Chapter 5 The Annihilation

Claws shot out from behind the Troy guards at the podium, seizing them in an instant. Gasps rippled through the room as the massive claws appeared—though none of them targeted a single human.

“Geez, the Claws! Are they going to hurt us?” Call shrieked.

“I’m not sure. But they’re grabbing the Troy,” Red muttered, narrowing her eyes.

Call glanced at her nervously. “Wait, are the Claws going to throw the Troy at us?”

“No, Call. It’s just…” Red paused, her instincts bristling. “Something’s wrong.”

People murmured among themselves, confused and restless. No one really understood what the Savage Glory game was supposed to be. But instead of being alarmed, they whispered and exchanged confused looks—still unaware of the danger creeping toward them.

Red glanced back. The moving wall system caught her eye, and a sudden rush of dread hit her.

“Call, put my mask on,” Red said sharply.

“Huh? Why?” Call asked, confused.

“Just do it!” Red barked.

Viz’s hologram smiled faintly. “Let us begin Savage Glory.”

Her holographic arm lifted, and then her image vanished. The wall behind the crowd began to split open. The podium and Viz disappeared completely. It wasn’t a wall at all, but a gate.

A violent gust of air ripped through the hall as the vacuum of space sucked everything outward. People were yanked off their feet, their bodies flung into the void. Red’s breath hitched as she clung to the iron railing that had appeared earlier.

“RED!!” Call reached desperately for her hand.

Red knew Call would survive. There was still enough oxygen for a few minutes, long enough for him to breathe.

But so many others… were already gone.

The sheer force of the vacuum made Red’s lungs burn. Screams echoed—then abruptly cut off—as people vanished into the silent darkness outside.

Red’s grip slipped.

“Ghníomhact!!!” Red screamed.

Ursula lunged forward, catching Red’s small body in a flash. Red’s eyes darted to Ursula’s chest. The plating opened, and Ursula pulled Red inside.

Red gasped as clean air filled her lungs. Her frantic thoughts calmed for the briefest moment.

But Ursula only floated, drifting helplessly in open space. Red didn’t know how to control her or save the others, who were being pulled into the void. More and more bodies drifted out, lifeless, into the black.

A holographic counter blinked across the hall. It wasn’t tracking time; it was counting people.

Viz didn’t need ten thousand humans. She only wanted one thousand fighters. The rest… were expendable.

Red’s stomach twisted. She couldn’t let this happen. She had to act. She had to save whoever she could.

But how? Ursula wasn’t built to protect anyone except Red.

Then she saw them—blurry shapes launching from the hall, ropes strapped to their waists. They shot into space, grabbing whoever they could reach.

The humanoids.

And among them, the young man she’d seen earlier, the one with the icy glare.

“What…?” Red whispered.

They were risking their lives for strangers.

Something inside her snapped. She couldn’t stay still—not while others were fighting to save people.

Red grabbed the connector cable near her remaining eye. Her hands shook as she took a deep breath and jammed the plug into her left socket.

Needles pierced her skin. Fire shot through her skull. Warm blood trickled down her cheek. But Red didn’t flinch. She couldn’t.

“Please, Ursula… help me!!”

Her vision fused with Ursula’s. Her movements synced completely, like she had stepped into Ursula’s body and sealed the door.

Red hurled Ursula toward the open gate, catching drifting bodies and shoving them back toward the railings. But it wasn’t enough; there were too many.

Screams, cries, hands reaching out desperately, every sound tore at Red. Her breath hitched as she focused through Ursula’s eyes.

Then she spotted it.

Two glowing panels—red and green—are embedded near the gate’s threshold, pulsing with circuitry. The green one shone brightest.

Ursula drifted toward it. Pain tore through Red’s body as her palms heated up, like something was ripping under her skin.

“Come on… hold it together,” she whispered, barely conscious.

The synchronization drained her rapidly. Her entire body shook from the overload. Her vision flickered.

“Come on, Ursula! Fire!” Red shouted. “Now!”

Nothing.

Her pulse spiked. Humans were still being ripped away. Tears stung her eyes.

“Ursula! Please! I’m begging you, help me!” Red cried, voice breaking.

Before she could process anything else, a dark figure suddenly slammed against Ursula’s shoulder plating, gripping the metal with one hand while a rope tethered him to something behind.

Red’s breath snagged.

It was the humanoid young man.

Up close, his face was even sharper, his skin ghost-pale, his eyes cold but burning with focus—not hatred, but command.

“Calm down,” he said, his voice low yet firm. “You need to focus.”

His words cut through the chaos like a blade. Red blinked hard, vision swimming, pain clawing through her skull. She could barely breathe, barely think, but she forced her gaze to steady on Ursula’s interface.

Focus.

Focus.

Her hands shook uncontrollably as she tried to anchor her mind. The searing pain in her left eye pulsed deeper, stabbing all the way to the back of her head. She tasted iron. Every instinct screamed at her to stop, but she pushed on.

Red gritted her teeth, swallowing a cry.

She had to stay conscious. She had to move Ursula. She had to save whoever was left.

With a trembling inhale, Red forced her fingers to respond, syncing herself to Ursula again even as her vision blurred into streaks of light.

Her left eye throbbed brutally as Ursula forced a full sync—too fast, too deep. Enough to kill an ordinary person.

Darkness edged her vision.

“Gabháil…” she breathed.

A piercing whistle shrieked from Ursula’s palm. Blue energy gathered—growing into a perfect sphere—

—and blasted into the gate’s side panel.

The explosion thundered through the hall. Flames, sparks, and metal debris were instantly sucked into space.

Then, a groaning, metallic screech filled the hall. The giant gate slid shut.

Red’s vision collapsed. Her thoughts slipped away. Her body couldn’t take any more.

The last thing she heard…

…were the fading screams of those she couldn’t save.