The giant abomination turned its massive head toward Ariel, its gaze like a freezing wind across his spine. But after a moment, it looked away.
'What… what just happened? Did it ignore us? It didn't notice us? We are saved.'
Ariel exhaled—relief flooding in like sunlight.
But it didn't last.
The abomination shifted its focus to a smaller monster nearby… and then, like a hunting dog released, the creature turned and charged—straight at the building Ariel was in.
His blood ran cold. His mind stalled.
But then he remembered—Ilya.
"In there!" Ariel shouted, eyes wide with panic. "Hide in that room, now!"
"B-but brother—what about you?!" Ilya cried, trembling.
Ariel didn't answer. He yanked the door open, pushed her inside, and slammed it shut. The lock clicked.
And then—
SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEECH.
A monstrous shriek echoed through the building.
The thing had entered.
Its footsteps—thud, thud, THUD—climbed the stairs, heavier with each step.
Then… silence.
Ariel stood frozen, face pale, heart pounding in his throat.
Fear. Despair. Dread coiling in his gut.
Then—
A shadow lunged from the dark. A blur of claws and fangs.
He barely had time to breathe.
'Is… is this it? Is this how I die? If I die, what happens to Ilya?! No—I can't die! Not now. Not yet!'
But the monster was already upon him.
Its fangs sank into Ariel's chest, tearing flesh, ripping through muscle, puncturing organs.
The world blurred. Pain overwhelmed him. His knees buckled.
His vision flickered.
Darkness beckoned.
But something deep inside screamed louder.
'NO. I CAN'T DIE HERE.'
Ariel roared and bit down—into the monster's throat.
The creature shrieked—an inhuman, bone-splitting sound of agony. It writhed, unable to escape with its fangs still buried deep in Ariel's body.
Panicked, it hurled him across the room like a broken doll.
CRACK.
He hit the wall with a sickening crash. Bones shattered. His ribs collapsed. His spine twisted unnaturally.
He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
Blood pooled beneath him.
His life… was slipping away.
From behind the locked door, Ilya's cry echoed, shaking with panic:
"Br-Brother!! Where are you?!"
The monster's head snapped toward the sound.
It lunged at the door, sensing prey inside.
But before it could reach her—Ariel threw himself in its path, shielding the door with his broken, bleeding body.
The monster didn't stop.
Its claws slashed across his face, nearly tearing it apart.
Ariel's vision blurred, blood blinding one eye.
His body hit the floor like a corpse.
The monster charged again, shattering the door to splinters.
Inside, Ilya stood trembling in the corner—tiny, helpless, her face streaked with tears and blood.
She looked up at the monster towering over her, fangs bared.
"Argh… you damned thing…"
"How dare you touch her—how dare you even look at her!!"
Ariel's blood boiled.
Pain faded.
All he saw was Ilya's body flying across the room, slamming into the wall with a sickening crunch.
She let out a scream—fragile, broken.
Her body collapsed to the floor, bones shattered, her soft skin soaked in blood.
And that's when Ariel snapped.
Something ancient and monstrous ignited inside him.
He lunged.
With a roar more beast than man, he hurled himself at the monster, using momentum and fury to tackle it head-on.
The window behind them shattered as they crashed through the glass—
Both of them falling.
They plunged several stories toward the ground, locked in a spiral of violence.
Mid-air, Ariel grabbed the monster's head and sank his teeth into its eye.
Tore. Ripped. Bit like an animal.
The monster shrieked—a twisted, guttural scream that rattled the air.
Then—
Impact.
They hit the ground like thunder.
The monster's body cracked beneath the fall—its spine shattered, its skull caved in, blood leaking like a crushed fruit.
It was dead.
A splatter of gore and ruin on concrete.
Ariel… wasn't moving.
His body was broken, twisted in ways no human should survive.
And yet—
He was still breathing.