103 First Death

'It fucking burns!'

My throat, my lungs, my scorching skins, it felt like I was thrown into a pit of fire. Every time I swallowed my saliva, it dried instantly. The gas mask that I have been wearing fell as it outlived its value. Though I couldn't open my eyes at it still hurts like hell.

When the starlight hit, I was reaching for the door, but it was far too late. It completely wrecked the inner reactor, causing devastating and irreparable damage to the wall and floor. It even opened a huge bottomless hole, connecting to the main reactor underneath.

In my arms, wrapped by my trenchcoat, was Eve. I wouldn't have suffered this much if I didn't shield her from the blast and still had my coat on. Why did I go to that length? I didn't know the answer myself.

The moment I saw her hazily looking at me, my head went blank. When I regained myself, she was already covered by my coat, with only the bun of her head showing. And then, I just closed my eyes, wrapped her in my arms while I was on my knees.

I felt sorry for her. I felt sorry that she became the collateral damage in these misfits the adult caused. I felt sorry for the monster living inside her body. I felt sorry for trying to end her small burning life with these dirty hands of mine. This small gesture was just my way to take a bit of responsibility for her.

I felt something moving, her head popped outside my coat. It was the cutest thing I ever saw as if looking at a chick out of her shell for the first time.

"Good... morning," I muttered. It was hard to talk, but I needed to assure her that everything was fine.

She didn't respond. She didn't understand what was going on. She looked here and there, piecing everything together. She looked down at the mask on the ground and the trenchcoat wrapping her. Finally, she got it.

"Mr. Butterfly!" she yelled. However, when she looked up, her small head hit my jaw.

""Ack!"" We both yelped in pain while rubbing where it hurt, though it seemed more painful for her.

"Mr. Butterfly?" I questioned while rubbing her forehead that hit my jaw.

"Uhm! Thank you Mr. Butterfly, for saving me." she nodded a few times.

"It's not..." I was about to explain that I wasn't the butterfly, but her sparkling glares were too much to handle. It was blinding.

It was then I heard someone calling out my name behind me.

"Edwaaard!" It was Chris, exposing, my identity. Realizing what he did, he yelled again, "I mean Killswitch!"

"Isn't too late for that!" I shouted in irritation.

"Ohh! You seem fine! The bridge collapsed, what do we do now?" he asked.

The gap between us was too far for me to jump. The heat hadn't faded either, so it was impossible to pass. I shouted, "I'll circle back to the surface. You and Aya can just follow the corridor you're in. I'll see you once we're outside."

"Okay! You take care..." he paused a bit and glanced behind his shoulder and then continued, "Take care, Not Edward!"

"You fu— dumbass!" I shouted again, irritated.

I just sighed and looked at little Eve who was looking at me with a blank expression. I scratched my cheek, as I remembered I was about to curse on that last one. Thank God I changed it mid-sentence. Anyway, she won't understand it, right?

"What do we do now, Mr. Killswitch?" she asked.

I smiled at her innocent question, "You don't have to call me that. Just call me Edward, okay?"

"But that big man said your name's not Edward...?" she tilted her head, not understanding what I was telling her.

'At least it worked for someone.' I thought inside my head while recalling a certain stupid Uncle.

"Okay, you can call me whatever you want," I said, fixing the trenchcoat so that she wore it properly.

My back was exposed. The bulletproof vest I wore was crumbling as I walked, the piece of cloth that was fine was my torn pants, boots, and gloves. I didn't bother to fix them with my Reinforce. There were no incoming dangers, right? Why bother.

As we walked hand in hand, the trenchcoat shrunk to her size. She looked like a kindergarten girl wearing a raincoat. Somehow, it warmed my heart.

"Hey, Eve, what did you think about my name?" I asked her.

"It's cool!" she replied, innocently.

"I know right. It's so cool. I don't think there's a better name to describe myself."

[Have a little bit of a shame, Sir.]

A vein popped on my head, but I ignored Regina's comment. Talking with Eve was fun. She would complement everything I asked her about myself. I didn't care if I was taking advantage of her innocent sides, I was basking in glory.

Boom!

It was the sound of something landing inside the reactor. It didn't over as another and another and another sound of the same thing came after that.

Boom!

We were 50 meters away from the reactor, but I could still feel their presence. It was a familiar presence. One that I would never forget. Lights covered my arm as Oni Gauntlet awoken

[Sir!] warned Regina.

"I know! Mass Reinforce!"

All of my equipment was fixed. I rubbed my face but found nothing covering it. I looked back and saw it laid further away.

"Shit!" I cursed at my stupidity.

"Shit!" yelled Eve as well.

"Ah! You can't say that." I reprimanded her, but she just laughed it off.

I just sighed and spread my left arm toward the mask. It moved as I wanted and flew toward my hand. It was my new ability, Telekinesis. It wasn't flashy like how Doctor Strange or Scarlett Witch had. It just moved like a ripple of water.

I immediately equipped the mask and cast Reinforce to fix it.

"Close your eyes," I said to Eve.

I picked her up on my arms and kicked the ground as hard as I can. The wind hitting our face was too much for Eve to handle. She snuggled further into my arms.

I sprinted through the corridor. Turning left and right. Fighting now would be a bad decision. There were multiple enemies on my track. They were fast, which means this was not your run of the mill Genmas.

"How can they be here? Guildenstern's dead. Nobunaga Oda didn't cross over. What did we miss?", I asked Regina.

[From the energy fluctuation, they are not the same Genma you fought in Paris, Sir. It's too unstable. As if they were made incomplete.] replied Regina.

"Made?" I muttered. I couldn't believe what I just heard.

[It's the best possible answer, Sir. Genma can't reproduce, nor passing their power from one to another. The only answer I can think of is that someone purposely created them.] replied Regina calmly.

"Is that even possible?"

[You don't have to look far, Sir. There's one in your hand.]

I didn't want to admit what she just said. "Her and those things are not the same. We're talking about Demons here."

Feeling the turmoil inside my heart, Eve couldn't help but ask, "Why are you talking alone Mr. Butterfly?"

She looked concerned. I shouldn't have shown this side of me to her.

"Don't worry about anything, Eve. I promise you, everything will be just..."

However, before I could even finish my words, a huge figure appeared to my left. It was twice my size, holding a circular shield half its size on his right. It slid on the metal floor, twisting the arm that was holding the shield to the other side before slamming it toward me.

"...fine."

Bamm!

I could feel the bones on my left arm shattered as my body was flung to the wall. I shielded Eve using my shoulder, thankfully, the only wound she got was a scratch on her forehead.

The Genma kicked the metal floor and leaped to me. It planned to smash me using his shield one more time. But I was still dazed from the impact, I couldn't defense myself at the moment.

[User's in immediate danger. Asking permission to borrow user's ability: Telekinesis.]

The Genma that was charging at me paused, stopping in his place. The shield was 10cm away from my face. I could even see the carving and the dent on the shield.

The Genma in front of me was not the one I faced in Paris two years ago. Its body was red like blood. It wore a medieval helmet and was bare-chested, though its lower body parts were protected with medieval armor. Their upper body parts were also covered by hard black shells that protected their chest and arms.

[There's more coming, Sir.] warned Regina.

I was completely surrounded. Wall behind me, and 12 Genmas with various weapons in front of me in half circle. Unlike before, it didn't begin to attack me.

My left arm was completely useless, the wound I had from before hadn't healed yet. Because I was running earlier, it got even worse. I blocked them from Eve. I didn't know what they were after, yet.

"Edward Kavka. I didn't expect to meet you so soon."

It was a voice I never heard before. He knew my identity even when my mask was still on.

'What gives it away?' I thought.

Tap.

In the middle of it, tapping from a staff broke the silence that permeated the air. Two Genma in the middle separated, revealing a man holding an eerie-looking staff.

My eyes widened in shock. 'How could it be? It shouldn't have existed anymore. How could someone took a hold of Guildenstern's staff?'

My brains kept thinking for answers, but none came out of it. My heart was screaming at me, telling me to run. One of these Genmas could face me toe to toe, now 12 of them showed up, including their big boss.

"Ahh, you might think I'm Guildenstern. I'm sorry to blow your balloon, but I'm not him." the old man said, revealing a glowing orb on his chest. "My name is Oswell E. Spencer."

===°°°°===

"C'mon little girl. Nothing could protect you from me," said Spencer, holding his hand toward Eve, inviting her.

My broken left hand was digging something in my pocket bag at the back of my waist. Using my healthy right hand would be suspicious.

I covered Eve by moving to my right and sparked more conversation to buy some time. At least until I find a way to escape.

"What are you planning to do with her?" I mumbled, biting the tip of my tongue, I faked an internal injury to fool him a bit.

Spencer, who didn't think that I was a threat for him, gladly answered, "Sure thing, as a gift for my forthcoming, I'll gladly tell you my plan. I need her to awaken something inside me."

"That's disgusting, old man. I know you craved some love but isn't it a bit too much by asking it on a little girl?" I replied, sneering. My left hand finally found the thing I was looking for.

Though he was perplexed by my words, he still replied to my challenge, "It seems I need to break more of your bones, kid."

"At least, I had one. At your age, not even a boner, standing alone without that staff supporting you must be pretty hard. Oops, pun not intended."

"Rude little bastard." Spencer's hand was reaching out to my face. Too bad, I already got what I wanted.

"Now!"

Regina actively used Telekinesis. Her control was much better than mine. During the conversation, she built a dome-shaped barrier and blasted it outward, throwing all 13 of them away. I took out a red tube using my left and switched it to my right hand. It was the HP Potion that I got as a bonus from the Akropolis Tower.

It only healed 25% of my total HP, but that was enough. My bones started clicking, returning to their correct place. My bitten tongue also stopped bleeding. My skin that was burning returned to its glistened state. All in all, I was almost recovered.

I held Eve and immediately dashed toward the reactor. Circling back toward the entrance would take too long. Either now, or never.

However, there was one thing I truly underestimated.

Stab!

A spear pierced through my chest. It was thrown by one of the twelve Genmas. My body skidded on the floor as well as my grasp on Eve lost its strength. She rolled a few times on the floor while I started losing my consciousness.

'Shit!'

I crawled toward her, even when the blood surged out of my mouth and chest. My body felt damp and weak, but I still tried to crawl toward Eve.

"Just a little bit... more..." I muttered.

Eve recovered as fast as she could, even though her knees and elbow were scrapped and bleeding.

"Mr. Butterfly!"

She ran toward me while crying, "You're bleeding. Hicks. What should I do? You can't stop bleeding!"

She covered the wound on my chest with her little hands, but it still didn't stop. Her hands, clothes, and legs were drenched in my blood.

"It's... fine... You will... be fine..." I said, using my clean right hand to wipe her tears.

I could hear footsteps coming toward us. It was Spencer's.

"You should have known your place. I was planning to spare you just because Alex has some interest in you. It seems she has to find a new toy now." mumbled Spencer.

Spencer came and held Eve's hands, however, the moment their skin touched something odd happened. A spark ignited something inside them. It's not a love of course. It was something that resembled a natural reaction. Like gas ignited if there was a fire, like water freezing if it was too cold. Both Spencer's and Eve's eyes shone brightly.

"Kuaaaaghh!"

Spencer's old skin started to peel off, replaced by healthy colored skin underneath. His white hair turned to radiant golden hair. Life returned to his old dying eyes. His soul resonated further and stronger.

That touch from Eve, caused him to undergo another evolution toward perfection. Triggering the Genma cells that were sleeping inside him. Every single one of them. Something that should've needed the intervention from a Demon God, was bypassed by a single touch from Eve.

'No, I need to stop it.'

I used all of my strength and pulled Eve's hand, releasing her from Spencer's grasp. However, even when Eve was released, there was no way to stop his evolution.

Frustration and regret filled my mind, 'Will I die, just like this? I should've been more careful.'

I looked toward Eve. Though she already stopped screaming, she fell into another deep sleep. Her body fell on the floor. I pulled her hand toward me.

"Eve... wake up... you're going to catch a cold," I called, shaking her hand. She needed to get out of here. Out of Spencer's reach. It was then...

Crack!

'Huh? What's that?'

I heard something.

Crack...

It kept intensifying. I looked left and right, but there was nothing.

Crack...

It was the sound of an egg... hatching... But, where?

'Don't tell me...' I think I had an idea what was hatching. It was something that I have been waiting for.

However, my vision was already blurry, and dark. Even if it hatched now, it was too late. I couldn't open my eyes anymore.

Uncle Chris... Aunt Claire... We should have spent more time together. I'm sorry.

Sherry... I missed you...

Then a notification appeared in the pitch-black darkness.

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