Chapter 42:

Answer

Abyss of evolution


Sanno was descending to the bottom of the Abyss. The laws of nature worked differently there, so he was only slowly falling in the reduced gravity.

At that time, Mikhail's head was falling a hundred meters away, screaming desperately.

"I didn't think of that! What should I do!? I can't restore my body, although I thought that the catalytic properties of this place would help. Wha-a-a-a-at!"

Misha's head was falling into the abyss, when suddenly his gaze was caught by an incredible sight: some schoolchildren were fighting a giant gummy bear.

"W-what's going on here…"
"Hop!"

The voice of an unfamiliar girl was heard.
"A-a-a! Someone's head!"

The schoolgirl caught Mikhail's head like a volleyball, sticking her hands out of the window of the destroyed school that had fallen into the Abyss and was levitating.

"Hey, hey, just don't let go!" Mikhail screamed, looking down.

"She's talking!" The schoolgirl dragged her into the classroom, showing her classmates.

"What a horror!"

"What an abomination!?"

"Throw it away!!!"

"Hmm, Misha's head? What an interesting twist…" Their teacher suddenly said, looking at the student. "But it seems not for Masami."

"W-what are you saying, Teacher Jesu!" She was surprised.

"H-how does he know my name? But he's right. I'm sorry, girl."

The head released "tentacles" from the stump of the neck, consisting of a plexus of muscles, nerves and blood vessels, and immediately captured Masami's body, who only managed to squeal from the piercing pain.

"What did he do to her, Teacher Jesu!?"
The students screamed in horror.

Mikhail transferred a copy of Lilia's consciousness into the girl's body, completely taking control. The girl's long hair immediately broke off, becoming shorter and changing color from chestnut to white. Her body unnaturally bent, transforming until it completely became Lilia.

"W-what are you?"

"Okay, now we need to find a host for ourselves…" Mikhail looked around the class.

Lilia approached the teacher, the choice fell on him, as the most suitable. But suddenly Mikhail felt incredible mental pressure in front of him. A mad stream of visions of countless deaths, disasters, murders, drove him crazy, and Lilia stepped back in fear.

"W-who are you?" Mikhail asked.

"Me? An ordinary teacher." He waved his hand at Jess. "Don't pay attention to me."

"What do you mean!?"
Both Mikhail and the students were surprised.

"I won't interfere with you. I'm not supposed to interfere with the experiment."

"The experiment? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Mikhail laughed madly. "I see! I don't know what to think now!"

"That's why I remain neutral. Forward, bolder." Jesu instructed.

Lily turned along with Mikhail's head.

"Teacher! What's going on? We're scared!"
"Forgive me if you can.
I just wanted to know it!
Answer."

Some tried to escape, but Lily released an elongated bone, blocking their path. And then she released spikes at each student. Mikhail chose the healthiest of them as the main one and turned the rest into his copies.

"Well, now you're definitely useless cargo!" He said to the monk's head, which still had the bandit's consciousness, and threw it out the window. "Have a good evolutionary path!"

Descending lower and lower, Sanno felt the energy of the Abyss piercing through him, and then a strong pain, although he’d long been accustomed to it. His body rejuvenated and merged with cybernetic implants, creating a new hybrid. Sanno raised his hand up, watching it transform and shine from above.

"Soon you'll be able to get out and…" Ikari fantasized.

"I won't let you!"
A scream came from behind his hand.

When Sanno pulled his hand away, Keshita's powerful fist crashed into his face. He immediately transformed it into a blade and tried to strike, but Sanno's other hands threw him onto a small levitating island of land. Ikari jumped after him, trying to cut him with the blades of his katana, which had grown together with his hands, becoming like a praying mantis.

Keshita rolled, dodging, and attacked again with his blades, but Sanno easily reflected them and grew more arms, grabbing Keshita's torso.

"Now you look even more like a monster!"

"Evolution is sometimes scary, don't you know?" Sanno calmly answered, entangling Keshita's body in a strong net and raising him above himself. "The strong devour the weak!" Sanno's mouth monstrously transformed, turning into something like a shark, and he tried to swallow the boy whole to make him a part of himself. This was noticed by Miku, who had just come to her senses and had fallen onto a neighboring island.

She quickly stood up and pulled out a protruding pipe nearby and immediately threw it at Sanno. The object passed through some kind of anomaly and suddenly increased in size, accelerating. Miku caught it by surprise, and the pipe pierced Sanno, who howled in pain.

"What the!?" He turned to her.

Transforming one of his hands into a firearm, Sanno aimed through the same anomaly at Miku and opened fire. At the last moment, Keshita snake-like extended his leg, wrapping himself around Sanno's growing neck, and pulled towards himself, deflecting the trajectory of the shot into the neighboring building.

A powerful explosion was heard in the classroom through the wall from Mikhail's office. He looked out the window and noticed old acquaintances. Misha tried to read their thoughts, but he’d problems with Sanno.

"He's a cyborg… no, something more. I think he might even be able to take over SAI in America in the future… I can’t leave him alive!”

Mikhail sent his clones into battle, who jumped out of the window at high speed, right onto Sanno and Keshita.

“Who are you!?”

“Mikhail!? Now is not the time!” Keshita recognized.

“This is just the thing!”

The clones clashed around them, merging and swelling, turning into a single mass, neutralizing the enemies. But Sanno spun his blades, turning Mikhail’s clones into mincemeat. When the overview appeared, Ikari was pierced by two sharp, elongated blades released by Mikhail’s body that remained in the school. He was pulled towards the others, and the two remaining clones flew after him, clinging to him. Mikhail transformed them, merging them into one big mouth, trying to devour both Sanno and Keshita.

“Who are you!?” Sanno growled.

"Didn't you hear? Godlike Mikhail. Homo Evolutionis!" Mikhail replied.

The mouth slammed shut, trapping both, but suddenly glowing barrels pressed against its cheeks, tearing it apart with an explosion.

"Organics lack strength!" Sanno declared.

Mikhail divided his body like slime and wrapped himself around Sanno and Keshita, not allowing them to move.

"And inorganics need flexibility!" Mikhail countered.

"It's time."
Sanno heard Izanami's voice.

"The games have come to an end!"

Mikhail noticed that Sanno had begun to infect him with something and immediately retreated, returning to his human form. Only a few clones were able to repeat, the rest were too damaged and lay on the ground, thrashing in agony.

Sanno fired black magatama, which turned into small versions of the Oni demon. But they looked more frightening, hybrids of organic and inorganic life.

"Thanks for delivering the material!" Sanno chuckled.

"Damn it! He was able to subdue the evovirus!? So quickly?" Mikhail realized his mistake.

The demons attacked Keshita and Mikhail, and Sanno, taking advantage of the moment, jumped into the abyss.

"Hey, Keshita or Takeshi, a temporary truce?"

"Keshita! You just tried to eat me!"

"Anything can happen! But this Sanno is too dangerous even compared to me, don't you think?"

"Shh, you convinced me…" Keshita was forced to agree.

"Remember that move when I was surrounded by a flock of demons on the fifth circle?"

"Got it."

They simultaneously released the blades from both hands and, spinning in a duet, cut the demons apart, aiming for their legs, and threw them onto the lower islands of the earth.

"Let's go!" Mikhail shouted, jumping after Sanno.

Keshita followed him, but suddenly he heard Miku scream from above, as the remaining demons attacked her.

"Damn it!"

"Don't worry!" Mikhail reassured. "Focus on the target!"

Lilia intervened in the battle, and together with the remaining clones of Mikhail, she repelled the attack. Although the demons didn’t care, they quickly returned to the ranks.

"Take care of her…"
Mikhail sent a mental message to Lilia.

She looked at him strangely and returned to the battle. Both girls had become stronger under the influence of the Abyss, but so did the demons surround them.

Renya Yami
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