Story Reader / Floating Record / ER12 Spark to Wildfire / Story

All of the stories in Punishing: Gray Raven, for your reading pleasure. Will contain all the stories that can be found in the archive in-game, together with all affection stories.
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ER12-13 Flesh and Blood

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<i>"A blood-black void begins to weave a network</i>

<i>Cells connecting, reconnecting, joining with the central stem"</i>

Snowflakes continue to drift down at a leisurely pace, while the wind stirred by people rushing past throws everything into disarray.

Inside this train car packed with the elderly and vulnerable, chaos has clearly erupted—or more accurately, a one-sided massacre.

Those who rushed here immediately spot Kent's body sprawled at the edge of the car, along with the body of the mother, the woman who had tried everything possible to keep her daughter alive.

The sudden turn for the worse leaves everyone feeling untethered, each person engulfed by a wave of disorientation.

...

The girl stares vacantly at her mother's body, her hollow gaze fixed unblinkingly on the corpse.

Haynes grips the only gun among these people, taken from Kent—judging by the bullet hole in the back of Kent's head, he probably never noticed anything before dying from the sneak attack.

Now, the gun barrel is pressed against the girl's head.

I've been eavesdropping on your conversations... and discovered a familiar face among you.

She stopped my first incident, and now she's here to interfere with this "finale" too... What a fateful connection we have.

...

Vera grits her teeth, struggling to dismount from Leia's back as her right hand clamps firmly around her weapon.

You're still as young and sharp as ever, you haven't changed at all.

...You're something that should have died decades ago, yet you don't look any different from back then... Haynes, who's backing your cloning operation?

Two figures, separated by decades of time yet unchanged in appearance, stare at each other from opposite ends of a gap several meters wide.

Haynes doesn't answer Vera, instead focusing intently on examining her frame.

Constructs... To think that detestable professor's research would become one of the greatest technologies of this era.

How does it feel to become a Construct? Is it just like I predicted back then?

—Replacing your fragile human form with metal... have you crossed that river yet?

So... hold onto that ambition of yours. With just a touch of evolution, you can easily wade across that river...

Like replacing this fragile flesh, removing the inferior genes within it, and substituting them with...

...Hand over the child!!

Hmm... seems you're still drifting in the middle of the river.

That young lady, on the other hand, is far more enlightened than you—Miss Vanessa, if I heard correctly, that is your name, isn't it?

Among those pointing their guns at him, he spotted a young woman with silver-white hair.

Your thinking is very straightforward. Discard what's useless, preserve what's valuable.

Now all the trash is dead—that Kent who clearly couldn't manage things, along with a bunch of sniveling old folks and children, and that interfering woman.

When mentioning that interfering woman, he spits out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

...Nothing but a raving lunatic.

Alright, now this child is also a burden.

Haynes tightens his grip as he presses the still-hot gun barrel against the girl's skin, burning her.

Vanessa's expression turns utterly grim.

So the eavesdropper... has taken an interest in our casual chat...?

The previously unresponsive girl suddenly contorts her entire face after seeing Haynes' spit—extreme rage overtakes her expression, her innocence instantly replaced by an anger completely inherited from her mother.

Die... die... DIE!!

Let him die! Kill him, now!!!

Haynes tightens his grip on the girl's neck and smashes his gun butt into her cheek, knocking out her newly grown permanent teeth.

...Cough!

Burden, don't speak—and the rest of you better not move.

State your demands!

I already told you. Didn't you understand? I want to see which ideology will triumph.

If you want to save this deadweight, send over that red Construct as an exchange. I happen to have something to discuss with her.

Haynes gestures toward Vera.

I never asked for your name before... but the codename "Hound" suits you well. A sharp blade, an obedient dog, both equally useful tools.

Hand her over to me, and I won't kill the child.

"Hound," trusting him would be the height of stupidity!

I don't need you to remind me...!

Vera quickly surveys her surroundings, but finds nothing noteworthy except for ruins in every direction.

He should have killed everyone by now... keeping that girl alive means he must have something else planned...

It's definitely not just... about catching up with an old acquaintance!

What is he...

A familiar urgency erupts in her chest as her M.I.N.D. becomes a tangled mess. Simply standing there facing off with Haynes is already taking all her strength.

If I could just take him out with one shot...

Don't you always love trading risk for reward? Haven't you always wanted to be the hero? Didn't you always want to stand at the front of everyone?

Come on, let them see what choice you make.

The humans notice that the double-edged gun shaft in Vera's grip is trembling slightly, her long-suppressed rage nearly strong enough to snap the handle in two.

That is Vera's stance right before she attacks.

...Hah...

Let me guess what you're thinking.

Whatever crosses Haynes' mind makes the muttering, deranged old man break into a wide grin.

You must be thinking... how to kill me as quickly as possible, before I can even pull the trigger, so you can save her... Too bad that's the wrong choi—!

Shut up!

The lance tears through the air, violently impaling Haynes through the chest.

A sickening blend of sounds fill the air—ribs shattering, heart torn to shreds, spine disintegrating—as he's instantly pinned to death against the vehicle cabin.

—Gahk!

Haynes spews blood mixed with tissue fragments as the delicate standoff shatters in an instant, prompting almost everyone to spring into action.

People rush toward the cabin filled with corpses, all trying to pull the girl out.

Meanwhile, Haynes manages to fire that bullet anyway, aiming straight ahead.

The bullet races forward, traveling against the current of air torn open by the lance.

Only your peripheral vision catches a glimpse of that fleeting shadow, revealing the bullet's true target—

Vera sees the bullet too. Even with her visual module already blurred, she can still make out its trajectory.

But she can't dodge it anymore.

The thrown lance nearly depleted all power, her body still locked in a forward leaning pose... she slowly falls, leaving her unable to dodge the malice originating from her past.

Crash!

You roar out her name, darting in front of Vera—the action accompanied by a discordant metallic clang as the bullet pierces through the sample box and strikes directly into your body.

Both of you lose your strength and fall, but you still spread your arms, deliberately cushioning the falling Construct's body. The two of you collapse awkwardly onto the ground in a tangled heap.

Vera refuses to close her eyes even for a second, trembling as she tears at your jacket and shirt.

...You've been shot!!

Meanwhile, a new disaster unfolds, giving no one a moment to catch their breath.

No! Everyone stay away from him!

No one notices that a certain container inside Haynes' stomach has also been blasted into fragments by the attack.

His gaze gradually grows cloudy, yet his hoarse voice still reaches everyone's ears through Kent's communication device.

I knew... you... thought... could save...

He's talking to Vera.

...All... wrong...

His gaze is fixed on the two people collapsed nearby—Vera's hair burning like a fire.

You think...

—You thought you found someone willing to support you?

—You think you're brave enough now to stand proudly before everyone?

—You should have gone back to the mud, to be broken, to be crushed, to be trampled and devoured by countless beasts.

There are many words he wants to pour out to that woman in red, but this is enough. Soon she'll know that she made the wrong choice.

You... deserve this... hah...

—While the divine's messenger has already illuminated the correct path for me.

Haynes' final gaze turns toward the sky—atop the ruined building, a pair of eyes remains perfectly still, appreciating this "catastrophe" unfolding directly below.

The owner of those eyes seems to acknowledge Haynes' final bow. He raises his arm, steadily pointing to a location not far away—Haynes understands this signals the beginning of a new operation.

Hah hah hah... I... did it... The new seed... has already...

Like a black hole devouring matter, the putrefaction begins at the center of Haynes' abdomen and spreads at a terrifying speed, consuming his bones, organs, fat, and skin... along with the girl kneeling nearby, howling in despair.

Accompanying this suicide attack—everyone's Punishing concentration alarms begin to sound in unison.

No! That child is still in there!

That child...

Haynes has samples in his body too! Everyone stay back!!

Sensing danger, Granny Wang stops abruptly and firmly grabs the two youngsters still trying to rush forward, yanking them back.

Vanessa's hand has already touched the rear panel of the vehicle compartment. The pain from the concentrated Punishing immediately spreads from her fingertips, blood quickly soaking through her glove.

...!!!

If you want to be corroded until there's nothing left, not even your bones, then just keep standing here!

...

Vanessa and Simon are quickly dragged away. Before their eyes, Haynes and the girl melt into pools of decaying flesh, quickly sliding down the spear Vera had thrown and spreading across the ground.

The humans nearby witnessed everything, and their intense emotions finally burst forth.

Shut up, don't say another word...!

Vera grits her teeth as she tears open your shirt to examine the gunshot wound.

Even she couldn't have imagined this damn scene would play out again—over these past few days, you have already rushed in to shield her from two deadly attacks.

...If anyone's to blame, it's...

The bullet hole leaves scorched black marks on the human's clothes and skin, but no blood comes out—no blood at all.

No blood... something blocked it...

What blocked the bullet?

A sinister thought worms its way into her M.I.N.D., and she immediately pulls the sample box from your hands.

Her strength has waned considerably, but the box still tumbles to the ground from your grip.

A pitch-black bullet hole appears before her eyes, with stabilizing agent rapidly leaking from inside.

...I was wrong.

Granny Wang! A group of Corrupted is approaching us!

Leia, being a Construct, is the first to sense the imminent attack.

Corrupted group approaching... They shouldn't have been able to catch up so quickly. There's no time to evacuate!

Regroup immediately, everyone! Prepare to engage!

Granny Wang glances back at the vehicle cabin, where Haynes's remains lie as nothing more than a spreading puddle of mangled flesh.

It mingles with crimson blood and crimson Punishing, seeping through the crevices of the surrounding ruins, seeping, seeping ever deeper.

Above it, those who tread upon crimson ground are already trapped in a desperate situation.

Perhaps... I shouldn't have... said those things...?

I shouldn't have gotten out of the car. If I had stayed inside...

The electric car driven by Haynes thunders past—

Due to the choices made by several young people, it charges back and forth on the tracks, circling around and crushing every innocent person on each branching path, sparing nobody.

...Can someone really "utilize" Punishing to this extent?

With her wealth of experience, Granny Wang firmly believes this isn't something Haynes could accomplish alone. There must be an existence behind him that far exceeds anything she can imagine, supporting this chaos.

But no one has time to investigate that now. In the immediate future, just staying alive will be a challenge.

Granny Wang lets out a long sigh.

...You still have guns in your hands, so raise them! It's time for us to fight back once more!

You two over there! Can you still stand?

...

The human and the Construct in the distance don't respond. Vera hangs her head, her disheveled hair obscuring her profile, making her expression unreadable.

Sheepdog

Woof! Woof!

Sheepdog suddenly jumps down and runs to your side, barking frantically at the sample box on the ground, drawing everyone's attention.

Led by Granny Wang, the group approaches and quickly notices that the two are frozen in place, staring at the box with an almost manic intensity.

...

From the dark bullet hole in the box, they can almost hear Haynes's mocking laughter.

Watch out! Step back!

Granny Wang spots the danger and holds the others back.

Vera continues staring at the bullet hole, realizing that Haynes is like a punctuation mark deeply embedded in the earth. Decades later, on yet another winter day, he is once again telling her that every struggle ends in darkness.

Her memory rewinds to a familiar winter night.

Dr. Gwynneth... her only friend, became one of the first victims when the disaster broke out.

Afterward, she joined the military forces resisting the Punishing virus, voluntarily signed the informed consent documents, and willingly underwent modification,

then from her very first battlefield appearance as a Construct, she struggled with every ounce of her strength.

Yet even when she tore off her own arm to help her teammates, "Average Joe" and the others still couldn't survive.

Even when she was prepared to bear the charge of desertion, "Hummingbird" and "Moth" still couldn't survive.

Even when she gave everything for this group of foolish comedians, she only pushed the situation toward a worse extreme.

"The Red-Haired Reaper" was a curse. Someone else had seen this truth long before she did.

Haynes

Your sharpness, too, will inevitably be dulled until you reach the tragic end that awaits you.

Vera glares at the box, clenched teeth grinding together to produce a wet clicking.

I refuse to accept this... It's not the time to give up. I refuse to accept this ending.

She snatches the box in one swift motion—you instinctively grab hold of the other end.

Let go...! The stabilizer hasn't completely drained yet, there's still time for you to leave.

I'll take the sample to a safe place.

...I admit I made a mistake, but I won't dwell on it—this sample is never going to reach its destination now, and throwing it as far away as possible is the only remedy I can offer!

You snatch it back, clutching it tightly and refusing to let go even as the stabilizer continues to rapidly leak out.

You suddenly look up, meeting Vera's eyes.

...

Vera doesn't answer. She meets your gaze, and you can already see the answer in her eyes.

...[player name], what are you doing?

Hold on!

You—

Before everyone's shocked eyes, you suddenly press the box firmly against the wound on your abdomen.

What are you doing...!

...You've lost your mind!

Simon and Vanessa both think their classmate has gone mad, desperately reaching out to grab the sample box.

The searing pain feels like it's tearing open the wound on their side again. You grimace in agony, hunching over and curling up almost into a fetal position.

...

Vera's expression grows complicated as she finds herself forced to "reassess" the person in front of her once again.

...Even like this, you're still determined to deliver the sample?

...

Vera receives an answer just like the one she expected. Her mouth stretches into a smile as she too hunches over, suppressing the flood of emotions threatening to burst forth.

...Hahahah... Hah...

Haha... HAHAHAHA!!!

Finally, all her unspoken reproaches and all the responsibility she wished to shoulder alone transform into thunderous laughter, echoing above the ruins.

That sample has a maximum stability period of 6 hours—Granny Wang, can we make it in time?

...

Granny Wang immediately understands her intention.

We can't make it. The Corrupted will catch up to us before we reach a base with analysis capabilities. Fighting while retreating is no longer an option.

But Granny Wang delivers her assessment, definitive yet regrettably honest.

What if we hold the rear and block all the Corrupted?

From within the crowd, a silver-haired girl throws out these words—simultaneously reaching out and grabbing Vera's arm.

Her eyes are rimmed with red, and her gloves still seep blood, leaving a shocking crimson handprint on Vera's armor.

We haven't even reached the point of writing the after-action report, and you're already fantasizing about being the hero... Disgusting!

Do you think you're some self-proclaimed savior of the world, expecting all us "pampered elites" from Babylonia to fall in line behind you? I can't stand that self-righteous look on your face...

Even if this is my first time on the surface, I refuse to be someone holding you back...

She defiantly wipes her face.

Just like how you and Leia bought time for the people from the conservation area to retreat, I can do the same!

Everyone here will!

She sweeps her arm toward the crowd behind her—every refugee who stood with them has witnessed their perseverance, and also beheld the tragedy that unfolded on that vehicle.

At this moment, everyone silently gives their answer: they will no longer choose an endless flight with no destination.

Mrs. Wang, isn't this enough?!

...Concentrate all our resources on one transport vehicle!

Granny Wang issues her command, and people begin to move, silent and resolute as they act swiftly.

Even with the best preparations and buying as much time as possible, the transport vehicle can only travel a short distance more, not enough to reach the destination.

There will definitely be a stretch of road you'll have to travel by yourself.

...I can carry that person on my back while running. Factor my speed into your calculations.

No. In your current condition, you can't achieve a Construct's normal movement speed.

I can. I can reach that speed.

Vera tries to prop herself up using her weapon, but she can barely lift her head.

I've already tried it. The consciousness connection that person established with me... it works.

As long as the connection is maintained, I can move!

...

Then...

Granny Wang turns toward you, suffering alone.

To fulfill your wish, to fulfill everyone's wishes... you must...

...

You grip the rope connecting you to Vera.

They're here!

The horde of Corrupted, drawn by Haynes through some unknown method, appears on the horizon. They "flow" through the crevices of these ruins, surging forward like a flood.

Granny Wang removes the sniper rifle from her shoulder.

Alright, Shepherd and I are good to go.

It's been a while since I've fought like this... Reminds me of my days in the Cargo Crew.

Come on, get up! We need to move right now!

Granny Wang reaches out, placing her hand on Vera's shoulder. Her arm, hardened from years of handling rifles, remains steady and strong.

Vera thrusts her weapon into the ground, trying to pull herself up—but days of constant running, repeatedly pushing her frame to its breaking point, have left her strength almost completely drained.

She struggles up, only to fall.

She tries again, only to fall again.

...Ugh... Get up...!

She rises, falls, and rises again, all the while struggling toward that person.

Leia, come give me a hand!

...Tsk!

You two owe debts of gratitude that can never be repaid, understand?!

Vanessa refuses to help. Instead, she draws her sidearm and leads the still-armed refugees forward without a backward glance.

...I will ensure everyone's survival. That's my promise.

Even if the rest of the world perishes, I'll ensure at least a handful of us survive.

As for you all... even if you're suffocated by the weight of responsibility, even if you must run until your last breath... You absolutely cannot let our efforts go to waste!

Vera collapses one last time—this has to be her last.

She finally accepts help from others, lying on her back in the center of the group, allowing them to support her limbs and weapons as they all strain forward together.

They lift her up together—

A hero needs a sharp blade, so they lift their swords before them.

Vera

I've been thinking lately...

I've realized that time and experience shape who we become. Everyone around you supports you, while everyone around me lost their lives because of me.

So your instinct is to give, while mine is to take.

She has long seen her fate written in the stars: born from misfortune, bringing suffering wherever she goes. Only by continuously swallowing pain can she stomach the harsh reality she creates.

Vera

Do you understand? We're walking different paths, completely different from each other, [player name].

Vanessa was wrong too. I have no interest in being a hero.

Countless hands lift her before you—she gazes at the hand reaching out to her, and blinks slowly.

Vera

Look... you're the hero.

You can draw everyone's attention and admiration to yourself, shining so brightly it's almost annoying.

I've been wavering all along, reluctantly continuing this relay with you, not wanting to sacrifice myself for some grand purpose.

But now, I...

She watches you writhe in pain, repeatedly recalling the moment they used their own flesh and blood to fill the gap.

She knows all too well, that you are a modern Icarus who will attempt to cross the sea with waxen wings, but the harsh rays of reality will surely melt them, sending you plummeting into the deepest trenches of the unfeeling waters.

Vera

I refuse to accept this!

The Mind Beacon descends once more, sending a piercing pain into her M.I.N.D., as if transmitting the agony this person is currently enduring.

A familiar pain races through her limbs and fingertips as she gradually awakens, her strength returning with it. Slowly, she clenches her fist.

Vera

Come here.

She understands completely.

Take a piece of flesh from the body of mine<//DISASTER>.