Alpha rides the motorcycle toward the massive structure, with you behind her. The warm house fades into the dusk behind you.
After you travel for a while and leave the neighborhood behind, the surroundings grow quiet again.
These illusions... some of them really do come from inside me.
Alpha shakes her head.
It might have something to do with what happened in the mist.
And... maybe that's fine.
Neither of you says anything after that. The engine's roar echoes down the empty road.
Soon, the familiar rift appears at the end of the road.
You pass through the rift. There's a brief stretch of darkness and disorientation. Then you smell grit and dust.
You're in a wide wasteland, almost completely silent.
In the center is a massive impact crater that makes your chest feel tight just looking at it. At the bottom stands a giant structure, badly ruined but still partly intact—Babylonia.
Whatever hit here tried to wipe everything out. The ground is torn up and folded over, forming a ring-shaped valley hundreds of meters deep.
Babylonia should've been smashed to dust. But clearly, something was done before it fell. That's why part of its main structure is still standing in the crater.
We're here.
This is between me and her. Leave it to me.
The engine growls. The motorcycle shoots down the slope and heads straight for the crater's center.
Downhill, faster and faster, then up the slope at the crater floor, using every angled surface to climb.
BOOM—
The motorcycle hits a ramp and jumps up onto a platform. Alpha looks down, and her eyes meet someone looking up at her.
Heh...
BANG—
The motorcycle crashes to the ground, the impact shattering a few stone slabs.
Alpha hops off. Her right hand goes to the hilt at her waist, and the blade lights up bright red.
Ready to die?
Since you came to offer your body so nicely, I'll make it quick.
Shadow grips the scabbard with her left hand and slowly draws the long blade. Red electricity coils around it and crackles in the air.
As soon as the words leave her mouth, both figures vanish.
A heartbeat later, two long blades crash together with a sharp scream.
The moment the blades meet, a shockwave sweeps across the entire platform and throws every bit of debris into the air.
Once I realized this world, this pale mist, would eventually disappear, I started looking for a way out.
And finally, I used the virus to draw you in!
Shadow moves fast, almost unreal, and her blade turns into a storm of slashes.
I will take over your body, and claim MY right to live!
Alpha gives a derisive chuckle, her razor-sharp blade carving a fresh wound into Shadow.
You're a pathetic illusion. A shadow should know its place—under its master's feet.
I'll beat you, Shadow. Because...
I, am Lucia, I, am Alpha. I, am the original... This story begins with ME!
Alpha's blade tears through the air, striking with devastating force toward Shadow's heart.
But Shadow doesn't dodge. She steps forward instead, walking right into the killing blow.
Szzzt—
The crimson blade punches through her chest. Shadow keeps smiling and keeps moving forward, one step at a time.
White mist surges to her like it has a will of its own. The instant it touches the wound, the edges start to close and heal.
Then I shall be the one to end your story!
In the next moment, she breaks apart. Her whole body bursts into pale mist, and the fog rushes straight at Alpha.
—!
Alpha's pupils contract sharply. She jumps back, trying to get out of the way.
But it's too late.
The mist hits her head-on and forces its way into her body, pushing in from every possible opening.
I know you're incredibly strong, so I never planned to fight you head-on...
I'll take your M.I.N.D. Starting with your soul, I'll swallow this body whole!
Tsk—!
Everything returns to silence.
Alpha drops to her knees like something ripped the life out of her.
A second later, she jerks her head up. The light in her red eyes flickers hard, switching between wild and clear.
Her voice comes through clenched teeth, low and strained, like she's fighting something inside her.
Get... out... of me...
Her body shakes violently. With the last bit of consciousness she has, she snaps her head toward you.
Catch!
She throws her long blade with everything she has. It spins through the air and sticks into the ground at your feet.
The part of her gaze that is truly Alpha fades fast.
It's... on you now.
As soon as she says it, the last bit of clarity in her eyes goes out completely, like a solitary island swallowed by a tide.
BOOM—!
Crimson energy bursts out of her like a broken dam. Virus power and crackling electricity surge outward, tearing the stone slabs apart.
Madness flickers in her eyes as she locks onto the only living target here: you, the commandant.
