The doors of the biological laboratory opened, and sterile gas immediately gushed from the gap. Lox stepped forward, his white protective suit speckled with blood, and stopped before Hal.
Lox's protective gloves had already been dyed red with the War Hound's blood. Hal knew that crimson all too well. Countless times on the battlefield, he had been drenched in blood from head to toe, relying on his own ferocity and strength to hack his way out of encirclements.
His heart lurched. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed a mouthful of corrosive saliva with difficulty. He did not know whether Lox would bring good news or bad.
But rationally speaking, the Broken Hound knew the latter was far more likely than the former.
Bring it on. Even if it was the worst possible outcome, he would accept it. A War Hound could die on the operating table, die struggling against the Butcher's Nails.
Seeing Endryd Haar's utterly grave expression, Lox's tense face suddenly broke into a smile.
"I have good news for you, Captain Haar. We have successfully caused the first War Hound's Butcher's Nails to crash. Under the clash and overwrite of logic, his Butcher's Nails will no longer frantically torment their host's will."
"We have completed the most crucial step in overcoming the Butcher's Nails. What you asked for—a warrior no longer disturbed by the Butcher's Nails—has been achieved. Next, we will remove the Butcher's Nails and give them back bodies under their complete control."
Lox's words seemed to pass through a filter in Haar's ears. The scarlet world before him seemed, in an instant, to have its dark clouds swept away as the sun rose. Lox's voice echoed ceaselessly through his mind.
"The Butcher's Nails... crashed?"
Instinctively, Haar thought it was another lie, like those damned xenos