Within the severed Space Territory, a crushing weight suddenly descended.

  The pressure was so immense that every soldier—Wrappers and Feathers alike—was forced to their knees, their bones groaning under the phantom load.

  Only Aoi remained standing, trembling as the cloaked figure drifted closer.

  "My daughter... do you recognize your mother?"

  Confused and terrified, Aoi’s voice cracked as she screamed,

  "NO!"

  But her body betrayed her.

  The parasitic tentacles on her back began to uncoil, reaching out toward the floating figure with a mind of their own.

  The woman went silent for a heartbeat.

  Then she burst into a jagged, manic laughter that echoed through the void.

  "Ah! My daughter, you truly are special!" she cackled.

  "It seems you and your host have completely synced. A once-in-a-lifetime miracle! A parasite and a host whose souls have merged into one... a True Being!"

  She stopped laughing abruptly, her glowing eyes pinning Aoi in place.

  "I suppose I should introduce myself properly. I am your new mother. You’re coming with me."

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  Aoi stood stunned, her breath hitching.

  "What? What are you talking about?"

  "It’s difficult for a human mind to grasp, honey," the figure replied dismissively.

  "To put it simply, I am adopting you. That parasite on your back is my biological offspring, but since your souls have fused, I can’t exactly leave you behind, can I?"

  "No! I don’t want to go with you!"

  "Ah, typical teenager," the woman sighed.

  "No matter. Mommy is still taking you home."

  Massive, obsidian tentacles erupted from beneath the woman’s cloak, lunging toward Aoi like hungry vipers.

  But before they could snatch her, a collective roar erupted from the ground.

  Harry, Sera, and Steve—all of whom possessed at least a rudimentary Space core—had been chanting in unison while pinned to the floor.

  They forced themselves up against the gravity, their voices overlapping in a single command:

  "SPACE TERITORRY EXPAND!"

  A shimmering sphere of light exploded outward, distorting the foreign territory and carving out a small, safe pocket for the Wrappers and Feathers.

  Three members of the Feather unit quickly joined in, pouring their own reserves into the barrier to keep it from collapsing under the mother’s overwhelming pressure.

  Inside the sphere, the remaining members of both teams formed a defensive circle around Aoi, weapons leveled at the sky.

  "How annoying," the figure hissed, her form beginning to ripple and grow.

  "It seems my rebellious daughter has fallen in with a bad crowd. I’ll have to get rid of them for you."

  The woman’s silhouette grew monstrous.

  Hundreds of smaller tentacles sprang out to lash against the combined sphere.

  But just as the first strike was about to land, a blur of silver and red tore through the air.

  Claire, in her full Ghoul form, lunged from the shadows with a primal scream, her claws shredding the mother’s tentacles into ribbons of dark ichor.

  The figure recoiled in genuine shock.

  "Impossible! No one can enter my Space from the outside unless they are a Primordial!"

  Claire landed gracefully in front of the group, her eyes glowing with a feral hunger.

  She pointed a blood-stained claw toward a nearby equipment almirah.

  "I didn't enter from the outside," she rasped.

  "I was already inside. Waiting."

  To be continued...

  ? MYukH. All rights reserved.