A breath sounded, perilously close!
Daniel fixed his gaze steadily ahead, a palpable awareness engulfing him that the dark figure was standing right beside his bed, no more than a ter away.
He could even feel a cold breath slowly overshadowing him, a foul, rotten sll perating with each inhalation.
This scent was dissimilar to any monster he had encountered before.
Without a doubt, this shadow before him was a beast of nightmare origins.
Doubts sward in Daniel’s mind, "Why has it stopped?"
"Why hasn’t it attacked yet, what is it waiting for?"
"Could it be waiting for so trigger to initiate an assault, just like Atelarxus?"
In the pitch-black room, a tense standoff ensued between Daniel and the mysterious shadow.
The surrounding silence was almost terrifying, the distinct sound of two faint breaths reverberated clearly – one calm, the other labored.
Daniel’s mind raced, "What does it want?"
"To kill ? Yet it hasn’t made a move."
"To watch over ? But why, and under whose orders?"
Just then, Daniel felt a finger tracing across his abdon through the blanket.
The monster’s finger!
Despite the thick blanket separating them, an icy chill resonated, as if a block of ice was directly pressed against his skin, the cold seeping into every pore, painfully piercing.
What was it trying to do?
A massive question mark hung in Daniel’s mind. At that mont, a thud resounded!
A beam of blinding light illuminated the room, accompanied by familiar cursing.
Mike kicked open Daniel’s room door, shining a flashlight around and bolstering his courage with vulgarities, "Fucking son of a bitch! Drop your hostage and face one-on-one if you dare!"
Following behind him, Julia and Alex rushed in, hesitating at the sight of the tall man beside the bed.
A seemingly normal human being.
With the aid of the flashlight, Daniel could finally discern the figure’s appearance — a tall man with a stoic expression, his eyes a hollow void of silence, frad by deep dark circles, bearing the resemblance of a severely ill patient.
That explained the incessant coughing.
Without hesitation, Daniel drew his pistol and pulled the trigger indiscriminately.
Appearing like a normal person didn’t affirm its normality.
Boom!
With the onset of the gunshot, Julia and Mike hesitated, unsure whether they should strike a seemingly normal human, while Alex dashed forward without a second thought.
The bullet didn’t hit the man, who casually evaded the shot.
Clutching his fist tightly, Alex unleashed a tenfold damage, targeting the man’s head.
The man opened his mouth wide, but instead of a human sound, a piercing, shrill screech erupted, and simultaneously, a slimy tentacle writhed out from his mouth, reaching towards Alex’s fist.
Thud!
The ostensibly soft and disgusting tentacle burst forth with formidable strength.
Alex retreated three steps before stabilizing himself, staring at the man in astonishnt.
Mike hurriedly conjured his power; a green light shot from his hand onto Alex, the healing glow rapidly nding the injuries sustained from the punch.
"Holy shit, this thing is really a monster, spewing tentacles from its mouth, that’s just sickening," Julia exclaid with a disgusted look.
The monster’s appearance was hitting the lowest point of her tolerance, especially as more and more gooey tentacles erged, wildly flailing and twisting densely across the man’s face, inducing a surge of nausea in her.
"It has to be killed," she asserted, rapidly moving forward, lightning flickering from her hands accompanied by crackling sounds.
Alex once again charged, his fists radiating the strongest force as they continually pumled the man.
Daniel wasn’t idle either; he quickly jumped off the bed, unleashing a continuous hail of gunfire.
The combination of Julia’s lightning, Alex’s unparalleled level 3 Evolver strength, and Daniel’s Spirit bullets would decimate any level 3 Evolver caught in this assault.
Despite its power, the creature was still flesh and blood, soon becoming an indistinguishable pile of flesh on the ground, its human form obliterated.
Mike couldn’t contain his exhilaration, shouting, "It’s done!"
Daniel doused his enthusiasm instantly, "It’s still alive."
Though the man’s body was ravaged beyond recognition, evidently dead, whatever dwelled within him persisted.
As if on cue with Daniel’s words, a tentacle extended from the man’s eye socket, followed swiftly by another, and another.
Julia conjured a bolt of lightning, her eyes fixed cautiously on the scene unfolding.
A burgeoning number of tentacles erged from the man’s mouth, clutching around the eye sockets, exerting a subtle force before making a noise reminiscent of uncorking a bottle – pop!
The entire eyeball leaped out from its socket, tentacles sprouting from it, presenting a grotesque sight akin to an alien octopus entity.
Daniel furrowed his brow, hastily retreating backward.
Alex and Julia also fell back to the doorway. Unable to contain his curiosity, Mike blurted, "What in the world is that thing?"
Daniel speculated calmly, "The man must have been an unfortunate host, harboring this creature within him. That eyeball bristling with tentacles seems to be the true form of the monster."
The eye-creature fell to the ground, scuttling toward the window with spider-like agility.
It then leaped powerfully, shattering the glass as it escaped into the open.
Julia and Mike shouted in alarm, "No, it’s getting away!"
Without missing a beat, Daniel sprinted towards the door, yelling, "After it!"
Alex dashed to the window, vaulting over the sill to pursue directly from the third floor.
A three-story drop was manageable for a Level 3 Evolver like him, but it posed a significant challenge for Daniel, Julia, and Mike.
By the ti the trio erged from the lodging, Alex was already out of sight.
Casting a quick glance in both directions, Daniel decisively chose the left path, urging, "This way, hurry!"
They pushed their speed to the limits in a bid to catch up with Alex, a corner blocking their line of sight forcing them to accelerate even more.
Soon, the faint sound of footsteps began to reach their ears.
They were on the cusp of rounding another bend where they expected to find Alex.
Daniel surged forward, but what t his eyes as he turned the corner halted him abruptly.
The escalating footsteps did not belong to Alex in pursuit of the creature, but rather Wes, a mber of the Rebirth Corporation.
Seeing Daniel, Wes displayed evident surprise, "Why is it you?"
Frowning deeply, Daniel held his Desert Eagle at the ready, prepared to fire at any mont.
"I should be asking you that. We are chasing a monster; we followed it all this way only to encounter you."
Wes seed sowhat embarrassed as he replied, "What do you an? I’m not the monster, am I?" He continued, "We heard all the commotion on the third floor. Despite being from different factions, we are all humans at the end of the day. We were about to co and assist you when we saw a tentacle monster and your colleague jumping out of the window. That’s why we rushed out."
Wes’s explanation was visibly full of holes, raising more questions than it answered, as they stood there, the urgency of the situation pressing upon them.
Daniel’s face darkened, and he directly pressed his handgun against Wes’s body. "If you say you guys were chasing the monster, where are your other two companions? And why have you run back?"
Wes seed disgruntled. "Are you doubting ?" He exhaled a breath of frustration before continuing, "To tell you the truth, I’m not exactly swift. I was left behind by my two comrades after just a few steps. Then I heard footsteps nearby, assuming the creature had circled back, but it turned out to be you."
Hearing this, Daniel hesitated, finding himself torn between believing and doubting Wes’s words. Suddenly, a series of steady footsteps echoed from a nearby alleyway.
"Thud… thud… thud…"
Almost reflexively, Daniel raised his hand and fired a shot in the direction of the sound.
"Boom!"
In this precarious situation, he was convinced that any figure venturing out on the streets could only be a monster.
Yet, he froze again.
Following the gunshot, a pain-stricken shout resounded, imdiately followed by a burst of curse, "Fuck you!"
"Why did you shoot at !"
Realizing that the individual could speak, Wes instantly chastised, "Hey, how could you shoot recklessly? You hit soone!"
Unflinching, Daniel defended his action, "At a ti like this, the only ones out on the streets are either us or monsters, right? And since they are actively chasing the monster, they couldn’t possibly be moving this slowly. It was highly probable that it was a monster, so of course, I fired."
Left without a rebuttal, Wes could only express his dissatisfaction grumpily, "Luckily I was running just now, otherwise I would’ve ended up being shot by you too."
Without waiting for a response, Wes sprinted towards the person who had been shot, recognizing them by their voice.
Daniel cast his eyes down the street, calmly stating, "Let’s not chase anymore. Call Alex and tell him to co back."
Julia nodded in agreent without any objections, while Mike pulled out his phone to contact Alex.
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