RUMBLED!!!
The ground trembled.
A shriek tore through the air, sharp, metallic and wrong. Then, out of the veil of darkness, the Shell Demon appeared. It didn't walk; it stormed into existence, each step driving its jagged legs into the ashen sand with thunderous force. Waves of dust and black mist erupted around it, painting the night in a choking haze.
Two scarlet eyes blazed within the shadows, locking onto Sunny with unholy precision. Just meeting that gaze made his knees weaken. A chill ran down his spine like an icy blade.
But fear never stopped him before.
"Yeah! That's right!" Sunny shouted, voice cracking with forced confidence. "Over here, you pile of scrap! Come on, you ugly piece of seafood..... this-this is my island now!"
The Shell Demon screeched, its sound echoing like grinding steel. The monster lunged forward, the sand splitting under its weight. Its colossal frame rose like a fortress of twisted metal, towering as high as a two-story building.
Yet, despite its height, it still couldn't reach the branches of the great coral tree where Sunny perched. For the moment, he was out of reach.
For the moment.
He didn't delude himself, safety was a temporary luxury. The demon was far too intelligent, too persistent. He could see it calculating already, the alien mind was trying to find a way to reach him.
But that was fine. They just needed a few seconds.
Sunny took a deep breath. 'It's time'
As the Shell Demon charged beneath him, Raizel moved like a phantom. From the shadows, two small flasks left his hands, spinning through the air with surgical precision. At the last instant, he flicked a finger.
The air shimmered faintly as telekinesis guided their fall, correcting their arc toward the demon's exposed shell.
The Shell Demon reacted instantly, its scythe-like limbs slicing upward. One flask shattered midair with a sharp crack, splattering its contents across the creature's shell. The second flask slipped past its defense and burst upon impact, Coating its body in a cascade of dark, viscous liquid that hissed on contact.
Shards of clay scattered like shrapnel, the air thick with acrid smoke. The liquids from both flasks mingled, running over the demon's armor in oily rivulets.
A sizzling reaction began.
The concoction, an unstable mixture of distilled centipede oil and other corrosive extracts, fumed and smoked, devouring the sand wherever it dripped. For a heartbeat, everyone held their breath, waiting for the Shell Demon's armor to melt.
But it didn't.
The liquid slid off harmlessly, like rain on steel. The demon's metallic shell gleamed, untouched, unscarred.
Sunny's face darkened seeing this "That's…"
He didn't finish the thought.
Nephis appeared beside Raizel, her eyes reflecting the flicker of the torch she carried.
Her tone was calm, steady, almost cold "…Just as we expected."
Sunny blinked 'Expected?'
Raizel's seeing the look of Sunny, his lips curved faintly. They hadn't relied on the oil's corrosion to kill the creature. No, the mixture had a different purpose.
Nephis didn't hesitate. With a powerful swing, she hurled the burning torch through the air. It sliced through the darkness, trailing sparks like a comet descending from the heavens.
The torch hit the Shell Demon square in the back. In an instant, fire exploded across its form. The entire creature ignited, the flames spreading rapidly over the oil-slick surface.
The Shell Demon shrieked, the sound reverberating through the night, metal screeching against fire, rage against inevitability. It swung its blades wildly, scything at the ground, thrashing in blind fury.
The group didn't move an inch as they simply watched, the demon trying to extinguish the burning flames.
The group knew that the silver flames wouldn't kill it. A creature like that had endured the crushing depths of the dark sea, a little fire would be nothing against it.
But that wasn't the point.
Now, the night was no longer dark.
The Shell Demon blazed like a fallen star, its molten body casting long, flickering shadows across the ruins. The sea of ash reflected its light, turning the world red and gold.
Sunny squinted through the haze, the reflection of the inferno dancing in his eyes. "It's beautiful," he muttered to himself, half in awe and half in dread.
'The first part is done.' thought Raizel, silent and unflinching, simply watched as the flames roared.
'Now for the creature to appeared.' thought Vasily as he looked at the burning creature.
'Now i just need to kill it' / 'Now we just need to kill it.'
Both Raizel and Vasiliy thought at the same time.
The firelight reached far into the distance, beyond the cliffs, beyond the labyrinth of coral and bone.
And from those black depths… movement began.
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??? (Pov)
The Shell Demon, a burning titan of steel and rage, towered over the island like a house set ablaze. Its entire body glowed crimson and gold, the firelight clawing at the dark ocean beyond.
Two red eyes, bright as molten iron, glared through the veil of flames at the eight Sleepers who had dared to challenge it. The demon understood what it needed to do.
SHRIEKKK!!!
With a guttural shriek, it hurled itself to the ground, rolling violently in the black sand. Sparks flew, and waves of burning ash rose around it as it tried to smother the flames consuming its armored shell.
Everyone saw the demon rolling to the ground, and when they saw the silver flames being extinguish slowly but surely they violent flames were calming down, they couldn't help but feel scared, everyone expect for Raizel… who wasn't looking at the demon anymore.
His head turned slowly, unnaturally slowly toward the horizon. The sea was still black and silent. Too silent, their was no movement of the water.
'Something not right....' then he felt it, something cold, something ancient and something inhuman.
His eyes narrowed 'That thing… it's here.'
The air itself seemed to shudder.
Vasiliy and Nephis reacted a few seconds too late. Their faces drained of color as they felt the sudden shift in air, they felt the suffocating cold that swept over the world. The gentle sea breeze died. The fire's warmth vanished, devoured by a creeping, unnatural chill.
They could feel it, both of them were thinking the same thing that
'Something was coming/Someone is coming.'
Something that did not belong to this world.
Vasiliy's hands trembled as he summoned his sword. The blade shook faintly in his grip, reflecting the faint, dying firelight. 'Clam down, clam down, that thing is only here for the demon, not for you.' he thought, trying to steady his breath, trying to clam his raging heart that was beating almost violently.
Beside him, Nephis summoned her weapon, her hands trembled, her knuckles turning white. Her instincts screamed at her that whatever was coming… she weren't ready to face it.
Alex crimson eyes widden in fear, his weapons were already out, showing that he was ready to face any challenges but the trembling of his legs give it away. He felt a metallic taste on his mouth, he wipe it with his hand and saw that it was his blood, he was bleeding and he didn't even know it.
"Ugh!," he let out a groan in frustration as he felt his mind heavy, sleep was slowly consuming him. He tried to stay awake as possible, because he can't be unconscious here.
Sunny, Rebecca and Maya took too late to notice the changes since their mind was already fixed on the burning demon, they were confused at first, then the three of them frozen in fear. The same cold dead feeling sank into their bones.
The air had weight now. Each breath felt like swallowing ice.
"...W-What's happening?" Maya's voice cracked, her body shaking as she hugged herself.
No one answered. No one could.
They all stared toward the sea.
The world held its breath.
Even the scarlet leaves of the great coral tree fell silent. The sound of crashing waves faded into a low, distorted murmur, as if the ocean itself was afraid to make noise.
Then
BOOM!!!
An invisible pressure slammed into the island, rippling through sand and bone alike. Every Sleeper stumbled as though the world had shifted beneath them. The fire dimmed. Shadows stretched long and thin.
The air grew even colder.
And then it appeared a wall of fog, rolling in over the black ocean. It wasn't moving with the wind. It was moving against it.
A thick, suffocating mist crept toward the shore like a living thing. It hissed as it touched the water, swallowing everything it touched.
The Shell Demon froze mid-motion. Its massive form stilled, head turning toward the sea. The flames still burned across its body, but now it seemed almost… afraid.
It stood upright again, facing the fog, its burning armor reflecting the crimson sky. There was something in its stance, something that almost resembled dread. Then, that dread hardened into madness.
SHIREK!!
The demon screamed and raised both of its blades toward the sea, but if one were to look closely at his red eyes, they could see deep rooted fear or chilling horror for it knows what was coming.
The fog reached the shore.
It slithered over the sand, covering the demon and the tree, then the 8 figures completely inside it.
Sunny felt it brush against his skin and every muscle in his body locked up. The mist was cold, but not the kind of cold that numbs. It was the cold that burns.
And in that fog… something moved.
A shape. A silhouette. Something tall, wrong, and shifting in ways the mind refused to process. It was not walking, not swimming, it was existing.
Sunny's breath caught in his throat. His eyes widened
And then a small, trembling hand covered them.
Cassie's.
Her voice quivered like glass about to shatter. "Don't look," she whispered. "Whatever happens… don't open your eyes."
Her tone, raw, terrified, desperate making everyone froze, where they stood.
Everyone obeyed instantly.
Eyes squeezed shut. Hands clenched. Hearts pounded so hard it hurt their chest
Everyone has closed their eyes, everyone expect for Raizel alone, who kept his eyes open, unblinking. His expression unreadable.
'Let see what type of creature it is.' Raizel knows that with his attributes and powers, the demon or whatever the creature is, it was no match for him.
''Ō̸̢͊͝ḧ̵̰̙́̎~̢͝͠ẖ̸͚̎̈́ò̶̳̞̅w̸̛̥̓~̴͓͂̑w̷͙͋͆r̴̝̿͋o̸̘͈͆̾n̷̢̓͋ǵ̷̱̏~̵͎͂̚h̶͇͍̒͘ę̵̽͊~̷̼̈́̎w̸̫̤̚̕a̵̩͌͘s̸̪̽̓~̷̫̻͌̍''
The world fell silent.
Blinded, they could only hear.
SWISH!!
The whispering fog pressed closer, its tendrils brushing against their armor and faces. The fire hissed as it was devoured and in the distance, the sea fell utterly quiet.
Sunny's breath hitched, as he felt something on his shoulder.
Vasily tighten the hold of the sword, but his sword felt more and more heavy as it took all his might to hold it properly.
Nephis hands trembled as her sword fall down. She felt someone whispering something in her ear.
Maya body shudder, as she felt a cold hand touching her skin.
Alex mouth and nose were bleeding, his face was slowly losing it's colour.
Rebecca was bleeding from her eyes but she didn't notice it, she didn't notice nor did she felt the missing skin of right side of her face.
And Cassie.....Cassie was smiling strangely.... or was it even Cassie??....then the thing opened her mouth and whisper slowly.
"....doN't....LoOk!!...."
Everyone froze.
The voice, it sounded like _her_, but layered as if a thousand of Cassie were whispering in unison from inside the fog.
"Don't look… don't look…"
The voices grew louder, closer, Surrounding them from all the sides.
"Don't look… don't look… don't look…"
The whispers rose into a frenzy. The words overlapped, collapsing into each other, until language itself began to break.
"Dö̷̫͍̠̋̿͑̔n̶̰̦̽̅̔̓͝'̴̜̬̎̈́t̶̛̞̻̀̍ ̵̜͗͗l̶̺͙̘͊͆̎͑͘o̸͇̩͐͆ȯ̸̜̗̗̖͂̓͌͜͝k̵̗̹̹̳̋̾́̿͐̀ ̵̳̈́̎d̸̢̤͕̰̓͠ö̷̫̦́́̿̇̅͝ͅn̶̙͓͎̩̏'̴̠͌̎t̷̳̯̑ ̵̯̾͆̐l̶͎͉͐͝ͅǫ̵̝̼͕̀̅ơ̴̩̪͗̾̈́͂k̸̤̤͠"
Then, it grew even louder and turned into a cacophony of screams, crashing into everyone like a wave, sounding nothing like what human vocal cords could produce. Then, with a sound like reality tearing itself:
"D͘O͝N͡'̶T͠ ̡L̶O͠O͠K͝!͢ ̴D̸O͞N͢'͢T̢ ̷L̛ƠO̶K͜!͜ ̸D͠O͢N̴'͞T͠ ̢L͘O͡ƠK̛!͜ …N̷O̷O͠O͝O͝O͜O͠O͡O̸O͡!!!"
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"sigh"
Raizel let out a quiet sigh the kind that carried more judgment than fatigue.
'They're struggling,' he thought, his eyes drifting over the chaos below. Nephis, Vasiliy, Sunny… all of them were barely holding themselves together. 'Well, they're only human.'
He couldn't really blame them. Compared to him, they were fragile candles flickering in a hurricane, they were valiant, yes, but inevitably doomed to be snuffed out by the dark.
His gaze shifted toward the fog. That dense, undulating wall of white, gray that now devoured the whole tree and everything in it. Something stirred within it, and the faint whisper of a scream echoed far off, distorted and sickly.
Raizel's expression didn't change.
"I thought this creature would be… powerful," he murmured, his cold tone laced with disappointment. "Turns out it's just another parasite."
Raizel after watching for a while, knew what kind of monster it was. "A Mind Drifter". The type that thrived on weakness, not strength. It didn't fight
It infested itself on other thought fear.
First, it would blanket the surroundings in that cursed white gray mist, isolating its prey from sight and sound. Then it would release its chilling aura, gnawing away at sanity until fear cracked the victim's mind open like an broken egg. Finally, it would crawl inside, slithering into thoughts, memories and nightmares of victim's, until the prey no longer knew what was real.
That was why Cassie had screamed for them to close their eyes. She must've seen the creature's ability in her visions, the time when creature must have used those power against the demon in the past.
'Makes sense now,' Raizel thought, even thought he has read it on the book, but seeing it with his own eyes was different, then his lips curving slightly. 'Well now it's secrete exposed it is nothing but a lump of flesh.'
But before he could take another step, a faint pressure crept against his skull, soft and then sharp.
'Ah!!'
He felt it. A slow, insidious push, like icy fingers trying to pry open his mind but it wasn't able too. The fog seemed to breathe around him with it's chilling aura, but his body, wrapped in the shimmering plates of his Supreme Tier III armor, didn't shiver. Not even once
The creature was clawing at the gates of a fortress it could never breach.
Still, the attempt was irritating.
Raizel exhaled through his nose. Around him, the fog thickened. Its weight almost alive. The world faded to white. He could barely see five centimeters ahead.
Then he noticed it.
Something moved within the haze, a slithering darkness, viscous and deliberate. A tentacle. Thin, black, and glistening like tar, creeping toward him through the fog.
"Pathetic."
Raizel extended his hand. The air trembled. Invisible energy gathered around his fingers, condensing into a razor edge of pure force. The moment the tentacle reached striking distance....
He unleashed it.
A soundless wind blade ripped through the mist, severing the limb cleanly in half. The creature's shriek tore through the night immediately after, a noise so high-pitched and alien it made the branches tremble.
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKK!!!
The vibration hit Raizel like a hammer. His head rang. For a brief moment, the world tilted sideways. He gritted his teeth, pressing his palms to his ears.
CRACK!!
Something massive crashed through the fog where he had been standing a heartbeat earlier. Splinters and ash scattered into the air.
Raizel took a step back onto the next branch, his boots soundless, his expression perfectly still.
From within the white void, the sound came again, that screech, that twisting of sound that wasn't made by a throat. It was too raw and too creepy.
"Alright," Raizel whispered slowly. "...let's see what else you've got."
The mist swirled in response, as though the creature had heard him and the temperature dropped another ten degrees.
The night was about to get worse.