Standing near a broken window, Epsilon's eyes were fixated onto the Chimera queen. Then, reaching out towards the dim light in the sky, he retracted his dormant ability causing it to cease.
"What now?"
Finishing up, he turned his gaze towards Ki Song.
"Song?"
But when he looked at where she once stood. There was only empty space, causing him a breif moment of panic. But that quickly turned into relief when he looked down the corridor and saw the girl herself already sprinting away at full speed.
At that moment, she glanced back over her shoulder while still running, as she shouted,
"Why are you standing still? Run like hell!"
A heartbeat later, the rumbling began.
"Why didn't you tell me that before we started!?"
**
The castle groaned like a living being in it's final hours. Which may not have been too far from truth, with two creatures of terrible power coming to tear down it's walls.
Before that could occur, a white haired youth sprinted through it's broken spine of corridors, his boots striking dust and shattered tiles. Behind him, the ceiling cracked and tore with the sharp violence of snapping bones, as ancient masonry tore free and crashed down into a storm of debris.
Epsilon barely managed to avoid the falling rubble, but that wasn't all the decaying castle had to offer.
The puppet stone knights still stood where they always had, guarding the same routes that they usually did. Even as the castle was beginning to come undone around them, they still stuck to their monotonous duties.
It was only once they caught sight of the two escaping sleepers, did they break free. Now transforming into weapons rather than just decorative pieces. One by one they shifted, blades of stone scrapped against stone as they turned towards them and gave chase.
Unlike before, Epsilon and Ki Song had the luxury of avoiding them whenever they could, but now constrained for time they had no chance but to make a break for it.
Even if they did though, as long as they ran far enough they'd escape the limits of their reach. There was no worry if they'd get caught or not.
All they had to do was run, and eventually, they reached the exit hallway, the same one which they had initially used to enter. His eyes reached across it, past it's open entrance and spotting the towering walls that surrounded them. They had almost made it.
Despite their exhaustion, they pressed onward until eventually reaching it's end. Just a little further, and they'd finally be able to get out of here and reunite with the cohort.
But then, Ki Song paused. Her footsteps slowing down until grinding to a halt.
"Why are you stopping? We're almost.."
When he looked towards the wall himself, was only then that he noticed it too.
Several human hands all lining the walls peak. Far too many for a single person to possess, yet they all looked unified in an uncomforting kind of way. These hands, did not belong to a human.
Already taking nervous steps back, countless more hands followed, hauling the unseen creature behind it upwards.
Until it's body finally rose into view. It resembled a centipede in shape only, long, and segmented. Each section of its body was encased beneath the same dark red exo-skeleton like carapace, hiding the chaos that writhed beneath.
And then there was it's eye. How alien it was indeed.
There's a saying that the eyes were the gateways to the soul.. if that was true for Nightmare creatures, then whatever lurked within that eye could not be described in human tongue.
Ki Song didn't need to shout any orders at all this time. Unified by the same feeling of terror, they both spun back around and fled back into the castle.
Now having caught sight of them, the centipede sprung back into action once more. It raced down the walls, slithering across with its countless hands before reaching the floor, and blitzing straight towards them.
By the time the two already crossed the Hallway once again, the centipede reached the castles entrance. Although the archway was too small, it simply rammed it's way through. Breaking apart the walls wide enough to fit through, and forcing it's long monstrous body inside.
Daring not to look back, all they could do was run. The corridors they had escaped moments before, becoming their refugee in a strange twist of fate.
To guage how close it was, all they could do was listen to it's footsteps that were no different from an applause, as well as the trail of destruction that it carved.
The centipede surged after him, it's innumerable human arms working in seamless unison. Each hand slapped against the floor, the walls, even the ceiling whenever the passage narrowed, allowing the fallen demon to flow through the castle with horrifying speed.
The two sleepers were fast, but the demon was faster. The only reason they were able to last as long as they could, was because they were somewhat familiar with the castles layout while exploring, and they weren't slown down because of their size. But they didn't have limitless stamina, very soon they would be caught.
Before then, something had to change. And it had to happen soon.
Another stained–glass window that had long since been shattered appeared, leaving only jagged remnants clinging to its frame. Beyond it lay what had once been the castles courtyard, now overgrown with weeds pushing through cracked flagstones.
They looked at eachother, quietly nodding as they came to an understanding.
Without hesitating, they leapt through.
Diving through the ruined opening, they twisted in midair before hitting the courtyard hard. Epsilon rolled across uneven stone, his momentum carrying him several yards before he finally skidded to a stop.
Behind them the centipede followed, but Epsilon wasn't going to let it through that easily. Even if it was futile, he had to try.
Aiming the palm of his hand right where they passed through, he focused.
His dormant ability was too weak to cause any real harm on its own, but he could also compress the shot to increase its piercing power. For that he needed time, time which he didn't have.
So what should he do?
In that moment of desperation, something unexpected came to mind.
Not too long later, the centipedes armoured head burst through the window frame, it's singular bulging eye glaring down at them with something close to madness.
The instant Epsilon caught sight of it, he fired. The white blast of light flying towards it with haste.
As it travelled in the air, his concentration only deepened. The sphere steadily shrank, its form growing smaller, denser, but also becoming more pure and powerful.
He hadn't had the chance to charge it beforehand..
But who said he couldn't charge it after firing? He possessed a Divine Aspect. Its limits were whatever he believed them to be.
The creature shut its eyelid down, blocking the blast as it exploded on contact. Despite that though, it seemed to have some sort of effect.
The centipede reeled backward before thrashing wildly in pain. Its violent movements destroyed sections of the hallway indiscriminately, tearing through walls and crushing supporting pillars.
All that damage quickly accumulated, before finally collapsing in on itself as the entire hallway came down in one giant cascade. All crushing the centipede beneath it's weight.
The thunder of collapsing masonry echoed across the courtyard until it finally dwindled into silence.
Epsilon remained where he had fallen, his chest heaving. Looking upon the devastation, his eyes widened in awe.
That creature was most certainly not dead, but it would wake back up not before long.
Once all was said and done, it was like half of the stone castle had collapsed in on itself. Just a bit longer, and the rest would come down too.
An idea, was gradually piecing itself together in his head.
Sitting right next to him, Ki Song complained.
"Are Fallen creatures even meant to be that large!? This is all to absurd!"
She tried to stand, but her legs were trembling. It was clear that she was about to reach her limit. All that running had done a number on them; this place was far too large.
Concerned, she then asked,
"What are you smiling about? Is being chased by an oversized insect that amusing to you?"
He let out a quiet laugh, brushing dust from his shoulder as another distant rumble shook the castle.
"No it's not that. I'm just thinking about how I'm gonna kill that thing."
She stared at him as if he'd finally lost his mind. Although, it wasn't the first time this had happened, every moment seemed to grow more and more absurd.
"If you wanna volunteer to fight it then go ahead! I'm getting out here."
Although she spoke sarcastically, Epsilon agreed.
"Yeah, you're right. Let's split up here."
"What?"
She searched his pale face for the punchline, for the grin that would reveal this all as a joke. But all she saw, was an eerie confidence.
"Gather everyone and head straight for the exit, I'll kill that thing myself."