There was no time left… not even a single lonely moment to catch their breath.
The hordes of monsters were approaching like a black flood, wave after wave, crawling across the ground as if the night itself had decided to rise and walk.
As for their petty struggles… their worthless disputes… they had become a luxury no one could afford anymore.
They had to be postponed.
They had to be buried.
Because death… was far closer than any conflict.
The monsters continued to swarm them.
Twisted bodies, crawling limbs, mouths stretched wide open, producing sounds unlike anything alive.
Some of them paused for a moment… just a moment… at the corpses left outside the walls.
An easy meal.
Burned bodies, torn apart, half-eaten… yet still flesh.
Those creatures bent over them like starving dogs, tearing what remained apart with black teeth, as the sounds of chewing and ripping rose into the damp air.
But most of them did not stop.
The corpses were not what they wanted.
They wanted something else.
They wanted… a living meal.
Flesh that screams.
Warm blood rushing from a body.
And so they kept advancing.
Slowly… steadily… as if they knew well that their prey had nowhere left to run.
"No…"
The voice came out trembling from one of the townspeople, his eyes fixed on the moving black horizon.
"…What are we supposed to do?!"
It wasn't a question so much as it was a desperate cry.
He tried to run.
His body did move… two steps… three…
Then he stopped.
Not because someone grabbed him.
But because he realized the truth.
Running… would change nothing.
The end… was simply getting closer.
"No…"
One of the few remaining knights stepped forward.
His voice came out rough… heavy… filled with fear he tried in vain to hide.
"…There's nothing we can do…"
He gripped his sword so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"…except fight… until the end."
He knew it.
Everyone knew it.
There was no other path left.
And among all those monsters…
That thing appeared.
The cross-shaped creature.
It had crawled all the way there, leaving behind a trail of shattered bodies, and corpses crushed beneath its weight.
Some of the traps they had set stopped a number of monsters… tore some apart… severed other limbs…
But they did not stop the horde.
They did nothing more than slow it down.
Then…
That creature stopped.
It raised its body.
Only then… did everyone realize its true size.
It was massive.
Terrifying.
So enormous that everything around it seemed smaller.
And yet…
It had no legs.
Its body was nothing but a mass of crawling flesh… with long, deformed arms extending from it like the branches of a dead tree.
Then…
It opened its mouth.
The mouth stretched to an unnatural extent, like a dark rift in the body of the world itself.
And the roar came.
A deep… primal sound… shaking the ground beneath their feet, echoing through every corner of the place.
In the next moment, things like ropes shot out from its arms.
Not ropes, truly.
But pulsing strands of flesh, launched with savage speed, grabbing the nearest two monsters.
They did not resist.
They had no time.
They were dragged toward it violently.
Then they disappeared into its mouth.
The wet sound of chewing rose with horrifying clarity.
It was… feeding on them.
On the monsters themselves.
And after it swallowed them…
Silence fell for a moment.
Then…
The rest of the monsters stepped back slightly.
As if its presence… had become the center of the horde.
The leader of chaos.
"Kid…"
Marcus said in a low voice, his eyes fixed on that crawling nightmare.
"…I've stood before many things in my life."
A short laugh escaped his throat, but it was dry… devoid of any joy.
"…But that thing…"
He tightened his grip on his weapon.
"…there's no way I'll stay alive if I face it."
Then he turned slightly toward elia.
"…So we have to move. Now."
But elia…
Had already drawn his sword.
The cold metal reflected the scattered firelight around them.
His eyes never left the monster.
Because he understood something clearly.
The enemy… had changed.
The monsters before them…
None of them would survive long in the presence of that creature.
Not with their numbers… not with their hunger.
"Don't worry."
elia said in a calm, cold tone.
"…I understand what needs to be done."
In the next moment, the two of them moved.
Each in a different direction.
There was no time for long discussions or complex plans.
Only… survival instinct.
They were trying to find any path they could escape through.
And anyone they could save.
If anyone was still left at all.
As for the rest…
They scattered.
The few remaining knights… the townspeople… anyone still able to stand
They turned into fleeing shadows.
Marcus…
Did not run quietly.
He lifted a massive wooden gate lying near the entrance, his tense muscles trembling under its weight.
Then…
He threw it.
It surged through the air like a black mass.
And crashed down onto a group of monsters.
The sound of crushing was sickening.
Bones shattering.
Bodies being smashed under the enormous weight.
But even that…
Was nothing more than a moment's delay.
As for elia…
He grabbed an arrow with his bare hand.
He had no bow.
He didn't need one.
He pulled his arm back
Then hurled it.
The arrow shot through the air like a small spear.
It pierced through one monster's chest.
Then the second.
Then the third.
And finally lodged into the body of the fourth.
But elia did not stop.
He knew the truth.
This… was just extra time.
Because the monsters…
Even if they were its prey, it would devour its own.
"Damn it…"
elia thought as he watched the approaching wave.
"…How are we supposed to survive this?"
He glanced around quickly.
The numbers.
The strength.
The situation.
Everything was clear.
They didn't have the numbers.
Nor the combat power.
Not even enough luck.
To fight that horde…
And survive.
Even surviving alone…
Would be a miracle.
"…I think it's time to change the plan."
elia whispered to himself.
"…and leave this graveyard."
But before he could move, one of the men rushed toward him, panting.
"Leader! Leader!"
His eyes were wide with terror.
"…Some of those creatures have already gotten inside!"
"Damn it!"
The word slipped through elia's teeth.
Because he understood immediately.
There was no escape anymore.
They had been surrounded.
All that remained…
Was to endure.
From above, elia fought.
Burning.
Crushing.
Piercing.
Every weapon… every stone… everything that could be used.
Everything became a tool for killing.
Marcus stood at the entrance.
His massive body had become a living wall.
But that wall…
Was bleeding.
Wounds covered his body.
Blood flowed over his armor and onto the ground.
And yet, he did not retreat.
He pushed the monsters back with his shoulders… cut them down… crushed them.
The knights…
Fought.
They fought until the end.
And none of them remained.
The townspeople…
Hid.
In corners.
Behind rubble.
Within shadows.
Every breath was stifled.
Every movement was a risk.
And somewhere…
Selena stood.
Her hand raised.
Magic gathered around her like a vortex of fire.
Then it exploded.
Flames swept through a group of monsters.
Their screams rose as they burned alive.
But even as she did that…
She was pushing people to hide.
Trying to save whoever could still be saved.
But when that crawling creature approached…
All of that became meaningless.
It was too massive.
So massive that the entrance could not contain it.
It paused for a moment.
Then chose something simpler.
It smashed the wall.
Stones exploded in every direction.
Dust filled the air.
And in the chaos, Marcus was thrown away.
His body slammed into the ground with force.
As for elia, he fell among the rubble, and if not for luck, those fleshy tendrils would have caught him.
The crawler opened its mouth.
A dark void.
And as everyone struggled to stand…
It lunged.
One of them disappeared into its mouth in an instant.
Then the roar rose.
A sound that made even the other monsters recoil.
It slowly turned its head.
But it had no eyes.
It didn't need them.
It could feel.
The fear.
The blood.
The life hiding around it.
Then it began to crawl among them.
Its massive body sliding across the ground.
And blood was spilling everywhere.
Fortunately…
They were experts at hiding.
At escaping.
At surviving.
As for Marcus, he tried to slip away.
To crawl back.
But a hand grabbed his armor.
It was elia's hand.
"Where do you think you're going?"
he said in a low… cold voice.
Marcus glared at him.
"Let me go."
But elia didn't.
"We'll die together… you bastard."
he said, staring into his eyes.
"…so don't even think about running before we finish this."
Marcus laughed.
A rough laugh escaped him despite the blood in his mouth.
"Kid…"
He breathed slowly.
"…even if I ran…"
He looked at the monsters around them.
"…those things wouldn't allow it."
And in that moment, the two of them thought of the same thing.
The same idea.
The same fate.
If death was waiting for them, then why not face it standing?
If they were going to die…
Let it be after they fought…
Until the end.
In that brief moment…
So brief it felt as though time itself had stumbled…
elia and Marcus' eyes met.
There was no explicit agreement.
There were no words.
But both of them understood.
No escape.
No survival.
Only… fighting.
Until the end.
The crawling monster surged through the rubble, its massive body dragging itself across the ground like a mountain of rotting flesh.
The ground itself trembled with every movement.
From its long arms, those fleshy tendrils shot out once again, striking the air like starving serpents searching for prey.
But this time, someone was waiting.
"Let's go!"
elia suddenly shouted.
Marcus grinned widely, blood streaming down his forehead.
"Hah… finally."
Then he charged.
Marcus ran straight toward the monster.
He didn't try to circle around.
He didn't try to hide.
He rushed at it like a boulder falling from a mountain.
One of the fleshy tendrils slammed into his chest.
His body jolted.
But his foot did not step back.
He grabbed that disgusting tendril with his hand… and pulled.
Hard.
A piece of flesh tore from the monster's arm.
The tearing sound was revolting… wet… like a body being flayed alive.
But Marcus laughed.
Laughed out loud.
"Is that all you've got?!"
Then he pulled the arm further… until the monster's body drew closer to him.
At that moment, elia had already moved.
He didn't run.
He lunged.
Like a black shadow.
His eyes no longer held any thought.
There were no calculations… no plans… no fear.
There was only one thing.
Killing.
elia leapt over the rubble, then over the body of a dead monster, then surged toward the massive mass of flesh.
The sword in his hand flashed for a moment.
Then fell.
The blade split flesh with a violent strike.
Black blood burst forth like a foul fountain.
But elia did not stop.
A second strike.
A third.
A fourth.
He struck like a madman.
The sword rose and fell at terrifying speed, cutting flesh, breaking bone, and digging deeper into the monster's body.
Blood covered his face.
But his eyes…
Were rigid.
Cold.
As if something inside him had broken.
The monster roared.
Its massive body shook violently.
Several fleshy tendrils shot toward elia.
One of them wrapped around his leg.
It yanked him violently toward the ground.
But before he fell…
elia drove his sword into the ground… and grabbed the tendril with his bare hand.
The sticky flesh coiled around his palm.
He tightened his grip.
Then bit into it with his teeth.
The flesh tore between his jaws as he ripped it apart savagely.
Even the nearby monsters paused for a moment.
As if they… did not understand what they were seeing.
"You madman!"
Marcus laughed as he struck the monster's body with his fist.
One punch from his massive fist made the flesh ripple like water.
Then he grabbed one of those arms… and wrapped it around his shoulder.
And pulled.
The muscles in his arms bulged like ropes.
Then he tore it off.
He ripped an entire piece from the monster's body.
The tearing sound was horrifying.
But Marcus did not stop.
He struck it again.
Then again.
His fists were like hammers.
Each blow sank into flesh… broke bones… and pushed the massive body backward.
As for elia…
He had become something else.
He was no longer fighting like a swordsman.
But like a monster.
When his sword broke after striking a hard bone, he didn't stop.
Instead, he drove the broken piece into the monster's body.
Then he leapt onto it.
He mounted the moving mass of flesh as if riding a wild beast.
He struck it with the hilt.
With the broken metal.
With his fist.
With his knee.
Even his head.
He struck it with his head.
Blood streamed from his forehead… but it didn't stop him.
He was biting… tearing… stabbing… striking…
As if his mind had vanished.
As if the only thing left within him…
Was rage.
The monster screamed.
Its body shook violently.
Several tendrils shot out at once.
They wrapped around elia.
Around his chest.
Around his arm.
Then it hurled him away.
He hit the ground with a force that knocked the air out of his lungs.
But his body rose again.
Staggering.
Bleeding.
But standing.
On the other side, Marcus had become a living shield.
The monster struck him with its massive arm.
His body slammed into the wall.
The stones cracked behind him.
But Marcus stood.
Slowly.
With difficulty.
Then he spat blood.
"…That was a good one."
Then he charged again.
He grabbed the monster's body… and crashed into it.
As if trying to bring down a wall.
The ground shook.
But the monster did not fall.
Instead, it struck him again.
Then a third time.
Each blow broke a bone.
And each time, Marcus stood again.
But…
The body has its limits.
Blood has its measure.
And strength has an end.
elia finally dropped to one knee.
His arm trembled.
The broken sword fell from his hand.
His breathing became rough… uneven.
Blood covered his face entirely.
But his eyes remained open.
Staring at the monster.
With pure hatred.
As for Marcus, he fell to the ground.
His knee was shattered.
One of his arms no longer moved.
Yet he was still laughing.
A tired laugh.
"Hah…"
He looked at elia.
"…I think we did what we could."
The monster crawled toward them.
Slowly.
Torn.
Wounded.
But still alive.
And its mouth began to open again.
Then suddenly.
It stopped.
A sound appeared behind elia.
The sound of calm footsteps.
Unhurried.
As if their owner were strolling through a garden.
"Ah…"
A lazy voice said.
"…what a mess."
Before elia could turn, something cold entered his back.
Slowly.
Until it sank deep into his body.
His body froze.
Then he looked down.
A blade…
Emerging from his chest.
The blade was pulled out slowly.
And elia fell to his knees.
The man stood behind him.
Stretching his arms lazily, as if he had just woken up.
His hair was slightly neat… his eyes half-closed… as if everything happening around him was nothing more than a minor annoyance.
It was Oliver.
He yawned lightly.
Then looked at Marcus sitting amid the blood.
He smiled faintly.
And raised his hand in a lazy greeting.
"Oh…"
he said calmly.
"…Marcus."
He tilted his head slightly as he looked at the chaos around him.
Then sighed.
"…seems like you ruined my nap."