Grey didn’t even notice when Ray stopped moving. It was only when his breath became a hollow, harsh wind, blowing practically like a jet engine in the echo-focused tunnels that he snapped himself awake.
Ray’s face was a mess. Whatever distinct features he had once had were left in a pool of flesh, blood, and bone, nearly flattened into a pancake of gore.
Maybe Grey should have felt horrified by what he had done, but his eyes had a lifeless carelessness to them that reflected the sight of a man who had already faced death twice. He couldn’t seem to find the guilt within him.
He stood to his feet, taking the longsword. It felt very heavy on his wrist, lacking any sort of agility at all. But somehow, it still felt lighter than he thought it would or should.
He pierced it to the ground by the side and unzipped Ray’s Nexis suit, slipping it onto his wrist.
Grey stood at around 6’2". Ray was probably closer to average height, being around 5’9" to 5’10" or so. Grey’s forearms also seemed to be much beefier than Ray’s as well, probably from a lifetime of helping his grandfather out on the range.
Even so, it all fit much better than May’s had. So he could only hope that that would make things easier on him with the safe room as well.
Without much hesitation, he abandoned the fur-lined collar. The Nexis Suits were much sturdier and much longer. They were the superior control option.
Quickly, he headed down the tunnel, not looking back a single time. He slipped toward the direction he had come from and found a familiar fork in the road. To his surprise, the goblin he usually killed here had an arrow stuck in its gut.
It seemed that Fitz had come right through here already.
Grey turned toward the safe room and hurried over to it. He touched the door, hoping that something would click, but...
’Another fail.’
He grit his teeth. He really didn’t know what was wrong. This one fit much better than the last. Though he hadn’t even tried to slip the entire thing on, it fit enough of his forearm that some of those nodes should be firing.
’Wait. Those nodes? Why did I have that thought just now?’
That was when Grey remembered that back when Great Udon was manipulating emotions through the Nexis Suit, he had managed to arrange May’s suit just perfectly enough that he felt the electrical signals influence him.
Grey tried putting his hand on the safe room door again. He closed his eyes, really trying to feel the pulses out.
’Why the hell can’t I feel anything?!’
BANG.
He slammed his fist against the door, but the moment he did, a ripple slammed back. His arm whipped in the opposite direction, and his shoulder was nearly torn out from its socket.
—
[Warning. Any attempt to destroy Genesis Game Property will be met with punishment]
[This is your first warning. On the second, penalties will be applied]
—
Grey winced. He definitely felt like he tore something just now, and he didn’t even know what to take his frustration out on. He had just killed a man and it hardly dimmed the fire in him at all.
Deep inside, he knew the answer. There was only one way for him to be satisfied, and killing random bastards—even if they had been partially responsible for the death of an innocent woman—wasn’t going to satisfy him at all.
’Only one way.’
Grey was about to move when he heard the sound of footsteps. He turned to find a young woman frozen as she walked around a corner.
She seemed shaken. She hugged her spear to her body as though it would warm her up, but the tip still glistening with blood wasn’t doing her any favors.
May.
Fitz had likely gotten to the safe room first. May was the second. Ray would have been the third, if he didn’t get killed by Grey, that is.
"... I... Please don’t hurt me..." Her voice was barely a whisper.
Grey didn’t even have the capacity to comfort her. "Open the door," he said bluntly.
"Open the door?" May seemed to have tensed her entire body to not take a step back. She didn’t want to offend Grey at all.
She had no idea who he was. But his face was covered in blood and he wore nothing but a pair of boxers and a floral suit that seemed to be missing something.
Grey pointed his sword to the safe room door. "Hurry up."
May jumped and then hurried over with shaky steps. Or maybe she thought she was hurrying. In reality, it was taking every ounce of Grey’s own patience to not drag her over.
Eventually, she made it to the door and pressed a palm to it. There was a glow and then she vanished.
"Figures."
Grey didn’t even get a chance to slip in after her. The door itself didn’t even open—it just directly teleported her in.
"Fucking alien technology."
The chittering of goblins swarmed toward Grey.
He took a breath, closed his eyes, and then opened them again.
If they were going to give him a million chances, he swore that even if it took until the million-and-first, he would make them pay.
Grey roared and swung the sword wildly, swinging it out with a violence that came from the very depths of his soul.
The goblins were torn in two, their shoddy spears splintering and their bodies being severed at the waist.
He swung so hard the blade clanged against the cave wall, nearly breaking his wrist on impact.
The twang of pain from his shoulder was far worse, though.
It felt like little by little, they were eating away at pieces of him.
Grey unzipped his pants and pissed over the goblin corpses, emptying his bladder out right in the middle of the hallway.
—
[Warning. Obscene gesture detected]
[This is your first warning. On the second, penalties will be applied]
—