The Spare's Second Chance in Apocalypse-Chapter 289: Ch 288: I want to help - Part 1

Selene’s breathing slowed as the surge of adrenaline drained from her body.

Her father lay crumpled on the floor behind her, groaning faintly as he reached toward her with one trembling hand.

"Selene..." he rasped. "Wait—"

She didn’t look back.

"You’ll have to figure something out for yourself."

She said coldly.

And then she ran.

The hallway was filled with smoke and flickering lights.

Alarms screamed through the crumbling facility as fires tore through the walls and ceilings.

Selene felt heat lick at her back, but she didn’t slow down. Her legs carried her forward with a single goal in mind—escape.

She turned a corner and almost ran straight into a group of monsters.

They growled and howled, their mutated forms twisted and violent.

Selene braced herself for the attack—but it never came.

The creatures glanced in her direction, barely pausing before rushing past her and toward the screams further down the hall.

Selene stared after them in confusion.

’They didn’t see me as a threat.’

She didn’t know if that should comfort her or terrify her. These weren’t dumb beasts—they knew who to target.

And somehow, she wasn’t on that list anymore.

She spotted other rankers in the distance, struggling to push the monsters back.

Flames rose behind them, painting the smoke red and orange.

Selene’s first instinct was to join the fight, to help the way she always had.

But something held her back. She couldn’t shake the feeling that this wasn’t her fight anymore—not here, not now.

’I need to end this. Fast.’

Her instincts pulled her forward again. There was something drawing her, something deeper within the building. A pull, quiet but persistent.

The dungeon’s core.

Selene sprinted through the collapsing halls, dodging falling debris and bodies as she followed that unseen thread.

When she finally reached the far end of the facility, she stopped.

Nothing.

Just a blank wall. No portal. No visible door.

Her eye twitched.

"No way..."

She snarled and swung her hand out in frustration.

She didn’t expect to hit anything—until her palm struck something solid. The air rippled. Something cracked.

And then the world exploded.

The shockwave threw her back, heat surging over her skin as a fiery roar split the building in two.

Walls shattered. The ceiling caved in. The entire facility lit up in a wave of light and destruction.

But Selene didn’t feel it.

Because in front of her now, revealed at last, was a massive, glowing gateway.

The dungeon entrance.

It pulsed in front of her, alive with dark energy. Waiting.

Selene stepped toward it, her expression unreadable. She’d come here looking for answers.

And now, the path forward had opened.

Selene stood in front of the glowing dungeon gate, her breath shallow, her hands trembling.

She didn’t know how she knew what to do—only that her instincts, or perhaps the remnants of the entity that had taken over her body earlier, whispered the instructions like a mantra.

’Channel the flow. Sever the bond. Detonate the core.’

Her body moved almost automatically, fingers weaving through the air, manipulating unseen threads of energy that vibrated within the portal.

The gate shuddered, then cracked.

Power surged through her limbs as the dungeon pulsed wildly in defiance, and Selene closed her eyes just as everything erupted.

A blinding flash followed.

When she opened her eyes again, the entire facility was gone—burned into ashes and rubble, with smoke rising from its blackened skeleton.

The sky overhead had darkened, as if mourning what once stood there.

Selene stood amidst the chaos, swaying slightly on her feet. Her clothes were scorched, hair tangled, skin smeared with ash. But she was alive.

Most of the other awakeners, though injured and bloodied, had survived the blast.

They stumbled around the wreckage in a daze, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

No one seemed to know who or what had caused the dungeon’s implosion.

Selene took a shaky breath and stepped back into the crowd, blending in as best she could.

She avoided making eye contact. Her hands were still trembling. She looked down at them, half-expecting to see blood—or power—crackling from her skin.

But it was just her.

Just Selene.

She slapped her cheeks softly, trying to snap herself out of the numbness.

The sting of her palm didn’t lie. This wasn’t a dream. She had done it. Her father—Vincent Vale—was gone.

The man who had made her life a maze of cruelty and manipulation, the one who had experimented on others like her as if they were toys... was no more.

Her heart ached, but it also felt strangely light.

’Am I... free now?’

She didn’t know the answer. But she knew she needed to leave.

She turned to walk away—but her knees buckled. Her vision blurred.

Every drop of energy she had was gone. She could barely take another step.

Dragging herself into the shadows of an alley, she collapsed to the ground. Cold, uneven pavement pressed into her side. Her limbs felt like stone.

Before she could black out, she fumbled for her communicator and sent a shaky message to the only person she could rely on right now.

"Ethan... pick me up. Please."

Her fingers slipped, and she finally gave in to the exhaustion.

Not long after, someone knelt beside her.

"Woah... wait, is that—?"

The man—tall, silver-haired, face flush with panic—gently touched her cheek. His green eyes widened in shock and something else. Something softer.

"This is definitely not what I expected today..."

Luke Roth, Rank #5 in the Hunter Association, tried to keep his face straight.

But he couldn’t stop the blush creeping up his neck as he looked down at the unconscious girl.

The sheer aura she gave off... even in this state...

He cleared his throat, awkwardly glancing around.

"Helping. I’m helping. Just doing the right thing. It’s not because she’s absurdly beautiful or... ridiculously powerful or... gods, why am I talking?"

He scooped her up carefully, cradling her in his arms with the gentleness of someone handling something rare and fragile.

"Right thing. Just the right thing..."

He mumbled again, face hot.

And with that, he carried her away from the ruins.