𝒪𝐯xt.𝗇t

The screams came and never stopped. Some conveyed horror, others conveyed wrath. Several halos shone with the dark crimson color of the Fallen, appearing among the crowds one after the other.

A woman lifted her hand, her nails jutting out like large black scythes, and brought it down on the soldier beside her, cleaving his body in half with a single strike.

A short distance away the survivors moved back from a man who had just pushed a woman to the ground and began ripping her clothes. Two men tried to pull him away from her only for their arms to catch on fire moments after they touched him.

Two men began punching each other without a warning, their faces twisted with gleeful grins. Four women surrounded a young girl, pulling on her hair and clawing at her skin.

The same scene repeated all over the abandoned airport. At first their movements seemed thoughtless and random, but after a while it became apparent that there was intent behind them.

The Fallen didn’t attack the person immediately next to them. They looked around and wandered until they found a target. From there they would proceed to follow the darkest desire sealed in the depths of their hearts.

Murder, assault, r.ape. The Fallen brought out the worst of humanity in a matter of seconds. Bullets were fired in an attempt to stop the horrible acts. Some found their target, shattering the cursed runes by blowing the brains of their owners. Others were much less lethal, only serving to cause more anger and thus even more chaos.

The scene depicted a horror one wouldn’t see in the worst of their nightmare. As he watched everything unfold, Sam remained calm and unperturbed, his emotions sealed away to save his mind from the impact. Holding a hand to his ear, he gave an order to all of his Valkyries.

Kill anyone with the Fallen halo.

He was naive. He underestimated the true insanity of the situation. Even though he had known everything that would happen, he still believed he could stop the madness.

With their weapons already in hand, seven Valkyries swept down at the crowd, putting an end to the mad survivors one after the other. Most went down with a single strike, but as the others took notice, they stopped whatever they were doing and moved their sight to the beautiful girls clad in tight combat suits.

The dark red halos flickered and changed. One of the Fallen, a middle aged man, suddenly grew a pair of bat like wings made from a strange gooey material. The wings struggled to keep their shape, but even though they were full of holes the mad man into a barrier she had erected upon noticing him.

Firing a few arrows, the ponytailed Valkyrie tossed her bow aside and summoned her was still able to take off into the sky charging directly at Zero Five only to smash right into a barrier she had erected upon noticing him.

Firing a few arrows, the ponytailed Valkyrie tossed her bow aside and summoned her katana, placing a hand on her face and covering it in her oni mask. Staring at the Fallen as he banged on the invisible wall, she prepared to strike then removed it. With a loud hiss the mad man continued his charge but before he knew it his head was sent flying.

CS weaved her way through the crowd ripping the targets with her claws. Usually she would have a thrilled grin as she indulged in the pleasure of fighting, but now she couldn’t even bring herself to smile.

The blood splattering all over her body caused her a great deal of discomfort. It wasn’t that she couldn’t handle the crimson substance, after all she had no problem when fighting the Olympians, however with her opponents having been civilians until a couple of minutes ago it simply didn’t feel right to slay them.

The other Valkyries were the same. None of them seemed pleased by what they were doing, but they had their orders and nothing would come in the way of fulfilling them.

“I really didn’t want to see this…” Karim said with a sigh. “Well then, I will b-”

His words were cut short when a red spear collided with an invisible wall in front of him. Looking down, he saw Nino had flung one of her weapons at him and was in the process of creating a new one, three others were floating around her.

“Nino, what are you doing?” Sam asked, his voice eerily calm.

“He’s going to side with the enemies.” Nino replied. “We should eliminate him while we can.”

Her logic was sound, but it still didn’t feel right. As she grabbed another spear and prepared to launch it, David suddenly got up and charged at her.

“S-stop!” He yelled. “That’s my son!”

Though he was inside the barrier Zero Three had set, the soldier found himself slamming into a second invisible wall stopping him before he could reach the Japanese doll.

Nino only spared him a single, cold and indifferent glance. She then took her spear, coated it in the white glow then flung it at the boy.

Realizing that his barrier wouldn’t be able be able to stop the spear, Karim teleported, appearing a short distance away.

“Whoa…” he gasped. “That felt weird…”

He didn’t get to think much before more spears came flying at him. The boy had no reason to remain there so he prepared to disappear, leaving the survivors to their fate as he looked for a way to save himself. He spared his mother one more glance, then he turned to his father. His thoughts halted at that moment.

“Stop! Don’t… Attack… My… SON!!!”

David kept slamming his fist against Three’s barrier, the skin on his knuckles peeling off leaving bloody marks in the air. The whispers amplified all feelings and desires. Whether it’s a man’s lust for a woman, a young girl’s hatred for her abuser, the jealousy harbored by some toward another.

A father’s determination to protect his child.

All of it swelled and grew under the whispers’ influence, eventually corrupting the mind and birthing the incomprehensible thoughts known as madness.

As he raised his fist once more, particles of white flickered into existence coating it in their glow. Blood trickled down David’s cheeks following the trail left by his tears. His fear transformed into anger, his eyes filling up with hatred. As he glared at the monster clad in the form of a young girl, he struck at the invisible wall, shattering it to pieces. He reached for the black hair with one hand and the red eyes with another. His desire to rip the girl apart manifested in sharp claws, cutting what was left of the distance between them in as instant.

Only a single centimeter separated him from the cold, blood colored irises, however the claws went still.

Silence seemed to take over the abandoned airport, the chaotic battle against the mad Fallen became muted, a monochrome filter appearing to cover everything that wasn’t colored in red. The crooked runes, the bloody tears, and half a dozen spears. As a gust of wind played with her long raven hair, Nino’s crimson eyes stared emotionlessly at the man who had attempted to charge at her. With a cough, his life essence began spilling out, first from his mouth, then from the holes all across his body.

Even with the madness filling him with strength, David could do nothing as six red spears impaled his body, holding him in place like a frozen statue.

“Ka…rim…” as the broken runes began to flicker out of existence, the man used every bit of strength he had left to force a single word out. “Run…”