Free Web NovelChapter 27: Nightmare Given Flesh
The cave suddenly felt alive; not metaphorically nor symbolically, but literally.
The instant the robed figure uttered the strange runic word, the entire chamber convulsed like the insides of some gigantic living beast.
The blood-red walls quivered violently as the fleshly ground beneath the ground pulsed in sickening waves.
Even the stalactites hanging from the ceiling trembled as scarlet liquid dripped faster unto the ground like flesh blood leaking from opened veins.
Then... The group noticed something odd.
The dead were moving!
They were not reviving nor regenerated, it was something worse...
The eight exiled watched in horror as the shattered remains of the Scaled Wights began dragging themselves toward the blood pool surrounding the cocoons.
Severed limbs crawled like insects...
Pieces of flesh wriggled unnaturally...
Blood flowed backward across the floor as though they were being pulled into the pool by some unseen force...
The whole scene looked like a feast of corpses returning to their creator.
Veyrath visibly paled as he asked shakily. "W-What the hell..."
He gulped down a mouthful of saliva before continuing. "...is going on?"
Kaeloris adjusted his glasses before forcing words through his trembling lips.
"That language..." He whispered shakily. "It seem to have activated something."
Even without his confirmation, others could already see it. And it was at once that they connected the eerie phenomenon to the robed figure...
Meanwhile, as the bits and pieces of dead flesh flower back into the pool, it began to churn violently...
As if some dark reaction was taking place in it, crimson liquid rose from the pool in spirals as they launched upward...
And the cocoons... The filthy things began to pulse harder.
BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!!!
The sound echoed through the cavern like the heartbeat of a monster.
Regaleon watched the creepy reaction with narrowed eyes beneath his helmet. His instincts was already screaming danger; not just ordinary danger, but death... Pure death!
Then... The first cocoon opened.
RIP!!!
The sound alone made everyone’s skin crawl as they watched the cocoon peel apart slowly. Like rotten flesh being torn open from the inside.
Thick crimson fluid spilled downward as the translucent membrane split apart. Long strands of viscous slime stretched between the opening cocoon and the thing emerging from within it...
Then... It stepped out. And the atmosphere froze!
Regaleon swore that if nightmares could be given flesh... Then this creature would be their physical manifestation.
It towered over the group by four heads; that’s even taller than Valmyr himself...
It’s body looked like a failed attempt at combining multiple abominations into one existence...
The lower half of the creature resembled a reptilian predator. It’s legs were thick and scaled, shaped like those of a monstrous dinosaur; with reverse-jointed knees and massive clawed feet that cracked the fleshly ground beneath every movement...
Jagged bone spurs protruded from it’s ankles and calves like broken blades erupting through flesh.
It’s torso however... It’s torso looked disturbingly human; not fully, but enough to make it horrifying.
Muscles bulged unnaturally beneath layers of crimson-black scales. Veins pulsed almost visibly underneath it’s flesh while several rib-like protrusions pushed outward from it’s chest as though it’s skeleton was trying to escape it’s own body...
It’s arms were grotesquely long; like a twisted ape’s.
One arm ended in elongated claws, whole the other looked partially mutated into something resembling sharpened bone fused with decaying flesh.
Then, there was it’s head. Gods above... It’s head resembled a crocodilian’s stretched into humanoid form...
The snout was long and filled with countless jagged teeth layered upon each other like shards of broken glass.
Black saliva dripped continuously from it’s maw, sizzling whenever it touched the ground...
It’s eyes... It’s crimson eyes glowed with murderous intelligence; not animal instincts nor madness. They were aware, hungry, and cruel..
From the back of it’s skull grew a single twisted horn resembling the branch of a dead tree. Veins pulsed along its surface while dark fluid dripped from its edges.
But perhaps, the most horrifying things about the creature... Were the tentacles.
Six gigantic tentacles writhed behind the creature like living nightmares. They were not smooth like octopus limbs; instead, they looked rotten and decaying.
Their flesh constantly shifted as though thousand of faces were wrapped beneath the skin, writhing and screaming silently.
There were hooks, teeth, bony protrusions and all manners of creepy extremities one could possibly imagine...
The tentacles looked like nightmares stitched together by insanity itself. Also, it seems like they moved independently; slowly curling as they dragged across the ground while leaving trails of crimson slime behind them...
Just looking at that creature caused Veyrath to nearly collapse.
"Hey guys..." He muttered weakly, his lips trembling violently. "I think this is it..."
Veyrath’s gaze remained glued to the abomination, uncaring about the Scaled Wights around them.
"...Our death!"
Nobody rebuked him because the agree that he might be correct. They all looked equally horrified as they took in the sight of the eerie abomination.
The creature jumped from the platform and landed beside the robed figure...
The contrast was terrifying; one was mystery wrapped in darkness, the other was nightmare given flesh.
It stood beside the robed figure like a loyal knight defending his king.
Then, the robed figure raised a hand slowly and pointed at the group. It then spoke another runic phrase that echoed across the cavern...
"Vharak tul menar." ƒrēewebnovel.com
Though the group could not understand the language, the Intent behind the words were clear...
Tear Them Apart!
The monster snarled fiercely; the sound was not natural as it sounded like dozens of dying creatures screaming together.
Then... It pounced.
The creature moved; not slowly nor heavily. It was fast. Far too fast for something so massive.
BOOOM!!!
The fleshly ground exploded apart as it lunged toward the group...
"Scatter!" Regaleon roared instantly.
Everyone reacted fast, but not fast enough.
BANG!!!
One of it’s tentacles slammed downward where Caelestra had stood a second earlier.
The impact decimated the Scaled Wights that stood near that area; blasting flesh and blood outward violently.
Then, the tentacle twisted unnaturally before... Splitting open.
The group’s eyes widened as the flesh along the tentacle peeled apart like flower petals, revealing rows upon rows of grinding teeth hidden inside...
Then, it snapped shut violently.
CRUNCH!!!
The sound echoed horrifyingly through the cavern as the tentacle devoured the Scaled.
"T-That thing can open?!" Valmyr barked.
His answer came immediately as three more tentacles shot toward him simultaneously.
The failed Vanguard responded by lifting his Great Shield upward....
BOOOM!!!
The first strike collided against the shield directly; almost knocking him to one knee...
The second tentacle wrapped around the Shield itself like a python...
While the third struck sideways...
CRASH!!!
Valmyr was blasted off his feet violently. He flew across the blood pool and smashed into a platform hard enough to crack it...
Yet, the creature didn’t stop there. It’s jaws opened widely and then... A horrifying shriek erupted outward...
SKRRREEE!!!
The sound exploded through the cavern like a tidal wave rolling outward...
Everyone froze momentarily as pain erupted through their skulls...
Kaeloris staggered, nearly dropping his Lantern, as his ears bleed...
Veyrath screamed pathetically while clutching his ears. His Cauldron dropped onto the ground with a loud clank as he knelt in pain...
Even Aureleah staggered slightly, blood trickling from her nose and ears...
And if she was having it worse, then one can only imagine how worse her younger sister had it.
Sylveris covered her ears while screaming as she collapsed unto her knees. Unlike others whose bodies had been reinforced by Aether after their awakening, she was pretty ordinary.
Blood trickled from her orifices; her mouth, ears, and nostrils...
That shriek was not merely sound. It was pressure; mental pressure. As though knives had been dragged through their skulls...
Then, the Scaled intensified their attacks. This time, they were coordinated; as though the creature was controlling through...
"Watch your flanks!" Vaelorin managed to shout out through the pain desperately.
He forced himself to be steady as he thrusted his Staff outward. A torrent of fire crashed into the incoming Scaled, engulfing them completely...
But the larger monster suddenly swung one tentacle directly through the inferno.
The flames split apart and the tentacle emerged untouched. Then... It slammed into the ground beside Vaelorin.
BOOOM!!! freēwēbηovel.c૦m
The impact ruptured the floor.
But worse... Black spikes suddenly erupted upward from the crater.
Vaelorin barely jumped backward in time before dozens of sharpened bone-like protrusions pierced through where he stood.
The failed Pyromancer’s eyes widened as he realized he had just dodged death for a close second there...
Also, it seems that the creature would manipulate the battlefield for it’s own advantage...
Aureleah moved next as her body vanished into shadows. Then, silver flashed repeatedly around the monster...
SLASH! SLASH!! SLASH!!!
Her Daggers carved across it’s joints, neck and torso with lethal precision. Yet, the creature barely reacted as the wounds from them closed almost instantly...
Then suddenly, a crimson eye opened along one of the creature’s tentacles. The eye was slitted like a serpent’s as it locked directly into her position...
Then, the tentacle lashed at her unnaturally.
Aureleah was about to strike at the creature once more when alarms blared in her head. Without thinking, she dissolved into shadows immediately...
BOOOM!!!
The tentacle obliterated the ground where she had been moments ago.
When she reappeared several meters away, her expression was grave. She was quick to realize that the creature could actually sense her, just like the Drake she’d fought previously...
If this creature had that sort of perception, how could she actually fight it effectively?
While she pondered quietly, Regaleon finally charged forward...
His golden Armour gleamed beneath the crimson light as he swept his Halberd across the battlefield like silver lightning, carving apart the Scaled Wights that stood in his way...
He moved like a storm as he entered within range of the creature and swung his Halberd once more...
But the creature met him head-on.
CLANG!!!
It’s claws collided against the Halberd shaft.
The impact shook the cavern; Regaleon’s boots dug trenches into the fleshly ground as he held his position against the monster.
The creature tried to overpower him with overwhelming strength but Regaleon didn’t yield...
Then, the creature smiled... Or it looked like it did. It’s jaws stretched wider than natural as a glint of something resembling amusement flickered in it’s eyes...
And suddenly... The tentacles behind it exploded outward; not toward Regaleon, but toward the corpses on the ground.
The remains of the fallen Scaled were dragged into the writhing appendages before being absorbed directly into it’s body.
Crunching sounds echoed as the tentacles fed; bones broke, flesh fused and the creature’s already enormous frame swelled slightly larger...
Everyone’s faces changed.
From where he stood amidst the battlefield, Kaeloris whispered in horror. "It’s feeding on them..."
"No!" Regaleon corrected grimly while blocking another swipe of the creature’s claws. "It’s using them to evolve itself."
And as if proving his words... The monster’s flesh suddenly split apart bear it’s shoulder.
Another tentacle emerged from it; a half-formed tentacle made entirely from fused flesh and scales.
Watching this, Veyrath nearly vomited the bear and snake meat he had eaten. The sight really was disgusting to witness...
And with that, the battle worsened instantly; because the longer they fought, the stronger the creature became.
And worse, every Scaled they killed only fed the blood pool further as: more flesh flowed into it, more blood churned, and more cocoons pulsed.
Then...
RIP!!!
Everyone froze once more as they turned towards the sound.
There, on another platform, a second cocoon was opening. The membrane split slowly as something massive shifted within; something larger than the first.
Then, the atmosphere instantly became heavier.
Meanwhile, the first monstrosity suddenly shrieked triumphantly toward the opening cocoon as if welcoming a comrade...
All through it, the robed figure remained standing silently amidst the chaos. Like a conductor overseeing a symphony of horrors.
Looking at all of these, Regaleon’s expression darkened completely beneath his helmet as he was beginning to understand something critical.
This was never meant to be a battle of endurance as their enemies would never stop.
Instead, the more they killed them, the more powerful they become as every corpse became fuel, and every second dragged the group closer toward death.
The pressure was increasing and if they continued this way, the group would falter...
Regaleon gritted his teeth as he turned toward the second cocoon that was opening...
It seems that enough is enough!
If they continued to fight like this, they would die here sooner or later.
His Halberd slammed into the ground while silver light erupted...
Then, his voice rang across the cavern like a command from war itself...
"Activate your Essence Runes!"
