As the sun rose even further, they realized how long they had fought in that lab, and it was dawn. They had been up all night, and their exhaustion was making them careless.
They kept stumbling over roots and rocks, their heads clouded with fatigue and fear.
After hours of walking, they stumbled upon the remains of an old gas station. It was mostly just a shell of a building, but the door was still intact, and the roof seemed to be holding up.
Nyx growled, her ears pressed flat to her skull. Seren gave her a sharp look, and she slunk into the shadows, her body tense with anger.
Anne found herself standing behind Seren, her hand gripping his arm for support. The sight of him, the sound of his voice, gave her strength and made her believe that they could overcome their enemies.
"Finally we can get some—" The ground beneath them began to shake once more. This time it wasn't just a tremor; it was a quake, and a massive one at that. The shaking grew so violent that the ground seemed to roll like waves.
The centipede had returned; it remembered the scent of Anne and the group.
Anne fell to her knees, her legs weak with fear, her arms curling around herself for warmth and comfort.
The centipede raced towards them, its body lurching like a snake, its mandibles clacking together in a terrible rhythm. Marcus had no choice. He aimed his pistol, his hands shaking with fear, and fired.
The creature was unaffected, its legs thrashing like whips as it only became more angry.
Marcus scrambled away, his legs trembling, his skin covered in sweat and blood, and his eyes wild with terror. The sound of the monster's chittering filled his mind, and he felt himself slowly sinking into madness.
Seren struggled against him, his strength failing him, as the centipede reared back, its teeth dripping with blood, and its eyes blazing like red flames.
"You're not done yet." A voice spoke to Seren. It was smooth and cold, and carried a weight that Seren couldn't place. It came from everywhere and nowhere, and it filled Seren with an icy fear that he couldn't shake.
He pushed the others away, trying to hold off the centipede, his mind racing, his body frozen with terror.
The creature lunged at him, its jaws opening wide, and its tongue slithering from its mouth like a prehensile blade.
Suddenly, a blinding light engulfed the centipede, freezing it in place. It screeched in agony, its body glowing with a violet-green hue, its insides melting in the intensity of the power.
"Sir, what are you doing?" It was the voice of Liu, the mysterious assistant of the man they could not understand. "I didn't authorize you to speak, Liu. I need to keep these specimen alive, look at them."
"I'm sorry, Sir, I—" Liu cut off, his eyes narrowing in concern.
The centipede roared in agony, its legs flailing and its body writhing. "Do you want to see what happens when you mess with my experiments?!" The hooded man hissed, his voice dangerous.
Seren looked at the hooded man with a rageful expression behind his eyes. "Experiments? That's what you see us as?"
The hooded man turned his attention to the group, his lips curled in a sneer. "Yes. That is what you are. You and that anomalous-looking girl are fascinating; I have never seen such a creature like you or her in my life."
"She has a name, you know. You don't have to talk about her like that!" Seren snapped. The hooded man rolled his eyes.
"You have such little respect for our world. You act as if it's some wonderland where nothing can touch you, but the truth is, it's a harsh and unforgiving place, and it'll destroy you if you aren't careful."
The hooded man gazed at Seren, his eyes glittering with amusement. "Our chat was nice while it lasted... we will definitely meet again." With that, he finished off the centipede in one powerful blast of energy.
As the creature screamed its death cry, the group rushed towards it, their weapons ready, making sure that it was no longer breathing. Nyx had followed the path of the hooded man, and found no trace of him. He had disappeared in thin air as if he was never there at all.
Anne and Seren stared at each other, their eyes filled with horror. "Anne, that hooded man... he's dangerous." Seren whispered, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
Anne shook her head. "Regardless, he was able to take out this giant thing without breaking a sweat; we wouldn't stand a chance against him."
The truth was they had no idea who or what they were up against. And until they knew, it was time for them to focus on keeping their heads down, and surviving as best they could. One thing was clear, the hooded man was more than they had ever anticipated. There was a darker force at play, and they needed to stay on their guard.
Suddenly, all three of them burst into flames and began to writhe in agony, yet they remained unburnt. "ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" They screamed, their bodies consumed by blue fire, their faces contorted in terror.
Anne screamed, her vision blurred with tears, her body numb with shock. She could not bear the pain, but she continued to endure. She did not know why. They were in a sea of flames, their minds filled with a torrent of emotion, their bodies wracked with pain.
Yet, there was a faint sense of hope buried within Anne. A faint spark, like a candle flickering in the darkness, a whisper of a dream. She could not see it, or even fully understand it, but she held onto it, clinging to a hope that maybe, just maybe, there was something beyond this nightmare.
She could not explain how or why, but she was certain that there was a part of her that refused to give in, that refused to succumb. Her will to survive, her need to live, was a small, fragile flame, but it was a flame nonetheless.
"EVERYONE... PLEASE... HOLD... ON..." She whimpered through the pain, her eyes half-lidded, her body contorted in agony. Her body felt every moment of the pain, yet it did not burn and she did not know why.
Then everything went silent.
The hooded man watched their suffering with a morbid fascination, his eyes glinting in the shadows.
The three survivors stood, their bodies remained intact, and their eyes filled with horror and pain. Anne looked down at her hand and clenched it. They felt it all coursing through their body, the Erojium the hooded man spoke of... it has fully manifested.