Infinite System Inheritor Return From The Abyss-Chapter 377 - 375: For a friend

The world inside Hannah's mind changed again. The sky turned light gray and made everything look dull and colorless. The trees, the houses, the roads—they all looked like old photos with no life.

When Jinhyu and Minseok opened their eyes, they saw they were standing in the middle of a quiet street. Houses stood on both sides, dark and empty, like no one had lived in them for years. The windows were broken, doors half open, and the wind didn't move.

Everything felt still, like time had stopped. The air was heavy and hard to breathe, like something was pressing down on their chests, but they kept walking.

Jinhyu looked around and realized this was the town Hannah once talked about, the place she lived before they meet. It looked the same as her stories. There was a small park with swings that didn't move, a toy car lying in the road, a little shoe near the bakery covered in dust.

Minseok didn't say anything, but he pulled out a crystal and whispered to it. In a soft light, the Gale Falcon appeared and landed on his shoulder. The bird let out a low cry and looked around, its sharp eyes scanning everything.

"Help us find her," Minseok said quietly, and the bird flew into the sky, fast and silent.

They walked faster, following the same street, until they saw a house at the end. One window had a light inside. Jinhyu stopped. He knew this place. Hannah once said this was where she lived with her older sister after their parents died in the first wave.

It looked almost too real. As they got closer, memories started showing up in the air, like scenes playing out in front of them. But the boys ignored them.

They saw Hannah as a child holding her sister's hand while alarms screamed in the distance. She cried while buildings fell behind her.

Another scene showed her in a hospital alone. Another had her laughing with them in the garden. One showed her staring into a mirror, whispering something too quiet to hear.

They didn't stop. They didn't watch. They knew these were memories, tricks to slow them down. Jinhyu and Minseok kept going.

The road twisted and bent like it wasn't real anymore. The ground felt soft and strange. A bad smell filled the air—something like burning and rotting at the same time.

It made Minseok gag and cover his mouth. Then, the Gale Falcon cried out from far ahead. They looked up and saw the bird circling a place at the very edge of this dream-world.

They ran. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

And finally, they saw it.

A huge black wall, alive and moving, stood in front of them. It looked like an insect's shell, with sharp legs and twisted arms coming out from it. The whole thing shook and pulsed like it was breathing. In the middle of its back was Hannah.

Her body was stuck there, halfway inside. Her wings were bent and wrapped in the dark shell. Her eyes were closed, her arms hanging down. It looked like the thing was eating her, like she was being swallowed slowly.

Jinhyu stopped, frozen in place. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Minseok grabbed his arm and pointed. "There—she's still there."

Then, the ground cracked open in front of them, and something huge rose out.

It had long legs like blades, a body like armor, and a face that split open into smoke and teeth. Its eyes glowed red, and it spoke with a voice that sounded like bugs crawling in their ears.

"You found her," it said. "But you're too late."

Minseok stepped forward. He called his Gale Falcon again. The bird came back with a loud cry and flapped its wings hard, making the dust blow around them.

Jinhyu didn't look at the monster. He looked past it. He looked at Hannah. His voice shook as he spoke. "I see you, Hannah… I know you're still in there."

The creature laughed. Its voice was deep and cold.

"Then come," it said. "Come and try to take her back."

The monster moved first, its long legs smashing into the ground with a loud crack as it rushed forward like a blur, its sharp arms slicing the air.

and Minseok barely had time to push Jinhyu to the side before the claw stabbed the spot where they stood, the ground breaking apart beneath it, and dust flew into their faces.

Minseok's heart pounded hard as he shouted, "Skywing—blow it away!"

The bird only flapped its wings, sending a strong gust that slowed the monster for a second but not enough to hurt it.

Minseok bit his lip, realizing fast that he didn't know how to fight with it—his skills only helped him run fast, move quick, dodge and escape, not destroy something like this.

Jinhyu rolled on the ground, coughing hard, his body shaking from the shock. He wasn't awakened, he had no power, no skills, and yet he forced himself to get up, staring at the creature that had Hannah stuck to its back, his legs heavy and chest tight, but he moved anyway, even if it was only a few steps.

The monster turned to them again and let out a strange screech that sounded like metal breaking and wind screaming, and then it jumped, landing right between them, the ground shaking from the force.

and with a fast swipe it hit Minseok in the side, sending him flying across the field and crashing into the broken wall of a dream house, where he groaned in pain and didn't move right away.

"Minseok!" Jinhyu shouted, panic rising in his voice, but he couldn't run to him because the monster turned toward him now, towering over him like a nightmare.

Jinhyu stepped back, trembling, but didn't run—he looked up at Hannah again, her head still lowered, her wings stuck and her body barely moving, and something inside him refused to leave.

"I'm not leaving you," he said quietly, even if his knees shook.

The monster hissed and slammed a claw toward him, and Jinhyu raised his arms in a weak attempt to shield himself, but the Gale Falcon came flying fast, spinning around the monster's head and blowing dust into its face, forcing it to miss the strike by just a bit.

Minseok groaned as he stood up slowly, blood on his lip, and called out, "Jinhyu—run!" but Jinhyu didn't move.

"We're not leaving without her!" he shouted back.

Minseok's hand trembled as he raised the crystal again, trying to command the Gale Falcon to keep distracting, but the commands weren't perfect, the control weak, and the bird wasn't strong enough—it could only stall, not stop the monster.

Jinhyu ran forward anyway, grabbing a rock and throwing it with all his strength at the creature—not to hurt it, but to draw its attention back to him.

"Come at me!" he yelled, even as fear crawled up his spine.

The monster turned, slow and menacing, and its red eyes locked onto him again.

Then it spoke, its voice like a thousand whispers.

"You're just a bug. A weak, crying bug."

Jinhyu's fists clenched. "I don't care. If I have to be a bug, I'll bite you for her."

And even when it charged at him again, claws swinging, and even when he knew he couldn't dodge, couldn't block, and the pain was sure to come—he didn't move, because all he could see was Hannah, and the thought that she was still inside there, watching, waiting, and needing them to reach her.

Minseok pushed himself to run again, limping badly but still moving, calling out to his falcon to draw the monster back again, shouting her name like it could break through the fog.

"Hannah! Hannah, please wake up! We're here!"

And for a moment—a very small moment—Hannah's hand twitched.

The creature froze, just for a heartbeat.

And both boys saw it.

"She's fighting," Jinhyu whispered, even as blood dripped down his arm.

"She's still in there," Minseok said through clenched teeth.

And neither of them stopped. Even when the monster raised its claw again. Even when pain filled their bodies. Because they knew. She was still there.