Ryu and the creature remained locked in each other's gaze. Ryu was so filled with terror that he seemed to lose track of time; he had even forgotten how to blink, and cold sweat silently streamed down his face. The monster before him, its red eyes fixed on Ryu, seemed to pierce his very soul. The saliva pouring from its wide mouth gleamed like a dull light in the night, bringing with it a suffocating atmosphere with every step.
The monster—the golem—watched Ryu with its red gaze for a long time. It advanced several times with slow, rhythmic steps; the ground seemed to tremble with each step. Ryu didn't realize he was moving or doing anything else; he was fixated on that terrified gaze. The silence had taken on a suffocating weight.
Ryu's mind was raging:
"What will I do! What will I do! What will I do!"
His thoughts raced as if driven to madness.
Suddenly, the creature before him shook its fist again. Ryu, having lost almost all of his body's mobility, wasn't fast enough to dodge the punch. He positioned both of his own arms, crossing them directly in the middle of his face. The impact of the punch suddenly rippled the air; as if the thin line between life and death had been ignited, and Ryu was thrown swiftly toward the stone path. A loud bang echoed in his shoulder, which had been dislocated by the impact—like a landmine exploding.
The crowd turned to the suddenly thrown Ryu. People stared at him in shock and alarm, trying to comprehend what had happened, but none came to his aid. Some clutched their children tightly, planning to flee quickly, while others watched the scene with suspicious, anxious eyes. That was until a figure emerged from the depths of the dark alley.
Its massive body swept from the shadows, its massive hand lightly pressing against the wall—it was only a light touch, but the wall crumbled into rubble. The drool dripping from its mouth was visible even in the dim light, its bright red eyes the sharpest point in the dim alley.
At first, no one could quite understand what was happening. But a few heartbeats later, the screams grew louder.
"Creature! Creature!"
"Run!"
"What is a creature doing in a kingdom?!"
Panic spread like a wave. People began to push each other and scream, fleeing. Some sought refuge in their shops, others ran through the streets. Chaos had begun.
But despite its fear, the creature didn't move. It simply stood there, its eyes fixed on Ryu. And Ryu could feel those terrified gazes boring into him as he writhed in pain on the ground. The creature's facial muscles hardened, it inhaled deeply, and unleashed a massive, swelling chest, letting out a roar that could crush anyone around.
...
The creature dug its massive claws into the ground and began to tear up massive pieces of stone, hurling them everywhere. Flying debris crushed the fleeing people mercilessly—some were ripped in half, while others lay lifeless, their skulls shattered. The screams rose like a bloody symphony, rising to the sky.
Ryu gritted his teeth and rose to his feet. The pain from his wounds sliced through him like a sharp blade, but for now, all he could think of was survival. He forced the strength from his legs and began to run. He would pay dearly for this action later, but for now, the only thing that mattered was not dying.
Around him, falling rocks shook the ground with the impact of the bombs. Bodies were thrown into the air, severed limbs scattered left and right. One man, eyes wide with terror, was buried by a boulder as he tried to flee—even his scream was cut short.
Despite all this, Ryu couldn't stop. No matter how horrific, he shouldn't have died here. People were dying one by one, and Ryu had no power to stop it. Even if he didn't want to, the only thing he could do right now was save himself.
Ryu's lungs were burning, his heart was pounding wildly, but he couldn't stop. The stones shook beneath his feet, and he fought with all his might to maintain his balance with every step. "Fuck, why hasn't anyone come?! Knights, guards, police! How are they letting this thing run wild here?!"
He gritted his teeth until it bled, and he increased his speed, running faster and faster. But the voices behind him were hammering into his mind like a deadly nail.
Cart! Cart! Cart!
Ryu reluctantly turned his head and looked. And what he saw made his stomach turn.
The creature was picking up the corpses lying on the ground, one by one, with its massive hands, and stuffing them into its mouth as if it were ravenous with hunger. Bones cracked and broke, flesh tore, blood and marrow spilled everywhere. An old man... A young child... A woman, screaming helplessly... It was tearing them apart and devouring them.
The few survivors in the streets stood frozen, their bodies trembling, their faces pale with fear. Those who could not escape tried to crawl away in agony. But none of them would be able to escape this thing's grasp.
And then... the creature's body began to change.
With each corpse it devoured, its muscles hardened, and bones began to protrude from its skin, covering its body like armor. Spiny protrusions stretched from its shoulders down, each one the bones of its former masters. Its body expanded, its height increased, and its red eyes grew increasingly gleaming.
But the most terrifying aspect was his face.
Half of his face, once shattered, was now completely covered by a mask of bone. The rest had strangely reformed. It had become symmetrical, almost humanoid... but his eyes still held hunger and ferocity.
And the biggest difference... was his fist.
His massive, muscle-bound hand, now encased in blood-red armor, with bones surrounding it, resembled a metal gauntlet. Like an executioner's axe, he looked ready to crush someone at any moment.
Ryu's breathing was becoming increasingly erratic. He didn't know what to do, but he knew he had to do anything to avoid death. With every step, his legs felt heavier, as if they were carved from stone, and with every breath, his chest felt like it was crushing. Running only worsened his condition, but he had no choice.
His eyes were fixated on the monster behind him, sensing every moment how close it was coming. However, he failed to realize the steepness of the slope, his mind focused solely on survival. His foot caught on the stones, and his body lost control. For a moment, he began to roll, the same frustration that made everything go black.
At the bottom of the slope, he emerged into the always crowded market square, but this time, everything would be different. The creature made Ryu struggle with each step, the weight of its footsteps crashing into the market creating chaos. The crowd around him only twitched, no one able to comprehend what was happening. Ryu eventually crashed into a stall. The force of the impact sent a cloud of dust billowing up around him. The man standing at the stall saw Ryu fall to the ground in surprise and shouted angrily,
"You brat! What have you done?!"
The impact sent blood rushing to his head, and Ryu coughed, barely able to regain his breath to speak. The stall owner grabbed Ryu's old, torn T-shirt and pulled him toward him. "How are you going to pay for all this?" he demanded angrily.
Ryu's fingers grasped weakly on the man's arm. He tried to push back, but he had no strength. His breath was ragged, his head spinning. Everything in his vision was blurry, sounds turning to a hum.
"Let go…" His voice cracked. His throat was dry. "Please… let me go…"
But the man didn't budge. He gripped Ryu tightly, clenched his free hand, and pulled his muscular arm back. The shadow of his fist filled Ryu's field of vision.
"You little bastard—"
And then time stood still for a few seconds. The smell of blood was thick and strong, enveloping the stone. A shadow crashed into the man's face. A loud, cracking sound echoed. The sound of bones breaking, flesh ripping, and brain fluid splattering on the floor… The man's sentence became a hoarse whisper.
His body remained upright for a few seconds, as if his mind couldn't grasp what was happening. Then, he slumped backward like a lifeless puppet.
Ryu brought his hands, still shaking, to his face. His eyes stared frozen at the body lying before him. His stomach churned as he tried to comprehend what was happening.
"No… No! No! No! This can't be real? This has to be all a dream!?"
Ryu's mind was falling apart. Tears were flowing uncontrollably now, his lips trembling, mixing with incoherent muttering. The world around him was blurry, humming, and dark—just like the inside of his mind. Everything was closing in on him. This… this scene should have been just a nightmare. But the pain was so real.
He had lived on the streets for years. Starvation, beatings, torture… he had witnessed it all. But he had never witnessed a massacre like this. Death was no longer just a possibility, but a reality felt deep within him.
"This time… I could really die," he thought. His throat tightened.
In a trembling voice, he whispered,
"I have to run… I have to run! To the nearest police department… somewhere!"
He tried to stand up with the desperation of a child stricken with terror. His knees were weak, his arms were shaking. Before he could even straighten up, he slipped on a stone and fell again. He pressed his hands against the bloody stones to regain his balance. When he suddenly heard a loud scream from behind, he looked up at the top of the slope behind him. And for a few seconds, time seemed to stop.
There was a figure in the smoke. It was like a human silhouette, but much worse… much more distorted. As Ryu looked through his squinted eyes, that figure became more distinct.
"It can't be what I think it is, can it?"
Ryu began to grow increasingly uneasy. Because the scream from earlier had to be that creature. Since no one could scream like him, Ryu considered the possibility that the knights or the police had stopped the creature.
A metallic flash...
As if steel woven from bones had suddenly emerged from beneath the ground. A gigantic scimitar. The curved thorns surrounding it, the texture more like an extension of something dead than metal. That scimitar, embedded in the woman's torso, lifted her into the air like a toy.
"N-no... Mother... help!"
The pain in her voice could tear through the darkness. The tears pouring from her eyes were not just physical pain, but a manifestation of the despair writhing within her. And in that moment...
The woman's body trembled suddenly. The blood leaking from her chest flowed like a thin thread—at first graceful, then wild. Under the darkening sky, the blood from her body dripped chaotically to the ground.
"NO! NO! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" she screamed, her voice echoing and crashing through the streets.
And just then...
Crashing!
A crackling sound. A terrible, marrow-chilling sound.
The woman's body was torn apart in the air by thorny spikes sprouting from her chest. She exploded like a flesh flower. Each limb, each piece, was blown apart in different directions, while the blood falling to the ground turned into a cascade of blood, adjusting to the slope.
Red mixed with black, as if the earth looked like a slaughterhouse. And all that remained... was the echo of a broken scream.