Kill to evolve: A system that demands blood

Chapter 26

For half a second, no one moved.

Cara's body hung limp on the jagged metal. The color drained from their faces. Time felt like it stuttered.

Then the monster moved again.

"Focus up!" Sienna barked, snapping them out of it. Her voice was raw, strained. "Get away from that thing, regroup! Fall back now!"

But the beast was already charging.

Hugo threw himself forward, arms raised, absorbing the brunt of a blow meant for Felix. The impact sent both of them flying, but it bought just enough time for Mila and the others to scatter.

"Where the hell did that thing come from?!" someone shouted over the comms.

"Was it always there? It had to be the one that caused that massacre we saw when we first arrived right?" another snapped, panic creeping in.

Mila's breathing came hard and fast. Her teleportation system flickered, misfiring from exhaustion. She hit the ground hard, scraping her palms raw as she rolled behind a collapsed pillar.

The monster thundered after them, slow, but impossibly strong. It didn't just walk. It demolished. Each step shattered concrete and sent cracks through the ground like spiderwebs.