The door shot upward as if torn from its hinges, flung into the air by the force behind it. A mass of black tendrils writhed out of the darkness beyond, slithering across the floor like searching limbs.
Then the creature stepped through.
The torches along the corridor flickered violently, casting its silhouette across the walls. At first it looked human. Humanoid in size and shape, no taller than the doorway it forced open. Its skin was smeared in thick black mud that dripped and bubbled, as though it was melting from the inside.
It was naked. Its genitals hung loosely, but that was not what made it monstrous. What parasitized it did.
From its back protruded long worm-like growths, each one swaying independently, searching like antennae. They pulsed with a sick rhythm, as if something inside them was breathing. The tendrils dragging behind it twitched with hunger.
Then it opened its mouth.
A long split tore wider across its face, revealing rows of teeth that were not shaped for biting, but for latching. Hooked, narrow, and built to cling to flesh and never release.
The creature inhaled.
The mud on its body shifted.
The tendrils sharpened their movements.
It had smelled prey...its saliva dripped uncontrollably as it sniffed the air.
Monster's eyes narrowed the moment it spotted the prey. It did not hesitate. It strode forward with long, heavy steps, the tendrils on its back twitching in excitement. Aaron was exposed in the open, no cover, no escape. A rat cornered on a killing floor.
He turned toward the ominous door. Every survival instinct screamed at him to run in the opposite direction, but there was nowhere else to go. If he stayed, the creature would reach him in seconds. Running would only delay the inevitable.
Still, he ran toward the door anyway.
The moment he entered the door's vicinity, the shrieking intensified. Not from the monster, but from inside the door. A chorus of agonized screams reverberated inside his skull. His senses tried to stop him, instincts clawing at his mind, telling him to turn away before something worse noticed him.
He forced himself to keep going.
His head split with pain. The screaming climbed higher and higher, like talons clawing the inside of his brain. His vision blurred. His legs trembled. But he pressed forward until he stood right before the ominous door.
Behind him, the monster paused.
It felt something.
Its next step faltered, as if its body instinctively recoiled from the door. But its hunger dragged it forward again, overpowering whatever warning it sensed. Saliva dripped from its hooked teeth as it advanced, its tendrils curling excitedly.
Only a few meters remained between predator and prey.
Aaron stared at the door, heart pounding like a drum. He did not know what miracle he expected. He did not know whether he was calling for help or calling for death.
But he knew one thing.
If the monster was terrified of what lay behind the door, then maybe, just maybe, that was exactly where he needed to be.
He raised his tiny hand and touched the door.
Creak… creak…
The surface vibrated under his paw, a low rumble echoing through the corridor.
Then the door exploded open.
A violent burst of force blasted outward like a shockwave. Aaron flew through the air, hurled down the corridor, slamming down the uneven pavement. He heard and felt bones snap. A sharp bolt of pain shot through his body, his breath stolen from his lungs.
"Shit!"
"Shit!"
"Shit!"
He gave out a guttural cry.
On other side the monster fared better. Its tendrils shot into the floor like spears, anchoring it in place. Its flesh rippled, absorbing the impact with unnatural flexibility. It screeched, furious, then turned its hateful gaze toward the source of the explosion.
Aaron forced his eyes open, adrenaline fighting against the rising darkness trying to pull him under. His tiny chest heaved with panicked breaths. Every movement hurt. But he looked.
And what he saw froze him and his pain.
He went numb.
His mouth left open, a dazed expression on his face.
The door he thought was a "Door" actually was... a sarcophagus.
Stone, ancient, its surface carved with symbols he could not understand, symbols that twisted if he stared too long. The corridor's faint torch light spilled inside it, revealing a man lying within.
Its body was wrapped in decayed ceremonial robes, dark and brittle, as though time had tried and failed. His hands were crossed over his chest, fingers long and blackened like burnt bones.
The face…
The face was concealed beneath a mask.
A cold, expressionless mask of polished ivory, cracked in places as if it had endured impossible strain. It had no eyes, no mouth, only the faint impression of features that seemed to change and warp when Aaron blinked.
'What the hell is that?!'
System popped warning messages inside his head.
[Warning]
[A dangerous creature in vicinity.]
[Suggestion: RUN]
Aaron felt his fur rise. His heart hammered harder.
'What did I awakened?'
System in bold letters repeated the same as before.
[The requested information required greater authority]
When the shockwave hit, it flung Aaron the farthest, so now he was behind the monster and the monster was closer to the masked figure.
The monster hissed, its hunger momentarily forgotten, its body trembling before the sarcophagus as if every instinct begged it to flee.
Suddenly, the unmoving masked figure rose.
Its sarcophagus groaned as it felt movement for the first time in many centuries. The ancient symbols were still now, no longer shifting. The man inside shot his hand out and gripped the edges.
He was trying push himself out.
But before it could, the monster with tentacles lunged at him, its eyes frenzied with fear and hunger. Its tendrils scraped against the floor, sending a cruel shriek into the air.
The monster collided with the masked figure. They rolled towards the sarcophagus, claws and tendrils tearing the air.
The figure struck its chest, then its jaw, then twisted a tendril until it snapped.
The monster bit. The man answered by driving a knee into its ribcage, forcing bones to crack.
Black ichor splattered the stone as both bodies slammed into the sarcophagus again.
Aaron watched the scene unfold from the sidelines, his mouth hanging open in shock and horror.
The figure snapped one of the tentacles, but the others tore into him. His bare chest split open, the skin peeling apart. Inside, there was nothing. No heart.
The monster ripped the chest muscles further, leaving the ribcage exposed. The lungs beneath were visible — dark and dried.
Mud from the monster's skin now flowed out of him, engulfing the figure trapped in its tentacles.
It tried to swallow him whole, but the ceremonial robe around the figure repelled the sludge. The monster used its hands to rip the robe apart, yet it resisted, refusing to tear. Unable to break it, the monster cried out in frustration.
The figure, barely able to move after having its chest torn open, raised a trembling hand. One finger extended toward the floor — toward a rat. Toward Aaron. As if asking something.
Aaron jolted back and tried to run, dragging himself toward the open door. He didn't know where it led, but he had no choice. His bones were broken, and once the adrenaline faded he would be drowning in pain, unable to move for days. If that happened, he was as good as dead. The monster wouldn't take long to finish the masked figure — it might devour him within the hour, and Aaron would be next.
But something told him otherwise. For some unknown reason, he didn't run. He turned back and ran toward them instead.
Even with broken bones, Aaron was swift enough to dodge the incoming tentacles. The monster was too busy with the masked figure, so its maneuver of the tentacles were sloppier.
The ancient screaming voice echoed in his mind again. Without thinking, Aaron shouted, "Inventory."
A shimmering window appeared. He quickly located the dried black heart in one of the boxes.
He materialized the item and flung it into reality.
The moment the heart emerged from the window, it began beating again. Veins burst from the floor and reached toward it.
Then, with a sudden jolt, the heart sensed something. It shot straight toward the gaping chest of the masked figure.