(From Agnes's Perspective)

  "NO! NO, NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

  I jerked my rifle up, pulling the trigger, but the bullets froze in mid-air, like viscous drops trapped in resin. The screams of the wounded, the thunder of explosions, and the roar of the Kaiju—all of it abruptly fell silent. The world around me turned into a grey, motionless stage set.

  I breathed heavily, feeling my heart hammering against my ribs.

  "What... What the—? Am I dreaming?"

  A laugh answered me. It was loud, hoarse, and chilled me to the bone. It didn't come from anywhere outside; it was born right inside my head.

  "Yes, Agnes. It’s a dream. Your favorite nightmare, which I’ve tweaked just a little," a figure stepped out from the shadows of a destroyed building. She was constantly shifting: one moment a bloodied soldier, then a beautiful maiden in armor, then simply a cloud of acrid gunpowder smoke.

  "Show yourself, War Demon," I spat through gritted teeth, not lowering my weapon.

  "Oh, why are we so grumpy?" The Demon finally settled into the form of a young girl with a manic glint in her eyes. "We’ve been together for so many years. We've spilled so much blood into the same chalices..."

  "What do you want?" I cut her off, having no desire to listen to her hypocritical pleasantries. "We have a contract for the battlefield, not for late-night chats in my subconscious."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "Fine, fine..." The War Demon perched on a bullet frozen in the air as if it were a bench. "I’ll tell you, since you're in such a hurry. This is serious, Agnes. Terrible times are coming. And it has nothing to do with the Kaiju."

  I remained silent, but she didn't wait for a question. She knew I was listening.

  "You won’t even ask what happened?" she smirked. "Though, I know your ways. You’re afraid I’ll start breaking your mind again. But believe me, if I wanted to drive you insane, I wouldn’t waste time talking. Mira... she has finally lost it. Remember when she sent us all to slaughter those upstarts who called themselves 'gods'? Those who fed on the love and faith of little humans?"

  The Demon laughed again, recalling the massacre.

  "Hahaha! How we destroyed them! Но that’s not the point. Mira wasn’t looking for victory then. She was looking for a way. A way to lift the spell from Subject Zero."

  I frowned.

  "So what? You’ve told me a thousand times about his incredible power. Wouldn't it benefit us to have our main trump card regain his memory?"

  The War Demon’s face changed instantly. The playfulness vanished, replaced by a terrifying, deathly seriousness. She hopped off the bullet and was suddenly an inch from my face.

  "The curse they placed on Subject Zero isn't a punishment, Agnes. It’s a seal. It is the only thing restraining his true essence. You cannot imagine, even in your worst fever dream, what happens when he loses control. I saw it. When Zenhald falls into madness, the world ceases to be the world. It is an uncontrollable thirst for the void. And no one—do you hear me?—no one can do anything about it."

  The War Demon grabbed my shoulders, and I smelled the scent of scorched flesh.

  "Maybe Aurora could stop him... but she won’t lift a finger against him. She would sooner let the universe burn than cause him pain. But she is the one who should understand best—Mira must be stopped."

  "And what do you want from me?" I tried to push her away, but my hands passed through smoke.

  "Just a warning," she whispered into my ear. "It’s time to decide whose side you’re on, Agnes. Will you let Mira plunge all of existence into a darkness that has never been seen? Will you help her break the seal on the monster?"

  I clenched my jaw, staring into her burning eyes.

  "I don't believe you, War. You lie as naturally as you breathe. I need to meet Subject Zero myself. Until I talk to him, until I see who he really is... I won't take a single step."

  "Of course," the War Demon smirked, her figure beginning to dissolve into the grey fog. "Everything in its own time. You will meet soon. I hope by then you’ll still be in your right mind."

  The world around me began to crumble.

  I snapped my eyes open, bolting upright on my cot. It was quiet in the cabin of the Busan complex, with only the steady hum of bio-monitoring equipment. I touched my face—it was wet with sweat.

  "The seal..." — the Demon’s words echoed in my skull. I looked at my "Eye of the Typhoon" helmet lying on the nightstand. We are all here to save humanity, but what if our salvation is the greatest threat this world has ever seen?