The Eldritch Files

Chapter 292: Chapter 253: It’s Only Just Begun 2

“Take it. Take this Mechanical Fragment and go. Get as far away as you can…”

“…”

“SHRED!”

Suddenly, behind her, a massive hand tore through the wall of layered alloy steel plates.

An eye with a beast’s vertical pupil peered in through the hole.

Ms. Shen shot to her feet. With a push of her hand, an invisible burst of Spiritual Power erupted. The entire wall, along with the Beast Eye Priestess trying to crawl through from the other side, was blasted far away.

Han Su knew the situation was critical. He looked up, his expression wary.

‘This woman is only willing to buy me some time to escape because the Crystal Skull contains the emotions she stripped from herself. But if I leave with this Crystal Skull, won’t she just go back to how she was before?’

“I’ve already taken back the emotions stored inside.”

Having stood up, Ms. Shen seemed to sense Han Su’s wariness. She smiled grimly and explained in a low voice, “I suppose… I’ll never have to suffer the pain of stripping them away again.”

Han Su did feel a transfer of some substance from the Crystal Skull, so he dropped the subject.

Seeing she had made up her mind, he suddenly asked, “What does it feel like to strip away your own emotions?”

Ms. Shen was taken aback.

This seemed to be the first normal thing he had said to her since they’d met—the only words devoid of anger or hatred.

She actually felt a flicker of joy at his words. “It’s like having a piece of your heart carved out,” she whispered. “Or like a starving man who can’t find food.”

“I stripped away my pain to escape its torment, but afterward, I was just lost in a vast emptiness. I found myself needing to reclaim that pain over and over just to fill the void. It was like a drug…”

“…”

Han Su nodded. He set down his briefcase and carefully packed away the Crystal Skull and the Mechanical Fragment.

The act of packing felt like a final farewell.

“I…”

Ms. Shen looked down at him, her voice suddenly hesitant.

But as Han Su looked up at her, she found she couldn’t say what she wanted to. She could only shake her head gently. “Having a mother like me… you really aren’t a lucky child,” she murmured.

She said no more after that. Just then, immense, crushing sounds echoed from behind the alloy walls, coming from three different directions.

The other three City Slaughter Sacrifices had breached the perimeter of this innermost chamber.

She didn’t wait any longer. Raising her hands, she took the initiative.

BOOM!

In that instant, the sealed chamber burst open. Sheets of alloy steel tore apart, tumbling outwards in every direction like the blades of a meat grinder.

She activated her Spiritual Power. It was like a vast, roaring ocean, raising world-shattering waves to meet the four indifferently approaching City Slaughter Sacrifices. It also rose to meet the tremendous power high above Qinggang—the power that was taking control of the Pale Factory and preparing to unleash divine punishment.

Han Su knew what she had wanted to say, but he was glad she hadn’t.

Because even if she had said it, he wouldn’t have been able to do it.

What more could a mother ask for in the end? Only for her child to call her “Mom.”

Unfortunately, she hadn’t earned that right.

And he wasn’t that lucky either!

At this final parting, all he could do was silently turn to watch Ms. Shen tear the entire laboratory dome from its foundations.

This was the first time Ms. Shen had ever acted to protect him. She looked more battered than before.

But she was also infinitely stronger.

Her turbulent Spiritual Power surged in all directions. The four City Slaughter Sacrifices who were trying to force their way in were blasted back by her frenzied power. She drove them far away, pushing them out of the Abyssal Studio, out of the abandoned D7 Laboratory Base entirely.

Following them was an endless tide of zombies, among which darted the wind-fast Lupine Toxin-infected.

Then came the Mysterious Believers, followers of the City Slaughter Sacrifices, with their eerie, unnatural movements.

Then, the commandeered Pale Factory sent out a signal, and masses of humanoid flesh began to converge on her.

And there she stood, alone atop the dome of the Abyssal Laboratory, like a single, fragile flame.

“SWOOSH,” “SWOOSH,” “SWOOSH”

Several figures zipped over, their sharp blades flashing as they helped her cut down the approaching aberrant zombies and Lupine Toxin-infected.

The Scalpel Squad’s loyalty was unexpected.

But soon, they too were overwhelmed by the endless sea of bodies. One by one, they were swallowed by the frenzied mob.

In response, Ms. Shen let out a piercing shriek. Her mind tapped into some unknown mystery, and a bizarre, crystalline light shot toward the heavens. It was an unnatural radiance emanating from her own skull. The crystal light itself seemed to possess an immense, crushing weight.

The beam of crystal light blazed in the night sky, illuminating the ruined city.

It also held back the countless City Slaughter Sacrifices and other attackers swarming the Abyssal Laboratory.

Even to Han Su, the crystalline radiance seemed to take on a hint of the divine.

But just then, Han Su felt wave after wave of pressure wash over him. He instinctively looked up and saw, to the north of Qinggang, on a range of rolling hills, several figures had appeared on the hilltops, silhouetted against the roiling storm clouds that had gathered there.

Even from such a great distance, Han Su could clearly make out their silhouettes.