Chapter 3: The Entanglement of Fates

  The memory always began the same way.

  A sun-drenched garden. The sound of laughter drifting through the air.

  Two boys ran through the grass—one with hair as black as a raven's wing, the other with locks of spun gold. The golden-haired boy, running ahead, suddenly stopped and turned back. He reached out a hand to help the other boy, who had stumbled and fallen.

  As the raven-haired boy accepted it, his blue eyes caught the sunlight and flared with a sudden, brilliant intensity.

  Then they were running again—charging headlong into a future that had not yet been broken.

  The scene shattered.

  Reality snapped back in with a chill.

  Aoi was no longer in a cage.

  Now a newly registered officer, she had been given her own room—a stark contrast to the sterile prison cell she had once called home. She lay sprawled comfortably across her bed, staring at the screen in front of her.

  Mitsuo's face filled the display.

  This time, he wore a crisp military uniform.

  "Aoi, what the hell are you doing?" Mitsuo asked, his voice light, airy, and unbearably bored.

  Aoi kicked her feet up, responding with a casual shrug, as though the trauma of the past weeks had never existed.

  "Nothing much. Just figuring out what this place even is, Boss."

  "Anyway," Mitsuo continued, inspecting his nails, "since you're officially an officer now, I've got some special work for you."

  "Oh?" Aoi smirked. "You finally asking me out on a date?"

  Mitsuo didn't blush. He didn't look confused. He simply stared at her with a flat, pitying expression.

  "What? Who said that?" He let out a small, arrogant chuckle. "A date? With you? I have a reputation to maintain, Aoi. I don't go out with work equipment."

  "Tch. You're no fun," Aoi replied, her voice carefree—though the word equipment stung more than she cared to admit.

  "I think it's time you started working with others," Mitsuo said calmly. "So I've found just the right partner for you."

  "Haha. Another weakling to slow me down?" Aoi said lazily.

  "Nope. Quite the opposite," Mitsuo replied. "Meet Claire."

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  The name had barely left his lips when something slammed into Aoi.

  A blur of motion sent her crashing into the wall with overwhelming speed and strength. Her tentacles shot out instinctively—but stopped mid-motion.

  To her shock, her attacker was no longer attacking.

  Claire was clinging to Mitsuo's arm.

  "Hah!? What the hell was that, Mitsuo!?" Aoi barked, peeling herself off the wall.

  "Claire," Mitsuo said flatly, "apologize."

  Claire responded by pouting and turning her head away.

  Despite the childish reaction, Aoi felt a surge of genuine interest. Claire was fast—terrifyingly fast. The kind of speed that fascinated Mitsuo himself.

  "Anyway," Mitsuo continued, slipping effortlessly back into his bored-genius persona, "here's the mission. You two will attack a goblin village. Five hundred goblins at most—maybe a thousand. If the count exceeds five hundred, I'll intervene. Though, judging by your capabilities, I doubt that'll be necessary."

  He gave them a wink and a thumbs-up.

  "Oh, don't bother intervening," Aoi said, her eyes darkening. "I don't want interruptions during my feast. By the way... what is Claire?"

  "She's a special-grade Ghoul," Mitsuo replied casually.

  "Oh, that's insane," Aoi grinned. "This is going to be fun."

  "Well, I'd love to teleport you both there," Mitsuo said brightly, "but due to some technical limitations, I can't do that in this region."

  He clasped his hands together.

  "So—we'll jump from planes!"

  Aoi's eyes widened. "Wait—seriously!? Like, actual military planes!? That's awesome!"

  "Right!?" Mitsuo echoed, sharing a rare moment of enthusiasm.

  The jump was pure adrenaline.

  As they landed before the dark forest bordering the goblin village, Aoi felt the familiar hum of her stealth-grade military earpiece. Goblins shrieked and loosed volleys of arrows—but her tentacles swatted them aside effortlessly.

  This is where I belong, Aoi thought as she tore through them.

  In the blood.

  Yet her attention kept drifting to Claire.

  The Ghoul fought with savage elegance—biting, tearing, reveling in the carnage. Watching her stirred something deep inside Aoi.

  She's like me.

  Someone who had already left her humanity behind.

  Without realizing it, Aoi began to mirror Claire's movements—using her tentacles not just to kill, but to rend, to devour.

  In the frenzy, they forgot about Mitsuo entirely.

  Even when reinforcements arrived and the count surpassed a thousand, they never signaled him. Drunk on blood and power, they were determined to finish their feast alone.

  They didn't want the White Wolf to end their fun.

  They felt invincible.

  Then the ground trembled.

  Golden sparks erupted across the sky.

  An explosion thundered through the forest.

  Aoi turned just in time to see Claire—who had been slaughtering enemies moments ago—blasted away by a violent shockwave. Claire crashed into a rock nearly a hundred meters away.

  "Aoi—!" she tried to shout—

  Pain exploded in her abdomen.

  Aoi was sent flying, landing hard in the same direction as Claire. She skidded across the dirt, gasping.

  Her tentacles—capable of stopping bullets—hadn't even sensed the attack.

  Through blurred, tear-filled vision, Aoi saw a figure emerge from the dust.

  Golden-blonde hair.

  Deep green eyes.

  His appearance rivaled Mitsuo's—perhaps even surpassed it.

  But it was his presence that froze her blood.

  It felt just like Mitsuo's.

  A crushing aura that made the parasite coiled around her spine tremble in terror.

  He's like Mitsuo...

  An abomination of power.

  Survival felt impossible.

  Yet the fear of losing the first comrade she had ever found ignited something fierce inside her. Aoi dragged herself to Claire's unconscious body, wrapping her tentacles around the Ghoul in a protective cocoon.

  She shut her eyes.

  Waiting.

  The golden-haired man raised his hand. A sphere of light flickered in his palm.

  BOOM.

  The forest shook—but the heat never reached them.

  Slowly, Aoi opened her eyes.

  A familiar silhouette stood before them.

  To be continued...

  ? MYukH. All rights reserved.