Chapter 122: nest
"Oh fuck!" Rhea and Freya shouted in unison.
Rhea’s instincts kicked in, her scarred hands igniting with a primal roar as she unleashed a fiery burst toward the horde of massive, muscular rats.
The tunnel erupted in a hellish glow, the air thick with the acrid stench of burnt meat and the high-pitched shrieks of agony that clawed at the senses.
The rats’ glowing eyes flickered in the inferno, their furry skin burning under the onslaught.
Freya, her blue eyes sharp and unyielding, stood at Rhea’s back, her ice powers primed, scanning the shadows for any sign of a flank.
The tunnel pulsed with malevolent energy, the walls seeming to writhe, as if the very stone conspired against them.
Freya’s gaze locked onto the blaze, her heart lurching as she noticed something unnatural.
There was a movement.
Amid the chaos, a few rats didn’t retreat—they advanced. Her eyes narrowed, focusing through the smoke and flickering flames. The surviving rats were using their charred, lifeless kin as shields, their heavy bodies dragging the corpses forward, absorbing Rhea’s fire.
The tactic was chillingly smart for rats, their glowing eyes glinting with a cunning that sent a shiver down Freya’s spine.
"Rhea, fall back!" she shouted, her voice cutting through the din, urgent and raw. "You’re spent—you can’t keep this up!"