Chapter 336: Conflict [1]

"Hurry!"

The fire was raging.

I could hardly feel my hands. They were numb from the pain.

It hurt...

But despite the pain, I remained clear-headed.

Bang!

I punched the wall again, clearing up the opening behind the painting.

Darkness met my gaze.

"Get over here! There’s not much time."

I checked the time.

Ten seconds left. My heart was drumming loudly inside my chest as I looked at the raging flames behind me. The smoke had completely taken over, and I could hardly see within the flames. Voices continued to whisper as the faint outlines of several silhouettes appeared within the flames.

They were drawing closer and closer.

’Come on... Come on... Come on...’

The anxiety of the situation was killing me. I wanted to go and help them out, but I knew that I would only get in their way. The only thing I could do was focus on expanding the wall that was next to me.

Bang, Bang—!

I punched a couple of times, expanding it further as I struggled to breathe.

"Cough! Cough...!"

The smoke was starting to get to me, my eyes stinging in the process.

"H—!"

Swoosh!

Outlines began to appear in the smoke next to me, just as my heart began to sink

"....!?"

They dashed past me, running into the opening one by one.

One, two, three...

I counted them slowly.

Four, five.

"....."

"....."

Five...

One person was missing.

Time suddenly started to slow down in that moment, my breathing growing rougher.

The team comprised six members. Including me, it was seven. For there to have only had five people pass...

"O-oh."

My chest trembled.

And then—

BOOOM!

A terrifying explosion erupted, the flames spreading and consuming everything around me. The heat was so intense that I had no choice but to dive into the opening, sprinting forward even as the fire seared my back.

The pain was unbearable, nearly forcing a scream out of me.

However—

It all soon stopped the moment I managed to cross the opening. As if the fire couldn’t enter, and all noise was stripped away... The moment I crossed the opening, I fell down onto the ground with a soft ’thump’ as the world around me grew silent.

That was also the moment that something within me stirred.

"S-arah...? Has anyone seen Sarah?"

"Where is Sarah...? Someone..."

"She..."

My head ached, and I suddenly stopped feeling anything.

"O-oh god."

Voices continued to whisper around me. They were everywhere. My head started to hurt so much.

"S-Sarah..."

I grew numb.

It didn’t take long for me to understand what was happening. I was experiencing the side effect of my fracture.

"A-ah."

***

Bang—!

A white garbed figure fell onto the floor.

"Just what the hell is going on?"

Kyle stood over the figure, looking around in confusion. He was in the middle of a large hall, filled with similar figures. Each of which was currently being taken care of by those from his team.

The moment he sensed something was wrong with the smell in the air, he used his node and stopped time. Everything else was easy for him and his team.

The issue, however, lay in the fact that they had been stuck on the same floor for quite some time.

Nothing was going as they had previously anticipated. If it were just some small changes, he’d understand. But to this extent?

’...It’s clear that something has gone completely wrong.’

Kyle’s eyes sharpened as he looked around, eventually settling his gaze on his phone, where he read the chat.

Live Views — [471,482]

—What the hell is happening?

—Is this fake...? Or are they under attack?

—Holy shit!

—Wait, you should check this other stream. Shit is crazy over there!

—Which stream?

Reading the comments, there was something in particular that intrigued him.

’Why are they talking about some other stream?’

It looked to be everything that everyone was talking about. He could see the number of people tuning in to his stream starting to dwindle.

’...Just what the hell is happening in the other stream for everyone to tune out like this? And whose stream is it?’

It didn’t take long for him to get an answer.

—Holy shit! There’s a guy with sunglasses in the middle of a fire!

—Sunglasses? What sort of lunatic wears sunglasses?

—Don’t tell me it’s a special item.

"....."

Kyle’s lips twitched. The moment he heard the ’sunglasses’ part, he immediately understood what was happening.

He wasn’t the only one.

"Kyle..."

He lifted his head and caught Zoey watching the same stream. She glanced at him, then pointed to her phone.

"They’re talking about ’him’, aren’t they?"

"No doubt."

By ’him’, they were obviously talking about Seth.

Who else would be this much of a lunatic to wear sunglasses in the middle of a fire?

’I’m also sure those sunglasses aren’t special items. They’re probably there to block Seth’s vision so that he doesn’t have to puke in case he sees something gory.’

...Or at least, that was what he’d used to believe. He wasn’t so sure anymore.

Either way, it was clear that whatever was happening on Seth’s floor had captured everyone’s attention.

This was good to some extent as Kyle looked at Zoey.

"Did you get any answer from the Section Chief?"

"I’m still talking to him," Zoey replied, her face somewhat grim. With the communications not down, it wasn’t hard for them to reach the Section Chief. "The issue is that he can’t enter the gate. He believes that some sort of external force has breached the gate and is trying to kill all of us present."

"External force...?"

"Yeah."

Zoey replied with a brief nod, scrolling through her phone.

"It seems to be connected to that strange cult that’s been active lately, but I can’t say for certain. The Section Chief thinks it’s likely them, though he’s not sure either. He’s still investigating."

"I see. If that’s the ca—"

"What should we do?"

A voice cut in suddenly, prompting Kyle to stop. Rowan stepped between them, his eyes narrowing as his eyes fell on Zoey’s phone.

His sudden interjection caused Zoey to pause, her eyes similarly narrowing as she looked at him. Thinking about how he used to be in the past, for a moment, she thought he had interjected on purpose, but then—

"I heard that something happened to Seth. Is he alright?"

"....."

Right...

"He’s fine."

Zoey turned her attention back to her messages with the Section Chief.

"I’ve checked the situation. Ten are dead, several are injured, and a few are missing. Among the missing is Myles."

"Wait, Myles?"

"Yes."

"....."

Kyle’s expression turned extremely serious. Myles was part of his team, and as such, was his responsibility. Not only that, but he was also incredibly talented. He couldn’t allow for anything to happen to a talent like that.

He immediately turned around.

"What are you doing?"

Zoey suddenly called out to Kyle, noticing the strange shift in his movements.

"I’m going to look for Myles. I can’t have him die here."

Kyle didn’t look at her as he spoke. He closed his eyes, preparing to activate one of his nodes. He had to act quickly. Every second was valuable.

"Don’t do that."

"No, I have to. He’s part of my team. I—"

"That’s not it. Look."

Zoey’s words made him pause. He opened his eyes to look at her, and she turned her phone to show a particular stream.

The moment Kyle’s eyes landed on the stream, his expression changed.

The same was true for Rowan and everyone else who managed to catch a glimpse of Zoey’s phone.

"That’s..."

"Yes."

Zoey nodded.

"He’s with Seth." A frame where Myles stood opposite each other appeared. The two stared at each other for a brief moment, speaking quietly.

Quiet enough for it not to be picked up by the stream.

"I don’t know how he got there, but he’s fine. If that—Uh!?"

Zoey’s expression drastically changed before she could finish the sentence.

"....!?"

"....!!"

The same went for Kyle and everyone else. Seth suddenly appeared in front of Myles, grabbed him by the collar, and tossed him aside, his fist smashing down before Myles could even react. It all happened so fast that nobody had the time to react.

But when they did, a sudden silence fell onto the stream as the mouths of several opened at the same time.

What...?

What the hell just happened?