Two hours later, in a charred black room covered in blood and chitin fragments, rocks trembled, softly rumbling as a figure rose from beneath with difficulty.
Octavia's golden eyes hurriedly scanned the room to locate the chimaera, unaware she had lost consciousness after the terrible collision she suffered. Worse, her body entered into a coma to accelerate her regeneration.
However, only chaos and devastation greeted her eyes as she worriedly muttered, "What happened? Where are you, Adam?"
She trembled, imagining the worst, when she noticed the hybrid lying dead before the stairs. She swiftly ran towards it and examined its wounds, her pupils enlarging in fear. How did this fearsome creature end up so mangled? She failed to understand what had transpired.
Despite her confusion, with a swift motion, she plunged her hand inside the carcass and retrieved a disgusting cluster of cells before putting it in her mouth. Then, she resumed searching for her friend and spotted a clue.
Her lips quivered as she noticed the bloodied footsteps extending into the sooth-covered ground on the stairs. Pain gripped her heart as she whispered, "Did you abandon me after I became useless?"
Warm tears rolled down her cheeks as she lamented the potential betrayal. Standing lonely in the room, feeling her cells reconstruct and assimilate the hybrid's trait, her golden eyes flickered with determination. "There must be a reason! I refuse to believe my judgment was so wrong. I know his heart is filled with light."
With steady steps, she raced towards the stairs and climbed them as her tears and golden hair fluttered behind her. However, she wasn't ready to witness the morbid spectacle awaiting her.
As she reached the last step, she took a brief pause to remember the floor's architecture. Old memories she wanted to forget resurfaced as she walked on the corridor. She felt the smooth surface of the red tapestries under her feet as the white light of the fluorescent tube shone brightly.
"I hate this place." She said, a grimace of disgust covering her face before adding, "There are four guarded labs and Ignatius' living space. It shouldn't take me long to find him."
However, her legs couldn't help but tremble uncontrollably as her sad past flooded her mind and forced her to slow down. She had been dragged through this same corridor dozens of years ago, yet nothing changed except her.
"Adam... I can't do it alone... I'm scared." She yelled, sitting against the smooth wall and remembering how she had been tortured and gradually transformed into a bizarre patchwork of creatures. Why her? Why Misha?
"No! Don't think and focus on moving onwards!" She roared, trying to fill her heart with courage as she dashed to the first lab. They had made a promise. After exiting the underground complex, they would explore the outside world together. She couldn't stay behind because of her fears.
Her speed picked up, and her silhouette blurred as she heavily stomped on the stone slabs hidden behind the red carpet.
After two minutes, she stood before the lab, where the monster removed her front legs. However, the intricately carved wooden door was wide open, letting the sickening spectacle it held inside its wall in full display.
Cold sweat covered her back as her eyes trembled at the terrifying sight. Everything was upturned, the walls were painted red, and chitin covered the ground. The hybrids stood in a pool of their own blood, their bodies viciously lacerated as thine lines of frost covered them.
After a moment to recover, she inspected the three bodies, retrieving the cluster of cells from them to further her evolution before saying in confusion, "That's not his fighting style, and what are those frost marks?"
She tried to touch them, only to hurriedly remove her finger. She focused on it, believing it would be covered in frost, yet it looked normal. After musing for a moment, a cold shiver ran down her spine. The sensation she felt could only mean one thing. The frost bypassed the body to attack the mind or something she never considered before: the soul.
Appalled by the discovery, her natural instincts screamed at her to hurry and find her friend, as something really wrong might be occurring with him.
She raced to the next lab, only to find it was in worse condition. Dismantled bodies covered in small holes covered the ground. Someone evidently punctured them to inflict maximum pain before ending their life.
She breathed deeply before retrieving their evolutionary cells and swiftly leaving for the last lab, hoping her assumptions were wrong. She knew him. He didn't fear death or injuries, and his mind was strong.
However, the gruesome spectacle she witnessed forced her to drop to her knees and cover her mouth with trembling fingers. No doubts were permitted. Adam had fallen...
Tears welled in her eyes as she stood up and staggered toward the dissected corpses. Her heart sank as she gazed at the frozen organs and retrieved the three last cells required for her evolution.
As she swallowed them, her skin cracked, and her hair rose to dance wildly in the air. Inside, her body was meticulously transforming, adapting, and rearranging her cells. Her genetic code was rewritten as she achieved total control over her body.
"RAAAAAAH" A loud scream echoed as every trait she had obtained thus far fused in a complex but harmonious mix. Black chitin covered her body, thin transparent wings sprouted from her back, pincers replaced her hands, tentacles her arms, and multicolored fur grew on her body.
Yet after a second, everything disappeared, reabsorbed under her cracked skin before she fell to the ground, covered in sweat. But her golden eyes shone with determination as she vowed, "I'll save you from yourself or die with you. I swear not to let you become like that monster!"
With those words, her body flashed as she rushed towards the floor's last room! Ignatius' living quarters.
Simultaneously, in dormitory three, room 207, Julius rose from his cultivation session and gazed at his sleeping brother in confusion.
"Arun, isn't big bro turning red?" He hurriedly asked his friend, afraid to be correct. However, Arun's answer wasn't what he wanted to hear.
The boy turned his head and gazed at Adam from another direction, noticing its dim eyes and screamed in fear, "What is that? Why is he crying blood-red tears?"