ENDLESS MYTH

  Salt burned inside Messiah Christ’s mouth as he woke. His tongue felt numb, as if someone had pinched it. Something surged up from his stomach and spilled from his throat.

  Seawater.

  The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness was being struck by the kraken’s massive tentacle—its surface covered in spikes like a hill of thorns—and falling into the ocean. Above him, chunks of titanium from the collapsing bridge rained down while people sank into the depths.

  He had searched for Maria in the dark water.

  Then everything went black.

  When Messiah looked around, he realized he was lying inside a gigantic pipe. Nearby, a burned-out metal grate gaped open in the floor. It had once connected this pipe to another one below.

  Maria!

  The moment he understood where he was, a wave of fear crashed over him. He looked around frantically.

  She was sitting right beside him.

  Still soaked, he rushed to her. Maria looked up at him with a pale face.

  Her wet hair clung to her skin, and though the thought was inappropriate, she looked strangely beautiful to him. Unable to resist, he pulled her into his arms.

  Maria also remembered falling into the sea, but everything after that was a blur. Being held so tightly made it hard to breathe, yet her arms wrapped naturally around his back. Over his shoulder she noticed the distinctive clerical collar of her father.

  He’s safe too…

  Relief quietly filled her chest.

  “Sorry to interrupt your reunion,” a voice said coldly, “but we can’t stay here.”

  Beard Bull stood nearby, his expression sharp. Seeing the two of them embrace irritated him. Perhaps it was the stress of his first real mission—or simply the bitterness of the situation.

  After all, he was the one who had saved them.

  When the bridge collapsed, he had thrown himself into the sea with them. Using a dimensional physical shift request, he converted their bodies’ phase and avoided the impact of both the falling bridge and the Devil’s Children’s tentacle.

  Then he clung to a drainage pipe beneath the island, cut through a steel bar with a small burner, and forced Messiah and Maria inside. Only after ensuring they were safe did he climb in himself.

  Later, after confirming through headquarters that a larger pipe ran above them, he burned open another grate and pushed the two youths upward.

  Because of all that effort, they were alive.

  Watching them embrace now only made him more irritated.

  Father Max Dinger cleared his throat.

  He wiped seawater from his MAXI-8 Unlimited Revolver ABSSV, checked the chamber, and snapped the cylinder back into place.

  “This artificial island is filled with pipes like a spider’s web,” he explained calmly. “If we follow them, we should eventually reach the surface.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  He offered his hand to Maria.

  She lowered her gaze.

  Over the past two days, she had begun to feel strangely distant from her father.

  Sensing her hesitation, Messiah gently lifted her by the waist and helped her stand.

  Beard switched on the beam light mounted beneath his rifle. The interior of the pipe gleamed under the white light. The metal was smooth, without rust—still wet and shining.

  It was likely a drainage pipe used during storms or high water levels.

  Which meant one thing.

  Sooner or later, the sea would return.

  There was no time.

  The four of them moved forward through the pipe, led by Beard and Father Max. Messiah and Maria followed, their steps echoing against the titanium walls.

  Each footstep splashed against shallow pools of dark seawater.

  The strange acoustics twisted the air itself, making Messiah feel as if he were walking inside another world.

  “You’re feeling sick again,” Maria said softly, supporting his arm.

  His lips were pale.

  “I’m fine,” he whispered weakly.

  “Please,” Maria pleaded, raising her voice toward the soldier. “Let him rest.”

  Messiah shook his head.

  “We should keep moving.”

  “He’s right,” Beard said. “Another earthquake could hit. If another tsunami comes, this pipe will flood.”

  Suddenly he ran ahead around a curve in the pipe—then quickly returned.

  “There’s a ladder.”

  A titanium ladder led upward to a round hatch. Beard climbed swiftly and pulled the heavy lever. With a slow hydraulic hiss, the hatch opened.

  He raised his rifle and checked the upper level.

  “Try calling the others,” Maria suddenly said, pulling out her smartphone.

  But Father Max shook his head.

  “The communication network has collapsed,” he said quietly. “Your phone is nothing more than a box now.”

  In a world where humanity itself was disappearing, civilization had lost its meaning.

  Buildings. Laws. Technology. Order.

  All of it was being devoured by the world of myth.

  They climbed into the next level of pipes.

  But Beard quickly frowned.

  “This isn’t matching headquarters’ map.”

  Father Max connected to the future headquarters through a neural transfer. Within seconds he understood.

  They were not where they were supposed to be.

  “Damn the intelligence division,” Beard muttered, kicking the metal floor.

  “Analyze the situation calmly,” Father Max replied. “The present reality is all we have.”

  “I’ll find another route,” Beard said, running ahead into the darkness.

  Without his rifle light, the pipes were nearly pitch black.

  Messiah and Maria turned on their phone flashlights.

  Their faces floated in the darkness.

  Maria’s hands trembled.

  Father Max quietly removed his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders.

  “Sorry…” she murmured.

  “For what?” he asked gently. “You have nothing to apologize for. If anything… I should be the one apologizing.”

  Maria tilted her head.

  Twenty years ago, she had been left on the steps of his church—an infant with the umbilical cord still attached. Her name had been embroidered on the blanket.

  Raising her had been difficult.

  But those years had become the most precious memories of his life.

  Footsteps suddenly echoed nearby.

  “Found a way up,” Beard said.

  They climbed higher through the pipes.

  “This should lead to the surface.”

  Then something moved in the darkness ahead.

  A writhing black mass.

  Cold dread ran down their spines.

  “The Devil’s Children… even here,” Father Max whispered.

  A wall of rotting flesh crawled toward them.

  Beard immediately pulled three grenades from his vest and threw them.

  Boom. Boom. Boom.

  Explosions filled the pipe.

  But when the smoke cleared—

  The flesh still moved.

  Tentacles spread along the walls like veins. Bubbles floated from them and transformed midair into small creatures with opening mouths.

  Beard fired.

  But the bullets struck an invisible barrier and clattered harmlessly against the metal floor.

  “Absolute shielding…” Father Max muttered.

  There was no way through.

  And then—

  The world twisted.

  The pipes, the monsters, everything melted into swirling fluorescent colors. Space itself became unrecognizable.

  Maria screamed and clung to Messiah.

  But Messiah suddenly collapsed, vomiting violently.

  Something was terribly wrong.

  Pain tore through his body.

  Inside his mind, he cried out.

  Why me? I had dreams… I had someone I loved… I had a normal life!

  Then—

  Something ignited deep within him.

  A faint white flame.

  In the next instant, blinding light erupted from his body like a tornado.

  Messiah rose slowly to his feet.

  His eyes opened.

  Blazing light burst from them.

  A shockwave exploded outward, throwing the others violently against the walls.

  And then—

  The strange space vanished.

  They were back inside the titanium pipe.

  The Devil’s Children were gone.

  Only glowing embers drifted through the air.

  Maria didn’t understand what had happened.

  But the monstrous threat had been annihilated.

  This was the power of Messiah.

  A power beyond the reach of humanity.

  Panicking, Maria rushed to his side as he collapsed to the floor.

  To be continued in Episode 16.