Wounded Heart.

Vonn, despite his limited mobility, desperately tried to alert the man pinning him down, but Chris remained unresponsive. Vonn was pinned down hard, shaking aggressively in an attempt to free himself.

His broken jaw had turned his speech into absurd cries, and the man would chuckle each time Vonn let out a sound.

Meanwhile, Janet, who was being sexually assaulted, trembled immensely, overwhelmed by the entire situation, as Katarina, oblivious to the colossal monster that regenerated behind her, desperately tried to unfasten the utility belt that still held her trousers to her waist.

Janet's eyes had reddened from the strain of her fruitless, relentless struggle to move her body, and she felt as if she would suffocate from the stress.

She had slowly begun to give up on her sanity once again, the only thing still keeping her sane being Vonn, whom she watched struggle from the distance.

Janet couldn't help but heartily appreciate this son of hers, whose existence was once considered a terrible mistake borne of a rape during an unfortunate circumstance.

Right at this moment, as her grip on sanity slowly loosened, all she could feel was love and a profound gratitude towards Vonn.

More tears spilt from Janet's eyes as she ignored the woman who had taken off her own underwear and was trying to take hers off.

TREMBLE

Her arm moved.

It was too weak and trembly, but it actually moved, reaching out towards Vonn.

Vonn, who saw this, felt his heart flutter at the miracle, however, he couldn't summon any excitement from it, seeing the creature that stood in between.

At this moment, the mutanaut had fully regenerated its parts and now looked almost twice its usual size, and for some reason, the two present HV soldiers had failed to notice its presence.

It suddenly shot its arm backwards, readying it to strike as usual, except this time, it felt quieter and more serene, as if it was consciously trying to contain its own presence.

The monster, although now larger and more intimidating, felt too calm compared to how it had behaved before.

Its fingers splayed aggressively, its claws violently cutting through the fog in its wake, and then, without any hesitation at all, it launched its arm with immense force toward Katarina and Janet.

Vonn's absurd screams intensified, causing the man to actually lift up his leg a little out of sympathy. Tears gushed from Vonn's eyes continuously, but Janet, who saw this, simply smiled weakly, her expression a bit serene, her hand still reaching outward.

Time seemed to slow down for a moment as she mumbled beneath her breath,

"I love you, Vonn. Take. Care–"

SQUATTSH!

Just as Janet concluded these words, the mutanaut's attack landed with immense power, crushing Katarina's head alongside hers to the ground.

Blood uncontrollably gushed from both their headless necks, Katarina's naked lifeless form collapsing gracelessly onto Janet's in a gruesome heap.

"Huh?" Hearing the sudden mix of sounds, Chris ignored Vonn's sudden spontaneous scream and turned.

"Ah... Kate.." These words forced their ways out of his mouth as he took a forced step forward, his eye absorbing which didn't seem quite clear.

What just happened?

The man couldn't believe his eyes,

"Kate.. Are you... No, you can't be." The man, ignoring the mutanaut who stood quietly, rushed towards Katarina.

Reaching the heap of duo headless bodies, lying gracelessly, one naked atop the other, both covered in blood, Chris was silent.

He stood still for a little longer, quietly looking at Katarina's corpse. The mutanaut, its height now comparable to that of a huge fuel tanker vehicle turned vertical, was also still, its dreadful gaze fixated on Chris quietly, leaving Vonn's screams as the only sound to be heard.

Chris turned, glancing at the cuboid-like material on the ground–Katarina's battle gear from earlier. Fog slowly filled the particular area as he observed blood eventually slide under the material.

Without the 01 emergency system, HV soldiers were like stray cats, lacking adequate protection.

While EEM Gear offered many other impressive features, none matched the protective capabilities of the 01 module.

This module was built essentially for extremely overwhelming situations, acting as the HV soldiers' individual safety net.

In the face of a real threat, this security system was considered a last resort.

When activated, the 01 module also provides immediate access to crucial information about everything organic in the vicinity.

It could discern friends from foes, monitor vital signs, and even predict movements, creating a strategic advantage that's meant to transform the tide of any battle. It automatically responds to threats if the wearer doesn't intervene.

In other words, Katarina's decision to switch it off earlier, however, proved disastrous.

Despite fully understanding the consequences, she ignored the organization's code of conduct and decided to shut the security system down, believing the threat was no longer present.

Had the 01 module been on, Chris would have noticed the Mutanaut the moment it stirred, even if Katarina had taken off her gear.

It was a grave mistake that ultimately cost her life, and Chris understood that he, too, was partly to be blamed.

With his eyes shot, Chris raised his face to the sky, the moonlight casting a soft glow on a part of his face.

"Myyyy beeaautifulll..." He sang loudly, his brows twitching sorrowfully.

"...Motherrr! Myyy beautiful motherr. You have claimed my heart, my soouul, my soul." His deep voice resonated throughout the place, unexpectedly beautiful.

"Yoouu have taught me hopee, you gave me kisses, Youu have bled for mee, for mee, for meee..."

"..aaaand... I will.... d-die.... for youuu." At the conclusion of his song, the man's eyes were glancing into the moon, dripping wet in tears.

"Rest on, my angel." The man uttered calmly, his expression suddenly palened. He brought out a little piece of clothing from his pouch and wiped the tears off his face.

He pulled out a cigarette, a slim sleek transparent tubular little stick with a glowing blue tip.

Positioning it on his lips, Chris forcibly clicked two of his Iron covered fingers against each other, creating a spark that lit his smoke.

The mutanaut remained still, its gaze fixed on Chris with an unblinking stare.

Chris stood firm, despite the monster's intimidating presence.

He blew out smoke and spoke in a downtrodden tone, "You have ripped me open, my sweet honey, you've wounded me..."

"You've let it out…. You've freed this monster restrained in my heart."

Chris's eyes reddened, and tears began to escape from them again. He pulled his sword from its sheath and turned, pointing it to the monster who still watched him quietly.

His gaze seemed to bore into the mutanaut's towering head and he uttered, "...You've no idea what you've done."

"Now, starting with you, the whole world will bleed."

"The innocent, the guilty– it won't matter."

"Mutanauts, HV soldiers–nothing will matter, for this monster awakened within me will bestow upon this entire civilization the true meaning of utter annihilation."

"The world will feel the depth of this hole you've drilled into my heart." Chris uttered, his once plain expression now twisted with pure disgust.

In a sudden burst of adrenaline, he positioned his sword and leapt upward with an inhumane power and speed, leaving a crack in the ground where he had launched himself.

In an instant, he matched the towering height of the monstrous creature before him, swinging his sword with all his might toward the mutanaut's massive face, which was twice the size of his own body.

But something was unexpected.

"Huh?" Chris exclaimed, his eyes widening in alarm as a massive object appeared in front of him, hurling at an alarming speed, almost as if it had teleported—the mutanaut's clenched fist.

The creature, which had seemed calm moments before, had now unleashed a powerful punch that blurred through the air, aimed directly at Chris.

"Tsk!" Chris clicked his tongue in frustration.

In a swift motion, he abandoned his attack, letting go of his heavy sword to lighten his weight. He spun around and landed a forceful kick against the monster's face.

The kick reversed his momentum, sending him carelessly backward as he dodged the incoming punch, though a thorn from the fist lightly grazed his face.

However, the danger was not over, as just as he was about to complete his fall, another huge clenched fist shot toward him from the opposite direction with a speed comparable to the former.

"Too fastt!!—GBAAAAK!! Chris's sharp words were abruptly cut off as the thorny fist collided violently with his armor.

The immense force of the blow forced a surge of blood from his mouth, and he was slammed backward, crashing through a nearby fence and slamming into a building.

Amidst the swirling dust, lying against the cold wall of an old store, Chris felt the sharp pain in his arm and the warm blood tricking down his face unto his gear. His legs were buried under a pile of rubble, the weight pressing down uncomfortably.

"Damn.. My leg... is it broken?" He groaned, forcing himself to sit up, wincing at the sharpness of the pain.

'What just hap...' His thoughts ceased as a sudden headache grappled him. The world spun.

'That.. that thing's speed just now..' The reality he had ignored earlier had slowly begun to creep in.

'Didn't the mutanaut get destroyed under Kate's blasts earlier?' his eyes widened, his pupils dilating.

'Wasn't the mission already completed?'

'How?...'

'How?!!'

'..How the hell is the mutanaut here, and what's with that size?! Is this some fucking joke?!!' Chris's mind reeled, threatening to implode under the weight of unanswered questions that surged in all at once.