"Run!!!!" I screamed aloud, my voice echoing as I bolted immediately.
Jericho and Marcus wasted no time, taking off as soon as I screamed. I was sure they felt it too — that unholy pressure that weighed on me as soon as I gazed at the Endorath.
We ran in a straight pattern, our feet darting across the cracked asphalt.
Marcus's exhausted huffs grew louder and more strained as we ran.
The shadow of the Endorath was still cast on us, and its presence still loomed overhead.
A bucket of sweat slid down from my forehead as I moved my neck frantically, surveying both Marcus by my left and Jericho by my right.
I gritted my teeth.
Marcus's eyes had grown dull. He trudged sluggishly, barely holding on.
Jericho, on the other hand, ran like a madman. The guy showed no signs of exhaustion. Instead, his pace steadily increased. A determined expression cast on his hardened face.
Having glanced at them all, I let out a small exhale.
Our destination was straightforward. The subway station.
My neck froze.
I wonder.. What abilities do Endoraths possess?
I turned to glance at the Endorath.
My eyes widened.
The bluish eyeballs on its body moved, crawling in unison like insects as they converged at one area on its all-black body.
The area I assumed was its forehead. A massive, black patch. The converged eyeballs appeared jelly-like and silver. As if a round silver puddle suddenly appeared in the middle of its forehead.
Immediately, the puddle sank into its flesh like it was absorbed.
And its jaw widened, revealing a ghastly, spine-tingling set of teeth that glistened under the pale moonlight glow that reflected on it.
I gulped.
What the fuck is that?!
All the hairs on my body stood on end, and goosebumps almost sprouted on my skin.
I looked at Jericho.
His narrowed blue eyes were — just like me — focused on the hideous, jaw-widened Reaper Grade.
"Duz…" Jerry called out.
"Yeah?"
"We need to split up. I feel like something dangerous is incoming." He completed.
I blinked.
I was just thinking the same.
I nodded. "I feel so too."
"Split up?!" Marcus spouted, voice strained, almost cracked.
"Yes," I said. "Split up."
Marcus shook his head rapidly. "No, no, no." He uttered, "Don't you watch horror movies? Don't you know what happens when the main cast splits up? This is exactly like one of those scenes… I'd always... criticized their decisions to split up, and now–"
I furrowed my brows.
What kind of logic is that?
Is this guy crazier than me?
Comparing horror movies to this?
I frowned.
Seriously?
Shwooo–!
A sound, like that of a vacuum sucking in air, bellowed.
The sound came from directly above us. And that fact caused our mouths to widen as the terror shook us to the core.
I glanced at the Endorath once more.
Its mouth was still stretched, the jagged teeth — like mountain peaks — served as a gate to the deep, dark, endless well that was its mouth.
And from deep within its throat, a faint green light shone.
My legs never stumbled, pace never settled. In fact, subconsciously, my pace increased.
The light in its mouth increased. And as it increased, the volume of the vacuum sound heightened.
You know what…
Marcus might actually be right.
But right now…
"We really have to split," I said, sucking in a large breath as I turned to Marcus. "It's for our own good."
Marcus's tired grey eyes widened in protest as his lips curved, "But–"
"We'll all follow different routes. And meet up at the H² subway station. It shouldn't take long." Jericho interfered.
I nodded.
Exactly.
"But…" Jerry's voice lowered, almost devoid of hope. "I sure hope it's enough to lose that damn monster."
Hearing Jericho's words, Marcus's widened eyes slanted, and he bit his lips. He then let out a low sigh, nodding his head. "I understand."
"Good," I said. "Let's disperse then."
They both nodded.
And at that same moment, the vacuum-like sound completely faded.
And as my gaze fell on our three shadows, running on the ground in front of us, my eyes widened.
From above, a bright green hue poured on us all. And my skin boiled as the temperature suddenly shot up to questionable degrees.
Goddamnit.
I gritted my teeth, grinding them.
What the hell is this?
I immediately paused, turning toward the raging green inferno as I yelled at Jerry and Unc. "Disperse you bastards!!!"
At that moment, the Endorath stopped gliding. It just remained suspended in the air, the green flames pulsing in its maws.
In an almost simultaneous motion, both Marcus and Jericho diverged.
Marcus scurried left, toward a narrow street, and Jericho diverted right, toward a wide, less-ruined road.
I sucked in a large breath, eyes never leaving the inferno advancing to engulf me.
Heh.
I clenched my fists tightly, crouching and entering a ready stance as I gazed at the incoming threat.
Let's see what my enhanced agility stat can do.
"Rubber duck," I muttered, my blond hair fluttering as the heat increasingly radiated on my body.
Boom––!
The sound — like that of a nuclear bomb going off — deeply rumbled, echoing throughout the city.
The blast thoroughly decimated the area where I once stood, melting the asphalt and reducing the surrounding ruins, corpses and shattered infrastructure to ashes.
A rising cloud of smoke filled the entire area, floating from the green flames below — the places that hadn't been reduced to ashes — to the sky above.
Crouching low, I calmly observed all these details from the highest point I could leap to — a fairly high building that still had its metal skeletal spine intact, although all the other materials that made up the building had been destroyed.
The smell of smoke cascaded through the air that blew over my face and body, causing me to scrunch my nose slightly.
The building I leaped to was three storeys.
I evaded the flames at the last second, leaping over them with all the strength my legs could muster, and I grabbed onto the iron railings of this building, climbing upward to the top.
I have to admit that was stupid of me.
Why did I turn to look?
"Tch."
I knew that this curiosity of mine would get me killed one day.
Scraahh–!!
The Endorath's cry echoed once more.