Chapter 44 – Choices and Consequences (Part 4)
Chapter 44 – Choices and Consequences (Part 4)
The creature looming in front of Zane was, without question, the most grotesque thing he had ever laid eyes on. It was also, disturbingly, the first time he had gotten a clear, uninterrupted view of a monster. Every prior glimpse had either come from a heavily filtered photo or a fleeting second before the knights annihilated it.
This time, there were no filters. No distractions. No protection.
The monster had thick, black spider limbs that dug into the train’s floor with a wet squelch, each step leaving behind a trail of viscous, murky liquid. Its body was oval-shaped, but it wasn’t anything like a spider’s carapace—it looked like malformed flesh, bloated and pulsing like a living tumor. Its body was riddled with dozens of eyes, scattered randomly across its hide. Some twitched erratically, others blinked in eerie unison. At the center of it all, gaping and impossibly wide, was a mouth lined with rows—no, layers—of jagged, overlapping teeth, six tiers deep, each soaked with thick saliva that dripped incessantly to the floor.
Zane’s skin crawled just looking at it. His expression darkened.
’Vile...’ The thought came unbidden, accompanied by a wave of nausea. He instinctively wanted to turn away, but he couldn’t afford to.
"N-No..." Elizabeth’s voice trembled. She tried to crawl backward on the floor, but the moment she moved, the creature hissed, sharp and high-pitched.
"Don’t move," Zane said coldly, stepping in front of her as he summoned his sword. A deep hum filled the air as energy coursed through the blade, glowing faintly along its edge. "It’s focused on you."
"Z-Zane... W-What should we do?! This thing... It’s going to kill us!" Elizabeth was on the verge of a breakdown, her body frozen by fear, her eyes swimming with tears.
The creature took another step forward, its mass squelching grotesquely with every motion. It didn’t strike just yet—it was calculating, sizing up the boy standing in its way. There was intelligence in its gaze, malevolent and focused.
But hunger was stronger than caution.