The creature emerged from the darkness like a nightmare that dragged itself into reality.
Its body was a shifting mass of black hard fleshes and jagged bone. Its size werre too large for the narrow corridor it came from.
Tentacles writhed from its torso. Each of those tentacles were tipped with serrated barbs still dripping with fresh blood.
The Vilegnaw's head—or what passed for one—was an elongated maw lined with teeth that seemed to spiral endlessly inward and glistening with thick saliva.
Its eyes were deep pits of crimson light, burning with hunger.
Kade was still screaming, kicking and clawing at the appendage wrapped around his mangled leg.
His boots scraped against the cracked concrete, leaving bloody streaks as he was dragged toward the beast.
"Cover fire!" Ryan roared, snapping his rifle up and unleashing a burst of gunfire.
The shots echoed through the ruins, muzzle flashes lighting the shadows. But the bullets barely staggered the monster. Bits of black flesh splattered from its body only to quiver and knit back together, the wounds sealing with sickening speed.
"Shit!" Markus cursed, reloading. "It's regenerating!"
A second tentacle lashed out. It slammed into Markus' chest, the impact lifting him off the ground and throwing him against a rusted pillar with a terrifying thud. His rifle clattered away.
Myles didn't waste time watching.
He moved forward with his pipe gripped tight, every nerve in his body thrumming. His instincts screamed that this thing was beyond them, but if they hesitated, they'd all die here. This thing definitely wouldnt just let them run away.
"I think we need to attack the tentacle first!" Nadine shouted, charging in beside him. Her crowbar came down with a vicious arc, barbed wire biting into the appendage holding Kade.
The Vilegnaw shrieked, a sound that was less like an animal and more like metal screaming in a furnace.
The tentacle writhed, loosening just enough for Myles to slam his pipe through the serrated tip.
Black ichor splashed across his arm, burning where it touched skin.
Kade was free but his leg was become a mangled ruin. He howled in pain, trying to crawl away as Nia grabbed him under the arms and dragging him toward cover.
The beast shifted its attention to Myles. Those crimson eyes locked onto him, and the world seemed to narrow to that single point of murderous hunger.
"Myles! move!" Nadine's voice was sharp, but the warning came at the same time as another tentacle lunging straight for him.
He didn't think. He just dropped into a roll. The appendage missing his head by inches and smashing into the ground where he'd stood.
The concrete split like rotten wood.
Behind him, Lilian finally moved.
The succubus slid down from the broken walkway above, her descent so smooth it was almost inhuman.
With a flick of her wrist, a thin arc of violet light traced through the air, and a tentacle was suddenly severed.
The Vilegnaw let out another scream. This one more furious than pained. Its entire body began to ripple. The air around it seemed to darken, shadows stretching unnaturally along the floor.
Lilian's gaze didn't waver.
"Just back up for now, Myles," she said softly, almost bored. "I'll handle this part and let you finish the rest."
Lilian's eyes glowed faintly violet as she raised her hand, fingers curling like she was plucking invisible strings.
Dark tendrils of magical energy burst from the floor, winding upward to coil around the Vilegnaw's limbs.
The energy twisted tighter, forcing the monster to screech and thrash in place.
Myles caught the shift in its movement immediately. He glanced toward Nadine and jerked his chin forward.
She nodded without hesitation, gripping her crowbar until her knuckles whitened, both of them ready to rush in.
But then the shadows binding the creature flickered, as if a strong wind had passed through them.
Cracks of pale light split across the tendrils, and in the next heartbeat they shattered like glass, fading into nothing.
Lilian exhaled sharply through her nose, her expression twisting into something between irritation and disbelief.
"Tch… it won't hold," she muttered with angry voice. Her eyes locked onto Myles. "Turns out I can't use my full binding skill here. This damn world's rules are interfering with me!"
The words made Myles's stomach sink. That binding was their best chance at keeping the monster still long enough to finish it. Without it, the fight would turn into a pure slugfest against something that could regenerate faster than they could hurt it.
"This is bad," he thought, tightening his grip on the pipe. "If Lilian can't lock it down, this thing might tear us apart."
The Vilegnaw's gaze swept the room, blood-mist dripping from its maw. It hadn't lunged yet but its entire body coiled like a predator waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Myles forced the thought of retreat out of his mind. They had already bled for this far into the ruins. Running now would only get them hunted down.
He looked back at Lilian. "How much can you still do?"
"I can still hit as hard as a C-rank. Maybe push into B-rank territory if I put in some effort." She tossed her hair back with a flick, but her tone stayed cold. "But my S-rank bindings are prohibited."
Myles nodded once. "Then I'll make use of what you've got. Just give me the biggest opening you can."
The monster moved again, its tentacles scraping against the cracked floor.
Myles steadied his breathing, every muscle ready to spring. Nadine shifted beside him, waiting for his signal.
Myles snapped his hand up, heat surging into his palm. A sphere of swirling flame burst to life. He threw it straight into the Vilegnaw's face.
The fireball exploded in a rush of light and heat, the blast forcing the beast's head back.
Its scream was muffled under the roar of flames, thick smoke curling around its jagged maw. The crimson pits of its eyes dimmed for a heartbeat, blinded.
Myles didn't waste that moment. He lunged forward with a knife in one hand and a pipe in the other.
His blade cut across one of the tentacles just above the serrated tip. The barbs twitched violently as black ichor splattered the floor.
The monster recoiled, but Myles was already moving again, driving the pipe down. The impact landed with a wet crunch against its torso, the steel groaning from the force.
A surge of cold focus rippled through him, Bloodthirsty Slash skill igniting in his veins. Every wound he inflicted fed into the next strike, multiplying his damage with each cut.
He slashed again, ripping through a layer of that black, hardened flesh.
The Vilegnaw thrashed wildly, tentacles slamming into the ground in blind fury.
Chunks of concrete exploded under the impacts, but Myles didn't retreat.
He wanted to inflict a lot of wounds. Doesn't matter if it's shallow or deep..
—