Chapter 19
Error
The cryptid's roar grew closer with every stride. The air reeked of iron, of rotten dampness, and of something Laios didn't want to identify.
Suddenly, he made a decision.
He stretched his arm back while slowing just enough for the burly man to overtake him. The officer noticed the gesture but didn't ask; he kept running, trusting Laios knew what he was doing.
The monster lunged forward, ready to strike in that exact moment of slowdown.
"Now!" Laios growled through clenched teeth.
His palm flared to life, bursting into fire, a wall of flame that devoured the corridor with a blazing roar. The flames swallowed the hall in seconds, an orange glow consuming the darkness as if the entire passage had caught fire.
The cryptid was engulfed mid-leap. Its twisted silhouette writhed inside the blaze, and an inhuman sound—half roar, half wet crackle—shook the air.
Heat slammed against Laios's back, but he didn't stop. He picked up speed again, running in sync with the other two. He knew a wall of fire wouldn't be enough to kill that thing…
"If it tore through Körper, it won't fall to this."
But even a few seconds' respite could mean the difference between being caught in the hallway or finding another way out.
The officer ran at the front, clearing the path at full speed. A half-transformed body blocked the way, curled on the ground, trembling as if still trapped between two states.
Without hesitation, the officer leapt over it. At that exact moment, a side door began to creak open slowly, the shriek of its hinges slicing the air with a blood-chilling echo.
"A survivor…?"
The thought flickered, but there was no time for doubt.
"Or… not?"
"Forgive me…" the officer muttered, hardening his expression.
He clenched his right fist, and at once a green light flared from his skin. The glow surged violently, surrounding him until it formed into a defined shape: a translucent rectangle, an ethereal frame stretching from his fist to his elbow.
He landed with the force of his own leap, channeling the energy straight into the motion. The inertia of the fall turned into explosive momentum.
The punch was brutal but controlled. A half-arc, direct, charged with impact and the radiance of the frame.
The blow shattered the door instantly. Wood and metal exploded into fragments, and the hall filled with a double crash: the structure breaking apart and, behind it, something fleshy bursting.
A wet stench gushed out immediately, stronger than the reek of decomposing bodies.
Laios and the burly man barely had time to shield their faces with their arms as splinters and dark droplets sprayed around them.
The officer didn't pause after the strike. He used the spin of his own movement to slide left, clearing space in the corridor. With that motion, he gave way for the burly man to surge ahead. Then he straightened, regaining stride without breaking the rhythm of their escape.
The burly man bounded forward in long leaps, and in that instant he clearly saw what had been hurled out along with the door's remains.
On the ground—a four-limbed cryptid.
Its twisted body twitched, still alive despite the devastating blow that had shredded it from within. It struggled to rise, jerking its limbs in spasms.
The burly man didn't hesitate. He leapt with precision, already calculating his move in midair.
His right leg came down with all his weight on the cryptid's head. A wet crunch accompanied the impact, the skull deforming under his boot. The monster still quivered, so with his left leg he struck again, crushing it flat against the floor, breaking bone and flesh.
He wasted no time looking back. He shoved off with a sharp push and resumed running.
The corridor once again filled with the three of them sprinting in unison. But behind them, the distorted roar of the six-limbed cryptid tore through the wall of fire.
The grotesque sound of its body surging forward reminded them the true threat was still alive—and closer than they wanted to admit.
The roar of the flames broke suddenly as something burst through.
Out of the wall of fire came the six-limbed cryptid. Its blackened silhouette dripped with smoke, but it wasn't the smoke of burned flesh. It was steam, as if the only thing the flames had consumed was the moisture soaking its body. Not a single visible wound.
Laios saw it and felt a knot tighten in his throat.
"What the hell is that thing made of?"
The monster accelerated, each movement faster than Laios could register. Its six limbs drove it forward with impossible coordination, a twisted gallop echoing like countless footsteps in unison.
The officer led the charge, the burly man tight at his side, Laios trailing just behind. He could feel the creature closing the distance, the air itself shifting with each thunderous stride.
"It's faster than I thought. Maybe we can't beat it in speed…"
Laios gripped his sword hilt tight, the muscles in his arm straining to the edge of cramp.
"…but this is our terrain. We know this place better."
He lifted his eyes to the officer's back, still moving without hesitation, as if every corridor was already drawn in his mind.
"Your moment to shine, officer."
The burly man surged forward, extending his right leg farther than needed. For a second he seemed off balance, but midair he snapped the leg back like a spring and kicked behind him. The strike hit a half-dead cryptid crawling in the hall, sending it flying violently.
Laios saw the living projectile hurtling toward him. Instinctively he dropped, crouching low, nearly sliding on his knees to dodge. The corpse skimmed over his head, its dead skin brushing his hair. He shot back up, swallowing hard.
"So close…" he muttered, breathless.
There was no time for more.
The six-limbed cryptid burst into view with a motion mocking its size. It intercepted the airborne body as if catching a ball thrown at full speed. With a brutal twist of its torso, it hurled it back like a spinning disc toward the three of them.
The whistle of the corpse slicing the air made Laios's skin crawl. He felt death pressing at his back, as if the shadow of the projectile had struck before the impact itself.
The corpse spun, straight for him.
But just before it reached him, the projectile veered sharply, still carrying all its momentum. As if shoved by an invisible force, it dropped in a curve, smashing vertically into the ground. The crash shook the corridor, bones crunching along with stone.
Laios barely turned enough to grasp what had happened. Behind him, he stared in disbelief, heart hammering.
The burly man stood with tense calm, hand outstretched. With a simple gesture—fingers pointing down—he had slammed the corpse to the ground midflight, as if it weighed tons.
Laios couldn't help but grin, even while running.
"Bless telekinesis!"
No time to celebrate. Without glancing back, the officer raised his hand and pointed right before cutting a sharp turn at the corridor's corner. The burly man followed instantly, and Laios pushed harder to keep up.
The turn led to a narrow staircase of dark wood and metal railings.
They didn't hesitate or slow. The officer launched first, taking the steps five at a time, almost flying with the strength of his legs. The burly man mirrored him, and Laios followed close behind, boots thundering against the wood, the echo booming through the structure—alongside the cryptid's roar closing in.
The monster hadn't lost sight of them. Every second mattered.
The three of them reached the next floor in a storm of pounding steps. The instant they emerged, the officer didn't pause—he turned left sharply, the others following his lead without question.
The corridor was narrow, but at the end stood a heavy double door, dark fittings set into thick wood. The officer crossed his arms in an "X" over his chest, and in an instant, the green light engulfed him again. The translucent frame returned, locking over his arms like luminous armor.
With a restrained roar, he unleashed the strike.
The impact blew the wood apart. Both doors shot off like projectiles, crashing into the furniture of the room beyond with a hollow crash. Splinters filled the air.
Without stopping, the three of them charged into the hall.
The space was wide, ceilings high, clearly once a meeting or banquet hall. Long tables and chairs filled the room—some still intact, aligned as if someone had tried to preserve order, others overturned or shattered into heaps of broken wood.
The floor was stained with both fresh and dried blotches, red and dark, spreading under lifeless bodies. Corpses. Dozens of them. Some had been dragged, others lay in impossible positions, as if they'd died mid-transformation or mid-fight.
The stench of two different kinds of blood hit instantly.
Laios's heart pounded, not just from the sprint but from the weight of what stepping into that hall meant.
And behind them, the echo of the six-limbed monster drew closer, shattering the corridor with each stride.
As they crossed the hall, Laios couldn't stop his eyes from drifting. The air was thick with dust and stench, every broken table, every mangled body searing into his memory.
"This ended so badly…" he thought, throat tight as he ran. "The place reduced to a graveyard after the transformations. What a waste. The welcome had been so promising, such a perfect first mission for the academy graduates."
His gaze locked for a heartbeat on a young face, half-unrecognizable from mutation, before he forced himself to look forward. He couldn't stop; he kept running.
The officer pressed ahead with firm strides, the burly man kept pace, and Laios trailed, feeling the cryptid's echo clawing closer from the hallway.
The great hall stretched like an open field, corpses and wreckage forming obstacles they vaulted in long strides.
At the far end stood another double door, this one painted a striking crimson against the stained walls. A single exit.
All three set their sights on it, aligned, running with the urgency of those who knew the monster would catch them if they faltered for even a second.
A massive crash thundered behind, shaking their bones with each step.
"That thing's so damn loud," Laios thought, jaw clenched in a forced grin. He couldn't tell if he was laughing from nerves or fear.
Then, ahead—a shadow moved toward them, something passing over their heads.
One of the long tables, whole, came flying like a projectile and soared past them. All three stared, stunned, as it crashed to the ground ahead and shattered with a deafening crunch, splinters exploding as it bounced apart.
The impact sent shards flying.
The officer reacted first: he dove hard to the left, rolling over his shoulder, but failed to recover pace. He smashed into a broken table, losing balance for a moment, then crashed into a body and fell. Their speed made him bounce twice more, colliding with wreckage and corpses.
The burly man took it straight on—he launched in a powerful leap over the shattered table, but debris struck him midair, knocking him off balance. He crashed hard on the other side, a large piece of wood landing on top of him.
Laios… wasn't as quick.
His boots screeched as he skidded to a halt before the wrecked table. His heart hammered as he glimpsed his companions, and in that instant, something blazed in his instinct, a fierce scream in his mind:
Error!
No time to think. He stretched his leg back, pivoted, and in one motion unsheathed the sword he had scavenged. He raised the blade in guard, interposing it just as a dark shadow lunged at him.
The air shifted in pressure; a wet roar engulfed him.
The monster was less than a meter away. And its outstretched arm to strike… even closer.