For several seconds, nothing moved inside the underground tunnel.
The Furnaceback Centipede lay where it had collapsed, its enormous body pressed against the walls it had carved through the earth. The dark-red light between its plates had disappeared, and smoke drifted weakly from the vents along its sides.
Then a black line appeared beneath one of the plates covering its head.
The line grew longer, and a few seconds later...
Shiiing!
Flesh and armour separated from the inside.
Dark blood spilled through the opening, followed by the tip of a black sword. The blade moved again, widening the cut until it was large enough for a demon to pass through.
A pale-grey hand appeared first.
Then Simon pulled himself out of the corpse and landed in the narrow space beside its head. Blood and burning liquid covered his clothes, while parts of his skin were still blackened from the heat. Fortunately for him, Unholy Regeneration was already repairing the worst of the damage.
