One moment, I was on a patrol with Lars, next I appeared in a corridor.

It looked like a sci-fi basement, but darker and colder.

The walls were metal, scratched and dented, and the floor was wet from leaking pipes.

I took out my space stone and pushed my mana into it.

A pulse of space wave came out of it, spreading into all directions.

"I should be able to get the coordinates of the others within five minutes."

Until then, I couldn't move.

The process needed fix coordinates, and if I moved around, it could fail.

That would leave everyone lost inside this strange place.

It was dangerous to stay still here, but I had no choice.

Sirens began to blare, red lights flashing across the walls.

A loud mechanical voice echoed through the corridor.

"Ten subjects have escaped containment. Ten subjects have escaped containment. It is advised that all personnel hide until the subjects are recaptured."

I frowned and looked down.

A metal badge was clipped to my shirt.

[Subject: 93]

"So I'm one of the subjects."

"Lord of Shadows, this is bad," Yuna said suddenly from beside me.

I turned.

Her usually smiling face was tense.

Seeing a Fallen Angel like her look serious made it clear the situation was dangerous.

Had she found something?

"What is it?" I asked.

"Please use your Hollow Eyes. It's better if you see for yourself."

I activated them.

The world around me shifted.

What I saw made my expression harden.

…

Zephan's POV

Zephan stared at the speaker in the upper corner as the siren screamed around him.

"Ten subjects have escaped containment. Ten subjects have escaped containment. It is advised that all personnel hide until the subjects are recaptured."

The message kept repeating, loud enough to shake the glass tubes nearby.

Zephan glanced down at his chest.

A metallic badge gleamed under the red light.

[Subject: 6]

"So I'm one of the escaped subjects…" he muttered.

He listened to the announcement carefully.

"Ten subjects escaped. If eight of them are us, then two must be civilians who got caught in the Cursed Spirit's domain."

That meant there were innocent people here too.

According to Alan, anyone who knew about the Cursed Spirit and happened to be on Street 51 would be pulled into its domain.

"We already found several civilians and wiped out their memories… looks like there were two more we didn't manage to find," Zephan whispered.

He steadied his breathing and looked around.

He was standing in a large lab.

Rows of transparent tubes lined the room, filled with glowing green liquid.

Each one had a number engraved on a plate. [Subject 13], [Subject 01], [Subject 25], and so on.

There were over a hundred of them.

Only ten were empty.

Zephan's eyes moved from one tube to another.

Inside the filled ones were creatures.

Their appearance was strange and warped.

The lower the number, the more disturbing they looked.

But when he tried to focus on their appearance, his mind glitched.

It was as if the creatures refused to be seen properly.

Their shapes twisted in his vision, and it made them unrecognizable.

The only thing he could see was that they were inhuman looking.

His mind refused to give any other observation about their appearance.

His head throbbed.

He winced and stepped back.

"I should stop looking at them."

He knew he couldn't move too far from this spot.

Alan had warned them, the space stone needed them to stay immobile for the connection to work.

Zephan tried to open the pods, but they didn't move an inch.

Only the ten empty ones could be opened.

The rest were locked tight, protected by some kind of system.

He tried striking one with mana, but the barrier didn't even scratch.

Just then, something caught his attention.

At the far end of the room, one of the tubes held a human child.

Zephan froze.

The girl looked around nine years old, unconscious inside the green liquid.

Recognition flashed in his eyes.

He had seen that face on the missing person posters back on Street 51.

"She is Mrs Gibson's missing daughter."

Alerted, Zephan ran to check the rest.

There were more.

Two children, one woman, and even a dog.

All people from the missing reports.

"All the missing people are here," he muttered grimly.

Then he shook his head. "We can't save them yet. We need to find a way out first."

Even if he wanted to, he was not able to open their pods.

He rolled up his sleeve and activated the mark of Fate glowing faintly on his arm, [Destiny].

A quiet sound came from behind him.

Zephan turned sharply.

A boy stood near the entrance of the lab.

Denny Flutz.

"Denny. You're here too? That's good. At least we're not separated completely," Zephan said in relief.

Denny's hands trembled.

His eyes weren't on Zephan but focused behind him.

"T-that… behind you."

Zephan felt a chill crawl up his spine.

He spun around, raising his arm to summon a mana shield, but before it could fully form, something pierced through it.

Pain shot through his chest.

He was lifted off the ground, his body dangling like a puppet.

A cold, and strange voice echoed in his ear.

"S-Subject 06, recaptured. Focusing on S-Subject 89."

The world faded to black.

…

Selene's POV

Selene stood in what looked like a half-destroyed coffee shop.

Dust covered the tables, but the lights were still working.

Her sister Mira stood beside her, checking the small analog clock she carried.

Both of them appeared in the same place upon arrival inside the Cursed Spirit's domain.

Selene glanced down at her chest.

[Subject: 56]

Mira had one too.

[Subject: 94]

Selene flexed her hands, or what was left of them.

Her arms had turned into feathered limbs that looked like a bird's.

It felt strange, but she didn't panic. Neither did Mira.

They had learned long ago that fear never helped inside a Cursed Spirit's domain.

"Three more minutes until Alan should come. How are your arms? Have something changed?" Mira asked, eyes still on the clock.

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