This is impossible…
Staring at the towering plume of smoke, everyone—Fixers from Hana Association and other offices alike—shared the same thought.
An explosion of this scale…
In the City, where the Head strictly restricted thermal weapons—
How many workshops dared to manufacture explosives of this caliber?
Who could cause such destruction?
And who could infiltrate the Chamber right under Hana Association's nose?
"What now? Blood-Red Night Elena must have been alerted!" Olivier shouted.
No one answered him.
As a mere liaison for Charles's Office, Olivier simply wasn't a priority amid the chaos.
The situation had completely spiraled out of control.
After several failed attempts to get instructions, Olivier snapped.
"Damn it!" He grabbed a nearby investigator by the collar. "I asked what we do now!"
"Continue the operation!" the investigator barked back. "Otherwise, why did we commission you?!"
Olivier released him and exhaled sharply.
"Roland… you heard that."
"Understood," Roland replied calmly. "We'll do it ourselves."
"Wait, Roland! Below is Blood-Red Night's Chamber—if you go in now, you'll fall straight into her trap!"
"I'm going down."
Roland cut the channel.
"I need to settle this score."
He released Angelica's hand and stared at the ruins ahead.
The explosion had blown open the Chamber's entrance.
A narrow tunnel gaped open, filthy blood from the alley's gutters pouring into it.
"…Coming?" Roland asked.
"Of course," Angelica replied. "No problem."
They descended.
The deeper they went, the stronger the visceral revulsion became.
Walls woven from flesh. Curtains made of extracted blood vessels.
Blood-Red Night's handiwork.
"At least three thousand people," Roland muttered.
Then—
A faint, ragged gasp echoed from the corner.
Z9-3 was dying.
Clad in a deep-yellow hazmat suit, he lay in a pool of blood.
Foam bubbled from his mouth—his lungs had been pierced by blood thorns.
His gloves were shredded. His bare fingers were slick with blood.
No one knew how far he had crawled, or how.
Intelligence…
He leaned against a wall of flesh as his captain's final words echoed in his mind.
"Z9-3, get the intel out!"
I'm sorry, Captain…
His vision blurred.
Footsteps approached.
In his final seconds, he smiled.
"Director… the intelligence… please…"
Arthur arrived too late.
The last mole's mangled hand slowly opened.
Inside it lay an intact camera memory card.
[Urgent Mission: Assist █ █ █ █ █...][Mission Ended: Zeta-9 — all personnel deceased][Intelligence acquired. Mission successful.]
Mission… successful?
Arthur stood silently.
All personnel deceased.
Was this what "assistance" meant?
He took the memory card, closed Z9-3's eyes, and removed the armband from his suit.
There were no words left—only a quiet, heavy sadness.
The City spares no one.
Then—
Arthur felt something stir behind him.
[Cognition confirmed. Anomaly panel open.]
Chapter 46 — Resonance
[Observation Level increased — Level 4][All items unlocked]
Anomaly Tool: "Mole"ID: T-09-1Containment: ZAYIN
Arthur gripped the blood-stained weapon.
And at last, he understood.
Why they weren't afraid.
Why they walked forward in hell.
Why their final thoughts were never of themselves.
White flames rose around him.
[EGO Actualization detected…]
Clad in deep yellow, Arthur stood before the dead.
He saluted them.
Then turned—
Toward the Chamber.
Just like Roland.
He, too, had a score to settle with Blood-Red Night.
Walking within Blood-Red Night's sleeping quarters,
Roland and Angelica's boots were submerged in flowing dark red liquid.
They had no time to care about it. Both Fixers gripped their weapons tightly, senses sharpened, alert to the slightest disturbance around them.
The explosion had been far more violent than they had anticipated.
Nearly half of the sleeping quarters had collapsed. Amid the gore and shattered flesh, there was no sign of Blood-Red Night Elena herself.
Instead—
Several corpses lay scattered throughout the ruins.
They were soldiers clad in dark yellow hazmat suits.
Some had their chests torn open from the inside, blood vessels violently ruptured by their own blood. Others were half-buried within the flesh walls, their bodies fused grotesquely with muscle and sinew.
"It's Elena," Angelica said quietly. She immediately recognized the handiwork of a Blood Fiend, her voice sinking. "They didn't die quickly. She made sure of that."
"Hm…" Roland surveyed the scene. "They don't look like Fixers. More like agents from some unknown organization."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Judging from the blast patterns, they were skilled in demolition—especially in confined spaces. And explosives of that caliber…" His tone darkened. "That kind of access isn't something just anyone has."
Whoever these people were, they had been extremely unlucky.
Running straight into an Star of the city.
"Focus," Roland said, shaking his head. "We don't know how far Elena—or her servants—have fled."
Blood-Red Night Elena had escaped Hana Association Section 1 operations more times than Roland cared to count.
If they delayed now—
As Roland took another step forward—
Something felt wrong.
The blood beneath their feet was no longer flowing.
It was congealing.
Then—
From the ground itself, countless blood-red spikes erupted upward, stabbing toward the ceiling—