The darkness of the sewers seemed capable of swallowing all light and hope.
The air was thick with a nauseating stench mixed with rust and rot, while the ice-cold sewage soaked the three of them, constantly stealing their body heat.
Only a few thin streams of light from distant pipe junctions barely outlined the shape of this underground maze.
“Don…
Cor…
ne…
o…” Cain’s low growl, suppressed with endless rage, echoed through the empty sewer.
He lowered his head and looked at the scraps of pink lace hanging from his legs, soaked through with filthy water.
That ridiculous sight formed an absurd and terrifying contrast with his frost-cold expression.
Never in his life had he suffered such unbearable humiliation.
“Cain, are…
are you okay?” Tifa looked at him worriedly.
She could feel the killing intent radiating from Cain, so dense it almost seemed to take physical form.
She reached out, wanting to help him tear away the ridiculous fabric clinging to his legs.
“I’m fine.” Cain’s voice was as cold as ice.
He grabbed the obstructing scraps himself, tore them away, and flung them viciously into the filthy current.
He raised his head, his blue eyes unusually bright in the darkness, with two clusters of cold flame burning inside them.
“We have to get out of here immediately and return to Sector 7.” Shinra’s conspiracy weighed on his heart like a boulder.
Compared to the lives of tens of thousands of innocents, his personal humiliation instantly became insignificant.
That towering rage quickly transformed into a cold, focused determination.
“But…
which way should we go?” Tifa looked around.
The maze of pipes and passages left her feeling lost.
“This way.” Aerith’s voice broke the silence.
Although she was soaked from head to toe, her expression was unusually calm.
She closed her eyes and stretched out her hand, as if sensing some invisible flow in the air.
“I can feel it…
the direction of the wind.
There’s a path leading upward over there.” Her guidance brought hope to the three of them in their predicament.
Cain nodded and said without hesitation, “You lead the way.
I’ll clear the path.” He waded to the front, his tall body like an icebreaker parting the water for Tifa and Aerith behind him.
Every step he took was exceptionally steady, and his powerful senses kept him alert for any threat that might be lurking in the darkness.
“Speaking of which,” Aerith said from behind him, seemingly trying to ease the oppressive atmosphere.
She lightly nudged Tifa with her elbow.
“Back there, Mr.
Cain’s ‘bridal speech’ was really…
one of a kind.” Tifa remembered Cain’s speech, filled with righteousness, then looked at his reliable back.
A faint blush rose to her cheeks, and the corners of her lips could not help lifting slightly.
“Yeah…
it really did sound like something he would say.” Their conversation was quiet, but it still reached Cain’s ears clearly.
His body visibly stiffened, and the tips of his ears grew a little warm.
He did not turn back, only quickened his pace, using action to hide his embarrassment.
Just then, a string of eerie bubbles suddenly rose from the water ahead.
“Careful!” Cain immediately stopped and shielded Tifa and Aerith behind him.
With a splash, two humanoid monsters covered in green scales, with fins and sharp claws and fangs, suddenly burst from the water along with piercing shrieks.
They were mutated creatures common in the sewers, Sahagins, brutal and bloodthirsty.
The two Sahagins let out grating roars and pounced at the three of them from the left and right, foul drool dripping from their fang-filled mouths.
Unfortunately for them, they were facing a man at the absolute peak of his fury.
“Get lost!” Cain did not even make any unnecessary movements.
He met the monster on the left head-on and threw a straight punch filled with endless rage.
His fist tore through the air with a shrieking whistle and smashed accurately into the Sahagin’s face.
A dull, tooth-aching impact rang out.
The Sahagin’s head burst apart instantly like a watermelon struck by a battering ram, green blood and brain matter splattering everywhere.
Its headless corpse flew backward from the force of its own momentum, slammed heavily into the wall, then slid into the sewage without making another sound.
At the same time, the other Sahagin’s claws had already reached Cain.
Without even looking, Cain snapped his left leg backward and to the side with the speed of a steel whip.
Crack.
A crisp sound of breaking bone rang out.
His heel accurately shattered the Sahagin’s kneecap.
The monster let out a shrill scream, its body losing balance, and just as it was about to fall, Cain struck back with a lightning-fast chop of his hand, slamming it hard into the creature’s neck.
The monster’s scream stopped abruptly.
Its huge body collapsed limply, twitched a few times, then stopped moving.
The entire fight had happened in a flash.
Violent, efficient, and filled with overwhelming force.
Cain had vented all the humiliation and anger he had endured onto these two unlucky monsters.
Tifa and Aerith stared in a daze.
They knew Cain was strong, but they had never seen such a…
ferocious side of him.
That pure strength made their hearts tremble, but more than that, it gave them a strange sense of security.
Because they knew that strength was directed at the enemy.
“Let’s go.” Cain shook the filthy blood from his fist, his voice returning to its usual steadiness.
It was as if that bloody instant kill just now had been nothing more than a trivial matter to him.
The three of them continued forward.
After that encounter, the atmosphere grew even heavier.
Aerith stopped joking and focused on sensing the path ahead.
Tifa stayed close behind Cain, her gaze never leaving his broad back.
After walking for a while longer, they arrived in a relatively open circular area.
This was where several huge pipes intersected, with a giant drain in the center rumbling loudly.
“The exit should be up there.” Aerith pointed toward an iron maintenance ladder at the top of the circular area.
However, just as they prepared to head over, an unsettling stirring sound suddenly came from the enormous drain at the center.
The water surface began churning violently, and an immense black shadow slowly rose from the depths.
Roar!
With a deafening bellow, a giant monster the size of a truck burst out of the water.
It had a crocodile-like maw, a body covered in thick, rock-like armor, and several thick tentacles growing from its back, all while giving off a powerful stench.
This was the apex predator of the sewer ecosystem, Abzu.
“This thing…
doesn’t look easy to deal with.” Tifa immediately took up a fighting stance, her expression grave.
“Cain, its shell is extremely hard.
Physical attacks might not work well!” Aerith quickly analyzed, while green magical light already began gathering in her hands.
Even without their reminder, Cain could already feel the powerful pressure coming from the giant beast.
That pressure was even a little stronger than the Hell House.
“You two fall back and look for chances to support me with magic.” Cain gave the order in a low voice.
He rolled his neck, which gave off a series of cracks, while his blue eyes locked firmly onto the massive creature before him.
Abzu was clearly enraged by the “little insects” that had intruded into its territory.
It opened its bloody maw and charged forward, its enormous body stirring up towering waves in the water as it crushed toward Cain.
Cain advanced instead of retreating.
His foot slammed down on the slippery ground, and his entire body shot forward like a cannonball.
At the instant they were about to collide, he turned sideways and narrowly avoided Abzu’s charge.
At the same time, the blue light on his right arm erupted once again.
The translucent Devil Bringer manifested instantly, carrying an unmatched momentum as it clawed viciously toward Abzu’s relatively soft abdomen.
The demonic claw carved several deep bloody marks across the creature’s tough skin, but it failed to inflict a fatal wound.
Abzu roared in pain and fury.
The tentacles on its back lashed toward Cain like long whips, tearing through the air with a fierce howl.
Cain immediately retreated, dodging the sweeping tentacles.
“Blizzard!” Just then, Aerith’s magic was completed.
An icy-blue materia in her hand flashed, and a bone-chilling current of cold shot toward Abzu, forming thick frost around its legs and greatly slowing its movements.
“Good opening!” Tifa shouted and moved like a phantom, circling to Abzu’s side.
Her fists rained down with powerful penetrating force, striking the same ice-covered spot again and again.
Under her continuous barrage, both the hard layer of ice and the shell beneath it began to crack.
Abzu was completely enraged.
Ignoring the injury to its leg, it violently swung its head, and a foul water cannon mixed with sewage erupted from its mouth, shooting toward Aerith as she prepared another spell.
“Not a chance!” Cain’s figure instantly appeared in front of Aerith.
He spread his arms and used his own body to forcibly block the powerful water cannon.
The tremendous impact sent him sliding backward several meters, but his feet seemed rooted to the ground, and he never fell.
“Cain!” Aerith cried out.
“I’m fine!” Cain wiped the sewage from his face, then looked back at her and gave her an extremely faint, reassuring smile.
“Keep going!” Seeing his dependable back, a warm current rose in Aerith’s heart.
She nodded firmly and began gathering magic once more.
Cain turned back to the rampaging beast in front of him.
He knew they could not drag this out any longer.
Shinra’s conspiracy hung over their heads like a blade.
They had no time to waste here.
He took a deep breath, and the blue light on his right arm erupted with unprecedented brightness.
The Devil Bringer became even more solid, blue energy rising like flames and even turning the sewage around him into white steam.
“It’s over.” He growled, and the ground beneath his feet cracked instantly.
His entire body turned into a blue comet.
Ignoring every tentacle Abzu swung at him, he charged straight at the giant beast with unstoppable, decisive momentum.
He leaped high into the air, pouring all his strength, all his anger, and all his will to protect into his right fist.
“Judgment, descend!” The huge blue demonic claw was like a meteor falling from the sky, carrying the majesty to punish everything as it slammed down hard onto Abzu’s head.
Boom!
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a dull, extreme impact that seemed to shake even the space around them.
Abzu’s enormous body suddenly went rigid, and its giant eyes instantly lost their light.
Immediately afterward, countless blue cracks spread rapidly from Cain’s fist across its entire body.
A few seconds later, the ruler of the sewers broke apart with an unwilling wail, collapsing into countless fragments that sank into the filthy waters it had ruled all its life.
The battle was over.
Cain slowly landed on the ground, and the light around his right arm gradually faded.
He panted heavily.
Clearly, that last strike had consumed a great deal of his strength.
“Cain!” Tifa and Aerith immediately ran over, supporting him from the left and right.
“I’m fine…
just a little drained.” Cain waved his hand.
Seeing the genuine worry on the two girls’ faces, the brutality born from his humiliation gradually settled, turning into a warm sense of responsibility.
“Let’s go,” he said.
The three of them supported one another as they climbed the iron ladder leading upward.
When they pushed open the heavy manhole cover and returned to the familiar, chaotic, lively streets of Wall Market, all three of them felt as though they had crossed into another world.
By the time the three of them returned to Seventh Heaven, it was already late at night.
Barret and the others had been anxiously waiting for them for a long time.
“You’re finally back!” Seeing that the three of them were safe and unharmed, Barret finally let go of the worry that had been hanging in his chest.
“There were explosions and fires over in Wall Market.
I thought you…” “Don’t worry, boss, we had Cain with us.” Jessie, leaning on a crutch, limped over to greet them.
She looked at Cain, her eyes shining with admiration.
“So?
Did you beat that fat guy called Don Corneo until he cried for his mama?” “Close enough.” Aerith answered with a smile, then handed the metal document case in her hands to Barret.
“Here.
Our spoils from this trip.
I found it in Don Corneo’s desk before he ran away.
Inside are records of his dealings with Shinra.
Maybe we can find some intel from it.” A trace of surprise flashed through Barret’s eyes.
He had not expected that this seemingly ridiculous operation would actually bring back such important intelligence.
His opinion of Aerith could not help improving a little.
“Not bad, flower girl,” he said, offering a rare word of praise.
“All right, time to go home.” Aerith stretched and spoke to everyone.
“I’ll take you,” Cain said without the slightest hesitation.
“No!” Tifa and Barret objected almost in unison.
“It’s too chaotic outside right now.
Shinra’s people must have already connected what happened at Don Corneo’s mansion to us.
It’s too dangerous for you to go out now,” Tifa said worriedly.
“That’s right, little lady.
Stay here tonight.
Leave after things calm down,” Barret said, also showing a rare bit of concern.
Aerith looked at everyone’s concerned gazes and felt warmth in her heart.
She shook her head and said with a smile, “Thank you, but I can’t.
My mom is still waiting for me at home.
She’ll worry.” Her tone was very firm, carrying a gentle insistence that left no room for refusal.
Cain looked at her and knew he could not change her mind.
He walked up to her and said softly, “I have to take you.
That’s my duty as your bodyguard.” His gaze was just as firm.
In the end, everyone could only compromise.
“Fine,” Tifa sighed.
“But you have to be careful.
If you run into danger, send a signal immediately.” “Relax, relax.” Aerith made a face at her, then turned to Cain.
“Then, Mr.
Bodyguard, I’ll be counting on you for the last stretch.” The two of them walked into Midgar’s night once again.
This time, the streets were even quieter than before, and even more oppressive.
The air was filled with the tense feeling of a storm about to break.
Neither of them spoke along the way.
Cain silently walked in front, using his keen senses to search the surroundings for danger.
Aerith followed behind him, quietly looking at his broad back.
“Cain,” Aerith suddenly said when they were nearing the Sector 5 slums.
“Do you…
often see strange images?” Cain’s steps paused, and he sharply turned back to look at her in surprise.
“How do you know?” “I can feel it.” Aerith walked to his side and moved forward beside him.
“Your soul is mixed with many things that don’t belong to you.
There are sorrowful memories, lingering regrets, and…
fragments of the ‘future.’ Those black Whispers are afraid of you because you can see things they don’t want you to see.” Aerith’s words were like a key, instantly opening the door to the greatest confusion in Cain’s heart.
He had always thought those visions were the result of his jumbled memories.
He had never expected that the girl before him could so clearly speak the secrets buried inside him.
“What…
are they?” he could not help asking.
“They are echoes of fate, and also the Planet’s cry.” Aerith’s gaze grew distant and profound.
“There is a ‘track’ that was decided long ago, and we seem to have unknowingly drifted away from it.
Those Whispers are the ‘guardians’ trying to pull everything back onto its original path.” She paused, then looked at Cain and said seriously, “Cain, your power is very special.
It doesn’t belong to this Planet, so it isn’t bound by ‘fate.’ Maybe…
you’re the one who can completely break that track.” Cain fell silent.
Aerith’s words were too unbelievable, but his instincts chose to believe her.
Because they perfectly explained everything that had happened to him.
“I understand.” He nodded.
The two of them arrived in front of Aerith’s little house.
The beautiful flower bed quietly released its fragrance beneath the moonlight.
“All right, I’m home.” Aerith stopped and gave him a gentle smile.
“Thank you, Cain.
I had a lot of fun tonight.” “So did I,” Cain said sincerely.
“Then, goodbye.” Aerith waved to him and turned to enter the house.
But just as she was about to push open the door, Cain’s heart suddenly clenched.
An extremely strong, ominous premonition seized him.
At that moment, his future sight ability activated passively.
He saw a clear image, Aerith’s foster mother, Elmyra, lying on the floor, while Aerith was seized by the arms by two men in suits.
He had seen the man leading them before.
It was the head of the Turks who had confronted him inside the Shinra Building, Tseng.
“Look out!” Cain almost roared.
But it was already too late.
The door of the little house was suddenly pulled open from the inside.
Several members of the Turks rushed out, led by Tseng himself.
Behind them, Elmyra had already collapsed on the floor, unconscious.
“Aerith Gainsborough,” Tseng said in a cold, emotionless voice.
“You’re coming with us.” “Mom!” Aerith cried out and tried to rush over, but Reno and Rude restrained her from both sides.
“Let her go!” Cain’s fury ignited in an instant.
The Buster Sword on his back let out a hum, and blue-green light began flashing wildly beneath the skin of his right arm.
“Oh?
It’s you.” When Tseng saw Cain, a trace of surprise flashed through his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.
“Test Subject C.
I didn’t expect you to get involved with the Ancient.
Perfect.
That saves us the trouble of looking for you.” With a wave of his hand, every member of the Turks raised their weapons and aimed at Cain.
“Cain!
Don’t!” Aerith, restrained between them, shouted at him.
“Don’t be reckless!
They won’t hurt me!
Hurry and go!” She knew that if Cain started an all-out battle with the Turks here, it would inevitably draw Shinra’s main forces.
When that happened, neither of them would escape.
She could not let him fall into a hopeless situation for her sake.
“But…” “Trust me!” Aerith’s eyes were incomparably firm.
“Go do what you need to do!
We…
will definitely meet again at the Shinra Building!
That’s a promise!” Her words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Cain’s burning rage.
He looked at Aerith as she was taken away by the Turks, looked into her eyes full of trust and encouragement, then looked at the dark gun barrels surrounding them.
He knew Aerith was right.
If he rushed in now, there would be no meaning to it except getting himself captured alongside her.
He needed a plan.
He needed his companions.
“Very good.
A wise choice.” Seeing that Cain did not move recklessly, Tseng nodded.
He led the members of the Turks away, escorting Aerith as they quickly disappeared into the night.
The entire world seemed to leave only Cain behind once again.
He rushed into the house, helped the unconscious Elmyra up, and only let out a breath after confirming she had merely been knocked out.
He walked out of the house and looked up toward the distant Shinra Building towering into the clouds.
It was like a steel beast coiled at the center of the city, devouring one important person after another from his life.
Zack, Aerith…
An unprecedented anger and determination surged in his chest.
He clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.
“Shinra…” He whispered each word, his voice filled with icy killing intent.
“I swear, I will tear you out by the roots.” He did not linger any longer.
He turned and sprinted toward the direction of Sector 7 as fast as he could.
He needed to return to the base immediately and tell Barret and Tifa what had happened.
A storm that would sweep across all of Midgar was about to arrive.
And this time, he would no longer passively accept fate.
He would strike first and take back everything he cherished with his own hands.