This Beast-Tamer is a Little Strange-Chapter 555: Exit

Kain's face twisted briefly before he tapped one of the System's snide options randomly—after all, they all had the same effect and he didn't particularly want to acknowledge which insulting option was ultimately selected.

So he didn't even register which one he picked. He just jabbed aggressively at the screen like someone swatting an annoying fly—'a fitting analogy…' Kain thought about his often irritating partner.

But after making his selection. The screen simply vanished.

He waited.

And waited.

But nothing happened.

The chamber remained eerily still, no great unlocking, no dramatic swirl of energy, no bright pulse of light. The creatures trapped in the massive crystals didn't stir. Their poses remained frozen, their expressions untouched. Kain frowned.

Then came a quiet ding.

[Alert: Objective completed. Genetic archive successfully acquired. Please enter the Cradle for more information.]

"…What?" he muttered aloud.

His eyes darted around, but everything looked exactly the same. He extended his senses, searching for a change in aura, energy levels, anything. Still nothing. No creatures missing, no crystals broken, no visual confirmation of anything having changed at all.

Yet beneath that stillness, there was an almost imperceptible shift in atmosphere—like the ghost of something precious being stolen from under their noses. It was the kind of silence that followed a crime unnoticed—or it may just be Kain's slightly guilty conscience due to feeling like he's acting under his allies' noses.

If this 'genetic archive' had really been taken by the System... then it had been done quietly. Discreetly. The way a thief might slip a coin from behind a merchant's stall.

He'd have to enter the System itself to see what exactly had been taken.

Before he could act, the ground trembled.

Boom Boom Bang

A violent jolt shook the chamber, followed by a low groaning rumble that rose up from the earth like a distant avalanche. Dust spilled from the ceiling. Crystals swayed ever so slightly in their fields of energy.

Boom Bang

Then a second quake struck—sharper, more violent.

Everyone immediately turned, tense and ready.

"What was that?" Pete asked, staggering forward, eyes wide as he instinctively reached for his weapon.

"The abomination," Kain said coldly, voice clipped. "It found us again."

Lina gasped. "But I thought only species allowed could enter the Sanctuary. No spiritual creatures without authorization—"

"It's not technically a spiritual creature. Not to mention, as a byproduct of the creators of these ruins, it may just have authorization. Or it may not…," Serena murmured. She placed a hand on a glowing crystal-embedded wall that was beginning to crumble from the ruckus outside. "Time has a way of weakening all things, the restrictions may not be so great on a creature so powerful after all this time. It sounds like it is forcing its way through."

The crystal under her hand trembled again, thin cracks spidering across its smooth surface. A low, keening whine echoed faintly—almost like the room was groaning under the strain of an immense weight.

Zareth stumbled slightly as he stepped back from the tree, his hand still glowing faintly violet from where he'd finished linking with the relic core. Sweat drenched his hair, and he looked pale—but he gave them a weak smile.

"…It's time to go," he said hoarsely.

A collective exhale swept the group.

"Oh, thank the gods," Pete muttered, slumping with relief.

Malzahir sighed deeply, casting one final glance toward the preserved merfolk.

Even Serena and Lina looked reluctant as their eyes drifted back to the many frozen faces. Strange, wondrous creatures. Silent witnesses to a past they could barely imagine.

"We can't just leave them," Lina whispered. "What if that thing breaks in?"

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Serena frowned, her brow furrowed in worry. "They can't defend themselves. They've been preserved for who knows how long. If it destroys them—"

"They'll be fine," Zareth interrupted gently, his voice conveying a reassuring certainty and authority. "Now that I've controlled the core, I understand the relic a bit better. Although its ultimate goal is not fully clear to me, I know that its issue is with us. This Sanctuary was made to remain sealed unless permitted otherwise. It allowed us in, yes—like Serena said wards preventing our approach may have weakened, or humans were always allowed in as one of the creators of this place…Why we could enter doesn't matter since when we, the invaders, leave…" He exhaled slowly. "It will stop trying."

Kain's eyes narrowed. "How can you be so sure?" Unlike the others who were immediately relieved he was still reluctant to leave all these frozen people here. After all, the other had no way of taking them all—if given enough time, he realistically could.

"I don't know," Zareth admitted. "I just feel it. And the relic does too. It's not designed to destroy everything in its path—it's designed to wait. To guard these ruins. And once we're gone, it can do that again."

The others exchanged glances, uncertain but trusting. One by one, they nodded.

Pete looked back toward the feathered foxes. "Guess this is goodbye, weird fluffy fellas."

Malzahir whispered something in his native language no one, not even Kain, understood, brushing his fingertips once more against the crystal holding the mermaid.

Kain lingered the longest. His eyes roved across the field of preserved beings. Something about it still gnawed at him. But he knew he wouldn't get any answers right now.

They gathered around Zareth at the base of the dead tree, where the relic orb now floated steadily. The runes across the chamber began to shimmer faintly once more.

A hum filled the space.

Then a light—bright, clean, and colourless—rose from the orb and engulfed them.

As it spread, the world around them blurred. Crystal. Stone. Dust. Creatures. Faces. All melted away into nothing but a pure, white glow.

A final tremor rolled through the chamber just as the light consumed them, and far in the distance behind layers of rock, something massive roared.

And then—

The world around Kain faded to white.