The rustling sound came from behind him, and Elian spun around, raising the light crystal embedded in his chest.
The soft orange glow lit the air, but it caught only a blur of movement of a shadow darting across the dark.
It was too fast. His heart lurched with fear.
He couldn't fight a Grave Realm monster in this kind of darkness, and he still hadn't found a way out.
Panic started to rise in his chest, crawling up his throat like cold fire, but Elian forced it back down again.
"Calm down," he whispered to himself. "Panic will kill you. The thing hasn't attacked yet. Just start looking for a way out."
He moved carefully, slowly, trying to keep his footsteps soft. He pressed close to the nearest wall and began walking through the blackness, hoping it would eventually lead him somewhere that wasn't this chamber.
But the shadows gave him nothing. Behind him, the presence returned.
It felt different now. Before, it was distant as if indifferent to his presence. But now, it was creeping closer.
Elian swallowed hard. He turned and bolted.
His boots slapped the stone as he sprinted across the massive chamber toward the far wall. The light from his chest bounced wildly with every step.
When he finally reached the wall, his hands hit nothing but smooth grey stone.
"Shit!" he hissed.
Elian feels danger then immediately leapt aside just in time, hitting the ground hard and rolling.
And then he heard a thud.
Something crashed into the wall behind him.
He turned his head and saw it.
The creature was humanoid—half of it, at least.
The upper body resembled a naked woman, pale-skinned and disturbed in a way that didn't seem fully human.
The lower half stretched long like a monstrous centipede, but made entirely of dozens of human limbs stitched together and dragging across the stone.
Its face turned toward him. A woman's face, smooth and cold, with an eerie smiling expression that never changed.
Elian's breath froze in his chest. His eyes widened in horror.
His mind stalled and paralyzed by fear. For a second, he couldn't move or think.
Then instinct took over.
He scrambled to his feet and dashed away, refusing to look back.
Was there just one? Were there more? He didn't know.
All he knew was that he had no exit.
"What do I do?!" his thoughts screamed.
No doors or tunnels, nothing but black walls.
Behind him, the creature surged forward, dozens of limbs clawing at the stone with terrifying speed and sounds.
Elian found himself cornered again. The wall loomed up before him.
He turned around just in time to see the creature coming. Its long body slithered across the floor, that smiling face still fixed on him.
"I don't think… I have any choice but to fight!"
Teeth gritted, Elian drew his sword from its scabbard.
He raised it in front of him. His hands steady despite the terror eating at his chest.
The only path left for him was to fight now!
The creature slithered closer, still wearing that awful calm smile. It didn't flinch or slow down, didn't raise any limbs to defend itself. It simply stared at him as if he posed no threat at all.
That smile… it feels so silent, so condescending, burned into Elian's nerves like fire.
"Do I look weak, you son of a bitch?! Then eat this!"
Without waiting, Elian lunged.
He charged forward with a shout, his blade flashing in the dim light as he struck directly at the monster's center mass.
The creature didn't dodge. It raised one of its arms in its upper body and caught the blade.
But Elian saw blood.
Thick black liquid oozed from the wound where his sword had hit the limb. That was all he needed to know. It could be hurt.
He gritted his teeth and pushed harder, twisting his grip. With a violent jerk he pulled the sword free and slashed again, severing several long pale fingers.
The monster shrieked. A high-pitched, piercing scream that sounded like a woman being torn apart.
It made Elian's skin crawl and forced him to wince, but he didn't stop.
He drove forward and swung with both hands. His blade slicing across the creature's chest. The steel carved a deep gash and more dark blood sprayed across the floor and his body.
A savage grin spread across Elian's face.
He could do this. He could kill it.
He pressed the attack—slashes, stabs, wild strikes. All aimed at the creature's writhing body.
The monster recoiled, dragging itself backward with its many limbs, screeching with every wound he opened.
"Where are you going?!" Elian shouted. His voice rang through the chamber. He sprinted after it.
But then the creature stopped.
It turned.
Its body surged forward in one explosive leap—dozens of limbs working in terrifying unison—and before Elian could even react, it was on him.
The weight of the monster slammed him to the ground. His back hit the stone hard and the air rushed out of his lungs.
Limbs coiled around his torso, his legs and his arms, pinning him down.
"Grrrh—!" Elian struggled, but he couldn't move. His sword arm was trapped.
The monster leaned in close. Its face hovered above his face, that smiling expression never changing.
Then it screamed right into his face.
The sound rattled his bones, and the stench that poured from its mouth made his stomach churn-a putrid blend of rot and something worse.
Before he could do anything, it moved again.
Its teeth sank into his shoulder.
"Aaaagh!" Elian screamed, pain exploding through his body.
Blood poured from the wound as he thrashed beneath the creature's weight, his pained voice echoing off the dark stone walls.
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