"W...what happened!?"
Ren was dumbfounded looking at this chaotic scene.
In the pathway where he should have taken, a bloody distorted creature with a humanoid body lay sprawled. There was a tiny hole on its head where dim blue stalled liquid dripped.
Judging by the traces on the walls and floor, it seemed like there was a fight while he was gone.
"I just left for a second and it was already like this when I came back?"
Seeing that he was already back, Lanae breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately this guy didn't also turn into a monster and add to their trouble.
Just when Ren was hesitating whether to pass by or go back...
"You! Don't come closer!"
Kyle growled at him, pointing with suspicion.
Suddenly.
The humanoid creature moved.
"I....I h..ate!!"
It uttered weak gurgling words.
"It can actually talk!?"
Ren's eyes widened. He noticed the rugged clothing it wore and the fact that only a limited number of people were inside.
Combining it all, he came to a terrible realization.
This monster... Is the guy who they let in!
Flesh resumed its movement, a distorted growth playing out in real time.
The sharp claws on its fingers suddenly grew several inches longer.
It scratched the wall, making a sharp noise, and stood up.
Embedded in flesh, a bloodshot eye was filled with madness and violence ready to be unleashed.
There were three people in the room. But only Kyle was left in its vision.
"Wh..y didn't you...help...me?!"
It roared at Kyle.
"I...am.. so arg! Scared!."
It took a step, leaving bloody trails in its wake.
"If you'd just....let me in earlier.,...help ..me.... It's all....your... Fault!"
The words were cut off.
It suddenly sprinted towards them. So fast and with a momentum that never stopped.
Reason had leaped out of its skull, leaving only bitterness. Turning into boundless rage. There was no more person beneath the flesh. Only a beast thirsting for blood.
"Just die already!"
An energy ball fired by Kyle greeted its mouth, bursting blood and teeth.
Then.
"Boom!"
A larger orb slammed it backward into the air. But this time, it didn't fall. It recovered mid-flight and charged back with even more erratic movements
Seeing this...
She took a deep breath. She felt a little tired from those attacks. But the monster was looking just fine. No, maybe it wasn't okay, but at least it didn't seem to go down easily.
I need to find its weaknesses!
"Kyle! Can you hold it off?!"
She yelled at him.
Beside her, Kyle's figure quickly retreated. His face pale. Shaking. He was clearly scared.
When had he ever seen such a fierce foe in his life? It was okay to attack from a distance, but asking him to fight it in close combat was a pipe dream.
His eyes wandered, spotting Ren's figure.
"Hey you! Help us buy some time!"
He shouted at Ren to stop the creature.
"What the hell!?"
Ren's expression turned dark. Even with his enhanced strength, he didn't think he could hold off this creature with sharp claws at all! Being without a weapon and having a weapon were two different stories.
Kyle quickly reassured him while gathering a strange wind around his fingers.
"We'll provide support behind your back!"
He hesitated. But quickly took a step forward to help.
If they couldn't kill this while they were all together, then if these two were defeated... what would he do? He would also die.
"I'm coming!"
There was a chair on the side.
This chair was heavy. He would have struggled to lift it earlier, but now...
With one hand below and one on the side...
He exerted force. Veins climbed up his forearms. Muscles becoming clearer.
Ah!
The chair was lifted to his chest.
He aimed at the creature and smashed! His back muscles like a bow released a burst of force that pushed the chair forward.
His mind had already calculated that this blow would hit the head.
Whis!
Suddenly, a creepy feeling, as if standing on the edge of death, crept up his mind.
A flash of light cut the air.
Ren felt his vision turn to slow motion. Something deep within his mind overtook his rational thought.
His body practically leaned back so hard he felt it would break. He didn't know why. But he quickly understood soon.
The sound of something ripping was particularly clear.
The chair he had thrown, still in midair, was pierced by long sharp claws, exposing the soft and hard materials underneath.
In the dimness of this part of the room, he hadn't noticed the presence of another arm on the back of its shoulder.
If he hadn't dodged it, he would have been done for.
But.
Am I gonna die here?
This thought couldn't help but appear in his mind.
"Where's the promised reinforcement!?"
Resentment couldn't help but appear in his heart.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kyle pointing towards this direction with a spiky energy floating at his fingers.
"This bastard! I'm still here! Why are you attacking!?"
He was in a very bad position. He couldn't dodge the creature's next attack!
But to his surprise...
The creature went straight towards Kyle's direction and ignored him.
Kyle fired the energy spikes, piercing tiny holes that couldn't get all the way through all over the creature.
He was hoping it would hit some kind of weakness. But it didn't.
Loud footsteps and a charging humanoid beast coming at him collapsed his morale.
"It's targeting me!"
Kyle gritted his teeth and looked out of the corner of his eye.
"Don't blame me!"
He suddenly pushed her in front of him and ran toward the exit.
"You!"
She staggered but quickly got back on her feet and dodged to the side.
But even still.
A blurred silhouette grazed her side. At the moment of contact, a faint transparent air with a hint of blue appeared just a little over her skin.
The force sent her flying a few feet in the air.
**Cough.**
She rolled to the ground and quickly got back up.
Ignoring the pain, she looked up.
"Kyle! What are you doing?!" Anger flashed across her normally emotionless face.
Kyle quickly opened the door. The door opened just enough for him to slip through and close it.
**Thud.**
The door trembled slightly. Deep sounds rang out as if there was a giant ramming wildly.
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he could still hear a very faint voice calling out his name.
*Close!*
Kyle took a deep breath looking at the closed door.
It trembled and he trembled as well.
Through the door, he seemed to see their horrible fate inside.
He was silent for a while.
*Don't blame me...*
After calming down, he murmured.
"I just wanted to live."
Taking a look at his surroundings, he took a step forward, disappearing into the corridor.