On the ground floor—
"Handsome..." Sasha's voice quavered as she locked eyes with Karan's familiar, chiseled face. She released Julie, lunging towards Karan to hug him tightly, her trembling body pressing against his.
"H-huh!?" Julie stumbled back at Sasha's sudden action and looked at her dumbfoundedly.
"!!?" Caught off guard by Sasha's sudden embrace, Karan almost pushed her away but paused, feeling her trembling. Sob— Sob— soft whimpers entered his ears as Sasha's arms wrapped tighter, tears streaming down her cheeks like a broken dam. A whispered "Thank you" barely audible, softly pressed against his ears.
After hesitating, letting out a soft sigh, Karan gently patted Sasha's head, his firm hand steady against her blonde curls. Feeling the gentle crease over her head, she pressed closer, sinking into his warmth as her sobs quieted.
Julie looked at all this, stupified, her eyes wide open. Her mind struggled to process what was happening. One minute, a monster's claws were inches from their throats; the next, this guy was here, like some hero out of a fever dream.
But before she could linger on his sharp jawline, "Aaargh—!" a guttural scream snapped her back to reality. Warm blood splattered on her cheek, washed away by the cold spray of overhead sprinklers.
"Heik!!" A short scream instinctively left her mouth as her hands flew to her ears, and her body crouched to the floor, trembling as the scene of the Jockey's heart bursting from his back, the brutal claws and the savage glint of that creature's eyes still freshly sizzling in her mind. Sasha's grip on Karan tightened, her own shakes mirroring Julie's.
Looking at her trembling body, "It's Okay..." Karan murmured, his voice low and soothing as he stroked Sasha's head. His eyes, however, flicked to the source of the scream.
To his left, he saw another clubgoer—an inebriated man who was trying to escape with the crowd—falling victim to the creature's savagery, its claws tearing through flesh with mindless hunger. The stench of blood and spilled liquor filled the air.
Karan gently pried himself from Sasha's embrace, meeting her teary gaze. "Take your friend and get out—now."
As Karan was about to leave her side, Sasha swiftly grabbed his hand, concern flickering in her eyes. "W-what about you?"
At this, Karan offered a faint, reassuring smile, easing her fingers off his. "I'll do something about that thing so you guys can escape safely."
"But—!" Before Sasha could utter another word, Karan pressed his finger to her trembling lips, silencing her, "I'll be fine. If you are really that worried then quickly go and call for help." His calm voice overshadowing the pandemonium.
Sasha hesitated before nodding reluctantly. She grabbed Julie's hand and made her way to the exit, weaving through the panicked crowd, dodging flailing bodies and shattered glass.
"Ah! Wait!" Karan shouted. Sasha quickly turned around, her eyes filled with worry and expectation. Karan walked towards them and without a word, crouched to the ground, grabbing Sasha's slender leg.
"W-wha—!" Ignoring her surprise, Karan gently lifted her foot off the ground and—Snap!—broke off her stiletto heel, then repeated it for the other foot.
After breaking the heels, he rose up, "Now, you won't trip while running." A warm smile adorning his face.
"What the—!" Julie muttered, exchanging a baffled look with Sasha. 'Is he being for real?'
Giggle! But a small smile streached accross Sasha's face that was filled with terror.
Without saying anything else, Sasha spun around and continued to make her escape with her friend, "H-hey! What about mine—huh?!" Julie tried to rebel against the special treatment that her friend received but was shocked to find out that her heels were also broken off. 'But how?' leaving her puzzled in her thoughts.
"Quickly! Move this way!!" By the gate, the bouncer urged everyone to evacuate quickly and safely. As the last stragglers stumbled through, he glanced at Karan, a smile hanging on his cheeks as he looked towards the exit.
"Hey—" but before he could call out for him, the door started to shut itself on its own. "W-what!?" The bouncer used every last inch of strength he could muster to keep it from closing, but the gate got shut abruptly against his will, locking him out.
Inside, Karan's smile slowly faded as he saw the two's parting figure. The club was nearly empty now, save for the bodies—some trampled, others torn apart. He glanced at the first floor, where he fought the red-robed man, 'Did he really left just like that?' Suspicion gnawed at him, but the immediate threat loomed larger.
He looked around the enclosure, '1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...' a strange black fog crept into the corners, coiling around the CCTV cameras that were installed to monitor the ground level. After encompassing every camera and obscuring their view, Snap—snap—snap—each lens shattered under an unseen pressure, plunging the room into unmonitored darkness.'Though I took out the cameras on the first floor beforehand since I knew it won't be that simple there,' He looked towards the beast who was still savagely munching on the corpses that were lying around on the floor.
Sigh~ 'I guess I'll have to let the 'Mechanic' deal with manipulating the CCTV footages later.' done with his thoughts, Karan grabbed one of the metal chairs resting around the counter and threw it towards the creature.
Baam!
Shriek!!
The creature let out a pained shrill while rubbing and scratching the spot where the chair hit it. After glancing at the disfigured chair, its savage gaze shifted towards Karan.
Water sprayed through the sprinklers—Fwish!—mixing with the creature's ragged breaths and the faint hum of flickering strobe lights.
At some point, only one standing figure was visible to the creature amidst the corpse and bodies that lay around it. Its eyes filled with rage and bloodlust as it looked at its final prey. But, "!!!" cold shivers ran down each and every part of its body as it made eye contact with the lone standing figure, hastily stepping back to create distance between Karan and itself.
Grrrr....!! It let out a low, beastly growl while still keeping Karan under its sight, not letting even his shadow to escape from its view. Its savage instincts were warning it, shouting at it to run, to escape as far away from the person standing before it amidst all the corpses and unconscious bodies. Run! Run as far as possible! That thing isn't a prey! It's a hunter!! Run away!!!
But it couldn't. It just couldn't find any openings to escape from the place. Its body knew that if it moved even an inch under Karan's chilling gaze, its new found life would be in danger.
"If you aren't going to make a move," a dark and tangible shadowy aura started to accrued around his right hand. The creature observed every one of Karan's movement with its body on full alert mode. The appearance of the black aura around Karan's hand only amplified the dreadfulness it was feeling. The accumulated mass of aura started to condense and take shape, moving and adjusting its size and form in thin air as if it was alive, and soon, took the shape of a pitch black blade. It's sharp edge glinting under the dim club lights.
"Then let me help you digest your meal." Saying that, Splash—the next second, Karan disappeared from his place, reappearing inches from the creature's face.
With a diagonal slash from the left, Karan swung his blade and attacked the alarmed beast.
Boom! The impact sent water spraying, and the creature crashing into the wall, once again—Shriek!!!—letting out a pained shrill.
As dust settled, the creature appeared again with palpable fear visible in its frenzied eyes. Crimson blood oozed from the long and shallow cut running accross its left shoulder and arm that resulted from their clash.
"Hmm? To be able to withstand the 8% output force, you got a pretty tough hide to slice through," Karan was genuinely impressed. After observing, he raised his left hand in the air—Wong! Wong! Responding to his call, the two shadowy spears that held the two hoods impaled against the ceiling on the first floor, came to him and started floating above his head.
"Let's see just how durable your hide is," that said, he pointed his hand towards the creature and the two spears pierced through the air as they went flying forward—one aiming for the creature's heart, the other its head.
Looking at the deadly spears approaching it with lightning speed, the creature quickly twisted desperately, dodging the headshot but taking a grazing wound to its abdomen.
Finding no way to escape the disaster before it, Shreak!! With a final, guttural cry, the creature lunged at Karan, claws extended, maw gaping with dagger-like teeth, ready to gnaw and rip apart anything that may stand in their way.
Looking at the approaching beast, Karan took his stance and bolted towards it, his blade thirsty for the taste of fresh blood and flesh. Parrying its deadly claws, he aimed for the creature's heart and stabbed his blade in its chest.
Klang! As sparks crackled, sharp and metalic sound echoed from their clash. The blade's sharp tip connected to its target but wasn't able to fully penetrate the strong and boney defence of the creature. With a painful wail, the creature clutched its dented, slightly punctured chest, and looked towards Karan with eyes full of resentment and wrath.
"Hmm, a defence made up of strong and dense bones, very similar to an insect's exoskeleton," Karan concluded about the beast's impenetrable defence. "If so," the black blade vibrated in his hand as it morphed into a heavy mace.
"I heard blunt weapons work wonders against impenetrable and sturdy things." Saying that, He vanished again, an afterimage trailing as he appeared in front of the creature and swung his mace powerfully. Crack! Boom! Unable to react to Karan's speed, the creature went flying towards another corner with shattered right shoulder and ribcage. Crash! Crashing into the strob lights hanging above the DJ booth. Small sharp shards of glass rained below as sparks fizzled, drowned in the cold spray of water.
Staggering, it clutched onto its fatally injured shoulder as it tried to stand straight, vomiting a mouthful of murky blood, its tattered body trembling. Fully aware that it is fighting a losing battle, the beast no longer cared about the warning its body was giving and rushed towards the exit, dragging its broken self toward the sealed doors.
The large, tightly shut doors appeared before it, but before it could even reach for them, "Where do you think you are going?" Karan appeared to its left and striked again!—Bang!
The creature's eyes rolled back, foam bubbling from its mouth as it flew into another wall, its left arm and ribs splintering. This time, it didn't even let out a cry and just layed limp, barely conscious.
Step—Looking at Karan's approaching figure, who was thrashing it around like a dirt sack, fear consumed its last bit of rationality as it started to scrap away from him with each of the steps he took towards it, digging itself into the plaster in terror.
Just then, a murky, blackish-crimson blob slithered from the shadows, creeping toward the creature's limp left hand. It was the same mass of blob that the red-robed man left behind before disappearing into the darkness.
"Hmm?" Karan's eyes narrowed, sensing its sinister aura—the same malice he felt when he faced the red-robed man. But before he could act, the blob latched onto the creature.
Shriek! It started clawing at its hand, frantic to tear the substance off, but it was too late.
The blob sank deep into its flesh as greenish-red lines started to crawl all over its body like venomous vipers. Wroom—wroom—an ominous aura started pulsing around the creature, its screams distorting into something unearthly.
Its spine arched, bony spikes completely ripping through its already tattered shirt, to form a jagged ridge. Skin grotesquely peeling away, neck and limbs elongating with eerie precision, bones jutting through its scrawny flesh. Its foaming maw stretched wider, teeth lengthening, claws gleaming with a deadly glint. A whip-like tail thrashed aimlessly, and its eyes—now blood-red—burned with frenzied violence, devoid of sanity.
A true bloodthirsty bioweapon stood before Karan eyes.
A wild grin spread across his face, his heart pounding with exhilaration. "The hunt is getting more and more interesting." His voice was low, almost a growl, as he gripped his mace tighter, the air around him crackling with shadowy embers.