Chapter 23 First Savage Glory Game
The strange noises that had been sending chills down their spines were finally gone, and the fear slowly began to fade.
Maybe it was already past midnight. Or maybe everyone in After Domini was simply too exhausted to keep fighting. Still, distant gunshots echoed faintly through the night.
Call glanced at the Troy unit guarding the entrance of Kit’s workshop before looking over at Red. A tired groan escaped him.
Meanwhile, Red was half-lying comfortably in Ursula’s folded arms.
“Why do we have to sleep outside? Can’t Kit just let us stay inside?” Call sighed softly. “This rule seriously sucks.”
“Kit can’t break the customer limit rule,” Red replied.
The two of them were resting in the yard outside Kit’s workshop. The night air was cold, but it had a refreshing dampness. Before sending them outside, Kit had given both Red and Call two blankets each.
Call curled his lips downward before turning to stare at the glittering sky.
“Honestly… It’s not that bad out here.” He smiled faintly. “This is my first time sleeping outside with actual blankets. Before this, we were freezing and smelled terrible. Good thing we got to clean up inside.”
Red chuckled softly. “Sleeping outside isn’t such a big deal, right?”
“Yeah.” Call smiled. “It’s actually kinda nice.”
“Get some sleep, Call. We’ll need all our strength tomorrow.”
“And I still need shooting practice. You also need to keep synchronizing with Ursula.”
At the mention of synchronization, fear twisted inside Red’s chest.
The process was painful.
Kit had modified the wires inside Ursula’s body along with the connectors attached to Red’s left eye. New clip-like connectors had been installed, leaving three small holes around Red’s eyebrow area and three tiny dots beneath her eye.
It made Red feel ugly.
And honestly… she wanted to look pretty the next time she saw Aamon.
She wondered if Aamon ever felt the same flutter in his chest whenever he looked at her. Even if it was a stupid thing to hope for.
“Right now, I just need something to cover this.” Red pointed at the connectors around her eye. “I look even weirder now.”
Call laughed softly. “You actually look cool. People are gonna be terrified when they see you.”
“Don’t tease me, Call.”
“I’m serious.” He grinned. “When you walk around with Ursula beside you, you look graceful and intimidating at the same time.”
“Shut up.” Red laughed.
Eventually, their laughter faded, giving way to silence and exhaustion.
Both of them yawned at the same time.
Call shifted lazily beneath the blankets. “I’m exhausted. Good night, Red.”
He curled himself into the blankets and closed his eyes.
“Good night, Call.”
“Red! Wake up! Red…!”
The voice echoed repeatedly in Red’s ears until she slowly forced her heavy eyelids open.
Kit and Call were staring at her with panicked expressions.
The atmosphere around them was cold, dark, and gloomy.
Red immediately noticed something wrong.
The blanket was gone.
Ursula was gone too.
Red jolted upright in panic.
“What the hell is this place?” she blurted out. “Where are we?!”
“We don’t know,” Call answered quickly, both guns already raised in his hands.
“Where’s Ursula?” Red frantically looked around.
“I don’t know,” Kit replied nervously. “Call, and I woke up here too. We found each other nearby, but… we couldn’t find Ursula anywhere.”
Red immediately shouted, “Ghníomhact!”
The three of them waited.
Nothing happened.
The only sounds filling the air were loud metallic clanging noises echoing through the forest around them.
This place looked nothing like the forests inside After Domini.
The plants were darker, stranger. Massive trees towered endlessly overhead, their trunks covered in yellow-green lichens. Brightly colored fungi glowed from hollow openings in the bark.
No one dared get close to them.
“Where do we go?” Kit asked shakily. “I’m scared.”
“Stay close to Call,” Red said immediately. “He’s the only one armed.”
Call swallowed hard, gripping his gun so tightly his knuckles turned white.
The three of them carefully pushed deeper into the forest that felt like it could swallow them whole at any moment.
“Red, can your eye scan anything?” Kit asked nervously. “Any danger nearby?”
Red tried scanning the area, but the results only frustrated her further.
Unknown object. Unknown object. Unknown object.
Nothing useful appeared.
“Nothing,” Red muttered.
“We keep moving,” Call said firmly. “I have a bad feeling about this place.”
They walked for over an hour, yet the forest never seemed to end.
Eventually, Kit collapsed onto the moss-covered ground, clutching her chest as sweat rolled down her forehead.
“Stop… I need a break,” she panted.
“We can’t stay here,” Call snapped. “My instincts are screaming that we need to get out of this forest now.”
“Kit needs to rest,” Red argued. “Stop pressuring her.”
But deep down, Red felt the same fear.
Ursula still wasn’t responding.
What if Ursula couldn’t detect her location here?
Without Ursula, Red wasn’t sure they would survive.
Trying to distract herself, Red gently rubbed Kit’s shoulder.
Then she noticed something strange in the moss nearby.
She crouched down and grabbed part of it.
“Red, don’t touch that,” Call warned immediately.
But Red ignored him.
The moment she pulled at the moss, colorful lights flickered underneath the ground in steady pulses, almost like a ticking clock.
“We’re still inside the ship,” Red realized aloud. “This whole environment has to be artificial. Look at this.”
She pointed at the glowing lights beneath the moss.
“These could be some kind of system cable. Maybe even a clue to getting out.”
Call frowned. “And what exactly are you planning to do? Rip up the whole forest?”
“No.” Red narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. “If AI systems are running underneath the surface, maybe I can scan them through my eye.”
Call’s face immediately brightened. “Wait… you’re right.”
“If one of these cables controls the safety system, pulling it out might do something.” Red continued thinking aloud. “I just need to test it.”
“That might also explain why Ursula can’t find you,” Kit said quietly. “Something here could be interfering with signals.”
Red turned toward Call.
“Try shooting the surface.”
Call blinked. “What?”
“The ground underneath feels like glass covered by dirt and moss.” Red tapped lightly against the hard surface. “Shoot it.”
“Fine. Move back first.”
Call raised his rifle and fired. The blue beam ricocheted violently off the surface and slammed into the trees nearby.
Red and Kit screamed before ducking instantly.
“Are you insane?!” Kit shouted furiously.
“I didn’t miss!” Call snapped back. “The damn thing’s bulletproof!”
“Enough.” Red quickly stepped between them. “Let’s just keep moving.”
Then—
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the forest. The three of them turned toward the sound.
Suddenly, several Metaphysics sprinted past them at full speed.
“RUN!” Flame shouted while grabbing Phi’s hand.
Yasmin and two others raced behind them through the trees.
The second Call sensed danger, he grabbed Kit’s arm and started pulling her away.
But Red froze in place, her heart hammering violently in her chest.
Something was coming. And whatever it was… it was behind them.