The beast stared at them with ember-like eyes burning with predatory hunger. Now that the chaos had stilled for a moment, Charles finally had the chance to study their adversary.
It was definitely a rat—or at least it had once been—but something about it was wrong. This thing was mutation made flesh. Its grotesquely oversized body loomed taller than an average man even while hunched on its hind legs, muscles bulging under gray, leathery skin stretched so tight it looked ready to split. Patches of fur clung stubbornly to its back in matted clumps, slick with pus and grime.
Its head was long and wedge-shaped, jaw crooked and packed with jagged yellow teeth too large to fit inside its mouth. Every breath wheezed through a narrow throat, carrying the stench of rot and bile that dripped from its fangs. Its ember-yellow eyes twitched independently, flicking left and right like it could see in every direction at once.
The claws were worse. Each finger stretched into a bone-white scythe, attached to grotesquely elongated arms. Charles wasn't sure how strong those limbs were, but one clean strike was enough to split him open that he was sure of. Behind it, the tail lashed like a steel cable, its swooshing hum slicing through the air.
Charles throat went dry. His knuckles whitened around the pipe as he fought to breathe evenly. The Vinyling had almost killed him. And that was smaller, weaker—an appetizer compared to this thing. His body screamed to run, but his legs locked into place. If the Vinyling nearly gutted me, what chance do I stand against this?
The system remained silent, No hints, no tutorial, nothing, he risked a glance at Selene. Her hands were trembling, lips pressed tight to keep them from shaking. Fear clung to her face like sweat. Marco, though—Marco hadn't moved. The older man's eyes were fixed on the beast, calm, sharp, calculating potential strategies, looking for potential exploitable weakness. His military training aiding him in keeping a cool head.
The rat twitched, sniffing the air, and finally noticed them. For a second, it seemed confused—like its broken brain couldn't understand how prey had slipped so close without it noticing. Then its body coiled, and in the next instant, it leaped with terrifying speed.
"Scatter!" Marco roared.
Charles was already moving. His body reacted before his mind caught up. He dove left, rolling hard against the dusty concrete. Selene darted in the opposite direction, while Marco leaped back.
The rat slammed down where they had been standing, claws driving into the floor. The concrete split in hairline cracks. Not enough to cave the ground in—but enough that Charles imagined his skull shattering under the same force. His stomach flipped.
Marco's voice carried above the ringing silence.
"Alright—Charles, Selene. I don't know you two well. Hell, I don't know you at all. But we're stuck with this thing, and the only way out is through. So, just do as I tell you and fight like your lives depend on it. Because they do."
The rat's head snapped toward him. Its ember eyes dilated, its jaws splitting in a grotesque snarl. It lunged again, claws raised like meat hooks, ready to turn Marco's head into pulp.
Marco jumped back, dodging monster strike once again, he barked orders even as he moved. "Stay spread!" His voice had the sharp edge of command. "Don't clump together, make it split its attention! Charles, attack its right flank! Selene, stay mobile, watch out for its tail!"
Charles blinked, heart hammering. The sharpness in Marco's voice cut through the fog of fear. He wasn't just panicking; he was directing them like soldiers in formation.
Selene hesitated, wide-eyed, then darted where Marco pointed. But her fear cost her a second too long. The rat's tail whipped sideways, faster than her eyes could track. She froze.
"Watch out!" Charles shouted, but it was too late.
The thick tail blurred toward her chest
and Marco intercepted.
He threw his whole body in the way, shoving Selene backward as the tail smashed across his chest. The impact was thunderous. It moved towards him with force and crashed into him, he had managed to cross his arms and then when it hit him, he tried to mitigate the force by pushing against it, Marco staggered, but his stance held, even as his face contorted in pain. His sleeves had been ripped through, and under it a was a bruise and he was half certain his bones had been fractured. "Eyes up! Don't freeze, Goddamnit!"
Selene gasped, guilt and terror flashing across her face. She grabbed her fallen spear from the ground and tightened her grip, forcing herself back into the fight.
Charles heart hammered so hard he thought it might burst, but he forced his feet forward. Fear would drown him if he let it. He'd already survived one monster. He could do it again. Hopefully.
Marco gritting his teeth, and bearing through the pain, straightened himself, the foul thing was now locked on to him, perhaps due to him receiving an injury, the beast had marked him as the weakest and easiest prey to take out.
The beast once again launched at him, and Marco, no longer had his spear, it had probably been thrown away when he tanked that hit.
The rat's head looked toward him. Its ember eyes dilated, its jaws splitting in a grotesque snarl. It lunged again; claws raised like meat hooks. So, Marco charged to meet it.
He charged at it and ducked to dodge the claw aimed for his head, the monster being the feral thing that it was didn't fight with any form of strategy or tactics, it attacked with pure and raw instinct. So, despite the monster's superior strength, it was easy to read it's attack path and react to it.
His shoulder slammed into the beast's chest and for a moment, man and monster collided with raw force. Marco grunted as his boots skidded across the cracked floor, but he held long enough to shove it back a step. His military training showed, with controlled movements, he kept his weight low, aiming to disrupt its rhythm.
Charles swallowed. His instincts screamed to run, was he scared? Yes, Terrified. But he pressed forward knowing that an opportunity like this wouldn't come again, his mind sharpened inside that fear, he ran while locked onto the beast, watching for any sign of movement, but it was distracted by Marco, probably infuriated that a mere human dared to challenge it to a contest of strength, when he got close to the monster, he leaped into the air, raised his pipe and while roaring to keep the fear at bay, used the sharp point of his trusty pipe and stabbed into the eye of the creature.
It seemed Selene thought the same as him and tried to stab the beast in the neck, the strike connected but either she lacked enough strength or the beast hide was too tough, but the strike only caused a small injury to the beast.
The creature shocked by the sudden pain coming from his eye, and in a bid to get its enemies away from it, struck its claw towards Marco and used its tail to attack Charles. Marco saw the attack coming and retreated, but Charles wasn't as skilled and was struck by the tail, the force of the strike was enough to fling him away.
He crashed onto the hard concreted floor, but immediately stood up, His body screamed at him to stay down. Every breath burned like fire. But staying down meant dying, so he forced himself upright, knowing it was dangerous to stay down when the enemy was still alive, his chest heaved as he stood up again, his face slick with sweat and hands blood, if the black thing that came out of the beast could even be called blood. His body screamed pain, that last strike had at least cracked a few ribs, but as he look at the beast screaming as it struggled to pull out the pipe sticking out its eye, and then he had a thought.
"Maybe we have a chance at this".