The pterodactyl had originally come to hunt the scorpion flies. But when it saw its prey get slaughtered by some strange new creature, it flew into a rage.
The winged beast spread its claws and dove straight at Soren.
"Watch out!" Andrei couldn't help yelling.
Soren, however, just calmly watched the monster charge.
With a flick of his wrist, the deer bow vanished into thin air.
The instant the pterodactyl got close, Soren slammed his fist upward.
Splat!
Its ugly little head exploded into paste. The rest of its body slammed into the ground from the force of the blow.
Dead silence.
The entire store went graveyard quiet. You could've heard a pin drop.
Everyone stared at Soren like he was the real monster.
The cult lady swallowed hard, her face turning pale.
She could feel the people she'd just been brainwashing shifting their attitude again. The fear of losing control made her snap.
"Demon…" she shrieked, jabbing a finger at Soren. "Are you all blind?! He's a demon! He brought this disaster here with his evil—"
She didn't get to finish.
Soren slowly turned his head and gave her one look.
Just one look.
Her mouth snapped shut like someone had grabbed her by the throat. She knew—if she said one more word, this man would actually kill her.
Her legs gave out. She collapsed to the floor, trembling. A warm patch spread across her pants.
"Shut the hell up, you crazy bitch!" the hardware store manager snapped, stepping forward. "If it wasn't for this guy, those bugs would've already stung us all to death!"
"Yeah! All you do is scam people with your bullshit!"
A few of the fence-sitters flipped sides at lightspeed and started piling on her.
The cult lady's face went from white to green. She slunk back into her corner, humiliated.
Andrei stood off to the side, completely stunned.
No wonder Soren had walked out of that cursed house without a scratch. No wonder he'd stayed so damn calm the whole time.
The guy wasn't even human.
Clancy kept filming, grinning like an idiot. He'd caught every second of Soren's casual beatdown on tape. Pure viral gold.
Once the threat was gone, everyone drifted back to their spots, whispering and stealing glances at Soren.
Soren stared out the window, thinking.
These mist monsters hadn't gotten any stronger just because he was here. Since they were easy enough to handle, he might as well go see what the government was really up to.
"I want to come with you, Mr. Soren."
A firm voice spoke beside him.
Amanda, the schoolteacher, had clearly read his intention to leave and spoke up first.
Soren looked at her in mild surprise. He hadn't expected her to be so decisive.
"Staying here isn't safe," Amanda said, glancing around the store. "You all saw how these people are acting—they're already falling apart."
"In a situation like this, they'll start turning on each other. Anyone who doesn't fit in will just end up as a sacrifice in their little power struggles."
Drayton stayed quiet.
As a practical man, all he wanted right now was to keep his wife and son safe inside the relatively secure store and wait for government rescue.
Andrei looked conflicted too. He craved explosive footage for the show, but the memory of those monsters outside made his survival instinct kick in hard.
"I'm in," the old lady said, standing up. "I've lived this long. Might as well see what these monsters actually look like."
Even the frail old woman had made her choice.
That was enough to get Andrei's ambition stirring again.
Maybe… with Soren around, they'd actually be okay?
Clancy nudged him with his elbow and gave him a meaningful look, lifting his camera slightly.
The two partners instantly agreed and chose to follow.
Soren nodded. He turned to Drayton.
"Don't worry. Stay inside and don't go out. Government support should arrive within a day or two at most."
Drayton handed over the keys to his Jeep with an apologetic look. "Thank you. The car's parked right outside. Good luck."
Soren took the keys and led the group to the door.
The other people in the store saw them leaving and crowded around, but after the fat guy's scream earlier and the monster attack, not a single person dared ask to come along.
The five of them stepped into the thick fog and were quickly swallowed by the white mist.
Once they were in the Jeep, Soren started the engine and asked, "Any of you know anything about that military base up in the mountains?"
Amanda shook her head. "I only moved here recently. I don't know much."
Andrei and Clancy both looked blank.
Just when Soren had given up hope, the quiet old lady suddenly spoke.
"I've heard some rumors."
"That base is called Black Mountain. A lot of the officers and researchers come into town on their days off to relax."
"From what they've said, it sounds like they were working on opening some kind of gate."
She got her bearings and pointed. "Should be somewhere over in that direction."
"Got it."
Soren didn't bother asking for anyone else's opinion.
Since they'd chosen to follow him, they'd follow his lead.
...
The Jeep crawled slowly through the fog.
Suddenly, the chassis shook hard.
Boom!
A massive unknown impact echoed from the mist.
Everyone pressed against the windows—
A gigantic black foot, shaped like a rhino's but far larger, slammed down onto the road right in front of the Jeep, cratering the asphalt.
The wrinkled, leathery skin had deep grooves, and dozens of writhing tentacles and fleshy worms coiled around the massive foot.
Boom! Boom!
More enormous feet crashed down one after another.
Soren pushed open the door and looked up.
A colossal shadow had replaced the sky. Hundreds of thick tentacles dangled down from above.
The creature's actual body was hidden somewhere high in the clouds and fog—you couldn't even see its full shape.
The titanic monster slowly walked forward, passing directly over the Jeep.
Soren didn't sense any hostility or emotion from it at all.
It was like the monster was completely indifferent—or simply too busy going somewhere to care about the tiny humans beneath its feet. The same way people don't notice ants.
The others got out too. When they saw the sky-scraping behemoth, they froze, barely daring to breathe.
Only after the thunderous footsteps faded and the colossal silhouette disappeared back into the mist did Andrei finally let out a shaky breath.
"What the fuck was that thing?!"
Clancy didn't say a word. He just kept his camera trained on where the monster had vanished, filming like a madman.
After everyone calmed down a little, they climbed back into the Jeep and continued on.
They soon left the town behind.
The road was littered with overturned cars. Half-eaten, mangled corpses lay scattered along the sides. The gruesome sights kept hammering at everyone's nerves.
The closer they got to the mountain, the more monsters they encountered.
Multi-headed hounds occasionally appeared on the roadside, snarling at the passing Jeep.
Twisted humanoid figures clutching strange cubes shambled across the highway.
Every now and then, semi-transparent spirits would phase straight through the car itself.