Lyco's vision blurred with fury and desperation. The creatures' grotesque faces twisted in his mind, their laughter echoing as his beloved wife suffered. His body trembled, every nerve alight with a singular, driving purpose: to save Poduria from this nightmare.
They grunted at Poduria's screams, brutal vengeance gleaming in their eyes. The creature holding the knife under her gut leaped onto her back, driving the blade deeper. Blood gushed as her screams intensified.
Lyco's fury overtook his horror. He yelled out, grunting with raw rage, "I WILL KILL YOU!!!! LET H——" His words rang out as he lunged forward, manipulating the ground beneath the table. A pillar rose up with his scream, tearing through the table and impaling one of the creatures. Its head exploded from the impact, but not before it managed to slam a large spoon into Lyco's face, hurling him backwards.
Pain and agony couldn't halt Lyco's rage. Blood dripped from his eyes as he screamed again, "YOU BASTARDS!!!!!! LEAVE HER ALONE!!!!" His words were drowned out by Poduria's agonized cries. Lyco opened his blood-hazed eyes, staggering forward with gritted teeth, rubbing blood from his eyes. He witnessed another horror: Poduria's contorted fingers extending, trying to call forth her wielding.
His fury and agony made him stumble, his bruised lips moving, lungs filling with another cry.
But before he could act, a horde of creatures lunged at him, pinning him down with surprising strength. Their sharp nails stabbed into his skin, but even his own pain couldn't divert his gaze from Poduria. One creature jumped down with a large knife, and with a brutal, heavy swing, it chopped off Poduria's extended arm.
Blood splattered, her scream of agony echoed, and the creatures' disgusting laughter filled the air. Lyco's heart climbed up to his throat as he saw his wife's arm severed, her blood gushing out spraying onto the table.
"AHHHHAHHHHHHHHAHHHHHHHAH!!!!!!!" Poduria's agonized screams echoed through the chamber, reverberating off the walls with a chilling intensity. The air grew heavy with the brutality of the creatures.
Their grunts and mocking laughter filled the space, their eyes gleaming with vengeful glee. Blood and tears burst forth from Lyco's eyes as he thrashed and struggled against the weight of their savage grasps, but his body remained immobile beneath the force of their brutal intentions.
"Lyco!!! Lyco!! Honey help me!!! Save me!!! Help me!!!!"
"Please!!!! Please!!! Let her go!!! Let her go, please let her go!!! Kill me, but let her go!!! PLEASE!!!!" Lyco's desperate cries mingled with Poduria's pleas, his earlier rage now drenched in tears and blood.
He slammed his head against the floor, begging the creatures to spare his wife. But their feral nature knew no mercy. In response to his pleas, a horde of creatures surrounded Poduria.
Lyco's fury and despair echoed in the air, a haunting symphony in a place they had once entered with optimistic intentions. They had planned their future here, filled with hopes and dreams they longed to fulfill upon leaving. Yet, none of it mattered to this place.
Their hopes, dreams, future, love, and relationships—all were rendered meaningless. Dread and chaos permeated the very air they breathed, striking again with ruthless precision.
First came the dread, suffocating their spirits. Then came the chaos, tearing apart their reality. Despair followed, crushing their will. Now, it was time for horror, unveiling its grotesque visage in full force.
The creatures, revealing their true nature, began to claw and tear at Poduria's clothes. She writhed and struggled, but their numbers overwhelmed her every effort. As her skin was exposed, their nails stabbed deep, tearing through flesh. One hand ripped into her gut, another shoved down her throat, one pierced her eyelid, and another forced its way into her mouth. Blood splattered as they yanked back with chunks of flesh and torn organs.
Poduria's screams grew muffled, her tongueless mouth and clawed windpipe reducing her agony to a raspy whisper. But even in her mutilated state, her pain reached Lyco. His yells grew louder, blood wrenched from his throat as he screamed, "NO!!!!!! NO!!! YOU BASTARDS!!!! NO, NO! NO!!! LET HER GO!!! LET HER GO!!! AAHHHHHHHH NOOOO!!!! PLEASE!!! Please, I beg you, kill me, kill me but let her go!!!!!"
Lyco writhed, threatened, and begged, but all in vain. His bloody screams did nothing to halt the creatures. They continued tearing apart Poduria's writhing body, piece by piece, their forms sprayed with her blood.
Their teeth chewed through her organs, methodically consuming her as ants would a larger insect. Her writhing finally ceased, only when a bellowing scream from Lyco echoed inside the chamber, just as they smashed her head open with the same knife that had been lodged in her gut. Her brain splattered out, remnants and blood spraying onto Lyco's face, halting his own thrashing.
Stunned, Lyco's eyes dropped to the wood he was pinned against. His body numbed, his mind and heart desperately fought against the reality, clinging to the notion that it was all just a nightmare. But his ears denied him that luxury.
Even averting his gaze couldn't save him from the brutal death of Poduria. The sounds of tearing flesh, the breaking bones, and the creatures' chewing filled his ears, deepening his shock. Eventually, Lyco went limp, motionless, a void, an empty vessel buried beneath more than fifty creatures, surrounded by hundreds more.
Lyco remained unaware of when it all ended. His limp body felt no sensation as the creatures withdrew from him. Numbing silence enveloped his ears, deaf to the footsteps approaching from where Poduria's remains lay.
His vacant, lifeless gaze fixed on the rugged surface of the wood beneath him, until a creature yanked his head up. It peered into his lifeless eyes, its grotesque form drenched in Poduria's blood reflected back at him.
The creature lolled its long, disgusting tongue out, smirking with ragged teeth as it bit into the last piece of Poduria—a finger adorned with a ring given by Lyco.
The appendage was stained in blood, threatening to slip out from the gaping wound at its other end. And then, it spat Poduria's finger onto Lyco's already blood-soaked face, the creatures' menacing laughter filling the air around them.
Poduria's severed finger fell onto the table, a gruesome testament to the horrors that had unfolded. A single bloody tear escaped from Lyco's strained, crimson eyes, as a haunting voice echoed in his ears. Her smile materialized before his eyes once more, and it whispered softly,
"I love you, Lyco."
And like a cataclysm descending upon the chamber, the brutal laughter of the creatures abruptly ceased, replaced by the trembling of the table and the shuddering of bricks. Plates of food crashed to the floor, joining the chaotic cacophony of falling debris.
Panic spread among the creatures, and as they released their grip on Lyco, a brief moment passed. In that fleeting instant, shards, pillars, and shrapnel of rugged rocks erupted from the stone floor and descended from the ceilings.
The chamber became a death trap closing in, with devastation unfolding from floor to ceiling. Where Lyco lay, destruction rained down, transforming the once lively table into a scene of utter ruin. The creatures, once laughing and mocking, now lay scattered as lifeless carcasses, their bodies squashed, torn apart, and grotesquely mutilated into a bloody mess.
No more feasting, no laughter echoed in the chamber, only the grim reality of dread, pain, and agony filled the air. Lyco's fury surged through him, reverberating with each of his movements.
He rose unsteadily to his feet, his expression vacant, his eyes devoid of life as he leaned forward and slowly picked up his wife's finger—the last remnant of his love. Lyco cradled it tenderly, but cruel fate intervened once more. As soon as her finger touched Lyco's heart, his eyes widened in disbelief as he felt his wife's essence slipping away. Her finger transformed into a faint glow, leaving in his grasp nothing but the ring he had given her—a symbol of their promise.
Blood streamed down his cheeks where tears should have fallen. Lyco's face twisted in agony, pain tearing through his soul. With a gut-wrenching cry, he raised his gaze to the heavens, his voice filling the chamber with an agonizing echo of his loss.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! P…PODURIA!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Lyco's tears streamed down his cheeks, his grip on the ring tightening as he watched the faint glow of Poduria's essence drifting towards the gate. His bloodshot eyes followed its path, fixing on the creatures attempting to flee through the gate. For a moment, Lyco remained silent, his gaze burning with pain and fury as one of the creatures glanced back at him.
With a primal roar, Lyco unleashed his wrath. A shard of rock erupted from the ground, aimed to pierce through the escaping creature, but instead, it shattered the gate into splinters.
Wooden debris flew outward as the creatures scrambled away in their peculiar crawl, desperate to evade Lyco's vengeance. His body and powers moved with a will of their own, hovering on a platform of rock as he tore through the gate, unleashing tremors and shrapnel in his relentless pursuit. Some creatures were impaled by shards, while others narrowly escaped by mere inches.
Lyco's rage consumed him, his heartbroken cries merging with the tumultuous chaos he wrought upon the fleeing creatures.
They scuttled through another door, which, like the one before, shattered into countless fragments under Lyco's furious onslaught. He pursued them relentlessly until they reached an opening—a massive slab of stone that parted like water to allow their passage, except for one unfortunate creature ensnared by Lyco's lethal rock pillar, meeting its end.
Lyco charged after them, his fury unquenchable, his powers unleashed with uncontrollable force. As he approached the stone gate, his relentless attacks bore down upon it. Unlike the wooden gate before, this one stood resolute against his wrath. Lyco hurled giant pillars and shrapnel with all his might, each impact echoing through the passage in a deafening cacophony of collision and crumbling debris. Yet, despite his ferocious assault, the stone gate remained unscathed.
In a crescendo of anguish and vengeance, Lyco's bellow reverberated through the corridor, filling every inch with his agony. Pillars of rock continued to rain down, most crashing against the unyielding stone gate, leaving nothing but superficial scratches in their wake.
"I'm worried about them..." Relecta murmured, trailing behind Alan and Armis as they navigated the dimly lit hallways of the ruined pantry. The mist of regret hung palpably in the air, etched on her face as she grappled with the aftermath of their earlier argument with their friends, her steps measured yet resolute.
"You shouldn't be. He made his choice, didn't he? You saw how he spoke to Alan," Armis replied, striding ahead with eyes darting around, half in search of sustenance, half clouded with the lingering frustration of the confrontation with their friend.
His gaze shifted to Alan, walking beside him, a picture of listlessness. Alan's movements lacked their usual vigor, carrying the weight of defeat and the sting of betrayal in every step, his expression a mask of emptiness, eyes downcast with a faint crease of frustration marring his brow.
"Alan! Alan!" Armis called out, halting abruptly to assess Alan's condition. With a second call, Alan reluctantly raised his soulless eyes to meet Armis's gaze. Armis gestured with a subtle nod toward Relecta, then turned to address her.
"Give us a moment, Relecta?" Armis requested tersely, not waiting for Relecta's puzzled response. He grabbed Alan's hand, startling him with the sudden movement, and swiftly led him back into the hallway they had just turned from.
Casting a brief glance back to ensure they were out of her earshot, Armis faced Alan with a mix of concern and frustration evident in his voice.
"What the hell, Alan? What's wrong with you?"
"W… what do you mean?" Alan gasped, his confusion deepening at Armis's sudden question.
"How long are you planning to stay like that, huh?" Armis retorted sharply, his voice laced with concern that seemed directed more at their precarious situation than at Alan himself. "It's just the three of us now. If you keep this up, you're going to drag Relecta down with you, Alan. And we can't afford that."
With each word, Armis's frustration grew, his face
contorting as he spoke. Alan, already bewildered and shaken, felt a pang of shock at Armis's firm grip on his shoulder.
"The top floor isn't far," Armis continued urgently, "if we endure this, stay focused, we can make our wish come true. We can bring Aurelia back. We can get out of here al—"
"Oh, really?" Alan interjected bitterly, cutting through Armis's self-centered optimism. His shock turned to disgust at the selfishness in Armis's words. Alan's eyes narrowed in disdain, his frown deepening as he unloaded the weight of their losses onto Armis, who seemed oblivious to the pain of others. "I know you only care about yourself, but what about the others? Whose corpses we stepped over to get this far? It wasn't just Aurelia, was it? Longiseus lost his entire family. Lyco lost his brother. And Aurelia was our friend too!"
Pain flushed Alan's previously emotionless face, his hands that were limp now clenched into fists. His gritted teeth betrayed the pain and emotions Armis's selfishness had stirred within him. Armis stood speechless, but instead of guilt on his face, frustration brewed in response to Alan's retort.
"I don't care how close we are to that damned wish," Alan continued passionately. "I'm not moving forward alone. This is just a fight. Once we reach the next chamber, everyone will forget about it."
"Yeah, whatever. I just wanted to give you this," Armis said, his voice devoid of guilt, brushing off whatever emotions Alan's words tried to convey. He presented Alan with a familiar ring, one that Alan already possessed. Alan's eyes widened as he recognized the murky golden ring, its structure made of entwined wires of gold. He looked at Armis with puzzlement, waiting for an explanation.
"Take it," Armis insisted, placing the ring in Alan's hand. "I know you've been collecting these things. I'm not sure what they are, but I can sense the power within them. I'm giving it to you because, unlike you, I still consider you my friend and I trust you."
The emphasis in Armis's words turned Alan's confusion into regret, regret that hung heavily in the air. Before Alan could speak, Relecta's scream of disgust filled the corridor.
"EEKKKKKK!!!——-phlthoopphh!!!—-"
Alan and Armis exchanged glances before rushing back into the other hallway. Their first step inside revealed the cause of Relecta's disgust: a small creature, double the size of a mouse, startled at Alan and Armis's advance. It used its pale green, stick-like limbs to try to jump over Armis's feet, stumbling due to its grotesque, bloated belly. The creature smashed its big, green eyes and pointy-eared face onto the ground, prompting a puzzled look from Alan and an amused smirk from Armis.
"Hehe, look at this little shit-face, it's so—"
Alan watched in puzzlement as Armis leaned down to touch the grotesque creature. Blinking, Alan glanced up to see Relecta, who held a look of disgust from the sudden appearance of the creature.
But as Armis's words echoed in the air, his hand poised just inches away from touching the slimy skin of the creature, time seemed to freeze in Alan's eyes. He heard the shuffling of rocks and walls around them, the sound growing louder until it was overpowered by a piercing scream of pain. Alan's ears caught it first, his eyes widening in apprehension. He turned just in time to see the wall beside Relecta burst open, sharp rock formations protruding mere inches from impaling her unaware head.
Alan's heart skipped a beat. Time slowed to a crawl as he took a single breath, urgency and fear washing over him. With lightning speed, Alan sprang into action. He launched himself towards Armis, kicking off of him to propel himself towards Relecta. Sliding down, he scooped her into his arms, using every ounce of strength and agility to leap away from the impending danger.
As Alan moved, time resumed its normal pace. Armis, too, reacted swiftly. Another rock formation burst through the ground where the creature had been, threatening to pierce Armis's hand.
With a grunt, Armis summoned his armor in a flash of green glow, protecting himself just in time. But, the earlier kick from Alan Unsettled Armis, he rolled on the ground, shielding his face with his arms while Alan sprinted ahead.
Alan leaped and dodged the emerging pillars and shards of rock, evading them with agile leaps and bounds. The relentless assault of sudden attacks ignited Armis's frustration into a fiery rage. He roared in agony and fury, leaping upward only to endure sharp blows from the relentless barrage of rock pillars.
Armis screamed in pain and anger until, abruptly, the onslaught ceased. Alan and Relecta, panting heavily, collapsed against the wall, their bodies spent from the frantic evasion. Armis gasped for air, his body twitching from the relentless assault on his back. He sank to his knees, exhausted and overwhelmed by the sudden barrage of attacks.
In the midst of the chaos, another cry, this time without the accompaniment of emerging rocks, reverberated through the now shattered and desolate hallway.
The debris and jutting rock pillars obstructed Alan's view of the origin of the voice, but the unmistakable anguish in the cry jolted his mind. His mouth went dry, his eyes widening with terror as realization dawned. In a gasping breath, Alan murmured, "Lyco…"
Only Relecta heard his faint voice. She rose unsteadily, peering ahead with concern and fear etched on her face. Armis, however, stood up with a different emotion reflected in his eyes. Lips sealed, he shook off the debris that clung to his back, his gaze with a mix of rage and determination meeting Alan's.
In an instant, Alan understood Armis's resolve, knowing what drove him forward. Before he could respond, the fading echo of Lyco's pained cry hung in the air.
Then, Armis's battle cry erupted, drowning out even the echoes. He turned, charging forward with unrestrained fury. He smashed through every obstacle in his path—formations, pillars, and shards of rock that had assaulted him moments before. His onslaught left a trail of hurtling rocks and debris in its wake.
Reacting swiftly, Relecta summoned a shield of water to protect herself and Alan from the onslaught of flying debris.
"Relecta, hurry!" Alan urged urgently, his voice strained with concern as he nodded toward her. Without needing further instruction, Relecta accelerated, breaking into a run with Alan close behind. Together, they pursued Armis, who charged ahead toward the direction of the cry that resonated with familiarity.
"Relecta, pick up the pace!" Alan called out from behind, her breath already ragged from the relentless pursuit and defence from the hurling chaos left in Armis's wake. Despite the strain, Relecta summoned every ounce of strength, pushing herself further.
With a determined scream, she transformed her steps into agile leaps, bounding effortlessly from one piece of debris to another with rushing speed. In moments, she surged ahead, leaving Alan momentarily behind, watching the unintended consequences of his urgency unfold.
Exhausted and gasping for air, Alan was left with little strength after his earlier stunt. Only two leaps behind Relecta, his lungs filled with burning sensations, he paused to catch his breath, his chest heaving with each rasping breath. Struggling to keep pace, he strained to call out to her.
"Relecta! Wait—"
"Alan!" - Suddenly, Alan's call halted as the strained voice of Longiseus reached his ears. Concern etched once again across his face, Alan turned to his side, peering into a ruined room that had once been a kitchen.
Now, it lay in shambles, filled with debris and destruction. Within that chaos, Longiseus and Lady Roartad were trapped. Longiseus's expression was one of despair and desperation, his hand tightly gripping Lady Roartad, whose face contorted with pain. Her twisted, bloody arm bore the brunt of a giant pillar and shrapnel of rock that had ensnared them both inside.
"Help us, she's bleeding profusely, Alan, hurry!" Longiseus's desperate plea echoed through the shattered kitchen, jolting Alan into immediate action.
Nodding nervously, Alan scanned the debris-strewn room for something—anything—that could aid in freeing Longiseus and Lady Roartad from their rocky prison. Finding nothing, Alan's grip tightened around the ring he held. In a swift decision, he slid the ring onto his finger and felt a surge of power coursing through his veins. His body jerked, eyes briefly gleaming with newfound energy.
Without hesitation, Alan thrust his hand forward. From a mist of yellowish smoke emerged a golden whip, its appearance mystical and reminiscent of the creature they had encountered on the previous floor.
Gripping the threaded handle firmly, Alan swung the spiked end of the whip around the rock pillar imprisoning Longiseus and Lady Roartad. With a powerful yank, Alan shattered the pillar, creating an opening for their escape. In rapid succession, Alan repeated the motion to remove two more pillars blocking their path.
As the room trembled ominously, threatening to collapse, Alan's focus remained on freeing his friends from imminent danger.
"Hurry!" Alan's urgent call echoed through the chamber, his golden whip dissolving back into mist and smoke around his hand. Amidst the shivering rocks, Longiseus gritted his teeth against the agony, gathering Lady Roartad's weak and crying form into his arms. With each painstaking step, Longiseus wheezed and gasped as he swiftly navigated out of their rocky prison, the strain evident in every movement.
Outside the crumbling structure, Longiseus handed Lady Roartad over to Alan's waiting arms. But the exhaustion and weakness evident in both of their forms, as both collapsed together in a collective thud, the ground groaning under their combined weight.
Pain-filled groans filled the air as Longiseus, too, succumbed to exhaustion and collapsed beside them. Their falls were drowned out by the chamber's reverberating destruction, the aftermath of their narrow escape from death's grasp.
Alan gasped for air, his attention fixed on Longiseus and Lady Roartad, both groaning in pain. He began to speak, but dread froze his words in his throat. With a mixture of horror and concern, Alan stared at Longiseus's gaping wound, where bone was visible through torn flesh. More blood flowed from Longiseus's leg than from the wound on Lady Roartad's twisted arm.
"What happened to you two?!" Alan's voice trembled with urgency and disbelief, his eyes wide with shock at the severity of their injuries.
Only a groan of pain and gasping air came as a reply from Longiseus as he staggered to sit up. He ripped through the crimson fabric tightly wrapped around his arm, then crawled toward the groaning and gasping Lady Roartad. With precision born of experience, he carefully set her arm in place, securing it with torn cloth and draping it around her neck for support.
"Seriously, Commander, I just saved your lives and that is h—"
"Forgive me," Longiseus interrupted Alan's complaint about his initial silence. With another piece of fabric torn from his other arm, Longiseus swiftly addressed Alan's question.
With a faint grunt and a flash of green glow, he summoned his sword, its blade glowing cerulean with a pained intensity. Gritting his teeth through his pain, Longiseus began to cauterise his wound right before Alan's shocked and repulsed eyes, his pained wheezes gradually escalated into screams that reverberated through the chamber before fading into gasps and strained breaths.
Alan approached Longiseus without hesitation, not waiting for any request for assistance. Kneeling down beside him, Alan swiftly snatched a piece of cloth from Longiseus's grip and began to wrap it around the cauterized wound, still emitting faint wisps of smoke. Longiseus, regaining composure with heavy breaths, started to speak again.
"I apologize for the rudeness earlier, and I'm grateful for your assistance. We… were caught off guard by….whatever that was." Longiseus's blinking gaze turned towards the shambled and destroyed hallway ahead of them. This time, Alan remained silent in response. After finishing the bandaging as best as he could, Alan stood up and looked ahead, then turned towards Longiseus and Lady Roartad.
"I think I know who it was. Lady Roartad and I will support you. Can you manage to walk?"
Longiseus glanced back at his wife, who managed a faint smile before taking a deep breath. He turned to inspect his bandaged wound, blood still seeping into the crimson cloth. With a sigh, Longiseus replied, "I... I think I can."
"Good. Let's move quickly then," Alan urged, casting a glance at the debris-filled corridor ahead. He knelt down, offering his shoulder for Longiseus to lean on. Lady Roartad swiftly joined, offering her shoulder as well. Together, they supported Longiseus as they started moving forward.
Armis burst through each pillar, each rock that came before his raging eyes, charging through each formation, leaving nothing but debris behind until he reached the source.
Crossing through the shambles of a giant wooden gate, Armis jumped over more rocks before lunging at the barrier of rocks. He punched through them, spun around, and saw Lyco's battered form, who continued conjuring pillars and shrapnel of rock from the ground to break through the stone gate before them.
Spinning with a split-second decision, Armis diverted his punch away from Lyco to the unyielding slab of stone, but the sheer force unleashed from the collision caused an explosion of debris and wind. The resulting blast sent both Armis and Lyco hurtling backward, crashing into the wall with a resounding clash that echoed through the entire passageway.
"Yeahhh!!!!!!——thud!!!—-ahh!!!" Relecta jumped from debris to debris, gritting through her pain, which only increased when her feet slipped on one of the rock pillars protruding from the wall.
The water shield she had conjured before her, burst away in the air, filling it with moisture. Falling on her back, Relecta groaned in pain, then sat up, her eyes scanning the area. Concern grew over her pain as she realized Alan was nowhere to be seen. She began to call for him, but suddenly, an alluring fragrance filled her nose, waking her hungry stomach with a grumble.
Her eyes filled with amazement as she looked around for the source, and they landed on the destroyed shambles of a wooden gate. Hurriedly, she peeked inside, her steps cautious, yet the fragrance of what she definitely knew was food shook her cautiousness.
Relecta began looking around and found the room riddled with protruding pillars and shrapnels of stone and rock covering every inch of the floor and wall. Amazement and surprise flushed her face when she saw, fifteen feet high beneath the destruction, giant remnants of a ruined wooden table. Above the surviving pieces of the table was the source of the tantalizing odor that had attracted her.
Without wasting a second, Relecta conjured a platform of water beneath her and levitated herself into the destruction. Her eyes filled with hope, her hunger driving her movements, nothing but the aroma of food filling her mind.
But before her eyes could lay on the supposed feast, the chamber shook with violent tremors. The reverberating echo of destruction sent deafening sensations through Relecta's ears, causing her to cover them and lose control over the water beneath her feet.
She almost plummeted to death, but her swift reflexes saved her. Relecta conjured a platform of water just a few feet before her fall, which broke upon collision with her body but managed to slow her descent. She landed on the floor with a thud, her groans of pain and the sound of her fall drowned out as the entire chamber began to collapse.
Guided by her instinct for survival, stumbling and staggering, Relecta managed to slide out of the chamber in time, making a safe distance from the slamming and hurling debris. The hallway echoed with the sounds of devastation as she escaped.
Relecta turned, her breaths rapid, chest heaving from the narrow escape from certain death. Her eyes filled with the view of destruction before her, and her heart began to calm down.
Suddenly, her eyes, just on the verge of blinking, widened in apprehension. Dread set in as her body became numb, her drawing breaths turning cold, her lips drying as horror washed over her. Relecta saw a half-cracked skull hurled out of the collapsing debris of the chamber. It fell on the floor, rolling near her feet.
What truly put fear and horror in Relecta's eyes and heart was not merely the human remains. It was the familiarity of the open cranium, stained with fresh blood, flesh, and meat still hanging from some places.
A lock of bloody, withered black hair sent a grim realization into Relecta's heart. No other hint, trace, or sign on the skull told her anything—it was her heart, Relecta's heart, that sent shivers through her whole body. Her muscles, earlier coursing with blood, now became numb. The soul in her eyes faded into dread, and her shivering lips let go of a final cry from her heart that echoed in the chamber, growing over the dissipating sound of destruction. Relecta cried out:
"Master!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Huh?" Alan gasped as he and Lady Roartad supported Longiseus step by step through the debris. Suddenly, the floor beneath them and the walls around them began to shake with tremors.
An echo of a distant clash filled the air, confusion and apprehension creeping over their faces. The three of them looked around in dread when Alan's eyes traveled upwards. They widened in shock as he saw one of the rock pillars protruding from the ceiling shiver with fragments of rock falling down. In the next moment, the entire pillar began to fall.
"MOVE!!!!!" Alan shouted, jumping away from the point of crushing death and pulling Longiseus along. Lady Roartad jumped to the other side just in time to survive the impact. The pillar collided with a threatening clash, filling the air with debris and dust. Their hearts pounded urgently, and Alan, filled with rising concern, yelled out to Longiseus and Lady Roartad, "We have to move quick! Lady Roartad!"
Alan's call elicited a nod of confirmation from her. With puzzled eyes, Longiseus watched as Alan presented his back to him. Lady Roartad stood up, staggering, before moving ahead with a faint grunt, calling forth her chain and mace.
Longiseus hesitated but, meeting Alan's resolute glance, he groaned through his hesitation and climbed onto Alan's back. Settling Longiseus with effort, Alan gritted his teeth as Lady Roartad began running ahead, keeping an eye out for any falling debris, while Alan paced behind with the injured Longiseus on his back.
"What do you think is going on?" Longiseus strained to ask.
"I'm not sure, but I fear it's related to Lyco... somehow!" Alan replied, keeping his pace steady as he jumped over debris.
"But h—" Longiseus began to ask further when suddenly a scream reverberated through the shambled hallway, halting their steps.
It filled their hearts with dread as they looked around in anticipation of another attack. But as the sound began to dissipate without further destruction, Alan's heart filled with even more dread when he recognized the voice.
Without wasting any time, he almost threw Longiseus off his back and jumped ahead, moving past the confused Lady Roartad. Alan leaped over a large piece of debris, landing almost into a stumble. He slid on the floor, reset his footing, and moved forward, his pace slowing in dreadful anticipation.
His steps echoed with concern, and his face contorted with on-edge horror as he approached a kneeling and crying Relecta.
"Relecta… wh… what's wrong?" Alan asked, but there was no response from his wife, only the echo of her tears falling on the ground. Alan's dread-filled eyes moved ahead and his heart struck with the same realization.
It didn't take more than a glance at the broken, bloody skull and the lock of hair stuck to the piece of flesh for Alan to understand. He knew its origin. He understood Relecta's feelings, the horror in her eyes, the dread in her shallow breaths, and the despair clutching at her heart.
Alan felt the same as his muscles tightened, his mouth went dry, and a lump stuck in his throat. He collapsed with Longiseus to the floor, his teeth gritting, shivers dancing on his lips. From his contorted eyes, a tear of grief fell to the ground.
"Wh… what happened? Is everything al—whoop!!—bleghhhhhhh!!" Lady Roartad moved through the debris, her eyes first meeting Longiseus's puzzled gaze in confusion. When they both moved ahead to look at the source of Alan and Relecta's stunned shock, the sight of the blood-ridden, fleshy, and hairy cracked skull turned Lady Roartad's stomach in disgust, a retch escaping from her mouth and halting her words.
Longiseus's horror gleamed from his widened eyes. Struggling to find words for the grim scene before them, Longiseus stuttered, "W… w… who is… th… that?"
"Its... Pod—Beware! Be wary! Of the beast of gluttony!" Alan's pained words escaped his shivering lips but halted as an echo of ominous words filled the air. The volume and urgency of the tone instantly sparked realization in Alan's mind.
His dread transformed into grim anticipation, knowing their ordeal was far from over. Alan jolted into action, eyes set ahead. He clenched his fists, suppressing his pain with urgency. He jumped up, charging toward the voice, and called out to his wife: "Relecta!" Still drowned in grief, Relecta slowly turned her head, meeting Alan's suffering yet resolved gaze. Gritting his teeth in overwhelming pain, Alan continued before leaping ahead, "Keep them safe, Lyco needs my help…"
As Alan bounded from debris to debris, the incantation grew louder, raising his dread and anticipation. Nearing the source, he began hearing sounds of clashing and colliding rocks and debris, drowning out the words of the incantation.
"Ferocious monster, voracious and insatiable."
——BHDDAAAAM!!!!———
"It dwells within our bellies!!!"
——BDHHADDHHAAAM!!!——-
"And the frenzy of gluttony"—BDHAAM!!!—"devours and seeks our souls"—BHDAAMMM!!!—
"Do not fall into the snare of gluttony!!!"
——BDHHAAAM!!!!!!——-
"Lest the abyss of it devour the mind!!!!!"
——BDHDHAAM!!!!———
"Delights!!!!! and food!!!! In abundance…."
——BDHDAAAAAAMMMM!!!!!——
"But satiety..."
——BHDAAAAMMMM!!!———