Hello to everyone reading this story.
This is Lozeryy, the author of this insane, dark novel.
Yes, I disappeared. Yes, for eight days.
Eight days, Karl.
I was knocked out by an illness so bad that even Liana would have said, "You look like a corpse, but less attractive."
But!
I'm back. Alive, mostly well, and back in the game.
From today onward—two chapters daily.
Enough introduction.
Let's get down to business.
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The city shuddered.
Sai stood among the twisted streets, among the corpses of parasites, among the rotting smoke that rose from the walls as if the city itself was trying to exhale the last remnants of life.
Liana beside him cracked her neck—slowly, as if stretching, as if the fight had only sharpened her appetite for chaos.
She swept her gaze over the ruined alley and said quietly:
"I hate it when it's this quiet. It only means one thing—something else is still alive."
Sai wiped the blade of his revolver on the shoulder of his own fallen clone. Blood and a black, viscous substance dripped to the ground. He grimaced in disgust—the very fact that he had killed his own copy was stranger than any monster.
Liana licked her lip—slightly, barely noticeably.
She always did that when she saw blood.
Sai frowned:
"Liana… do you even realize how weird that looked just now?"
"What?" she shifted her gaze to his weapon. "Oh, that? Yeah." And she smiled in a way that sent shivers down his spine. "You just fight too deliciously."
"Fuck…" he exhaled.
"Oh, are you blushing?" she tilts her head. "Cute."
But their exchange ended instantly. The city seemed to come alive.
In the distance, the walls trembled.
Deeply, slowly—as if something huge was drawing in air.
Old boards on the windows of abandoned houses creaked.
And several dried-out parasite corpses fell from the roofs.
Sai raised his revolver.
"Something's moving," he said.
"And something big," added Liana. "But that's not the worst part."
She stepped forward, raising her hand. The air before them hissed—parasites, small, thin, resembling long white worms with human faces, began slowly crawling along the building facades.
But they didn't attack.
They… were moving in one direction.
"Feels like they're leading us," said Sai, shifting nervously.
Liana smirked quietly:
"Oh, that's wonderful. I haven't seen such stupid creatures in a long time—ones that show where their master is themselves."
She took a step forward—and suddenly froze.
All the parasites stopped simultaneously.
And turned their faces toward Sai.
Sai felt something tremble inside his head. Not pain—but like a foreign breath, foreign attention. For a few moments, he saw flashes: someone's eyes, wet stone, the darkness of depths, twisted limbs.
Liana sharply jerked his shoulder:
"If you feel that again—tell me immediately. These things can create feedback. They don't just watch—they remember."
Sai exhaled:
"Great… spy parasites…"
But at that moment, the impossible happened.
Right in front of him, the air shimmered—and his clone appeared.
Not a normal one.
A distorted one.
Its skin was deathly gray, like a corpse's.
Eyes completely white—without pupils, without emotion.
Hair longer than Sai's own, stretching downward like a shadow.
It stood, trembling, like a poorly assembled doll.
Sai instinctively raised his revolver—but Liana lifted a hand:
"Wait."
The clone twitched… then again.
Its fingers broke under their own weight.
It didn't speak—only a quiet, rasping sound came from its mouth.
And then, the clone began to melt.
Black smoke rose from its chest.
Its insides vanished, as if someone was erasing parts of its body.
The clone fell to its knees—and crumbled into ash.
The remnants of smoke slowly drifted toward the ground…
…and seeped into the city's soil.
Sai paled.
Liana slowly reached for his revolver:
"Give it here."
She barely touched it—and the revolver jerked as if alive.
An inscription appeared on the metal:
SELF-REPLICATION ANOMALY DETECTED
STABILITY: 73% → 46%
"What the…" he whispered.
Liana let go of the weapon.
"Sai…" she said quietly. "This ability isn't just yours. It's… connected to this place."
Sai looked at the revolver, where a new line appeared:
CREATE CLONE — ACTIVE
"I didn't even activate this!" Sai exhaled.
"Exactly," Liana stepped closer. "That means the city wants to use your power."
"The city?.."
"It's alive." She looked up at the walls. "And it's hungry."
The shadow ahead began to move.
To move in a way only something enormous could move.
House by house began to rumble, as if someone was walking inside.
The parasites on the walls turned again—and began pointing the way.
Sai took a step back:
"Liana…"
"Yes?" she looked at him over her shoulder.
"You feel it too?"
"Mhm." Liana smiled slowly… too slowly. "And I like it."
She licked her lips, as if anticipating fresh blood.
Sai sighed:
"Shit…"
"Mmm… a sweet word," she laughed quietly. "Let's go. The city is calling."
And they stepped toward the dark streets.
The city breathed.
The walls shifted.
And somewhere ahead, the one who controlled the parasites awaited them.