I pressed the button.
And oh boy—
I really thought I had outsmarted him.
But the bastard outsmarted me instead.
The moment my finger clicked the switch, every instinct I had screamed at me to run.
A primal, bone-deep warning.
Too late.
"Ha… ha… HAHAHA!"
A gurgling, wet laugh echoed through the lab. It didn't sound human anymore—more like something bubbling up from a throat that wasn't made for laughter.
I looked down.
Eldric—what was left of him—was writhing on the ground. His body convulsed, veins bulging like black serpents beneath his skin. The veins pulsed with faint crimson light, crawling upward toward his face as the air filled with the stench of sulfur and burning flesh.
"I didn't want to resort to this," he rasped, his voice warping, breaking apart into layers that didn't belong together. Then, with a sickening crack of bone, he stood. "But since it's come to this… you'll witness the pinnacle of my research!"
The transformation began.
