The entity with its cloth shredded, weapons click with blood, and body buckling at odd angles from accumulated damage, moved through the devastated streets like a thing unfazed by the ruin it had caused.
Every step left behind a smear or a print or a trail, yet it walked with the careless gait of something that did not understand injury. It only understood hunger, noise, and motion.
Those who survived its first wave had gone silent, burying themselves under debris, inside basements, behind toppled market stalls, anywhere that might hide their breath. They knew now that the strongest among them had fallen.
There was no help coming from within the village. Every scrape, every whisper, every heartbeat was a gamble. The entity paused beside a collapsed roof beam, its headless gaze shifting as its tentacle-like cloth unfurled in all directions.
Each strip of fabric carried a different weapon. Rusted blades, jagged metal chunks, a bent spearhead, with each of them dragging softly against the dirt. Sweeping, searching, testing.
A soft sound came from beneath a broken cart.
The entity pivoted, catching it instantly. Its cloth lashed out, coiling tight around a villager's torso. The captured man clawed at the tightening fabric, his nails scraping uselessly as the cloth wrapped around his mouth.
His eyes bulged with animal panic, locking onto the monster's featureless form as his struggles weakened… slowed… then stilled. The corpse thudded to the ground with a wet sound.
The entity didn't spare it a second glance.
Its cloth spread outward again. Probing the walls, slipping under shattered wood, weaving through narrow gaps. It moved with the precision of a predator that had learned the habits of prey, sweeping its surroundings with each movement as if mapping every flicker of life.
Close by, a mother crouched behind a toppled stall, her arms wrapped around her daughter. She held the girl tight against her chest, one hand covering her eyes so she wouldn't see her fathers body lying several meters away, discarded like trash.
The mother's face glistened with tears, but she did not tremble. Her breathing stayed controlled. Her group stayed steady. Behind the grief burning in her eyes was something sharper.
Resolve.
She could hear the cloth scraping closer, the faint metallic hum as the weapons dragged behind it. The creature was inches from rounding the corner. She turned her daughter's face toward her, pressing their foreheads together.
Her voice broke to a whisper.
"Listen to me. Run. As far as you can. Find your uncle. Don't look back."
The girl shook her head violently, muffled sobs trapped in her throat. The mother forced a smile, one that cracked under the weight of everything she didn't say.
"You must. Go."
She pushed her daughter as hard as she could, sending her stumbling away through a narrow gap in the rubble. The girl looked back once, eyes wide with terror. That was when the mother stood.
And screamed. The raw, piercing sound that instantly drew the entity's attention.
The creature snapped toward her, the cloth retracting like a whip ready to strike. The mother didn't run. Didn't cower. She stepped into his path, placing herself squarely between it and the direction her daughter had escaped.
She had seconds at most. And she used every heartbeat of them, not to fight, but to buy enough time for her child's footsteps to fade out of reach. And with the creature noticing her presence, it shot a piece of cloth towards her.
She didn't move.
The daughter ran as fast as her trembling legs could carry her, her small feet kicking up dust as she tore through the narrow side paths of the village. Her chest burned. Her vision blurred with tears.
But she didn't stop, she couldn't. Not after what she had just seen. After a fair distance, she risked a glance over her shoulder.
Her heart shattered.
In that single glimpse, she saw the moment her mother disappeared beneath a crushing mass of cloth and metal, her small frame crumpling with a sickening finality. The entity loomed over her body for only a moment before turning its faceless attention back toward the girl.
The strips of cloth that hung from its mangled body writhed in all directions, striking the ground and walls like blind, hungry serpents searching for her. A strangled cry tore from the girl's throat, making her sprint faster. Harder.
Her body moved beyond anything she thought she could ever do. She pushed through tight gaps between collapsed stalls, scraped past broken walls, and hurdled over fallen baskets, ignoring the sting of cuts forming across her arms and legs.
She turned a sharp corner and–
Crashed straight into someone.
The impact sent her sprawling backward. She looked up at the figure, breath hitching and eyes wide with terror. The person, tall, strong, someone very clearly older, knelt down in front of her, steadying her with firm hands.
"Hey, hey, are you hurt? What happened?" the estranged asked. The girl struggled to form words. They poured out of her in stuttering fragments. "Something– something– my mom– my dad– monster– please–"
"Please, you have to help me, it's– it's coming!" The stranger opened his mouth to ask more, but the girl's panicked eyes suddenly shot past him. One of the cloth strips whipped around the corner like a striking whip, snapping toward her ankle. Before she could even scream–
It wrapped around her, the force yanking her off the ground.
She shrieked.
Acting on pure reflex, the stranger lunged forward, grabbing the strip of cloth with both hands. Muscles strained as he pulled against the entity's immense strength. The girl was being dragged across the dirt, kicking wildly, her nails clawing uselessly at the ground.
With a sharp, guttural shout, the stranger twisted his grip and tore the cloth apart. The strip recoiled like a severed tendon, falling limp.
But it wasn't alone.
More of them began to whip into the path. Snaking around the corners, bursting from cracks between buildings, and slithering across rooftops as if smelling the fear in the air. The stranger grabbed the girl, lifting her effortlessly against his chest.
"Hold on to me. Don't look back," he ordered.
She clung to him with shaking arms, burying her face into his shoulder before he started to run. The strips slammed into walls behind them with explosive force, splintering wood and cracking stone.
Others scraped along the ground, leaving violent gashes as they chased after him, gaining speed. The stranger zigzagged through the maze-like alleyways, kicking aside debris, ducking below falling beams, and sliding under gaps.
Every turn was a desperate gamble in a village now unrecognizably drenched in blood and ruin. "Is something else with you? Anyone else I have to avoid?" he asked between breaths, trying to understand what they were dealing with.
The girl shook her head violently, her words tumbling out against the fabric of his shirt. "It killed them! It killed everyone! It, it grabbed my dad. And then, my mom, she told me to run, and then she… she…"
Her voice broke apart into harsh, sobbing gasps. The stranger tightened his grip on her, his voice low and steady despite the chaos behind them. "Alright. I got you. You're safe with me. I promise."
But the thunderous sound of dozens of cloth strips slamming into the ground behind them tore through the air like a warning. He ran as fast as he could, not daring to stop until the frantic whipping of cloth and the thunder of destruction behind them finally faded into a distant echo.
Only when he felt the pressure ease did he stop beneath the shadow of a crumbling stone archway. His breaths were steady, controlled, while the girl's were frantic and broken. He sat her down gently, kneeling so his eyes were level with hers.
She was trembling so hard that her knees nearly buckled. "Hey… hey you're okay," he said softly. "You're safe right now. I've got you." The girl clutched his sleeve with shaking fingers, trying and failing to steady her breath.
Tears streamed down her cheeks. Her face was blotchy, eyes wide in pure terror. Ryu slowly reached forward, lightly patting her back. "What's your name?" he asked gently.
"L-Lera…" she whispered through sobs.
"Lera," he repeated carefully, letting the name settle between them. "Good. Listen closely, Lera. I'm Ryu. I'm here to help you. I won't let anything take you. Understand?" She nodded, though her breaths were still sharp and uneven.
"That thing–" she tried to speak but her voice cracked. "That thing k-killed my dad… my mom… she– she pushed me away, and the monster–" Her words dissolved into a broken sob.
Ryu steadied her shoulders, guiding her into a slower rhythm of breathing. "I know," he said, voice calm but firm. "You did everything right to get away. You were brave. And you're not alone anymore. I promise."
She wiped her face with trembling hands, trying to speak clearly. "It– its cloth… it goes everywhere! It grabbed me, grabbed my mom, and– and it crushed her–" Ryu's jaw tightened, but he didn't show anger, only focus.
"Okay. That helps. Keep going. Anything you remember helps me protect you." Lera looked at him, hopeful that he could somehow stop what she saw. "It had… weapons," she whispered.
"So many. A sword… heavy objects… a spear… and, and it looked like it was smiling beneath all that fabric…" Ryu was about to respond, about to reassure her again, when her expression suddenly froze.
Her eyes, still wet, widened in horror as she stared past him. Ryu felt the shift in her body before he even turned. Instinct snapping in, he pivoted sharply–
The entity stood at the far end of the ruined street, swaying and twitching, its cloth strips unfurling like grotesque limbs. It's blood-soaked wrappings dragged behind it, leaving streaks on the ground.
Ryu immediately pushed Lera behind him, rising to his full height. "Stay behind me, Lera," he said, his voice dropping into a hardened tone. One of the cloth strips lashed out, this one the same thick strip that had previously grabbed her.
Ryu dodged it, catching its end with a single hand and wrenching it aside. The next came swinging a heavy metal mass, forcing Ryu to duck and counter with a sharp punch that made the tentacle recoil.
More strips rose, armed with blades, spearheads, jagged tools, every one of them aiming for him. Ryu's eyes flicked briefly back to the girl. She was frozen, terrified, helpless. And for a split second, he saw Iyu's face instead.
He lowered himself slightly, sliding into a balanced stance., "Lera," he said without looking back, "I'm going to keep my promise. I won't let anything touch you."
Without hesitation, multiple strips lashed toward him. Ryu moved fast. Dodging the slicing arc of a sword-tipped cloth, weaving past a spear thrust, then slamming his fist into the heavy blunt weapon to redirect it.
Sparks and dust flew with every impact, with the entity pressing harder and it went on. A spear-like strip darted for Ryu's ribs, with him catching it with his elbow, barely deflecting it.
Another heavy swing smashed into the ground where he had been standing a second earlier. Two more strips came in from the sides, trying to box him in. Ryu gritted his teeth.
It's adapting… pushing harder… Damn it.
He broke one cloth extension with a punch, sending torn fabric flying. But even as he did, he heard Lera grasp. A strip of cloth, tipped with jagged metal, had peeled off from the fight entirely, slithering across the ground like a hunting serpent.
Heading straight toward Lera.
Ryu pivoted, but he was too far. Too many strips were still on him. One swung for his head, forcing him to duck. Another stabbed forward. He blocked with his forearm, feeling the impact jolt bone-deep.
He looked back. Lera stood frozen, the strip of cloth closing the final distance between them, its weapon aimed right for her chest. And Ryu, boxed in, was too far to reach her in time.
Thinking it was all over, she braced herself before someone struck the strip of cloth clean out of the air. One sharp, decisive blow that sent the severed piece flailing uselessly to the ground.
The girl gasped, stumbling back as the stranger stepped forward, positioning himself between her and the entity. He was young, no older than Ryu, yet his stance and reflexes showed someone well-trained.
For a split second, Ryu believed help had arrived.
But the boy didn't run to him.
Instead, he grabbed the girl by the wrist and began dragging her away.
"H-Hey!" Lera yelped, stumbling as he pulled. "No, stop! He's still fighting!"
"We don't have time," the boy snapped, eyes sharp and cold forward. "I can't protect both of you if we run toward that thing."
"But!" She tugged, tried to pull her arm back. "We're leaving him to die!"
"That's not my problem," he said bluntly, already scanning for an escape route. "If we stay, we all die. I'm getting you out–"
"No!!" Lera suddenly twisted, slamming her heel into the side of his boot. The unexpected blow made him grunt, loosening his grip just enough for her to wrench her arm away. "I'm not leaving him!"
The boy stared at her, stunned. Not because of the pain, but because she looked up at him with the exact expression he couldn't ignore.
Determination. Desperation. A child begging him not to abandon someone. "Please…" Her voice cracked. "Please, go help him. He saved me when nobody else did."
The boy froze.
His jaw tightened, the sound of Ryu struggling behind them growing louder. The monstrous cloth strips whipped and thrashed violently, one missing Ryu by inches. The entire street shook with the impact.
He looked at Lera again. This time, her trembling stance, raised fists, and tear-streaked face struck him harder than her kick. "...Fine," he muttered, exhaling sharply. "You win."
Before she could respond, he scooped her up with surprising gentleness and carried her toward a recessed corner between two crumbled stalls. "Stay here," he said firmly as he set her down. "Don't follow me. Don't make a sound."
"But–"
"I'll bring him back."
His voice was steadier now. "I promise." And with that, he turned and sprinted back into the chaos. Ryu, meanwhile, was moments away from disaster. Two strips pinned him into a corner, one swinging the heavy object down toward his spine while another thrust a spear-like blade toward his ribs.
He braced himself, knowing he could only dodge one until–
The boy came flying in. He tackled Ryu hard enough to knock the beneath from him, the heavy object smashing into the ground where Ryu had been standing mere milliseconds before. The spear struck stone instead of flesh, sparks erupting from the impact.
"Move!" the boy barked, rolling off him. "Come on!" Ryu blinked, stunned by the sudden rescue. The boy extended his hand toward him, breathing sharply, stance ready for another attack.
"Get up," he ordered. "And follow my lead if you want to survive this." Ryu grabbed the offered hand without hesitation. They both turned to face the monster, two teenagers that stood shoulder to shoulder against the monstrosity closing in on them.
They charged in, the ruined street littered with debris as dust and shards of wood whipped through the air. Ryu went on the offensive immediately, his fists swinging with the raw, fluid precision of someone who had survived countless battles.
A tentacle armed with a jagged spear swung at him, and he ducked low, rolling under it while using his momentum to sweep his base with a rapid leg kick, destabilizing it.
The warrior moved in perfect tandem. As Ryu rolled under, the warrior pivoted, his staff-like weapon spinning in a circular motion to catch the same tentacle mid-swing.
With a precise jab, he slammed it against a wall, sending it ricocheting toward another strip. Ryu immediately seized the opportunity, leaping forward and landing a spinning elbow strike on the now off-balance strip, tearing a portion of its cloth apart.
Ryu baited another tentacle, swinging a heavy object toward him from the entity. As he feigned a stumble to the left, the warrior stepped in behind him, using the tip of his staff to trip another tentacle approaching from Ryu's blind spot.
Ryu pivoted, launching a series of rapid punches into the creature's central mass, forcing it to stagger backward, while the warrior used his weapon to parry and redirect the remaining strikes, protecting Ryu from a potentially lethal blow.
The synergy became more precise with every exchange. When a sword-tipped cloth lunged from above toward Ryu, he ducked, drawing the strip past him. The warrior simultaneously executed a spinning back-fist with the hilt of his staff, striking the shaft of the cloth and sending it crashing into a pile of rubble.
The impact caused a domino effect. A heavy-mass strip fell into another, allowing Ryu to capitalize by smashing it with a downward punch, tearing through its reinforced cloth. Ryu and the warrior then executed a coordinated trap.
Ryu ran directly at the entity, baiting its tentacles to converge. As multiple strips lunged at him, he slid under one and jumped, grabbing a heavy-mass strip and fling it toward the entity's side.
The warrior timed his attack perfectly, thrusting his staff into a second approaching strip, causing it to collide with the first. The resulting tangle of tentacles created a temporary opening, and Ryu jumped onto the entity's back, landing a knee strike into its central cloth mass to destabilize it further.
When the entity attempted to retaliate with a wide swipe, the warrior ducked and rolled, sweeping his leg low to knock another tentacle off balance, then immediately blocked the entity's follow-up with a vertical staff block.
Ryu, anticipating the creature's stagger, delivered a spinning kick to a weakened strip, sending it slamming into the ground with a deafening thud. Finally, with the entity staggered and momentarily disoriented, Ryu seized a sack of flour and ripped it open, hurling a cloud into his face.
Blinded and disoriented, the creature staggered, giving the two fighters just enough room to act. The warrior grabbed Ryu's arm. "Move!" he shouted, yanking him away from the entity's flailing tentacles.
Ryu, still catching his breath, nodded, and they sprinted toward safety, each aware of the other's movements, each strike and parry now a synchronized dance of survival. They both made their way away from the monster, with their enemy unable to chase them.