Ex-Human Morphus [A Mutant Evolution Apocalypse LitRPG]
Chapter 195: Interlude I – Catalina

Chapter 195: Interlude I – Catalina

The resonating sounds of footsteps echoing from the staircase steadily grew closer. It was just a matter of time before her pursuers emerged from the door to the roof where she awaited them. Catalina had no escape routes left, but she wasn’t going to surrender, no matter what. She would keep fighting until the very end, no matter the cost. She knew she couldn’t win this fight, but she aimed to take as many of those bastards with her as possible.

Los Demonios had been chasing her group for days. Ever since she had turned down their offer to join, they had been on her tail, pursuing her and her friends throughout the city. Her group bravely fought back, but they were greatly outnumbered, and her teammates were killed one by one until she was the last one standing.

It all started a few days ago when her group was ambushed by Los Demonios, led by a man known as Skullface. A single look at his tattoo-covered face made it clear why he bore that name—a skull tattoo covered his entire visage, creating an intimidating effect.

Skullface told her they had been watching her group for a few days and were quite impressed by Catalina’s combat skills. They wanted her to join them. However, joining wasn’t simple. To become a full-fledged member, she had to demonstrate her loyalty to the gang. To do that, she had to kill one of her teammates, and quite brutally at that.

Catalina didn’t think for a second about the offer. Why would she betray her friends in favor of Los Demonios? That wasn’t who she was. Her teammates were family, some of them by her side since the Collapse. She knew Los Demonios was a very powerful gang, and it wasn’t wise to go against them. However, she refused to take the life of someone she had fought alongside. So she told Skullface to go fuck himself.

Since that fateful day, her team had been relentlessly hunted down until every last one of her friends was dead. She was all alone now. For an entire day, Los Demonios had pursued her. Despite successfully taking out a few of them, she was acutely aware her luck couldn’t hold forever. Soon enough, it didn’t—Los Demonios had cornered her, trapping her on the rooftop of a ten-story building with no escape route in sight.

All she could do was stay and wait for the remaining members of the group that was after her to emerge from the staircase onto the roof. She had no ammo left, so she couldn’t fight back anymore. However, she wasn’t going to surrender. Even if she was down to her fists and teeth, she would fight on. But she thought it might not come to that because she had an ace up her sleeve—something she kept hidden, planning to use only when push came to shove. It looked like this moment had arrived. She just needed to wait for the gangsters to emerge onto the roof, and if everything went as planned, she might just get out of this fix after all.

The sound of rushing footsteps steadily grew louder until, at last, the bandits chasing her burst through the door. They froze at the sight of her standing alone at the center of the roof. Guns were raised, but they hesitated to fire, perhaps mistaking her stillness for submission. Or maybe they noticed what she was holding in one of her raised hands.

Skullface loomed in front of his men, locking eyes with her. He opened his mouth as if to speak but halted when he caught sight of the enchanted grenade she was gripping in one raised hand. Nobody spoke for a moment, and the whistle of the wind was the only audible sound.

Catalina stood firm, fifteen yards separating her from Skullface and his men. The acrid scent of sweat and tension thickened the air. She clenched her fist around the grenade, mysterious symbols covering its surface glowing orange and green. The enchantments coursing through it heightened its potency, amplifying the explosion to levels far beyond those of a conventional grenade. Infused with magical energy, the grenade had the potential to create a massive explosion, unleashing shockwaves and elemental blasts capable of completely obliterating a small structure.

“Stay back,” Catalina warned, her voice steady despite the tension.

Skullface stared at her in silence for a moment, as if weighing her words. Then a sly grin spread across his tattooed face, revealing a glint of amusement.

“Or what?” he challenged.

“The grenade in my hand is packed with so much magical energy it can obliterate this entire roof. So y’all better stay the hell away from me.”

The bandits shifted nervously at her threat. Unlike his men, Skullface appeared unfazed by her words. His grin widened. “Once more, I ask: or what? If you blow that thing up, you’re going to die too.”

“You think I don’t know that? I’m gonna die anyway because you assholes ain’t gonna leave me be. So if I’m to die, I’m gonna do it on my own terms, taking the lives of all of you as well.”

Her men shifted uncomfortably, disturbed by her words. She sounded convincing because she was dead serious. They knew she wasn’t lying. However, unlike her, they weren’t ready to die.

Still, Skullface remained unimpressed.

“Then what are you waiting for? Why won’t you use the grenade? Go ahead and throw it at us!”

“Boss, she means it,” one of his men urged, attempting to reason with Skullface.

“Shut up,” he snapped back at the speaker, not taking his eyes off Catalina. “Nobody moves. Hold your ground. She ain’t gonna do it.” His smile returned, taunting her. “It’s all just a facade. Deep down, she’s scared shitless.”

Catalina didn’t want to die. However, she had been prepared to face the bitter end if necessary. Now that Skullface was calling her bluff, she knew she needed to act. She had no other choice. The only consolation was that Skullface and his men would share her fate, and the deaths of her teammates would be avenged.

With a swift motion, she hurled the grenade. It sailed through the air like a comet, leaving a glowing trail in its wake as it spiraled toward its target. Skullface’s men froze in terror, their eyes wide. But Skullface himself was different: his grin widened even more, as if Catalina had done exactly what he had wanted her to.

“Not today, Catalina,” Skullface proclaimed, his grin contorting his tattooed face into an even more terrifying mask.

The grenade suddenly hung suspended in the air, as if caught in an invisible web, half the distance traveled and halfway to annihilation.

Catalina’s heart raced as the reality of the moment set in, the silence nestled heavily between them—a silence steeped in the knowledge that everything could change in an instant.

Their gazes locked as an intense silence hung in the air. Then, in the flicker of a heartbeat, Skullface cast another spell, crafting a micro black hole just inches from the grenade. Catalina’s pulse quickened, memories of the spell flooding her mind—the harsh reality of what it could unleash. She had already witnessed such a spell in action, so she knew the dire consequences: the black hole would consume everything within its grasp for a few seconds, distorting reality with its sharp cosmic edges.

As she prepared for terrible things to happen, time itself seemed to slow down. Catalina’s senses sharpened, allowing her to dissect the impending chaos. She saw the grenade’s magical symbols glowing brighter, the tempest contained within the metal sphere about to be set free. And then, right before detonation, the black hole lashed out, its inky darkness expanding toward the grenade with an insatiable hunger.

For a brief moment, she thought of the devastation it could wreak—the shattering of bones, the destruction of her enemies, the turmoil left in its wake. But Skullface had timed it perfectly, placing the black hole in a way that would siphon off the overwhelming force of the explosion.

As the grenade detonated, an eruption of brilliant light erupted in a spectacular display, a cross between fireworks and an ethereal storm. Energy erupted outward, but rather than causing destruction, it spiraled toward the black hole, disappearing into its depths—lost in a ravenous void that was drawn to the blast. It voraciously consumed immense amounts of energy, devouring the very essence of the powerful explosion.

The ambient pressure shifted, a violent rush of energy folding into the micro singularity, yet Skullface and his men stood unscathed, ensnared in an echo of the explosion that never fully formed. The black hole struggled against the onslaught, its core collapsing under an overwhelming influx of energy. It seemed as though reality itself was bending as the spiraling energy was swallowed whole, with nothing left to escape.

Catalina’s heart raced with a mixture of fear and awe. She realized that the black hole was overwhelmed, saturated to a breaking point with raw explosive energy. This could create a cosmic paradox, something that could threaten them all and bring the entire high-rise building crashing down. But oddly enough, it seemed the black hole was trapped in a gluttonous cycle, unable to expand or draw in anything beyond that kinetic force.

Then, in a spectacular finale, the black hole could take no more. With a sudden implosion, it folded in on itself, the energy it had feasted upon dissipating like a candle snuffed in the wind. The void collapsed, and a shockwave vibrated through the air, a ripple devoid of destructiveness yet reverberating in intensity. Silence returned as if the world was holding its breath, leaving behind a haunting stillness.

Skullface continued to gaze at Catalina, his grin unwavering, while his men recoiled in fear as shards of magic crackled in the air—echoes of the fierce battle between powerful magical forces that had just unfolded. The dangerous dance had concluded, and for a fleeting moment, Catalina felt the tension dissipate.

“Nice try, but it seems we’re still standing,” Skullface said, a smirk spreading across his face. “Or you got any more nades?”

Catalina’s resolve hardened. Her plan had failed, but she wouldn’t back down. Not now. Not ever.

“Figured as much,” Skullface laughed, but his amusement vanished in an instant. “Now go get her,” he commanded his men, who promptly advanced toward her.

A few raised their weapons, but he quickly shouted, “No! Don’t shoot her! I need her alive, you damn idiots!”

It made sense. They had been chasing her all day long, and she had managed to kill some of his men. So of course, Skullface wanted her to pay dearly for that. He had no intention of giving her a quick death. But she wasn’t about to let the bastards catch her. Unsheathing the knife from her belt, she charged at the bandits.

She was incredibly fast and agile. Slashing one bandit across the arm, she quickly jumped aside to avoid being grabbed by another. She kept attacking, slashing and stabbing at her assailants, injuring one after another while deftly evading their attempts to capture her. 

However, she was greatly outnumbered, and her luck couldn’t last forever. Eventually, one of them managed to land a heavy hit on her. She noticed it in time and dodged, so instead of striking her head, he hit her shoulder. The impact was still brutal, causing her legs to buckle and throwing her off balance.

Before she could regain her footing, she felt someone wrench the knife from her grip. With a sudden force, two bandits seized her from either side, dragging her to the ground. Snarling like a cornered beast, she thrashed and kicked her attackers. She fought so fiercely that even several bandits struggled to keep her pinned down.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over her, and for a brief moment, she paused her struggle to look up. She saw Skullface towering above her, his menacing tattooed face grinning down at her.

“Gotcha,” he said, lifting one boot to hover ominously over her face. In the next moment, the heavy boot crashed down, connecting with her head. Bright sparks erupted before her eyes, and the world around her went dark.

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