Chapter 7: Screams in the Dark
A sharp scream pierced the silence. It was not the cry of a desperate person but of pure, unadulterated terror. The sound was followed by a resounding metallic clang that echoed through the concrete corridors, after which a dreadful silence descended, more unnerving than the noise itself. The air in the gloomy shelter, already thick with the acrid smell of smoke, became heavy with a new, tangible fear. Kaelen, Commander Harun, and Laith exchanged a quick glance. For the first time, a flicker of genuine terror showed on Harun's face, but his piercing eyes quickly shifted, fixing on Kaelen. It was unmistakably Emily's scream.
Kaelen moved suddenly and with an unusual, decisive speed. He didn't wait for permission, driven by a strange, primal instinct to protect the girl who had accompanied him. He reached the entrance of the third corridor in a matter of seconds, his heart pounding, and found Zain lying unconscious on the ground, his makeshift weapon—a rusty metal rod—cast aside. The scene inside the corridor was even more horrifying. A massive, glowing purple mass of tissue writhed and pulsed in the middle of the passage. It possessed no fixed form; instead, it was a horrifying cluster of huge, translucent tentacles that appeared and disappeared within its sickening, shifting body. It was advancing slowly but relentlessly towards the far wall, where Emily was cornered, trembling violently.
Emily screamed again as the monster closed in on her, but this time it wasn't a scream of terror, but a cry of pure, desperate will. "I don't want to die! I want to live!" In that instant, a familiar information box from the System materialized above her head, glowing with an ethereal light:
[Life Energy (Permanent) Activated][Self-Healing Level: High][Objective: Eliminate the threat to preserve the System's existence][New ability activated: Life Energy (still in formation)]
Kaelen saw everything. He instantly realized that Emily was not merely a helpless girl. She possessed an unformed, dormant ability. Her desperate scream was the perfect catalyst that had awakened her power, a raw, protective surge of will. However, she was still in shock and didn't know how to use it.
"Stay back!" Kaelen shouted, his voice cutting through the tense air as he grabbed a jagged piece of rebar from the floor. He glared at the monster, a strategic focus in his eyes. "I have to make it focus on me." Above the creature, its own System information box appeared:
[Threat: Purple Intruder (Third Wave)][Health Points: 400/400][Strength: High][Speed: Slow]
Kaelen ran towards the monster. This was a much bigger threat than any he had faced before, a creature of a higher "Wave," but he didn't hesitate. He knew that relying on brute force was a mistake. This time, he had to be smarter, just as he was against Harun's cunning questions. His plan was simple: "I need to lead it away from Emily."
He began to run in a tight circle around the monster, firing weak, concentrated beams of Mana from his trembling hand. The beams were too weak to cause any real damage, but they were aimed at enraging the monster and making it chase him. The tactic worked. The monster began to writhe and move slowly but deliberately towards Kaelen, completely ignoring the fragile girl cornered by the wall. Kaelen began to retreat slowly towards an adjacent corridor, its light flickering from the reflection of the small, burning flames on the monster. He sensed, through his "Dimensional Vision," that this corridor ended with a heavy, locked door, and the acrid smell of chemicals wafted from beneath it. It was the perfect place to execute his plan. He continued to fire weak beams of Mana to lure the monster, which followed him like a hungry animal.
"I just need one thing..." Kaelen thought to himself, his mind racing as he scanned the environment for a key element.
There was no more time to search. The monster was advancing steadily, its claws scraping the concrete floor. "I need to get away," he whispered to himself.
Kaelen ran with all his remaining strength towards the heavy iron door, which was sealed shut. He gathered the remaining Mana energy in his hand, not to detonate it, but to create a highly concentrated point of intense heat. As soon as he was a safe distance away, he fired a precise, focused beam of Mana directly at a pile of rusty pipes that were slowly leaking a highly flammable chemical.
The result was instantaneous and cataclysmic.
The pipes ignited in a fiery explosion, and the blaze erupted violently in the corridor, trapping the monster inside. The glowing mass of purple tissue began to burn and crackle, its form warping with every smaller explosion from within. The ground shook violently from the larger blast, and the air filled with dust and the suffocating smell of burning materials.
The moment the explosion ceased, a dreadful and profound silence fell over the entire shelter.
In the aftermath, thick dust filled the air. Cries and shouts of confusion rose from the other survivors, who rushed to the third corridor to see what had happened. Commander Harun was at the front of the group, his face a mix of pure anger and utter shock. He was furious at the reckless action, but equally astonished by the raw power Kaelen had just unleashed.
They found Kaelen lying on the ground, completely exhausted, his hand trembling uncontrollably from the strain. His left hand was slightly burned, but he didn't seem to notice. His only focus was on crawling with difficulty towards Emily, who was still cornered, covered in dust and debris. The nurse, Layla, was standing beside her, looking at Emily's arm in a state of shock.
"Emily, are you okay?" Kaelen asked in a faint, strained voice.
She didn't answer. Her arm, which had a deep, jagged gash just moments ago, now showed only a faint, pink scar, as if it had healed at a phenomenal and impossible speed. She was unconscious but her features were calm.
"What in the hell happened here?" Harun yelled, pushing the dust away with his hand. His gaze shifted, darting between the burning debris, Emily's miraculously healed arm, and Kaelen's exhausted face. All the suspicions that had been simmering in his mind were now turning into undeniable facts. "You... you did this?"