Thank You,
Knight Teir: "Makoa"
For Becoming A Member On My Pa'treon. The Emperor Protect.
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The lobby was vast and eerily empty. The upright concrete pillars loomed like the colossal legs of some ancient titan, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression. Though the steel gate at the far end wasn't as tall as the pillars, standing before it made them feel utterly insignificant.
They had already studied the files of the Immortal Lizard, and every instinct told them that this was where the creature was kept. The reinforced gate itself seemed less like a door and more like a warning, as if declaring that something monstrous slumbered beyond.
But before they could debate whether to take a closer look, everything changed.
A deafening roar erupted from behind the gate—a sound that didn't resemble any creature known to man. The entire gate shuddered violently, struck by an unimaginable force, and its frame twisted as the once-tight gap between its panels split open. From that breach, they caught a fleeting glimpse of… something.
The group clutched their ears and dropped to their knees, grimacing in pain as the roar reverberated through the hall, shaking the very floor beneath them. The sound alone was terrifying, but it wasn't the noise that truly froze them in fear. It was what they saw through that narrow opening: a sliver of a creature so immense, so alien, that even a mere fragment of its body radiated primal dread.
The glimpse was enough to break them. Terror surged through their veins like electricity, and instinct screamed at them to flee. Brit was the first to move, bolting for the way they came, and the rest followed without hesitation.
Another earth-shattering roar thundered behind them as they sprinted toward the smaller exit. Gunfire and frantic shouting echoed faintly from deep within the facility, underscoring the chaos. The creature was no longer just roaring; it was moving—thrashing, destroying, shaking the entire chamber with its monstrous presence.
"Run!" Brit's voice cracked as he yelled, his tone laced with raw terror. The thought of turning back to see what was happening was laughable; whatever was behind that gate could crush them like insects. Not even Vale, with his enhanced abilities, would stand a chance against such a beast.
They didn't need to exchange words to know they all understood the same thing: staying meant death.
They staggered through the smaller metal door, lungs burning, the ground quivering beneath them. Yet as they cleared the threshold, the sounds behind them began to soften—not because the creature had stopped, but because it was moving deeper into the facility.
Panting heavily, they turned to glance back at the sealed hallway in stunned silence.
"It… left?" Kiwo's voice was trembling, her face drained of color.
Plumbella clung tightly to Kiwo's arm, neither daring to move forward nor backward. Even Vale, who usually met danger head-on, was shaken. The fear they had felt wasn't something easily shaken off; it eclipsed any terror they'd felt from other anomalies. Not even the dreaded Many Winged Angel, known for its overwhelming power, could inspire such paralyzing dread.
For several long seconds, no one spoke. Only the distant wail of alarms filled the silence. Finally, they exhaled collectively, relief flooding over them.
"Oh my god, that was the Immortal Lizard," someone muttered, voice quivering. "It's worse than I imagined."
"No kidding. I barely saw a sliver of it, and I'm certain it could tear me in half without even noticing," another said breathlessly.
"What now?"
"It's too dangerous… what if it comes back? What else could be lurking here?"
They exchanged wary glances, their fear palpable.
"Why don't we… take another look?" Vale suggested, his curiosity already overtaking his fear. His gaze was fixed on the gate as though it held answers he couldn't resist.
The others hesitated, but slowly, caution gave way to intrigue. They retraced their steps into the cavernous hall, approaching the ruined steel gate.
The lights beyond were dead, leaving the space in utter darkness. Yet even in the gloom, faint beams from the hallway revealed glimpses of devastation beyond the breach. Rubble littered the floor, and deep gouges marred the walls—signs of something impossibly strong. Their fear returned, creeping up their spines like icy fingers.
Meanwhile, viewers on the stream were still reeling from what they had witnessed. The chat exploded with a mix of terror and excitement:
"Holy crap, that roar shook my phone!""I NEED a full look at this thing—NOW!""That has to be the strongest Foundation creature in the entire facility, no contest.""Unbelievable… and it just left?! Damn it!""Wait… was that the same roar we heard at the start of the game?"
Back in the game, Brit swiped a keycard, but as expected, the warped gate groaned and jammed, completely unresponsive. After a careful search yielded no new clues, they exited through the smaller door once again, continuing onward. There was no point in retracing their steps.
"The Immortal Lizard's origin… it's terrifying," Brit murmured, recalling the glimpse of that monstrous body. "The files say nothing about where it came from. Completely unknown."
"This thing is too powerful," Vale said grimly. "I'm betting it's the most dangerous anomaly here. Even those photos in the report don't capture its scale."
"Yeah," Kiwo added, shivering slightly but unable to suppress her fascination. "A talking lizard that can't die? That's… insane."
Plumbella stayed silent, nodding solemnly, the horror still fresh in her mind.
Brit managed a faint smile, though his expression remained tense. "Maybe the Immortal Lizard really is the strongest thing the Foundation has ever contained."