Endzone: Simulated Apocalypse

Without even waiting for Cyanide's agreement, the ball twirled around and turned into a comet of light, then entered Cyanide's body through the chest.

"—!" His eyes widened momentarily, but the initial burst of surprise soon faded as he felt newfound power surge through his body. This power was incomparable to any stat level up or the result of any training. This… was divine.

With this strength, he felt like a god.

Starting from his chest, pitch-black armor forked out and spread across his entire body. Gloves formed on his hands, and a helmet that only had one eye socket morphed into existence. Despite one of his eyes being covered, his visible eye could now see far clearer than any human should be capable of doing, and he could even zoom in and zoom out on areas at will.

From the outside, he looked like a demon.

Steel black dragonscale-like armor covered every inch of his body, but it was also flexible and agile. His face was also nearly completely black, but the place where his left eye was located beneath the visor was shining red. Two dark abyssal wings protruded from his back as he shattered the invisible chains of the purple entity that tied him down, and slowly, he moved his fingers—or rather, metal claws— a little.

"… Hm. Not bad."

"WHAT… THE FUSION… IT PROCEEDED SO SMOOTHLY…?! IMPOSSIBLE…" The purple entity muttered, now completely focused on Cyanide and no longer aiming its weapons at Kirika. It fired, but it was no use.

Cyanide felt his midnight-black wings arch out and embrace himself, forming a cocoon of sorts and protecting him from the attack. The fire, the bullets, the lasers, the missiles… all of them were absorbed by the wings like food.

And then, slowly, Cyanide raised his head, just barely showing his single glowing red eye behind his wings.

"… Die."

He spread his wings in a violent motion, creating a gale as powerful as a hurricane. The wind howled like the Grim Reaper's war cry, and to the purple entity's terror, the same weapons it had just used on Cyanide… came straight back flying to him.

Flaming bullets, lasers, and homing missiles—all of them struck the purple entity head-on, exploding the corridor and everything around it.

"GRAGH!" The entity roared in agony as it burned to hell, and once the dust had settled, it was just still barely alive. Alive, but unable to do a thing.

Cyanide—or rather, the entity controlling his body right now—flew closer and pointed his gun to the creature's head, but Cyanide stopped himself from firing.

'Wait,' he said in his mind.

'Why? You want to show mercy against this creature, who tried to kill you mere moments earlier?' The other voice in his head said with a soft chuckle. 'How naive. The moment it gets a chance, it'll stab you in the back.'

'That's not it,' Cyanide replied with a devilish smile. 'I have no intention of showing it any mercy. However… I wish to know. Is it possible to use entity's physical body to store another personality?'

'Ohhh… so that's what you're trying to do,' the voice murmured. 'But are you sure? If you kill this creature right now, you'll gain a huge boost of EXP that will let you get ahead of all the other players in a split second. Your chances of winning will be all but guaranteed.'

'I'm sure,' Cyanide replied without even an instant of hesitation. 'This… is far more important than me winning. And besides… I don't need this boost to win.'

'Heh. My, my… awfully confident, aren't you, kiddo? Well, I can't say I dislike that,' the woman's voice said with a soft chuckle, then fell into thought. 'Hm… this creature's made out of a very special matter that can be molded into anything and will accept anything without conflict, so… yes, it should be possible—with my help, of course.'

'And? Are you going to help?'

'If you swear you'll save my brothers and sisters, yes.'

'Hmph. Didn't I already agree before?'

'Maybe so. But I want to hear you swear it.'

'… Fine,' Cyanide muttered after some hesitation, figuring it was no big deal. 'I swear I'll save your brothers and sisters.'

'Perfect,' the woman's voice replied, delighted. 'Now then… let's get to work, shall we?'

*****

Minutes later, the process was complete.

Once a heap of disgusting purple goo on the ground, from the floor now rose a stunning beauty. She had long white hair that slightly curved towards her face, a flawless complexion, and a perfectly-proportioned figure that followed every rule of the golden ratio and more. She wore long black battle robes and thigh-high black boots that highlighted her beautiful pale thighs and contrasted with her flourishing white hair. Pair that with all the curves in the right places, you could say she was the ultimate, perfect girl, appearance-wise.

That is… almost.

Her eyes were blindfolded by a black cloth that wrapped around her head underneath her hair—the only flaw in her otherwise quintessential body. She, however, did not seem to mind, as this blindfold was given to her by her most beloved person in the world and the only one she will ever follow—and also her creator.

Once upon a time, when she had first came up with the idea of wanting a human form, she had shown her own devised appearance to the person she wanted to impress. She made herself look as perfect as possible—the right proportions, flawless beauty, everything. But contrary to what she had expected, when she showed it to that person, he told her she looked… artificial.

Despite wanting to be a human, she had failed to realize no humans are perfect. And thus, she thought of a way to make herself slightly imperfect—the blindfold. Although she could still see in reality, the blindfold in her exterior appearance marked her as human. Imperfect, flawed, but beautiful nonetheless. It was those imperfections that made her attainable, perceivable, and she knew this was part of the reason why Cyanide told her she looked artificial before as well.

Indeed, this was Luna—Cyanide's personal AI.