Chapter 86 - Screech
The spike shot up rapidly.
Theo gritted his teeth, twisting his body.
The tip grazed past his side, tearing through his shirt as it barely missed his ribs.
He lost his balance and hit the ground hard.
As he glanced up, another one of the guard’s arms came towards him.
Theo rolled immediately.
CRACK!
The sharp arm tore into the pipe, exactly where his head had just been.
’Fuck,’ he thought, quickly jumping to his feet.
He dashed back several yards.
’They work together seamlessly,’ he thought, sweat running down his face. ’Not to mention their insane speed.’
More spikes shot out of the ground, forming a thick bone wall in front of him.
Theo slid to a halt, quickly spinning around.
One of the guards raced toward him, letting out a loud, inhuman screech.
Theo clenched his jaw.
’I need to do something now!’
A wave of water swirled around his umbrella, this time far larger than before.
His eyes locked onto the guard’s damaged leg instantly.
He took a few steps forward, remaining completely calm.
As the guard swung both its arms towards him, he opened his umbrella.
CLANG!
The arms collided against it.
A split-second later, Theo’s water crashed fiercely against its arms.
CRACK!
The guard’s arms shot up into the air, cracks spreading across them.
Theo stepped in, pulling the umbrella back.
Its canopy closed behind him as faint yellow sparkles lit up the room.
As a faint layer of lightning surrounded his umbrella, Theo’s eyes lit up.
With all his strength, he swung it forward.
The umbrella cut through the air.
BOOM!
Lightning exploded everywhere.
The guard’s leg disintegrated in an instant.
It let out a wild screech, its arms flailing around as it fell forward.
Theo jumped aside as it crashed past him.
His gaze shifted towards the other two figures for a split-second.
Seeing them still in the back of the room, he glanced back at the falling guard.
That’s when he noticed a faint white light glowing under it.
Small bones grew where its leg had been broken.
’It’s regenerating?!’
He stepped in immediately.
Before the creature could fully recover, his umbrella shot forward.
The tip drove straight into its skull.
For a second, the creature continued squirming, clearly unaffected.
Theo didn’t hesitate.
Yellow lightning mana surged through his umbrella.
CRACK!
The creature’s body convulsed violently.
Thin fractures spread from its skull, racing down its spine and through its arms.
For a moment, it tried to resist.
Then—
Its skull exploded.
The guard’s body went limp immediately.
For a moment... everything went silent.
Theo ripped his umbrella free, breathing quietly.
Then he turned to the remaining two creatures.
Both stared at him for a moment, clearly calculating their odds.
Finally, the parasitic host stepped forward.
Theo lowered his stance, preparing himself.
That’s when its body began to twist violently.
Bones began to grow out of the host’s back, snapping into place with loud cracks.
Each arm split into two.
Then four.
Its limbs stretched out in front of it, each one ending in a blade-like edge.
At the same time, the human corpses scattered around the pipe began to twitch.
Theo narrowed his eyes.
’Not good,’ he thought. ’Undead element.’
Without hesitation, he raised four lightning bolts above him.
They shot off in an instant, soaring through the air towards the host.
The remaining guard dove forward immediately.
CRACK!
It slashed through two lightning bolts, tanking the other two with its shoulder.
The ones that hit disintegrated large holes in its shoulder, even spreading cracks through the rest of its arm.
Yet, the guard didn’t hesitate.
It rushed towards him again.
Faster than before.
Theo hesitated for a moment.
’I need to get to the host,’ he thought. ’Before it finishes whatever it’s doing.’
He shook his head and dashed forward.
Theo closed the distance.
The guard dropped low, charging at him on all fours.
Theo kept running.
He waited—
And waited—
At the last moment, he stepped aside.
The guard shot past him, its claws digging into the floor to stop itself.
Theo spun around immediately.
A blue light illuminated the space as his umbrella snapped open.
A large, spiked water shield formed in front of him.
Using his momentum, he smashed it forward.
BOOM!
The impact crashed into the guard’s side, sending it skidding across the pipe.
It slammed into the wall, bones cracking loudly as it slid down.
Theo didn’t look at it again.
His eyes were already locked onto the host.
He formed four lightning bolts beside him as he ran.
In an instant, they shot off.
The lightning bolts soared through the air, heading straight for the host.
The host’s eyes snapped open instantly.
All eight arms moved in front of it, creating a makeshift ribcage.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The lightning bolts collided with the arms.
Cracks spread everywhere.
But... they regenerated just as fast.
Theo kept closing the distance.
The host pulled its arms back and just looked at him for a moment.
Then it opened its mouth.
A piercing shriek tore through the entire pipe.
"—!"
Theo’s eyes widened.
He instantly brought his hands up, covering his ears.
But the sound forced its way through anyway.
It drilled into his skull, sending waves of excruciating pain through his head.
For a moment, his vision blurred.
The shriek continued, echoing through the narrow tunnels, bouncing off the walls.
Theo dropped to one knee, gritting his teeth as blood trickled down from his ears.
’Fuck...!’
It only stopped after another three seconds.
Finally, silence fell in the pipe again.
Theo’s hands slowly dropped from his ears.
A faint ringing filled his head as warm blood trickled down his neck.
But he forced himself up.
His expression had grown dark and pale.
’He called them...’
He glanced at the host.
It had already backed off to the back of the tunnel, even blocking the path towards it with skeletons it had raised from human corpses.
Theo tightened his grip around his umbrella.
’I don’t have time anymore.’
As he stepped forward, the skeletons moved.