Black Mother!
The moment he heard that name, every nerve in Trist's body tensed.
Under the brilliant golden sunlight, A Yu's eyes were pitch-black, as though an entire universe lay hidden within that darkness.
Trist's eyes were drawn to those fathomless depths, and the movements of his hands slowed.
Blood vessels spread across his eyes, veins bulged on his forehead, his muscles contracted, and his entire body stiffened like a corpse.
Countless images surfaced in his mind. They were memories of the Ruined City—the experience of scurrying like a rat through cramped slums, the cruel scenes of human lives treated as worthless weeds that he had once witnessed.
Before he realized it, Trist raised the barrel of his gun—not toward A Yu, but toward his own chin.
With his trembling finger resting on the trigger, a terrifying, bizarre, incomprehensible, indescribable, enormous shadow appeared before Trist's eyes.
Before that writhing shadow, even death was a luxurious pleasure.
Trist wanted to obtain that pleasure.
His finger tightened, about to pull the trigger.
At that moment, some kind of sound exploded beside Trist's ear.
His eardrums hurt as though someone were stabbing them with an awl, and his head buzzed violently. The indescribable existence and the miserable memories of the past were all replaced by that buzzing. Even A Yu before him had turned into a concretized sound wave.
Trist fell to his knees. Beside him, Lu Ban walked over.
In Lu Ban's hand was Last Words in materialized form, its barrel aimed at Trist. He had already fired twice. At that moment, the echoes of the flashbang filled Trist's head, nearly knocking him unconscious.
Lu Ban glanced at the depths of A Yu's eyes and felt somewhat dizzy. Although it seemed as if several unknown beings were arguing inside his head, it