Chapter 625: SCP-682, The Indestructible Reptile! Ancestor of Dragons!
Originally, the trip to the zoo was meant to be relaxing and pleasant, a rare respite from the chaotic duties that usually plagued Ren's life.
The afternoon sun hung high in the sky, bathing the park in a warm, golden glow, while the air was thick with the scent of sugary popcorn and the distant, earthy musk of animals. Families strolled leisurely, and laughter floated on the breeze.
"Ah!!!"
A sudden, piercing scream tore through the tranquility like a jagged blade, instantly freezing the blood of everyone nearby.
"Crack! Bang!"
The sound that followed was not merely loud; it was deafening—a thunderous cacophony of reinforced containment glass shattering under immense pressure, followed by the agonizing groan of twisting steel beams. The ground beneath their feet trembled violently, a rhythmic shuddering that suggested something colossal and heavy was stomping free from its cage.
In the blink of an eye, the peaceful zoo descended into a chaotic hellscape.
Many people were fleeing in panic, their faces twisted into masks of sheer terror. The stampede was instantaneous; parents grabbed their children, lovers released hands to run faster, and the orderly flow of tourists disintegrated into a desperate wave of humanity trying to escape the epicenter of the noise.
"What's going on?"
Konomi Fujimiya's face went pale. Her maternal instincts kicked in faster than her conscious thought; she immediately gathered Renge Miyauchi and the other children close to her, using her own body as a shield against the surging crowd.
"It seems an animal has escaped," Kazuho Miyauchi said. Her usually sleepy, half-lidded eyes snapped open, sharp and alert, scanning the dust-filled air for the source of the threat.
Amidst the screams and the roar of crumbling infrastructure, Kazuho heard someone shouting hysterically about a "large lizard" tearing through the enclosures.
"..."
Ren stood amidst the turbulence, his expression unreadable, though his mood had become decidedly complex. Internally, he let out a heavy, weary sigh. He really wanted to say that he just wanted to interact with beautiful girls, enjoy a peaceful date, and relax at the zoo today. Was a normal weekend too much to ask?
His irritation was compounded by the translucent blue holographic screen that suddenly manifested in his retina, visible only to him—the Chat Group's notification.
[Ding! Detected Group Member Ren coming into contact with Abnormal Doomsday factor SCP-682, The Indestructible Reptile. Doomsday Companion activated!]
[Doomsday Companion]: Duo
[Companion Time]: 1 day
[Companion Persons]: Ren, Tokisaki Kurumi
[Companion Mission]: Resolve Abnormal Doomsday new area SCP-682, The Indestructible Reptile.
Ren massaged his temples. Of all the anomalies in the multiverse, he just had to encounter the strange SCP, 682, which was quite something. It wasn't just a monster; it was a conceptual headache, a creature defined by its refusal to die and its absolute hatred for existence.
Seeing the zoo become chaotic, with debris flying and people screaming, Ren knew he had to act fast to protect the girls.
He gently raised his hand, his fingers twitching slightly in a gesture of command.
Space quietly changed. A subtle ripple, like heat haze rising from asphalt, spread out from his position, enveloping Kazuho, Renge, and the others. It was a shift in spatial coordinates, phasing them slightly out of alignment with the material plane.
"Renge!"
Seeing the running crowd almost collide with Renge, Kazuho cried out. A terrified man was sprinting blindly, looking as if he would trample the small girl in his panic. Kazuho reached out desperately to pull her sister to safety.
But she was surprised to find that the people who ran into Renge passed through her as if she were an illusion. There was no impact, no collision. The man's body simply phased through Renge's as if they were ghosts to one another.
"Eh?"
Not just her, but others like Konomi also saw this bizarre scene unfold, their eyes widening in confusion.
"What's going on?"
Kazuho reached out her hand to pull the person next to her, attempting to verify reality. Her hand also passed through the stranger's arm, grasping nothing but empty air.
She looked at her hand in surprise.
She clenched it; the sensation was perfectly normal. Her own skin felt tangible, her blood warm. The disconnect was only with the world outside their immediate circle.
What was that situation just now?
"Don't worry, we encountered a sudden situation. We are currently not in the same space as the other people." Ren's calm voice cut through their panic, grounding them.
Regardless of whether they understood the mechanics of dimensional manipulation, Ren casually explained to reassure them and then immediately opened the Chat Group interface in his mind.
Ren: "Tokisaki Kurumi, if you're coming, hurry."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "Mm, is it urgent?"
Ren: "It's not a matter of urgency; it's my leisure time with friends now, and I don't plan to spend too much time on this thing."
March 7th: "Got it. This Doomsday factor is a minor character, the kind that's easily dealt with."
Ren: "It's alright."
If it were according to the normal settings found in the archives, it would indeed be easy to handle for someone of Ren's caliber.
Its initial appearance is that of a large reptile, a hulking mass of rotting flesh and exposed bone. It is hostile to almost all life and possesses extreme aggression, driven by a philosophical hatred for everything that lives.
Its vitality is extremely tenacious. It possesses powerful adaptive and regenerative abilities; if you burn it, it becomes fireproof; if you crush it, it becomes fluid. And it can evolve with severe environmental changes.
The Foundation has tried various methods—including physical damage, reality bending, and conceptual erasure—to kill SCP-682, but all have failed.
If one looks at these settings alone. Such an Indestructible Reptile is indeed insignificant to him. The power of the Infinite Tree could easily overwrite such biological persistence.
But it is well known that SCP settings are chaotic and layered with multiple canons and narratives. Given the precedent of SCP-173 in this world, SCP-682 likely also has some higher-dimensional issues.
He had known that The Indestructible Reptile also had settings such as the Qiongqi under Yaldabaoth's command, the Summer's Exile, a former multiversal remnant, and the Fourth Child of the Scarlet King. Various peripheral materials and documentation give different interpretations of the "Old Man".
Of course, the most well-known interpretation here is the corrupted form of the Ancestor of Dragons.
His gaze turned towards the direction that caused all the panic, piercing through the dust clouds. The fierce dragon's shadow was clearly visible in his eyes, superimposed over the rotting beast.
Without a doubt. This SCP-682, The Indestructible Reptile, is precisely the corrupted form of the Ancestor of Dragons.
Ren: "Most importantly, I don't want my friends' experience to be ruined."
Tokisaki Kurumi: "..."
"Alright, since you've said so, how dare I be a second late."
Tokisaki Kurumi's unique, seductive voice appeared in the air, dripping with elegance and danger.
The crowd of girls, who had fallen into hesitation and confusion due to Ren's words about different spaces, was instantly attracted by Kurumi's arrival.
"!!!"
They looked up in awe. Because Kurumi, dressed in her peculiar crimson and black Spirit Dress—a Gothic Lolita ensemble that radiated power—was currently floating in mid-air!
"A flying person!!!"
Among everyone, Rikka Takanashi was the first to exclaim. Her singular golden eye widened behind her eyepatch.
Combined with Kurumi's Spirit Dress attire, Rikka suddenly realized she had found the agent of the Boundary Line! This was the supernatural event she had been waiting for!
Tohka Yatogami asked blankly, "What... what exactly is going on?" She was completely bewildered by the sudden appearance of another Spirit-like entity.
The others were no exception, staring in shock at the girl floating above them.
Ren did not answer them immediately. Instead, he looked at the giant lizard slowly walking towards them, step by step.
Acidic slime dripped from its jaws, sizzling as it hit the pavement. Its eyes were filled with ancient malice.
"Is this the enemy?"
Kurumi floated down to Ren's side, eyeing the creature critically. She didn't think this hairy giant lizard was particularly strong; it looked more like a rotting corpse that refused to die.
The lizard's eyes saw Ren and the others, and instantly, intense bloodlust permeated the air, thick enough to choke on. A fierce aura surged forth, a wave of pure hatred.
"Roar!!!"
It opened its gaping maw, revealing rows of jagged, rotting teeth, and charged over. It dragged its massive body with terrifying speed, crushing concrete barriers like paper.
"Monster!!!"
Tohka, Kazuho, and the others were completely terrified by the visceral horror of the creature. The smell of decay was overwhelming.
They couldn't imagine such a creature existing in the world. Was it really a lizard?
"Old man 682, full of hostility towards all life, truly fitting of your character."
Ren sighed, shaking his head. He stepped forward to shield the girls.
If the 682 before him was truly the supreme divine Ancestor of Dragons who ruled the multiverse, the first dragon in the multiverse, he might indeed have to treat it with seriousness.
But unfortunately, it was only the corrupted form of the Ancestor of Dragons, no longer that supreme divinity. Just a shadow of its potential power.
"It's a pity the timing of you encountering me isn't good."
He opened his palm, aiming it at the charging beast.
A black hole of annihilation appeared before The Indestructible Reptile. It was a singularity of infinite density, distorting the light and space around it.
Its blood-red eyes narrowed as it sensed the fatal threat.
Although its savage bloodlust surged, driving it to kill, it didn't mean it had no awareness of danger.
It felt its body not only being pulled by the black hole but also being devoured, atom by atom.
Under such circumstances.
The Indestructible Reptile's body was not only slowly healing but also changing rapidly to survive the pull of the void.
"Pfft!"
The sound of tearing flesh echoed. Blood-soaked bones pierced through the flesh on its back, twisting and elongating to form the framework of bone wings.
Then flesh grew over the bones, and membranous wings covered them in seconds.
It grew a pair of huge, dragon-like wings to counter the gravitational pull.
This was the so-called power of adaptation and evolution. If gravity holds it down, it evolves flight.
Its wings flapped with explosive force.
A strong wind swept through the area, kicking up dust and debris.
It was thought that The Indestructible Reptile could fly out of the gravitational pull using this evolution.
But Ren merely watched calmly, his hand steady.
He had already seen the result.
The Indestructible Reptile completely failed to fly out of the black hole's attraction.
No matter how furiously it flapped its wings, creating gale-force winds, it remained suspended, inching closer to the event horizon.
The situation became increasingly dire for the monster.
Its body evolved once more!
More and larger wings erupted from its back, and it grew into an even more colossal physique, shedding its lizard-like form.
Eventually, it even transformed into something twisted and abstract in a desperate attempt to escape the void.
All of it was in vain.
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