Chapter Forty-One: Fracture

Lily descended from the rooftop into the stairwell, recounting everything she had witnessed to the others, along with the questions that had crossed her mind. She continued, “Unless we observe that creature up close for several days, we’ll find it hard to answer these questions. But our goal this time isn’t that, so let’s set these aside for now.”

“I agree,” Dunn said, raising both hands.

Lily glanced at Dunn’s childish gesture and suggested they replenish their water and food before heading to the subway station. The proposal was quickly accepted.

After restoring their energy, the group departed once more, exiting through the rear door of the Royal Court and traversing a short street until they came upon a vast, now withered, tennis court.

Ander gazed at the desolate world before him, wishing he could wax poetic, but he realized he neither knew how to compose verses nor had read much, so he let the impulse pass.

“Let’s cut straight across the tennis court,” Sandro proposed after consulting the map, “it’ll save us a lot of time, and the station is at the court’s far diagonal.”

Lily considered this but shook her head. “I think it’s best we stick to the roads and streets, not cut through thickets or grass. The latter is full of small creatures we might not notice, and those are just as worth guarding against.”

Sandro nodded, suddenly understanding, then looked down at the map again. “We head north, take a left when we see a language school—if we can still recognize it. If not, then the second left.”

“Very precise, well done,” Lily praised him, then took Ander by the hand and led the way northward.

She couldn’t let Sandro always lead; such constant vigilance would break him down before long. Ander, with a similar advantage, made a perfect substitute. As his sister, she was determined to protect him, so she walked at the front as well.

As they passed the first intersection, Lily glanced to her left, vaguely recalling a museum there. But before she could turn her gaze back, she halted abruptly, cold sweat gathering on her brow.

The others saw her freeze, her expression rigid, and instantly stopped as well, alert and tense.

Dunn quickly approached Lily, lowering his voice. “Lily, what’s wrong?”

Lily murmured, “Run! Quickly… run!”

“What? I can’t hear you!” Dunn grew anxious.

“There’s something… watching us. Very powerful, very terrifying…” Lily’s sense of being watched activated again, but this time, goosebumps erupted uncontrollably as a slimy, cold, damp feeling swept over her heart.

The sensation made her teeth chatter, and she lost her ability to think for a moment. Soon, however, the feeling of being observed faded away, as if it had all been a hallucination.

Unable to control herself, Lily collapsed onto the ground, sweat pouring off her as she struggled to breathe.

Seeing Lily reduced to a near puddle in seconds, the orphanage group began to panic to varying degrees. Lily’s sudden transformation, for reasons unknown, was terrifying—uncertainty always is.

Ander hurriedly dug a bottle of water from Lily’s backpack and handed it to her, urging her to drink. She’d lost so much sweat, dehydration was imminent.

Lily took the water and, barely pausing to thank him, sipped quickly. The cold, clammy feeling eased, and she managed, still shaken, to explain, “Just now… some unknown presence… turned its gaze on us. That sensation… was too horrifying. It felt like slick, cold tentacles were licking across my entire body—I couldn’t form any other thoughts.”

“But it seems to have left. I don’t think it’s interested in us…” she added, hoping to reassure everyone.

Dunn looked around for a building where Lily might recover, while Camille’s worries only deepened. Though she felt nothing herself, ever since witnessing the strange events at Waterloo Station’s platform with Lily, she’d developed deep respect for such mysteries.

If such a being could terrify Lily just by glancing at her, was it really worth continuing their search for John?

Aiden had similar doubts. He knelt beside Lily, patting her back and trying to find the right words.

“Lily, we…”

Boom!

Before Aiden could finish, the orphanage group was thrown into the air by a sudden, earthquake-like shock.

Lily alone seemed to jump straight up, nearly two meters.

Amid cries of alarm, someone shouted to look below.

Still airborne, the group saw fissures rapidly spreading beneath them, their centers all converging—on Lily.

Next, the surrounding buildings groaned with the tortured sound of stone and steel twisting. Already weakened by time, they could no longer withstand the tremors; walls and rubble rained down, making it clear that the buildings were about to collapse.

At the epicenter, Lily—thrown highest—remained numb and cold from the unknown gaze she’d felt before. Even as she saw the street beneath her feet cracking and warping, her legs failed her, unable to break free from their numbness. She could only watch as a vast pit opened below, seemingly created just to swallow her whole.

The ground continued to shake. Camille, whose weight brought her down first, couldn’t find her footing, rolling and crawling with her arms over her head, searching desperately for safety.

The other members of the orphanage landed and instinctively avoided the fissures and potential collapses, keeping an eye on Lily but unable to reach her immediately.

“Sis!” Ander’s anguished cry echoed through the streets of Dunlun.

He saw clearly—his sister Lily fell headfirst into the center of the fissure, into the pit. Yet he himself could barely stand, unable to do anything to save her.

Dunn recovered quickly, trying to use the ridges created by the cracks to propel himself forward, half kneeling, half crawling to the edge where Lily had disappeared.

He was the first to reach the fissure, leaning down and calling her name, stretching out to pull her up. But the next moment, his cry stopped abruptly—for when he peered into the fissure, he found no sign of Lily.

Ander followed, crawling quickly, only to freeze in confusion. Where was his sister?