Inside the trunk of that immense metallic tree, Nene finally gathered the courage to ask her “new companion” the questions she had been wanting to ask for a long time.
Ignoring the cold and the pain in her body, she spoke.
"Alright. It’s time you answer my questions. First, could you explain what this place is…?" Nene asked, her voice tense. "This isn’t a normal Rift, is it?"
"That’s right," Sahara replied after a brief pause. "We’re in… uh… let’s see… how do I translate this word… Let’s just say it’s called the Negative Zone. It’s where we truly live. Here, things…"
The sentence broke off.
"Human Nene. Several creatures are coming. Quick, let’s escape."
"Huh…?"
She didn’t have time to process it.
A horrifying sound—wet and metallic—erupted all around her. Dozens of legs scraping against metal, brushing against organic surfaces, multiplying until they formed a sickening chorus that pierced her ears.
The noise was getting closer.
Nene peeked her head out of the trunk’s opening, and her heart stopped.
"T-Those are… SPIDERS!"
There were several. Not bigger than a small child, but that didn’t make them any less horrifying. Their metallic bodies, a dirty blue, reflected the faint light with an oily sheen. Their jointed legs moved in unnatural ways, and crystalline filaments twitched between their fangs.
Some descended from the top of the trunk, others crawled along the ground—but all of them were heading toward one place.
Toward her.
"We can’t get out this way," Sahara ordered. "Quick, cover the entrance with a web."
"A web…? H-how…?"
Before she could finish asking, an image stabbed directly into her mind, straight to her nervous system.
Nene swallowed.
The creatures screeched as they caught her scent.
They were hungry.
"D-Damn it…!"
She activated her Resonance without thinking further.
Residual Synchrony – Target: [Ethereal Spider (Web)] 1.5 R.P
From her outstretched hand, a reddish, viscous, pulsating web burst forth, shooting out and sealing the trunk’s entrance. The spiders crashed against it almost immediately, making the entire structure tremble.
"Climb," Sahara ordered. "That web won’t hold them for long."
"Climb…? How am I supposed to—?! My Resonance doesn’t last that long!"
"I know. Didn’t you understand the plan?"
The next mental image was even clearer.
Residual Synchrony – Target: [Ethereal Spider (Setae)] 1.0 R.P
"Ah…"
There was no time to hesitate.
Nene jumped.
Her hands stuck to the trunk as tiny bristle-like hairs sprouted from her skin—rough, unnatural, like the legs of a common spider. The contact was painful, as if her flesh were being torn from the inside.
One.
Two.
At the third second, the web broke with a wet screech.
At the fourth, Nene looked down… and her blood ran cold.
Residual Synchrony – Target: [Ethereal Spider (Setae)] 1.0 R.P
Just in time.
The bristles had vanished, but new ones sprouted instantly. They burned. They scorched. But they held her weight.
The spiders began climbing too.
"T-They’re coming!"
"Keep going. Don’t look down."
She clenched her teeth until her gums hurt.
She climbed.
At the fourth second, she activated her Resonance again… but this time, the fangs were too close. So close she could feel the foul air from their mouths brushing against her ankles.
"No…!"
She kicked one in the face. The impact shot up her leg like a whip. She climbed with everything she had, tears blurring her vision.
They’re going to catch me. I’m too slow!
"Come on! Use your head!" Sahara roared.
"Huh…? The web…? But activating two at the same time—"
She remembered how she had done it before without realizing. It was during the fight against Lorelley.
If she had done it once, she could do it again!
Her body’s internal clock screamed. Two seconds. Just two.
Nene gathered every ounce of courage she had left.
Residual Synchrony – Target: [Ethereal Spider (Web)] 1.5 R.P
The web shot out and wrapped around the nearest spiders, trapping them mid-climb.
Without stopping, she forced her Resonance.
Residual Synchrony – Target: [Ethereal Spider (Setae)] 1.0 R.P
For a second, her grip slipped—
Leaving a hollow void in her stomach as she felt her body begin to fall.
She swung her hand with all the strength she could muster, slamming her palm against the metallic surface.
At that moment, the bristles formed again.
"Yes…!"
The spiders’ screeches were atrocious, a noise that drilled into her skull.
For ten seconds, she remained in that rhythm—firing webs and forming bristles.
Then she saw it.
Another opening in the trunk.
She activated her Resonance one last time, creating a web—not to block, but to use as a rope. She pulled herself forward desperately.
She stumbled out.
The humidity hit her immediately. It wasn’t falling from the sky.
It was rising from… below?
"Rain…?" she gasped. "Since when…?"
It was a phenomenon that defied the logic of physical laws, but her brain had no time to process it.
"Run," Sahara ordered. "Before they catch us."
"Y-Yeah."
Nene began running along that deformed branch, but she hadn’t taken more than three steps when the tree trembled.
Leaves that looked like holograms painted in the darkness fell, dancing to the rhythm of the inverted rain.
Then a buzzing tore through the air.
The vibration made Nene’s skeleton tremble to its core.
What was that sound? Where was it coming from?
She didn’t know.
Until Sahara’s voice exploded in her mind.
"It’s a wasp!"
Information flooded her brain in less than a second.
The image of a wasp the size of a bus. Wings capable of creating violent gusts.
Most importantly, it was a relentless and ferocious hunter.
But the information came too late.
The wind behind her cracked.
And the image of that brutal creature burst through the darkness of the night, its wings flashing yellow, blue, and orange.
In a fraction of a second, the Wasp hurled itself toward the human.
The black stinger appeared inches from her shoulder.
In that millisecond, Sahara forced all her capacity—not to control Nene’s body, but to activate a section of her brain.
By doing so, she triggered the Resonance.
A small red carapace formed on her shoulder—
Then the stinger struck.
The armor shattered with a sharp crack.
"AH!"
The impact sent Nene flying like a rag doll.
Though she hadn’t realized it before, she had climbed very high during her escape from the spiders.
Which meant the ground was far below.
Height plus speed—the result was obvious.
If she hit directly, she would die.
"No! I won’t end like this!"
"That’s the spirit!"
Spinning in free fall, Nene managed to spot some metallic vines hanging nearby.
She reached out.
"Ugh!"
Her shoulder cracked as her momentum was abruptly stopped. The pain was immediate—brutal. It felt like her shoulder had been dislocated.
Her body slammed against the trunk, forcing her to release the vine—but she grabbed it again with clumsy movements.
In the end, she descended roughly, landing face-first on the ground from a lower height.
"Ahg…" she gasped. "Everything… hurts…"
"Get up, Human Nene. That wasp is still there."
She closed her eyes for a second.
"...I-I hate this place."
And yet, she stood.
With her battered body and her mind on the verge of collapse, she ran through the rain that rose from the ground and the murderous vegetation—praying that nothing else would happen.