"...What the fuck is that?" Yurashi whispered.
Every single one of them stood frozen, eyes wide in shock and disbelief at the creature standing before them. But the surprise didn't last long. The creature moved—and then—
Nyx screamed.
Her usual carefree personality was completely gone, replaced by a scream that was filled with raw horror and visceral disgust.
"Dodge!" she shouted, and as if her words were divine law, everyone vanished from the spot in a blink.
They reappeared far away from where they had once been standing. Only a few seconds later, the creature appeared at their previous location, its long arm extended. It had formed a claw and swiped through the air, aiming to slice through all of them at once.
Unfortunately for it, they were no longer there.
The creature paused, towering at over ten feet tall, its smooth, bone-white skin glowing slightly under the faint light. It looked around in visible confusion, its hollow, black eyes scanning for the missing targets.
As the creature looked around, Seralyne turned to Nyx and spoke.
"Why did you tell us to dodge? Did we really need to avoid that weak attack? Just look at it—it was so slow and uncoordinated. Even Aerisyl could've defeated it in close combat," she said, clearly annoyed at having been forced to dodge what seemed like a weak attack.
"No," Nyx quickly replied, her eyes still locked on the creature. "It's not about its strength. It's the smell... the smell of its blood. It's the same as those corpses, the same as that crack. It's all the same."
At her words, everyone froze again—this time not out of surprise, but realization.
Their eyes narrowed. Her implication was clear.
"...So what you're saying is, if that creature touches us—or we touch it—we'll start dying, just like those other people," Aerisyl asked, her voice low and serious.
Nyx nodded silently.
"Wow. It practically has a one-hit-kill skill that works on everyone. That's kinda overkill. Not gonna lie... creator really overdid it," Yurashi said from the side, shaking her head in theatrical disappointment like a critic reviewing a failed play.
Everyone turned to look at her with an expression that said, "Girl, are you okay in the head? Their lives were pretty very much at risk here, and yet you still found time to joke."
"Ahem," Aerisyl coughed into her hand to bring everyone's attention back. "Well, that's a... unique way to describe it. But yeah. That's pretty much exactly what's going on," she admitted.
"We need to deal with that creature immediately—and seal that crack, fast. Who knows how many more of its kind are waiting to come through?" Sylveraine said, bringing the conversation back to the immediate threat.
"Attacking it physically isn't an option. And using a weapon isn't guaranteed either. We don't know if touching it through a weapon could still infect us or not," Aerisyl added, clearly unwilling to risk testing a test which have a 50 percent chance of dying, especially in the middle of a crisis.
"How about this: I levitate it into the air using wind element, locking it down so it can't move, and one of you two—" she turned to Seralyne and Yurashi, "—can use your dragon breath to wipe it out completely."
"Hmm. Okay. Let's do that," Seralyne said with a slight smirk, eager and already charging up her breath.
"Hmm," Aerisyl nodded again and turned to face the creature.
By now, the creature had spotted them. Its pitch-black eyes locked onto their position.
Then suddenly, it bent backwards in an unnatural motion, exposing the hollow base of its neck.
From that empty cavity, razor-sharp teeth began to emerge—spiraling around in a complete circle like a fleshy buzzsaw.
And from between those gnashing teeth, a long, gray tongue slithered out, coiling in the air.
Then it howled.
A deep, guttural howl. The sound was ancient, filled with pure rage and the overwhelming scent of inevitable doom.
It echoed for miles.
And it declared, without words, that something terrifying had just arrived on Earth.
And soon more are coming and it was
Inevitable.