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Chapter 3: Mask of the Revenant
The sirens began to scream.
"Containment breach detected. All personnel evacuate Sector D."
The computerized voice echoed through the underground corridors, chased by red strobes and the smell of burning ozone. Something deeper stirred behind the walls—groans, metallic crashes, and faraway screams.
Riku didn't know where he was anymore. He only knew he had to move.
He ran, staggering past lifeless bodies and shattered equipment. His monstrous arm had receded, replaced by trembling flesh and pulsing veins. But the afterglow remained—heat buzzing under his skin, as if it were waiting to be called again.
Shōnashi.
That was the name it had whispered into his mind. The thing inside him. The thing that had turned him into... whatever he was now.
"You did well," the voice purred. "Clumsy, but... deliciously violent."
"Shut up," Riku spat, turning a corner. "You're a parasite."
"I'm a partner. Without me, you'd be another body on the floor."
He didn't respond.
Instead, he froze.
Ahead, the hallway opened into a vast chamber lit by humming spotlights. Metal catwalks crisscrossed above vats of glowing green fluid. Giant glass tubes lined the walls—some empty, some still filled.
And in one of those tubes... something moved.
Riku approached, heart thudding.
A humanoid figure floated in the liquid, twitching. Bound in restraints. Its face hidden behind a black mask—marked with the same twisted eye symbol.
Just like the one he'd fought.
But this one was different.
It opened its eyes.
And they were red. Just like his.
"Subject 07—active."
The chamber lights shifted. Doors slammed shut behind him. Security turrets clicked into place. Alarms flared again.
"Lockdown initiated."
Riku backed away, fists clenched. "No, no, no—"
The tube hissed. Cracked. Then shattered.
Fluid exploded outward as the masked figure landed on both feet, rising slowly. It towered over Riku, silent, rippling with blackened muscle and spiked bone armor. Its aura radiated pure hatred—like a weapon that had been waiting to be used again.
"This one is stronger," Shōnashi warned. "Much stronger."
The creature took one step forward.
Then another.
Then it vanished.
BAM!
Riku flew backward, smashing into the wall. Pain burst through his ribs. Blood leaked from his mouth.
The creature appeared above him, claw descending—
Instinct screamed.
Let me in.
"Fine!" Riku roared, eyes flashing crimson. "TAKE IT!"
And the world changed again.
Flames exploded from his veins. His arm reformed into something even darker—a jagged lance of obsidian bone, pulsing with red runes. His back split open as dark tendrils burst outward like wings. His eye burned like a furnace.
The Revenant struck.
But this time, Riku didn't dodge.
He caught the claw with his bare hand—and squeezed.
CRACK.
The creature shrieked as Riku drove his lance through its chest, pinning it to the floor.
Riku knelt over its body, eye glowing.
"Don't come back."
Then silence fell again.
Smoke curled around his shoulders.
"You're learning," Shōnashi whispered. "Soon... you'll want more."
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End of Chapter 3