Javier was about to ask a question when, suddenly, a deep roar echoed from the dark passage ahead. Instinctively, everyone pointed their weapons toward the darkness, nerves on edge.
"If that thing attacks us, we're screwed! We need to run, now!!" shouted the Tricell man, his face twisted in despair as he looked at Javier.
Javier remained calm. He cast a quick glance at Krauser, who understood the message and silently nodded.
Without hesitation, he ordered one of the soldiers to fire a flare toward the passage. The reddish light illuminated the corridor, and for a brief moment, they glimpsed a creature slipping through the shadows before disappearing again.
"It's avoiding the light..." Krauser muttered, adjusting his grip on his weapon.
It was a weakness, but not a simple advantage. They were underground, with no access to sunlight. Only flares and flash grenades remained—limited and unreliable resources.
"Shut that door!" Javier commanded sharply.
"Find anything to block the passage. We can't let that thing escape."
The soldiers sprang into action, pushing rocks, broken furniture, and even metal debris to reinforce the improvised barrier.
Shortly after, Javier dragged the Tricell man back into the tent.
"Now talk." Javier stared at him harshly.
"What exactly are you looking for here? And what the hell was that thing?"
The man hesitated, glancing around nervously before answering:
"W-We don't know much... We were just following orders. We came to assist Tricell researchers in capturing a specimen for study."
Javier frowned. It was a standard, empty, rehearsed response.
Before he could press further, gunfire echoed from the direction of the corridor.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Without wasting a second, Javier drew his pistol and rushed outside, Krauser and the other soldiers close behind.
When he arrived, he saw Lin Ye leading a small group of desperate men, trying to pile debris in front of a massive metal gate.
"Javier!" Lin Ye shouted upon seeing him.
"We're in trouble! Multiple monsters have appeared in the hall! We've lost five men in just a few minutes!"
The gate in front of them was shaking violently, as if something on the other side was trying to break through.
"Light up the area! Fall back behind the defensive line!" Javier ordered, moving to take position ahead of the men.
The soldiers lined up behind him, weapons drawn and aimed at the gate. They barely had time to prepare.
With a deafening crash, the gate was shattered.
From it emerged pitch-black creatures, deformed, with bat-like wings and beastly faces. Their eyes gleamed with insane fury.
"Hold your ground! Shoot to kill!" Javier shouted.
The creatures charged in a flood, and the hall turned into a battlefield. Gunfire lit up the darkness as the soldiers unloaded their weapons.
Javier advanced amid the chaos, shooting and slashing with deadly precision. Any creature that got too close was taken down with quick strikes of his tactical knife.
He knelt to examine one of the bodies: the skin was thick and black as coal, the mouth filled with sharp teeth, and a chilling breath escaped from its open jaws. The metallic scent of fresh blood hung in the air.
"These bastards are like mutant vampires..." Krauser growled, reloading his weapon.
But the worst was yet to come.
From the dark hall, more monsters surged forth, in an endless wave. Hundreds of them.
"Holding our ground won't be enough..." Javier murmured, quickly assessing the situation.
"Everyone, fall back now! Get out of here!!" he bellowed.
The gunfire intensified. The creatures, agile and relentless, attacked en masse. Some soldiers couldn't even react—they were knocked down and swarmed, their screams muffled by the monsters' savagery.
Javier watched with contained fury as he saw his men fall. Their bodies remained intact but pale and shriveled, as if all their blood had been drained.
"They're sucking the blood... damn it." Javier clenched his fists.
Without hesitation, Javier threw himself back into the fight, brutally cutting down the creatures. Every swing of his knife felled an abomination, clearing a path for the survivors to retreat.
"Keep moving!" he shouted to the surviving soldiers.
"Don't stop until we're out of this hell!"
The entire hall was plunged into chaos—fire, blood, and monsters everywhere. It was a desperate fight for survival.
And Javier knew... this was only the beginning.
Around Javier, more than a dozen vampire corpses piled up on the ground. The battle had raged for over ten minutes. Each creature that appeared was taken down, but at a high price—over a dozen soldiers lay dead, scattered across the hall.
From deep within the darkness, another deafening roar echoed.
"A-A roar again..." Lin Ye muttered, eyes wide.
"What do we do now? We can't hold them off anymore! We have to get out of here! Who knows how many more are coming?"
Javier took a deep breath, his eyes hardening.
"We're running out of men... and ammunition," he said coldly.
"Move! We'll retreat the way we came."
They began to fall back quickly. But then the ground shook violently. Pieces of stone collapsed in front of them, blocking the only way back.
"Damn!" Javier cursed.
With no alternatives, they had to find another route—a narrow door at the end of the corridor.
"Let's go!" Javier ordered, leading the group.
The soldiers rushed to the heavy blocked door. They worked quickly to open it. Just as they finished creating an opening, they heard the sound of dozens—no, hundreds—of claws scraping against the ground.
Javier cast a quick glance behind him.
A horde. Literally hundreds of black monsters, charging straight at them.
"Shut that damn door!" he shouted.
The soldiers pushed the door, trying to hold it as it trembled under the weight of the monsters on the other side.
Javier looked around, analyzing the terrain. The corridor was narrow, supported by stone columns on either side.
"Explosives," he said calmly.
"Plant explosives on these columns. We'll bury those bastards under tons of stone."
Without hesitation, the soldiers obeyed. Charges were quickly placed on both sides of the passage.
Once everyone was through, Javier took the rear, holding the detonator in his hand.
On the other side of the door, the monsters burst through the barrier, surging forward like a hungry black wave.
"Come on, you bastards," Javier growled.
When the creatures were just meters away, he pressed the detonator.
The explosion was deafening. The entire corridor shook as the structure collapsed onto the monsters, crushing and shredding them in a rain of debris and flesh.
Dust and smoke filled the air.
Javier moved to the front of the group.
The hall they entered was different—dark, silent. In the center stood an ancient altar, surrounded by strange words carved into the walls. Behind the altar, a huge round hole gaped in the ground.
"This looks like... a sacrificial site," Krauser muttered, studying the surroundings with a grim expression.
"There's no other exit here," Lin Ye said nervously.
"What now?"
Javier looked at the dark hole ahead.
"If this cave exists, it must lead somewhere. We have no other choice."
Lin Ye swallowed hard, staring into the darkness.
Without wasting time, Javier ordered the soldiers to throw glow sticks into the hole. The light revealed a drop of over ten meters.
"Prepare the ropes!" Javier commanded.
The soldiers began descending one by one, using rappelling equipment. Javier, impatient, simply jumped, landing with a controlled thud at the bottom of the chamber.
The smell was horrible.
Corpses in various stages of decomposition littered the ground. The place looked like a slaughterhouse, a hell forgotten by time.
A narrow passage stretched ahead, swallowed by darkness.
Before they could move forward, one of the soldiers was attacked. Screams tore through the air.
Javier spun around, pistol drawn. The light revealed the figure attacking the soldier—something that had once been human.
Its skin was shriveled and gray; sharp teeth gleamed under the light, and its hands bore grotesque claws.
The monster tore into the soldier ferociously, devouring his flesh alive.
"Fire! Shoot it down!!" Javier shouted, immediately opening fire.
Bursts of gunfire tore through the air. The monster was riddled with bullets until its body fell lifeless.
Javier approached the corpse, his eyes cold. The soldier who had been attacked was dead too, his blood completely drained.
"My God... what the hell is this...?" Lin Ye muttered, staring at the deformed body.
He knelt beside it, examining it quickly.
"Look at what he's wearing... that's ancient armor. Doesn't look recent."
"Must be centuries old," Javier said.
"Probably someone from the time this place was built... who somehow mutated into this... thing. Must be related to those vampire monsters."
Lin Ye nodded slowly, his face pale.
---
(End of Chapter)
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."