It looked like a white, wax-like creature, dripping and reshaping itself with every step.

Mira froze.

Why was it here?

Then she remembered Alan's words.

Maybe Zephan and Denny had done something before that made the Cursed Spirit attack them right away.

'Was entering this lab that condition?' she thought.

It made sense.

The lab was the most important place. The Cursed Spirit wouldn't leave it unprotected.

"Run!" Mira shouted at the children.

They hesitated, but she screamed again, "Go!"

The Cursed Spirit swung one arm.

She tried to block but was thrown back by the impact.

The notebook she'd been writing clues in slipped from her hand.

The pages scattered across the floor.

Her eyes widened.

She reached for them, but the Cursed Spirit attacked again.

Its wax-like arms melted and spread, pinning her to the ground.

The heat burned through her clothes, and she couldn't move.

Then, from the corner of her eye, she saw movement.

Zephan.

He was awake, carrying the children and running toward the exit.

Mira's heart raced when she saw him.

'What is happening?'

Two Zephans.

One was lying unconscious beside his tube, and another running was running with children.

She didn't have time to understand.

The Cursed Spirit turned toward the running Zephan and the kids.

Mira gritted her teeth.

Her mana flared, and her aura burst out in a violent wave.

She broke through the wax holding her down and attacked the Cursed Spirit head-on.

She didn't expect to win.

She only needed to buy time.

Zephan and the kids had to escape. That was all that mattered.

She didn't want Zephan's help in the fight.

Zephan was captured before.

He clearly couldn't fight this thing.

Even if they fought against it together, victory was impossible.

This thing's narrative made it stronger than the experiment subject it was fighting.

The best chance was for them to escape, and bring the news of this lab to others.

While she clashed with the Spirit, Zephan pushed the children through the lab's exit.

Then, to her shock, he ran back inside.

"Don't help me!" Mira yelled.

Her voice died when she saw him grab the notebook from the floor.

He looked at her once, then ran out of the lab.

"What—"

Before she could move again, a heavy blow hit her head.

Everything went dark.

…

Mc's POV

The Cursed Spirit disappeared.

I understood what that meant.

It was targeting Mira's group.

But why?

What changed?

I immediately used the Space Stone to locate the children and Mira, but I didn't have much hope.

The stone only worked if Mira activated hers too.

Calliope was healing Lars nearby.

"D-do you think…" She didn't finish her words.

I sat down and leaned against a broken wall. "You should rest while you can."

My body was in bad shape.

I had lost too much blood, and my eyes were burning.

I could only use Hollow Eyes for maybe five more minutes.

Still, not everything was bad news.

Telekinesis: 3-star → 4-star

Magic Bullet: 3-star → 4-star

Minor Increase in Harmonic Flow Breathing Mastery, Spirit +5

You have resisted a powerful mental attack: Spirit +10

Minor Increase in Hollow Eyes Mastery

'Resisted a powerful mental attack. It must be talking about me maintaining my sanity after looking at that Cursed Spirit's form.'

My abilities had gone through a clear change.

All of that from a fight that barely lasted fifteen minutes.

'Life and death battles really do push growth.'

Calliope was still healing Lars, even though I could tell she was melting her Mana Core in the process. I didn't stop her.

I had already taken a huge gamble earlier by giving her the Heart-Burst Poison.

There were two reasons for that.

One was necessity.

She was the only one who could use it on me.

Lars would've been busy fighting, and I'd have been knocked out if it came to that.

The second reason was her strength. She was Rank 3.

She might seem like a coward now, but reaching Rank 3 wasn't something someone incompetent could do.

She must have fought through many domains and dealt with countless Cursed Spirits to collect enough Soul Shards to reach rank 3.

Coward she might be.

But incompetent she was not.

We were waiting when I finally sensed movement nearby.

"Someone's approaching us. Stay alert."

I turned my head and saw the children running toward us.

They were crying hard.

Mira wasn't with them.

Before we could ask anything, Zephan appeared behind them.

"Zephan!" Calliope looked relieved.

But I grabbed her wrist before she could move.

I created a Mana Bullet and aimed it at him.

"Don't take another step forward," I warned.

Calliope looked confused. "What are you doing?"

"Something's wrong with that guy."

Zephan looked perfectly normal, but through my Hollow Eyes, something about him felt… off.

I couldn't point out what it was.

The lines looked mostly normal.

My mastery with Hollow Eyes wasn't high to tell what was different.

But my instincts told me something was wrong.

And I trusted my instincts for they had saved me countless times in the past.

Zephan gave a weak smile. "Relax. It's me."

I motioned for the children to come closer to me.

They ran and I gave them a pat in the back for surviving the Cursed Spirit.

Then, Calliope called them towards her.

She wiped their tears, and spoke to them to help them calm down, though she was quite awkward.

The children explained what had happened.

They entered a lab, and the Cursed Spirit had appeared out of nowhere.

Zephan had protected them and helped them escape when they were about to be caught.

"So entering the lab triggered the Cursed Spirit?" I asked.

Zephan nodded. "Yeah. That thing is protecting the lab. Even Denny and I got attacked the moment we appeared inside."

I frowned.

I still couldn't trust him.

"You're right to be suspicious. Even I don't know what's happening to me. It's like… I'm half here, half somewhere else. Like a spiritual state, maybe?" Zephan said softly.

Then my eyes caught something on his chest. A small badge.

"You are Subject 06?"

"Yes. What's wrong with that?" he asked, looking down.

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