The Spare's Second Chance in Apocalypse-Chapter 288: Ch 287: Do you think you can Steal?- Part 3

Selene’s face twisted, bitter and tight, as she stared at the man standing in front of her—the man who used to call himself her father.

She did not want to fact him, even through the lens of the entity that was now controlling her body.

Vincent Vale looked calm, as if everything was still within his control, as if he still believed he could manage whatever mess she’d brought into his lab.

"Sit down. Let’s talk. Cooperate, Selene. This doesn’t have to get worse."

He said.

But the voice inside her—no, the thing inside her—had no interest in cooperating. Selene could feel its delight bubbling under her skin like hot tar.

[He thinks this is still his game. Let’s show him he was never the one pulling the strings.]

The entity whispered with venomous amusement.

Before Selene could resist, her body moved on its own.

Her hand struck the side of the glass chamber, shattering it with a sharp, unnatural force.

The swirling silver-blue mist burst outward like a living thing, and Selene’s fingers closed around the glowing core inside.

"No—!"

Selene gasped, fighting for control.

But it was too late.

The core pulsed in her palm like a heartbeat, and Selene felt her throat convulse.

The core slipped past her lips and down her throat before she could scream. It burned. It filled her like fire and ice all at once. Her knees hit the ground.

Vincent Vale stepped forward at last, no longer calm.

"You don’t know what you’re doing. If you don’t get control of that thing—Selene, you’ll regret this."

He snapped.

"I do regret it!"

She wanted to yell.

But her body refused to listen.

The entity turned to face Vincent, smiling cruelly through her face.

[You should be proud. It’s your work that made this possible. You opened the door. You built the path. We simply followed it. And now... we are here.]

It said.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about,"

Vincent growled.

The smile widened.

"Of course you don’t. You tampered with forces you couldn’t understand. You reached into places you had no business touching. And now you’ve brought us back."

Vincent took a step back, as if finally sensing the depth of what stood before him.

The core’s energy surged within Selene. The entity showed no intention of stopping.

"We have no more use for the Vale family."

It said.

Vincent’s eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?"

But the answer came not in words, but in action.

The entity raised Selene’s hand—and with a simple, careless snap of her fingers, the world around them changed.

The ground trembled.

The lights flickered, then went out.

And Selene felt it.

A dungeon had bloomed around them.

Not summoned. Not entered.

Created.

Vincent stumbled back, his voice filled with shock. "What did you do?! What is this?!"

"It’s a fitting end."

The entity said calmly—though this time, it wasn’t speaking to him. It was speaking to her.

[Look at them, Selene. Look at how pathetic they are. The ones who built your prison. The ones who carved you hollow. You don’t need to fear them anymore.]

And for a moment... Selene felt it. That dark satisfaction.

She had imagined so many times what it would be like to watch them fall.

To see the Vale family—the scientists, the manipulators, the liars—finally brought low. And now, it was happening.

But not like this.

Not by this thing’s hands.

"I don’t agree with this. This... this isn’t what I want."

Selene said aloud, her voice hoarse, her throat still scorched from the core.

The entity paused.

Then, coldly, it whispered.

[Then you deal with it.]

Before Selene could respond, a cold pressure slammed into her chest. The entity shoved her forward—back into control—like someone throwing a puppet off their hand.

And then... silence.

Selene blinked.

The dungeon was still growing. Alarms screamed somewhere in the distance.

The core’s power surged in her veins like molten metal. But the voice was gone.

Gone.

She gasped, reaching up to press a trembling hand to her chest. Her body felt like it didn’t belong to her anymore, like it had been rewired.

"Wait! what am I supposed to do—?"

She said, trying to call the entity back.

But there was no answer.

Just her, standing in the middle of a nightmare she hadn’t chosen.

A nightmare she now had to end.

Selene stared at her father, her chest heaving as the aftershocks of the summoned dungeon still trembled through the walls.

Vincent Vale was on the ground, struggling to sit up, a cut on his temple bleeding down the side of his face.

"Help me up. You don’t get to walk away from this. You brought that thing here. You committed these crimes. You think you’re any different from us?"

He snapped, voice hoarse with fury.

Selene’s hands curled into fists.

The glow of the core still pulsed beneath her skin, her body humming with unstable power.

Her heart was pounding, but it wasn’t fear that coursed through her now—it was rage.

"You think I owe you anything? After everything you did? After how you used me?"

She said, her voice low.

"Used you? I raised you. I made you. And now you’re just going to abandon all of that and pretend you’re innocent?"

Vincent spat.

Something snapped inside her.

The power surged without warning, lashes of invisible force rippling outward from her body.

Her father gasped and clutched his chest, his body jerking as if struck by something unseen. He dropped back to the floor with a heavy thud, eyes wide in shock.

Selene froze.

She hadn’t meant to do that. Not really. A flare of anger, yes—but nothing that should’ve done this.

Vincent didn’t get up.

Her breath caught.

"I didn’t... mean to—"

she whispered.

But even as the words left her lips, she knew. Something had changed. The power inside her wasn’t just the entity’s gift anymore. It was hers. It had become her.

She took a step back, staring at her father’s unmoving form.

Maybe she was different now.

And maybe... that terrified her more than anything else.