Nightingale could hardly believe his eyes.
A damn rock was biting down on his boot as though he had personally offended its mother!
Closer inspection revealed it wasn't just a rock. Its rough surface split open into a jagged maw lined with long, sharp teeth. A Chaos Creature. Somehow, it had rolled through the mud before latching onto the first thing it could: his foot.
If not for the thick leather, it might have bitten his leg clean off. Instead, it chewed uselessly, scraping its fangs against the boot in powerless frustration.
The situation wasn't dangerous. Just… awkward.
Nightingale stared down at the lesser fiend, his face twisted in bewilderment. Of all the things he had imagined for his first encounter with a Chaos Creature, something savage, more ruthless, and monstrous, he would have never expected… a rock.
A rock with attitude.
He honestly couldn't decide whether to feel relieved or insulted.
"…Uh. Okay?"
Awkwardly, he lifted his trapped leg and gave it a few sharp shakes, hoping to fling the stubborn thing off.
But the creature refused to let go. With another guttural roar that seemed absurd coming from a lump of stone, it clenched its jagged mouth tighter, gnawing with such desperation that its own teeth looked ready to splinter under the strain.
"Persistent little bastard, aren't you?"
He shook his foot harder, but the creature only dug in tighter, scraping its teeth against the leather with a horrible grinding sound. It wasn't strong enough to harm him, but the sheer stubbornness of the thing made his skin crawl.
"Fine. You wants to chew on something, huh? How about a hot smoking bullet?!"
Nightingale crouched down, careful not to lose his balance, and drew the Glock with his free hand. The flashlight beam swept over the small monstrosity clinging to his boot, illuminating its disgusting features. In the light, he realized its body wasn't just stone. Thin fissures ran along its surface, glowing faintly with a sickly green hue, like veins of molten ore.
The thing roared again, louder this time, and for the first time Song felt the ground around him stir. Other rocks shifted ever so slightly in the mud.
His stomach dropped.
"…Oh, come on. Don't tell me there's more of you."
Certainly, a single rock wasn't nearly strong enough to be considered an opponent, no matter how fiercely it lunged at him.
But what if there were more than one of them?
The mud trembled again and soft ripples spread outward. All around him, half-buried stones twitched and shivered, some rolling over with an unnatural lurch. Their surfaces cracked open one after another, revealing jagged maws.
One… two… five… ten.
In the span of a breath, the quiet clearing had turned into a nest.
Nightingale tightened his grip on the Glock 19 pistol, looking like a helpless rabbit. The first rock-creature was still latched stubbornly onto his boot and snarled like a rabid dog. The others dragged themselves free of the earth, grinding and scraping against each other as they crawled toward him with grim determination.
He muttered with a dry smile:
"How Fantastic. Death by gravel, huh? Isn't that a new one?"
The closest one suddenly lunged. Nightingale didn't hesitate and hurriedly pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The gunshot shattered the night, sending a spray of mud and stone fragments into the air. The creature collapsed into shards and its green glow flickered out like a dying ember. But the rest didn't stop. If anything, the roar of the gun seemed to stir them into frenzy.
Dozens of glowing cracks lit up across the ground, all crawling toward him at once.
A voice whispered:
[You have slain the lesser fiend: Stone Terror.]
There was no time for Night to question the strange voice or celebrate his first monster kill. If he let himself get surrounded, he was done for.
So he did the only thing he could.
Song spun around and bolted into a desperate retreat.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!!"
Mud splashed with every stride, sucking at his boots as though the swamp was conspiring to hold him down. The guttural roars of the Crawling Terrors followed close behind, stone grinding against stone in a nightmarish chorus.
Nightingale risked a glance over his shoulder.
Big mistake.
The ground he had just escaped was alive with movement. Dozens of the creatures scrambled after him. Some rolled their bodies like wheels, others dragged themselves forward with jagged maws gnashing at the mud.
"They don't even have legs… how the hell are they so fast?!"
As if the situation wasn't already shitty...
Rumble! Rumble!
Another roar erupted from the pack and the ground shuddered. Behind the swarm, something vast heaved itself free of the muck. It wasn't just another rock. It was a boulder. Veins of sickly green light webbed across its enormous body, and when its cracked surface split open, the cavernous maw inside was wide enough to swallow a man whole.
Song's blood ran cold.
"…Oh, screw me sideways!"
The Crawling Terrors surged ahead, the smaller ones snapping at his heels, the giant boulder rolling forward with crushing inevitability.
What was he supposed to do?
If he kept running, he'd eventually run out of energy and collapse. If he stopped, he'd be crushed.
For one dizzying second, Nightingale had the insane thought that he might actually die in his very first descent.
Then his eyes narrowed and burned with murderous glint.
Fuck this! There's no way in hell I'm dying to a bunch of rocks!
He skidded to a halt with mud spraying in every direction, and turned to face the oncoming tide of gnashing stone.
Gritting his teeth, Lu Song barked and raised the pistol.
"Come on then and taste my bullet, you rocky bastards!"
Bang!
The first shot ripped through the air, splintering a Crawling Terror into shards. Another lunged low, snapping for his ankle, and Song pivoted then squeezed the trigger again.
Bang! Bang!
Two more shattered, green veins flickering out like snuffed candles.
But for every one that fell, three more clawed through the muck. The clearing swarmed with glowing maws. Their grinding roars seemed to drown out even the thunder of his gunshots.
"Dammit! Just how many of you gravel freaks are there?!"
He fired again, then again, the Glock bucking in his hands. Chunks of stone and streaks of green ichor painted the mud. He was shooting them, hitting them, killing them, but the swarm pressed on with blind, suicidal persistence.
[You have slain the lesser fiend: Stone Terror.]
[You have slain the lesser fiend: Stone Terror.]
[You have slain the lesser fiend: Stone Terror.]
The beautiful voice echoed again and again in his skull like a sick chorus.
Then the world shook.
The giant boulder had begun to roll, turning the swamp into waves of mud that threatened to throw him off balance. When it finally reared upright, fissures split open across its surface and revealed dozens of smaller maws embedded in its body.
Ugly, fat bastard... that's for damn sure.
"…Oh, that's just not fair."
The thing lunged.
Nightingale dove sideways as the monster slammed into the ground where he'd been standing and mud exploded upward like a geyser, accompanied by a earth-shaking rumble. His heart hammered as he scrambled back to his feet with urgency and raised the pistol. His magazine was already half-spent.
If the little ones were bad, this thing was definitely the boss.
He squared his stance with a ragged breath, and took aim.
"Chew on lead!"
Nightingale pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The bullet sparked against stone and chipped a shard loose but leaving the monster lumbering forward, unfazed. Its green glow flared brighter, and the swarm screamed in reply.
Nightingale slowly backed step by step with sweat and mud stinging his eyes. Before he knew it, he was completely surrounded by glowing rocks.
He gritted his teeth and cursed:
"… F*ck me!"