"Huh?"
Adam just stood there, arms outstretched, teeth clenched so hard they might crack.
What are you doing, Adam!?
But Adam had already made his decision. If he dodged, the Ratatusk might not fully commit to the charge. It was strong enough to crash through concrete—tempered glass wouldn't stand a chance.
The only problem?
Adam's bones would be right in the middle of it. He would probably shatter every single one. His organs would rupture. The pain would be unbearable. Even just imagining it made his body shiver.
But still, he stood tall, staring down the oncoming beast. He just had to hold his ground.
The Ratatusk was seconds away.
A foot away.
And then it stopped.
"...Huh?" Adam blinked, catching glimpses of the Ratatusk's napkin-like fur swaying in his peripheral vision.
Slowly, he looked up. The Ratatusk's nose was fidgeting, sniffing the air. Its long, gnarled tusks dripped with some sort of viscous liquid, pooling onto the floor beneath them.
Adam's gaze locked with its glowing, soulless eyes. And then, before he could even take another breath—
"Khhk!?"
A massive, clawed hand slammed into him. The sharp talons dug deep into his arm, nearly ripping it apart before he was launched across the room.
His sword clattered to the floor, abandoned. Adam's world became a blur of pain as he was sent violently rolling across the ground—bones cracking with each impact as he crashed through chairs, tables, anything in his way. There was no wall to stop him. His momentum only ceased when the twisted wreckage of a chair tangled around his body, dragging him to a stop.
"Gurgh…"
Adam lay sprawled on the floor, the sound of his fractured bones snapping back into place whispering in the air.
He groaned. Then, as soon as his arms worked again, he reached down and began pulling out the debris impaled in his body.
A broken wooden chair leg. A twisted metal rod. Something else he couldn't identify.
"Kukh." Adam spat out blood from his throat. He could feel everything—his flesh grinding against his bones as they forcefully reconnected and set themselves back together. His flesh reached out, weaving like threads, and he felt billions of needles piercing them back together. But perhaps more than the pain, there was one thing Adam dreaded feeling even more.
It was his heart.
Pounding violently as it worked overtime to propel all the blood his marrow produced in gallons instantly. The heat it generated felt like he was burning from the inside out. He should know; he'd literally been burned from the inside out when the Hospital people injected flammable fluid into him and then lit him up.
For what? Well, science.
But at least with what they did, the pain was instantaneous. It was always the pain that came when his body healed that truly got to him. It was continuous, constant.
"Argh..." Even now that he could stand, he still felt himself burning.
"It hurts," he whispered. He once again gritted his teeth, which cracked and snapped from the force, only to be instantly replaced by another. And then, with a hiss, he whispered—
"It... fucking hurts!"
He grabbed one of the metal stakes on the ground and, without thinking, rushed toward the ratatusk, which was already charging at him. He met it head-on, his roars of frustration drowning out even the monster's thunderous squeals. All he could think about was ending the source of his suffering—that was the only thing in his mind.
He gripped the metal stake hard and, with another clench of his teeth, leaped toward the ratatusk.
The two lunged at each other in midair, making Grace's eyes widen.
This scene did not last long, however, as the ratatusk once again slammed its hands into Adam and pounded him to the ground.
"N...no." Grace covered her mouth as the ratatusk gave Adam no time to recover, landing right on top of him and stomping him with its sharp claws. She watched as Adam's flesh was repeatedly torn apart, and when he could no longer move, the creature lifted him up and casually bit off his head.
Grace held her breath, still believing that somehow Adam would survive as long as his brain remained whole...but she watched in horror as the ratatusk chewed Adam's head before swallowing it.
"Oh no..." Grace covered her mouth, and as soon as she saw the ratatusk's nose fidgeting again in the air, she quickly dove back down and crouched in front of her daughter.
"Listen, sweetie. Sam..." Grace grabbed her daughter's cheeks and looked into her eyes. "Mommy's going to distract the monster, okay? Mommy's going to the window like Adam—and when the monster breaks the window, you run. Okay?"
"What... what about mommy?"
"I'll follow you, okay? Mommy will be right behind you and—huh?"
Before Grace could finish her lie, a slimy liquid landed on her hand. Red and frothy.
She watched the fluid slide down her hand at first, then slowly looked up—only to see that the ratatusk was already behind the counter—no. It was already on them, its large hands on the counter, its glowing eyes looking down from above.
Grace didn't think anymore and just jumped up, using her hands to push it away. She knew it was futile, but it was the only thing she could do.
"Samantha! Run! Please, just run! You need to...huh?"
Once again, Grace found herself confused and shocked as the ratatusk violently took several steps back after she pushed it, before dropping to the ground.
Was... that a mother's strength? She thought momentarily, but she knew it was impossible—yet the alternative seemed equally impossible.
She knew how fast Adam could heal and regenerate; she had witnessed it many times already. But his brain was mushed. Was it truly possible to recover from that? How? What sort of logic was that?
Whatever logic it was, Grace was already getting her answer from the words hovering above the ratatusk.
[Ratatusk, Lv. 1 | HP: 42%]