LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 29: Inferno
Bang—
"Hah… One left." Gasping raggedly, her throat burning like it was on fire, [Corina] saw the Honkai corruption spreading, tearing her skin apart inch by inch.
Downing an entire bottle of painkillers, Corina's vision swam. Even the heavy-duty meds couldn't mask the agony.
"Don't worry… Just… gotta take out the last one…" she muttered to herself.
But then silence. A sudden, intense heat washed over her. Flames licked at the door, and she realized the gangsters had resorted to burning her alive.
The fire crackled and spread rapidly. The living room became an inferno. The flames consumed Chris's room—the meticulously organized manga shelves Corina had tidied after his departure—reducing the sanctuary he so carefully guarded to ashes.
"Chris, you need to grow up."
"Because today… is your birthday."
…
An unmarked car stopped on the road. The intense glow of the fire reflected in Chris's eyes, staining them crimson.
"Sister?"
His voice was raspy, his hands trembled. He'd never felt the absence of his overbearing, yet caring sister so keenly. He'd never felt his breath catch in his throat like this.
Chris had always believed that if he was fast enough, fear couldn't catch him.
But in this moment, he understood. He could outrun fear, but not death.
In the next instant, Chris plunged into the inferno. The flames engulfed him, searing his skin. The house was unrecognizable, yet every corner of this place, where he'd spent over two decades, was etched in his memory.
Gunfire, explosions, bullet holes, corpses. This was the symphony of violence, the 'gift' violence had bestowed upon him.
"Sister?" "Sister!"
His skin burning, Chris burst through the last door. Smoke and heat choked the room. And then he saw her.
His sister, collapsed amidst the flames.
The last bullet, meant for herself.
The final gift, left for her closest family.
"To my dearest little brother…"
Corina's final message, a farewell note left on her phone.
Even with his body scorched, Chris felt no pain. Shadowy wolves prowled around him, snarling at the flames.
He scooped up Corina and walked through the fire, step by agonizing step.
Outside, the sunlight was warm and bright.
How long had it been since the shut-in Chris had felt the sun's warmth?
He didn't know.
As he carried his sister out, he finally understood. The sanctuary he guarded was a beautiful fantasy, but the sanctuary his sister protected… was him.
Once clear of the inferno, he gently leaned Corina's body against the steps and sat beside her.
He opened her farewell message, listening to her last words.
"To my dearest little brother, your birthday present… is ready…"
Bang—!
A cold bullet shattered his phone, along with his hand.
"Officer reporting, suspect down. Suspect appeared to be contacting accomplices. Now secured."
"Maintain vigilance. The suspect is extremely dangerous. Do not let him leave the scene."
The officer from Oaxaca lowered his communicator, his gaze fixed on the raging fire. He took a deep breath.
"To escape capture, he'd even sacrifice his own family? What a cold-blooded bastard."
"But to walk out of such a raging inferno… That supposed Valkyrie must have gone rogue. No ordinary person could do that."
Sirens wailed throughout the neighborhood. Half of Oaxaca's police force had been mobilized for this operation. Schicksal had assured them of the Valkyries' unwavering loyalty, but humans, ever suspicious, couldn't easily accept such assurances.
Only a monster could fight those monstrous Honkai beasts.
And if they were monsters, then they were humanity's enemies. Even if they wore the faces of human women, the Honkai within them must have rewritten their very being. Who could guarantee that someone with such monstrous power wouldn't betray them?
This was the prevailing thought among ordinary people, a perception Schicksal had failed to change in 500 years.
—The wolf is excited. The wolf howls.
As Chris, cradling Corina with one arm, rose from the steps, the burning house finally collapsed. And in his ears, a strange voice echoed.
Welcome… to the Theater of Domination!