My legs sprinted forward without even a hint of reluctance, the pathway—resembling more of a maze—stretching endlessly.
Every single step I took, the sound seemed to be getting closer and closer. With the pups in my hands, there were certain limitations to what I could and couldn't do.
I had no weapon, and an unknown enemy with no information about its combat prowess made this even more worrying.
The pathways around me were almost a blur now, my eyes darting left, right, and center, trying to gauge the unknown, unseen enemy's presence.
Suddenly, everything around me slowed down—and before I knew it, my left side was completely blown out of proportion.
My entire left half was cleaved open, blood, tissue, and mucus dripping out. I could see the bones, the muscles sticking out, blood crawling away beneath me.
"Aahhhhhhhh, it hurts… it hurts… AAAAGHHHH!" I cried, my body feeling like it was being sewn together alive.
"Leave me… leave me alone. What have I done to you bastards?! Is leading a normal life a crime?! Aaah… please… please, I… I can't bear this pain. You bastards! Even the military never hurt this much!" I cursed at the top of my lungs.
With the pain unbearable, I looked at the ground—riddled with my own blood, skin scattered across like I was a side character in Final Destination.
My scream echoed throughout bouncing back in mockery. Every scream reflecting back to me in disdain, telling me how weak I was. How pathetic I was.
My left side neutralized, my legs completely twisted by some unknown force. I didn't know what happened, but before I knew it, I was in this position. My leg bent in a direction I never knew it could. Grotesque and repulsive, my head started to ring.
My breathing rushed, eyes blurred. As though telling me this was the end.
I looked at the two pups standing in front of me, barking at something in the air. I couldn't see it, nor could I feel it, but it was definitely there.
"Run… run away," I shouted, pushing the pups.
"I SAID FCKING RUN AWAY!" I screamed, dragging my mangled body back from the spot.
TUK TUK TUK…
The sound emerged again, as though waiting for this moment. My whole body squashed down like a mosquito — I couldn't do much.
I looked toward the direction of the sound. Invisible. Spotless. As though it never existed. I could hear it coming closer each time — louder and louder, seeping into the very soul of my being.
I looked around, trying to catch it, trying to see it. My bloodshot eyes were unable to capture anything, my vision squared in red.
COUGH COUGH…
"You bastard… you dare hide in like a coward.Whoever the fuck you are — whatever sorcery you're using — I'll make sure you suffer.Cough cough. You hear me?! Fcking come out… COME OUT, YOU COWARDING PIECE OF SHIT!"I shouted into thin air.
…SILENCE.
…
GRAAHHHH—!!
A fierce war cry echoed throughout the pathway, enveloping everything in its path.A tall, skinny being appeared out of thin air. Its face looked like a mummy — creepy smile, large bulging eyes, and a long forehead, even larger than KSI's.
Its neck was stripped like a lone wooden branch waiting to snap. A slender body, loose strands of hair skimming behind its back.
SKRR… TUK TUK TUK… SKRRRR…
"Speak human, bitch," I cursed again, my voice dipped in disdain and loathing toward the creature.
The mummy tilted its head a full 180, licking its whole face with its tongue.It suddenly widened its lips into a suffocating smile — creeping me the fuck out.
My whole body trembled. Fear enveloped me with each step it took forward.Lights dimmed.Time slowed.My body froze.
huff… huff…
I raised my right palm at this abomination. My eyes — bloodshot.The unfairest, unluckiest man alive. That's what I felt like.But something was responding deep inside.Something old.Something hungry.
Putting everything into that one feeling crawling beneath, I shouted — strange energy overflowing my body…
"FCKING DISAPPEAR, YOU UGLY PIECE OF SHIT!"
Shush… Splurge… Crunch.
A huge chain came out of nowhere — swept up the mummy, piercing through its skull like crunching chips.
Blood oozed out like paint leaking from a broken container.The insides of its head were completely crushed and decimated as the chain passed through.
The mummy twitched… and finally dropped, littering the ground with its blood.
My breathing muffled, and my whole body cleaved in half, I fell back down — staring at the rocky roof, now splattered with who knows whose blood.
With the pain and the amount of blood I had lost, survival felt unlikely.The worry of getting stamped while being a vegetable kept me awake.
I was all alone — suffering from pain and anger.Anger toward the bastard who put me through this.
The light in the surroundings kept getting dimmer and dimmer.Or perhaps… I was just slowly losing the ember of my life.I didn't know.
I slowly closed my eyes, drifting away into darkness —as my life finally drained out of me.
..
..
..
DARKNESS.
One word to describe where I was — or what I was feeling.I felt like I was floating… floating around in the cosmic realm.
Which was the front? Which was the back?Is this the right, or is that the left?Nothing could be known. There was no direction. No nothing.
I was floating around in eternal darkness.
With every twist and turn, a part of that darkness would get engulfed by something — some unknown force.
The force strong enough to eat the eternal darkness was the same I felt when defeating the mummy.A sense of… familiarity.
LUP…
A strange beat echoed across the abyss of blackness.
DUP…
LUP…
DUP…
LUP DUP LUP DUP LUP DUP…
The sound of a heartbeat — the sound of life — kept pulsing across the darkness, reverberating throughout.
[THE DARKNESS NEVER RETREATS. BUT YOU CAN. NEVER LET THE DARKNESS CONSUME YOU.]
A voice spoke with deep resonance.It strangely felt comforting — as though it had always been a part of me.
[INSTEAD, DEVOUR IT AS YOUR OWN. NOW GET UP!!]
…
…
GASP—
I woke up.