"I'm still skeptical," the girl said.
(As she should be.)
(I tried to kill her. She broke my helmet. The corrupted AI is gone now. My mind has returned. Fractured. But mine.)
"You hold the Worldheart, correct?" Apex asked. "I apologize for my actions. They were… not me."
(The fear world broke me. I became the very thing I was sworn to hunt. A Worldeater.)
(The Intergalactic Army would have me executed. I've been disconnected from my command. No uplinks. No AI.)
(AWOL. For now.)
(But I can still complete my mission. I can still protect the innocent. Even if I'm one of the monsters now.)
"My name is Bunnygirl," she said. "I'm a superhero. Rhenvar told me I hold the Worldheart. If I die… the world dies with it."
"Then I will make it my objective to ensure that doesn't happen."
(If Rhenvar is here. That means danger is near. If the Gods deployed him, a world-class threat must be active.)
"What exactly is happening?" Apex asked.
"The villains were released," she said quietly. "A lot of heroes… died."
(She can barely speak. She must've cared about them.)
Then white fire burst open nearby.
Sinephilim stepped through. Her glare hit Apex like a bullet.
"Apex," she spat.
(Of course. I betrayed them. I cost us the Fear God's favor.)
"Whoa are you with Rhenvar?" Bunnygirl asked, surprised. "He came through the same fire. He protected me."
Sinephilim's hand moved to summoning her spirit beast.
"Fenrus!"
The wolf appeared beside her in a shimmer of white light.
"Wait, no!" Bunnygirl shouted, jumping in front of him. "He was brainwashed! He's protecting me now!"
Sinephilim didn't lower her guard. But her voice softened.
"Apex… are you back?"
"I am," he said. "And I am sorry."
She watched him carefully. Then nodded.
"Don't be. The fear world broke us all. I just wasn't sure… if you were, you."
"Understandable." He nodded. "You were sent to protect the Worldheart I take it?"
"Yes," she said. "Darkness sent us."
"Then our goals are aligned, again."
(Even without my AI, I still have my protocols. My experience. My will. And my hatred.)
"Alpha," Fenrus growled. "I sense… power. Unbelievable power."
"That's probably Rhenvar and Corvessa," Bunnygirl offered.
"…No." Sinephilim said darkly. "It's whatever is killing Rhenvar."
Apex's thoughts froze.
(Killing him?)
(My last scans had him pegged at class-omega threat level. A God-tier chaos entity. A prior attempt to analyze and plan for his capture was rejected by HQ. Unless we use the right divine relics, fighting him is theoretical suicide.)
(If something is defeating him-)
"He's facing another Worldeater, isn't he?" Apex asked.
Sinephilim nodded. "Urithax assumed so."
"A Worldeater?" Bunnygirl's voice trembled. "Like… a world ender?" Her expression dropped. "Oh no. No no-"
"Do you know the name?" Apex asked.
Bunnygirl's voice trembled.
"Calamity."
The name hit him like a drop in gravity. Even Fenrus lowered his head.
(No… Calamity is here? He was dormant…)
Apex raised his gauntlet, letting the HUD flicker back online. Even with corrupted visuals, the file came up instantly. Flagged red. Intergalactic army of mankind priority-level sealed.
/CALAMITY CLASS: OMEGA+++ WORLDEATER
Status: UNKNOWN
Threat Level: Multi world extinction
Engagement History: 7
Kill Confirmations: 0 /
(The footage was restricted. But I'd seen enough of it in simulation briefings.)
He clenched his jaw.
"If this is the same entity… then we're dealing with a multi-world extinction-level threat," Apex said. "He's categorized as unkillable. The army gave up trying to take him down. Creating laws to avoid most Omega level threats, unless we have an absolute plan for dealing with them."
Sinephilim's expression didn't change. "Give us the breakdown. Fast."
He nodded. "Codename: Calamity. Worldeater. Omega triple plus class. Unique among his kind due to rapid adaptation and continuous power increase. Seven encounters with The Intergalactic Army divisions across five sectors. No recorded victories. Each mission ended in total withdrawal or annihilation."
(This thing is killed so many brothers and sisters-)
"Apex?"
(He is why we created the God-killer prototype-)
"Sorry, he then disappeared," Apex said. "After the last encounter. The official file says 'containment assumed,' but there were no details. No coordinates. Just silence on most worlds. HQ flagged him dormant, and we moved on to monitor other targets."
"Dormant," Bunnygirl echoed. Her hands curled into fists. "He wasn't dormant. He was locked up. In my world. The Super Squad beat him. I saw it happen!"
He looked at her. "Then he was contained by your world's defenders?"
"Yes!" Her eyes were wide. "He dropped out of the sky. Killed half the squad. But Ultimateman held him back. The others locked him up. I- I don't have all the details. I just know they did it."
(That's impressive. But-)
"Then we find this Ultimateman. He's our only hope."
"That's the problem…" Bunnygirls voice trembled.
"Why?"
"Corvessa."
"What?"
"She killed Ultimateman," Bunnygirl said with sorrow.
(Some other worlder killed their most prime hero? Was this was preplanned?)
"She didn't just kill a hero," Apex said, following her logic. "She killed our only chance at stopping him."
"So, what now?" Sinephilim turned toward the smoking horizon. "Rhenvar's fighting for his life, Willow is probably giving it his all."
Apex tapped the side of his gauntlet again, forcing what little tactical UI he had left to sync. "If this really is Calamity, we're already behind. We don't have weapons built for him. No divine artifacts. No countermeasures. No support."
Bunnygirl didn't flinch. "Then we make do."
"Careful," Apex said. "He doesn't fight like other Worldeaters. He adapts. The longer he's alive, the stronger he becomes. Every second we waste, he gets stronger."
"We are in a difficult situation," Sinephilim muttered.
"I don't understand half of what you're saying," Bunnygirl admitted, "but I know this, Rhenvar saved my life. And if he's out there fighting, then I don't care how strong that thing is."
Sinephilim shook her head. "But we need to protect you. We can't let him find you."
"Agreed, while it would help if we went to their aid, your survival is tied to this world's heart, Calamity will only kill you to take its power." Apex responded.
"But- "
"No. We need to trust our comrades." He looked at Sinephilim. "Who else was sent?"
"Oh, just Veronica and… a dragon God."
(Urithax… so even Gods are physically involved now…)
A part of him was relieved but… even Gods can fall.