By the time the extraction van finally rolled into the subterranean garage of the 5th Division Headquarters, Pela had locked her small, pale fingers around Faiz's hand in a death grip. She absolutely refused to let go.
Faiz looked down at the undead girl clinging to his side. "Pela, what's wrong?"
"Wanna play," Pela mumbled, burying her face into his torn sleeve.
Faiz sighed and looked over at Saki, who was currently stretching her stiff shoulders. "Saki."
"Hmm?"
"Pela wants to play."
Saki waved a hand dismissively. "Then go play with her. But you have to do it inside her designated isolation chamber. We can't have a walking weapon wandering the halls freely."
Faiz couldn't really argue with that. Besides, feeling the desperate tightness of Pela's grip, he realized just how incredibly lonely the girl's existence must be.
"Alright," Faiz said softly to her. "But before we play, we need to find Tsubasa-senpai. I promised you steak, right?"
Pela's pitch-black eyes instantly lit up. "Steak!"
According to Saki, Tsubasa was currently in the main cafeteria. However, the cafeteria was currently packed with off-duty staff and cadets grabbing their evening meals. As soon as Faiz stepped through the automatic doors with Pela trailing behind him, the loud chatter instantly died.
The room fell into a terrified, suffocating silence. Everyone recognized the pale girl in the oversized hoodie. She was the division's most unstable, lethal asset.
Sensing the hundreds of fearful eyes locking onto her, Pela whimpered, shrinking back and completely hiding herself behind Faiz's back, using his body as a shield.
Faiz ignored the stares. He walked slowly and calmly through the parted sea of terrified Hunters until he spotted a familiar white lab coat at a corner table.
"Ah. Tsubasa-senpai," Faiz called out.
Tsubasa looked up from his datapad, his eyes widening. "Oh! Faiz-kun!"
"Could you do me a huge favor and cook some steak for Pela?" Faiz asked casually, gesturing to the girl hiding behind him. "She's incredibly hungry."
The surrounding Hunters exchanged utterly bewildered looks. Are they seriously treating that apocalyptic monster like a normal, hungry toddler?
Tsubasa blinked, staring at Pela. He was used to seeing her thrashing wildly against her restraints, screaming in a feral frenzy. Seeing her acting so quiet and timid behind Faiz was a biological anomaly in itself.
(A breakthrough...) Tsubasa thought, a scientist's excitement overriding his common sense. (This is a massive step forward in her behavioral conditioning!)
"Of course, Faiz-kun!" Tsubasa beamed, jumping to his feet. "I'm actually in a great mood today. I'll commandeer the kitchen and make a massive feast for the three of us!"
Faiz cheered, turning to Pela. "Hear that? We're going to eat a lot of meat, Pela!"
"Mhmm," Pela hummed, a small, genuine smile finally breaking through her ghastly features.
A short while later, Tsubasa emerged from the kitchen carrying massive platters of sizzling, premium beef.
Pela didn't hesitate. She dug in with absolute ferocity, devouring the meat with alarming speed.
"Mmmmmm! Yummy!" she squealed happily, her cheeks stuffed.
But despite eating three massive steaks, Pela still stared longingly at the remaining food. Noticing her gaze, Faiz picked up a piece of his own steak with a fork and held it out to her.
"Here, Pela. Say aahh," Faiz offered.
Pela's eyes sparkled, but then she suddenly stopped. Her expression dropped into a gloomy, conflicted frown.
"If Pela eats Faiz's food... Faiz will be hungry," Pela reasoned, her broken voice filled with genuine distress. "If Faiz is hungry, Faiz will die. Pela is scared. If Faiz starves to death, Pela can't play with Faiz anymore."
Faiz felt a sudden pang in his chest. Her logic was warped and incredibly grim, but the pure, innocent concern behind it was undeniable.
He reached out, gently patting her messy black hair. "You don't need to worry about me, Pela," he said, his voice incredibly soft. "I'm strong. No one has managed to stop me yet, let alone kill me. So eat as much as you want, get strong, and be happy. Once we're done, we'll go play. Okay?"
Pela looked up at him, her dark eyes searching his face. "Okay..."
She leaned forward and carefully, delicately took the piece of steak from his fork. Unlike her previous feral eating, she chewed this piece slowly, savoring the small bite he had given her.
Once the plates were completely cleared, Pela tugged on his sleeve. "Faiz, Faiz, Faiz! Let's play!"
"Alright, alright, I'm coming."
Before they left, Tsubasa handed them two insulated bento boxes. "There was a little extra meat, so I packed it for you, Pela. And Faiz, this one is for you. I cooked it with a special spice blend; it should remind you of your hometown."
"Thank you, Tsubasa-senpai," Faiz smiled.
"Thank you, Uncle Tsubasa," Pela echoed mechanically.
Tsubasa froze, an invisible arrow piercing his chest. (Uncle...? Am I really that old?!)
When Faiz and Pela finally arrived at the secure isolation chamber, Faiz hit a sudden roadblock.
He stood in the center of the stark, blindingly white room. There was absolutely nothing here. Just padded walls, a steel floor, and the mangled remains of Pela's teddy bear in the corner.
(What are we supposed to play with in here?) Faiz thought, sweating slightly as Pela stared up at him expectantly. The silence was deafening.
Then, an idea struck him. (Wait... I think I have something in my bag.)
Faiz retrieved his duffel bag from the lockers outside. Rummaging through his belongings, he pulled out a peculiar wooden instrument he had brought all the way from Indonesia.
It was an Angklung—a traditional musical instrument made of carved bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame.
Faiz held it up. Pela tilted her head, staring at the strange object with intense curiosity. Faiz gently shook the frame. The bamboo tubes collided, producing a warm, resonant, and incredibly soothing chord that echoed through the sterile room.
Pela gasped. She reached out, taking the Angklung and shaking it clumsily. The resulting sound made her giggle with pure delight.
Seeing her reaction, a much grander idea sparked in Faiz's mind. He pulled out his phone and dialed the Head of Research.
"Tsubasa-senpai."
"Yes, Faiz-kun? What is it?"
"I need a massive favor."
Faiz quickly outlined his insane plan. Tsubasa, ever the eccentric scientist, agreed immediately, promising to use his Level 5 clearance to bypass security.
Thirty minutes later, Tsubasa called back. "Faiz, your 'supplies' are at the loading dock. I'll meet you there."
Faiz hung up and looked at Pela. "Pela, can you promise me one thing?"
"What is it?"
"While we are out of this room, do not hurt anyone. Okay?"
"Umm... okay!" Pela nodded vigorously.
Faiz picked her up, letting her ride piggyback as they jogged to the underground loading dock. Waiting for them was Tsubasa, alongside a massive cargo truck and several utterly bewildered civilian craftsmen.
Tsubasa looked at the back of the truck, which was overflowing with hundreds of stalks of premium bamboo of various shapes and sizes. "What exactly is all this for?"
Faiz grinned. "Just watch, Senpai."
Faiz quickly gathered the hired craftsmen, rolling out a makeshift blueprint. He explained exactly what he wanted to build: toys, furniture, and a full ensemble of traditional instruments.
For the next two hours, the loading dock turned into a chaotic, impromptu woodworking shop. Faiz and the craftsmen sawed, carved, and tied bamboo together at a blistering pace.
But the noise eventually attracted unwanted attention.
The heavy blast doors hissed open, and Captain Saki stormed into the loading dock, her face a mask of absolute fury.
"HEY! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS NONSENSE?!" Saki roared, her killing intent flooding the room. The civilian craftsmen dropped their tools in sheer terror.
Inside Faiz's mind, a dark presence stirred violently.
(D.Faiz: "Tch. She's ruining the fun.")
Without asking for permission, D.Faiz forcefully seized total control.
The atmosphere in the loading dock didn't just drop—it shattered.
Faiz slowly stood up from the workbench. But it wasn't just his left eye that had turned a glowing, blood-red.
Behind his back, a terrifying, massive silhouette of jagged, pitch-black wings materialized from his shadow, spreading across the walls. Two demonic, twisting horns of dark energy manifested above his head. The sheer density of the aura cracked the concrete beneath his feet.
Saki stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening in absolute horror. She couldn't breathe. It felt as if a god of death were standing in front of her.
Faiz tilted his head. When he spoke, his voice was a terrifying, overlapping distortion of his normal tone and a deep, demonic growl.
"Could you look the other way just this once?" the entity demanded. "If you interrupt this... do not blame me when I annihilate you and this entire facility to the ground."
Saki, a veteran Hunter who had faced horrors beyond imagination, actually took a step back. The power gap was so astronomically massive that her survival instincts completely overrode her authority. Without saying a single word, she slowly turned around and walked out the door.
The moment the door closed, the demonic shadows vanished. Faiz blinked, his eye returning to normal, violently gasping for air as he regained control.
The entire room was staring at him as if he were the devil himself.
"Ah... sorry about that!" Faiz laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Please, let's get back to work!"
In the corner of the room, Pela sat quietly, watching Faiz with wide eyes. (Who was that just now?) she wondered. (That aura was so scary... it even terrified Auntie Saki. That wasn't the Faiz I know... but strangely, I didn't feel any hostility from it at all.)
Hours later, the transformation was complete.
Pela's depressing, sterile white isolation cell was unrecognizable. It was now a warm, beautifully crafted bamboo wonderland. There were polished bamboo chairs, a low wooden table, and intricately woven bamboo ornaments decorating the padded walls.
But the centerpiece was the music.
Faiz had constructed a full traditional Arumba ensemble—a complete set of Indonesian bamboo instruments designed to be played together. There was the Calung (a bamboo xylophone), the Celempung (a stringed bamboo zither), the rhythmic Guntang, and several sets of Angklung.
Pela was absolutely mesmerized. She ran from instrument to instrument, tapping the xylophone and shaking the Angklung, her laughter echoing brightly off the walls. Faiz even handed her a freshly carved gasing (a traditional wooden spinning top), teaching her how to launch it across the steel floor.
The cold, dead isolation room was finally filled with warmth, music, and genuine joy. Pela wouldn't have to be bored and lonely ever again.
Meanwhile, in the Captain's Office
Saki sat rigidly behind her desk, staring blankly at the wall. Her hands were still trembling slightly.
She replayed the image of those demonic shadow wings and that suffocating red eye over and over in her head. The threat hadn't been a bluff. That thing inside Faiz could have easily erased the 5th Division Headquarters from the map if it wanted to.
Saki gripped her pen so tightly it snapped in half.
"You have a lot of explaining to do, Faiz," Saki muttered to the empty room, her mind racing with a terrifying mixture of dread and anticipation.