Chapter 159 - 159 CRACK

AM N. NOT.🖕🏻(￣ー￣)

Maki heard it clearly.

A furious, echoing voice rang through his mind.

"Finally… freedom."

There was no distortion this time.

No confusion.

That was exactly what he heard.

Then it happened.

BooOooOooooOoooOoooOooom.

The explosion thundered across the entire area.

The basement trembled violently. Concrete groaned. Dust fell from the ceiling as wild vibrations rippled through the parking structure.

Then came the screaming.

"RUUuuUuuuUuuuN…! It's a void crack…!"

"RuuuUuuuuUuuuuUun…!"

"AHHHHHHHHH…!"

"RUUUUUUUUUN…!"

"CAAAAALL FOR HELP FAST…!"

"CONTACT THE PHYLAX'S…!"

"Run! Everyone run…!"

And then—

ROOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAR.

A roar that did not belong to anything human.

Maki remained in the basement, listening.

Screams.

Panic.

Turmoil.

The roaring grew louder, vibrating through the concrete pillars.

He knew this setting.

Alien creatures appearing from nowhere. Civilians running for their lives. Buildings collapsing. People screaming for someone—anyone—to save them.

He quietly slid the knife back into his system inventory.

Then he lifted the Marine cap and placed it on his head.

The brim shadowed his eyes.

After adjusting it slightly, he began to walk toward the source of the chaos.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

Toward the place he should not be.

Was he really going outside just to look?

Each step was unhurried. His expression remained hidden beneath the cap. His long hair swayed gently with every movement.

The closer he moved to the exit, the louder everything became.

The cries.

The explosions.

The desperate pleas for help.

Little by little, light from the entrance spilled across his path.

"Ahhhhh… someone please help!"

Booooooom.

"Run faster! Where are the Phylax?! Why haven't they arrived yet?!"

Baaaaaaang.

"Ahhhhhh… Mom, where are you?! Ahhh… help me! Please—help me!"

Dhoooooom.

"Run!"

"Save the others!"

"Move!"

Roooooooooooaaaar.

Baaaaaaaang.

A mixture of collapsing concrete, shattering glass, monstrous roars, and human despair echoed as he finally reached the entrance.

Buildings were crumbling.

Streets were splitting apart.

People were fleeing in every direction.

And still—

He walked.

Slowly.

[ Why? ]

] Shouldn't a hero rush forward? ]

[ Shouldn't he be sprinting into danger to save everyone? ]

[ What the fuck are you doing? ].

But he didn't react to that thought.

He stepped out.

Smoke and fire swallowed the streets near the condo. Civilians stumbled over debris, crawling, screaming, trying to escape.

And there—

The source of the furious voice.

Monsters.

Or as this world called them—

Anomalies.

Roooooooooaaaaar.

Boooooooooooom.

Maki stared at them.

There were three in total.

Each roughly fifty feet tall, towering over nearby houses and smaller buildings.

He observed them carefully.

Their forms were humanoid—but grotesquely distorted.

Their skin was pure black, covered in thick overlapping scales. They had two human-shaped heads, but there were no eyes, no noses, no mouths on those faces.

Only skulls.

Bleeding skulls.

Despite the absence of eyes, it felt like they could see everything around them.

From the top of each head sprouted a massive carnivorous plant-like mouth. Four long leaf-like flaps formed its opening, lined with jagged, spike-like teeth. A green viscous liquid dripped slowly from within.

Those living, monstrous growths resembled horns—except they pulsed and moved, alive and lethal.

Their necks were unnaturally long, almost giraffe-like, wrapped entirely in black scales.

Their torsos were humanoid, muscular, but distorted.

Each creature had three arms.

Two emerging from the right shoulder.

One from the left.

All scaled. All massive.

Their lower bodies resembled that of a deer—but stripped of fur. Only dark scales covered their powerful legs.

Every step they took crushed the asphalt beneath them.

Massive craters formed instantly.

Buildings near them stood no chance.

Walls shattered. Concrete collapsed.

Their long necks arched toward the sky as they raised their arms, roaring as if proclaiming something sacred.

As if celebrating.

Zaaaaaaaaaraaaaaaamaaaaaakaaaaaapaaaaaaraaaaaaag…

Raaaaaaaazaaaaaaabaaaaaraaaaaam…

They shouted those words repeatedly, like part of a ritual.

To civilians, it was just monstrous noise.

Like dogs barking.

Like beasts roaring.

But Maki heard something different.

He understood.

He whispered their words under his breath.

"No bound… no chains…"

"…for we… are free."

His crimson eyes remained calm.

Unshaken.

As the world around him burned.

His eyes stared at the unbelievable sight before him.

The Anomalies stood at a distance, yet he could see them clearly.

Their echoing chants could no longer be heard over the destruction, but the damage was real. Tangible. Brutal.

If any one of those creatures took another step, people would definitely get massacred.

And yet—

They did not care.

They were not chasing civilians.

They were not targeting buildings with intent.

They were raising their arms and roaring for their own freedom, indifferent to the chaos unfolding beneath them.

"Free…"

"Unbound…"

Their proclamation continued, as if nothing else in this world mattered.

And then Maki saw it.

Behind the three Anomalies—

The source of the cracking sound he had heard earlier.

It wasn't glass.

It was space itself.

Reality had fractured.

The air behind them split apart like shattered crystal, jagged fissures stretching across the sky. But there was no debris, no shards falling.

Just a tear.

A wound.

It looked as if the world had been peeled open, revealing something beneath.

Through the void crack, there was nothing—and everything.

Pure darkness.

Shivering lights scattered like distant galaxies.

It resembled the cosmos, suspended in a silent abyss.

The sight made it seem as though this world had never been solid to begin with.

As if existence itself were fragile.

Temporary.

As if it could split apart at any moment and reveal that everything was just a thin layer over something far deeper.

Maki watched.

Unmoving.

The void crack trembled slightly.

Then, slowly—

It began to close.

The fractured space pulled inward, sealing itself seamlessly. The jagged lines faded as if erased by an unseen hand.

It was as though the tear had only opened long enough to release the Anomalies.

Now that they were here, it no longer needed to exist.

Within seconds, the sky was whole again.

No sign of the rupture.

No trace.

As if reality had never been wounded at all.

Maki continued staring at the aftermath.

Smoke.

Fire.

Panic.

Monsters proclaiming freedom.

And a world that had just proven it could crack open without warning.

His mind drifted to a question from one of the written tests.

If you were to face a void crack, what would you do?

Back then, it had been theoretical.

A hypothetical scenario.

Now—

It stood in front of him.

Real.

Breathing.

Roaring.

!!ヽ(ﾟдﾟヽ)(ﾉﾟдﾟ)ﾉ!!

AM N. NOT.