clearly materialised the long hilt of the Masamune katana, after it from the void appeared a pale hand gripping this hilt, and then grew the entire silhouette of Sephira herself — with her habitual icy and mocking smile on her thin lips.

Mercilessly yanking the long blade of her katana out of President Shinra's pierced chest, Sephira slightly tilted her head to the side, slowly shifting her snake gaze onto Alex — as if right now they were together playing an incredibly fascinating game.

Meeting a direct gaze with Sephira, Alex unhurriedly pulled from behind his back a karambit of hellish steel and swaggeringly spun it on his index finger. Not taking her paralysed gaze off Sephira, Claudia again instantly froze with wild fear in her widened eyes, not even having the physical possibility to move a finger.

Convulsively clenching her fists until the knuckles whitened, Claudia was experiencing a monstrous internal explosion of emotions, still panickingly trying to deny the fact that the one who had once burned her native home to the ground and killed her loved ones was again standing before her alive.

"Hmm… This is clearly not enough yet… But you know, this way it turns out even far more interesting. Playing with you is far more fun, my most respected opponent of fate, than with my old friend," Sephira spoke in an absolutely calm even tone, not taking her intent gaze off Alex and only fleetingly casting an icy look at Aerith standing nearby.

"And do you even have enough strength to play with me on equal terms? As I look, you don't even come close to me yet. You. Need. More. Power," Alex spoke in an arrogant tone, slowly combing his hair back with his free palm and looking at Sephira from above with open superiority.

"Interesting… Will you start behaving at least a drop more seriously when someone from your precious circle disappears forever?" Sephira spoke with a light quiet laugh, with an expressive hint shifting her gaze right onto Aerith.

"Ah you, filthy BITCH!" Barrett roared with furious anger, instantly transforming his massive cyber-arm into a machine gun and headlong rushing right at Sephira.

"Barrett, stop! Don't you dare!" Tifa desperately shouted, trying with all her strength to stop Barrett who had rushed into a deadly trap.

Barrett did not even hear Tifa's desperate cry and with sincere wild anger rushed right at Sephira. It was enough for him only that simple fact that some unknown arrogant woman was directly threatening reprisal against his close friends in order without thinking to recognise her as a deadly enemy.

Hearing Barrett's angry roar, Sephira slowly shifted her cold gaze onto him and widely, predatorily smiled — as if he right now had done exactly what she needed most of all. At that very same moment right from under Sephira's feet with a deafening hiss a huge flock of Black Whisperers burst out which instantly pounced on Barrett, completely blocking his entire view.

The Black Whisperers in fractions of a second filled the entire spacious office of President Shinra, preventing anyone at all from making out anything in this dark whirlpool. Furiously shoving aside with his hands the bodiless figures of the Black Whisperers, Barrett headlong tried to reach Sephira who had not even moved from her place.

And, having pushed aside yet another Black Whisperer, Barrett simply did not manage to react in time when Sephira with inhuman speed found herself right up close to him. And before her deadly blade pierced Barrett's chest, right in front of his face a protective barrier in the form of a brightly pink unfolding flower flared up.

The tip of the Masamune with a sheaf of bright sparks forcefully smashed into the semi-transparent petals of the barrier, from which it instantly covered itself with a network of fine cracks. Mockingly smiling, Sephira was already preparing to forcefully press on the long hilt of her blade when she was suddenly forced to lightning-fast jump backward.

The moment she jumped back, right onto the place where she had just stood with a crushing whistle descended Alex's heavy leg — with such terrible force that the entire floor of the office covered itself with deep cracks, and the caused most powerful shockwave in an instant scattered and dispersed absolutely all the Black Whisperers.

Dangerously narrowing her green eyes at Alex, Sephira again with a jump moved backward when right past her face Nanaki flew, barely catching her throat with his razor-sharp claws. Sliding across the marble floor and leaving deep furrows from his claws on it, Nanaki emitted a low menacing growl, predatorily pressing to the parquet for a new dash.

Before Nanaki managed to make yet another attack, Dean deftly took out his pistol and on the move began purposefully shooting at Sephira. Easily deflecting the flying bullets with the long blade, Sephira slowly retreated to the very polished desk of President Shinra, still preserving her icy mocking smile.

And the moment she retreated, Aerith, Tifa, Claudia and Yuffie immediately ran up to Alex and Barrett, fully ready to fight to the victorious end. Continuously spinning the karambit of hellish steel on his index finger, Alex with difficulty hid light irritation — for he perfectly saw through the illusion that before them stood only a bodiless projection of Sephira.

"Well… I think from my side it will be quite fair to entertain you all a little, since you so strongly thirst for a real fight…" Sephira spoke in an absolutely calm tone, with a smooth wave of her katana dispersing the remaining shreds of the Black Whisperers.

"Just say aloud right now that you simply chickened out! No need to throw around your pompous learned phrases here," Dean said with a sly smirk, with a habitual motion putting the pistol into the holster and pulling the Blade of Cain from behind his back.

"Exactly. Either get the hell out of here or attack normally… Or maybe your bodiless carcass is simply not capable of that?" Alex spoke in a mocking tone, unhurriedly lighting a thin cigar and continuing to spin the karambit on his finger.

"Exactly, get the hell out of here to the devil's mother, bitch! Decided to pierce me, did you?! Well then come closer, I'll right now thrash your pompous ass!" Barrett blurted out with unfading anger, stepping a little forward, absolutely not paying attention to the fact that literally a couple of seconds ago he had nearly died.

Dangerously narrowing her cold eyes, Sephira reacted absolutely not at all to such crude provocations. Around her again the Black Whisperers began massively appearing which rapidly spun around her figure in a wild frenzied whirlwind, raising the strongest gusts of hurricane wind.

The gusts of air were so powerful and dense that all the others had to squint their eyes and try with all their strength to stay on their feet. The wind continued to grow until somewhere on the periphery rang out a barely audible ringing sound of breaking glass. After that followed a second such sound — and the hurricane wind began sharply to subside.

Alex and Dean the whole time very attentively observed the occurring metamorphosis, not even trying to protect themselves from the wind since there was no necessity in that. They with their own eyes saw how the space itself around them began rapidly covering itself with a network of deep black cracks, and the silhouette of Sephira, hidden behind the dense swarm of Black Whisperers, began horrifically distorting, cyclically changing between an unknown man in a torn robe and an incomprehensible repulsive horrific creature.

Gradually the silhouettes of the stranger and the monster smoothly merged with each other as if they had from the beginning been a single whole. And the moment these terrible images finally united into a single entity, the space around them exploded with a blinding white light, generating a most powerful shockwave.

Lightning-fast reacting to the threat, Alex instantly wound the strongest metal threads around Aerith, Tifa, Yuffie and Claudia, reliably fixing them so that the shockwave would not throw anyone backward. Dean at that same second reflexively seized Barrett by the collar and Nanaki by the metal collar. When the consequences of the sudden spatial explosion finally subsided, everyone in turn began opening their eyes and with amazement discovered that they had found themselves in a completely different frighteningly unknown place.

"Where… Where are we even located?!" Tifa asked in a tense voice, fearfully looking around in search of at least some familiar landmarks.

"This is… The Root," Alex heavily tossed, noticeably frowning from the mere gloomy appearance of this strange place.

"The Source. The most primary place from where everything once began," Aerith added in a serious tone, peering into the depths of the distorted space.

Looking around, Alex tried as best as possible to examine that strange place where they all had in the end found themselves. But no matter how much he peered into the surrounding details, absolutely everything around caused him only deep sincere disgust. Despite the fact that the entire squad stood on a quite refined and majestic platform studded with high marble columns with elegant golden veins that softly shone with the enchanting greenish light of the Lifestream, everything beyond this platform looked completely differently. Far beyond its limits into the endless height and depth stretched exactly the same marble columns connecting with the distant ceiling.

The very first thought that flared up in Alex's head at the sight of this surreal landscape was that they had found themselves in the very real centre of Gaia. However this place did not look wonderful and pure at all as it should have been by its nature.

On the ancient stone columns everywhere grew and continuously pulsated jaundice-yellow repulsive growths whose filthy tentacles dug deeper and deeper right into the noble marble. Raising his gaze to the high ceiling, Alex saw densely interwoven roots of colossal trees to which exactly the same way these pulsating yellow growths had tightly latched, slowly and mercilessly sucking the juices of life right from the ancient roots.

And while all the remaining members of the squad were still trying finally to realise the place where they had found themselves, Alex caught a suspicious unhealthy movement among the interwoven rotting roots under the very ceiling. Dangerously narrowing his eyes, Alex clearly saw how right above them gracefully and silently crawled a writhing worm-like creature with a horrific human skull instead of a habitual muzzle.

Noticing this filthy beast intently looking at them from above, Alex instantly understood that before them was one of the ugly tentacles of Jenova tightly latched to this sacred source. For a short moment applying his special magical vision, Alex immediately received final confirmation: this creature was indeed a direct offshoot of Jenova and not some random beast harmlessly born in the depths of these caves.

"Prepare for battle. Seems the local fauna is not at all glad that we showed up here without an invitation," Alex spoke warningly, not taking his intent gaze off the creature hanging under the ceiling, softly laying a palm on Aerith's stomach and carefully drawing her backward.

"Whom… Whom did you see there?!" Claudia instantly asked, sharply turning her head to Alex the moment his cautionary words sounded.

"Just all of you look upward," Alex answered, narrowing his eyes and finally hiding Aerith behind his back.

"That's… That's… What is that…" Yuffie began stuttering fearfully, pointing a trembling finger at the creature under the ceiling and desperately trying to pick the right word for the horror she was seeing right now.

"What the fuck is that still for shit?!" Barrett loudly shouted, yielding to the shock when he finally made out the human skull intently staring at them from the ceiling.

"An ordinary local beast that we need simply to finish off quickly — before it decides from hunger to add all of us to its daily ration," Dean said in a deep frowning tone, with a habitual motion sharply reloading his pistol.

"Tentacle…" Aerith barely audibly, quietly pronounced, standing right behind Alex's back and convulsively clenching her magic staff in her thin fingers.

No one from the remaining group heard the quietly pronounced words of Aerith — because absolutely all gazes were fixed dead on the filthy creature that was looking at them from above with its horrific empty eye sockets. But Dean standing right nearby clearly heard this quiet phrase and instantly turned to Alex for silent clarification. Meeting an intent gaze with Dean, Alex briefly and confidently nodded his head, confirming that this was one of their main priority targets that needed to be torn to pieces for the sake of saving this world.

Having received direct confirmation, Dean deliciously and juicily cracked his neck, morally preparing to gut the parasitic beast tightly latched to the life arteries of Gaia. And while they all for a second thought about exactly how they themselves would have to climb upward to this beast, the creature itself unexpectedly began actively moving, feverishly disentangling itself from the interwoven rotting roots under the ceiling. Noticing that the colossal beast was beginning to tear downward, Claudia instantly seized Tifa by the shoulder and at the top of her voice shouted, ordering everyone to dodge immediately.

Barely had this warning cry of Claudia's sounded when Alex deftly scooped Aerith and Yuffie under the arms and together with Dean made a rapid jump far backward. Red at that same moment jumped and with his powerful hind legs forcefully pushed Barrett right in the chest, forcing the stern man to reflexively step back from the line of fall.

And the moment they all timely jumped aside, the gigantic creature with a deafening crushing crash plunged right onto the refined marble platform, instantly creating under its heavy carcass a whole web of deep cracks.

Filthily and chaotically writhing with its entire body, the creature began straightening into its full colossal height, parallelly launching thin yellow offshoots into the formed slits in the marble slabs. Feeling the growing dangerous trembling under his feet, Alex with a sharp motion raised his leg and immediately with full force stomped on the cracked stone.

From Alex's crushing blow on the marble lightning-fast crawled yet another deep web of cracks through which under the weight of the broken offshoots thick stinking black blood began abundantly seeping.

The worm-like monster itself emitted a wild deafening howl of choking pain. Seeing how right from under the smashed marble the parasite's stinking black blood was seeping, absolutely everyone in the squad quickly and clearly understood: this monster could quite realistically be wounded, and that in turn directly meant that it could without particular problems be killed.

"You saw, as I did! You saw it scream! It can bleed… IT CAN DIEEEEE!" Alex spoke with a wide predatory smile on his lips, excitedly leaning a little forward and with a whistle spinning the karambit of hellish steel on his index finger.

"Thou must get gooooood!" Dean immediately added with no less wide and anticipatory smirk, with a click gripping the Blade of Cain in the habitual reverse grip.

To be continued...

(Phew, I spent an hour trying to decide on the perfect moment to end the chapter. I debated whether to have him one-shot this beast or to wrap things up right before the fight with such a creature begins. I don't think I'll spend too much time on the actual kill; we'll move on to other things pretty quickly. After all, I'm eager to leave Midgar and start a journey across Gaia—plus, that'll let me bring Ciri into the story. Most importantly, it's high time to stop wandering around Midgar. Above all, I really want Alex to end up at a resort; the guy needs a damn break. Time to grab some food and play *The Witcher*. Peace, love, and carrying two swords—because, you know, you've got two dicks.)

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