“Heh, right! There was never any bad blood between us to begin with…”
The monster finally broke the silence. Its voice was low and hoarse, tinged with a hint of resentment and mockery as it echoed through the gloomy space.
Manville gripped his gun tightly, his eyes fixed warily on the creature. At the slightest sign of trouble, he was prepared to pull the trigger without hesitation and fire the bullet from the chamber.
“Last week… when I was here, I didn’t see any sign of you.”
Manville probed, attempting to extract more information from the creature’s words.
“We’ve been lying dormant here for a very long time… A couple of days ago, that guy woke us up. It seems everyone here knows of our existence.”
The monster seemed unbothered by Manville’s conversation, speaking slowly, each word sounding as though it were squeezed through gritted teeth.
However, Manville was filled with suspicion. He felt that everything this creature was doing was merely a deliberate attempt to stall for time.
Perhaps it was waiting for the other monster behind it—the one enjoying its “meal”—to finish eating so they could be wiped out together.
“Do you think you’re still human?”
Manville took a deep breath and asked his final question, his gaze locked firmly on the monster.
“Human? Don’t make me laugh. I am far beyond human now! Look at this powerful body of mine—explosive strength, impenetrable defenses, combined with human intelligence… I have completely surpassed humanity!”
The monster roared proudly, its voice brimming with arrogance.
“Higher beings feeding on lower beings—that is the immutable law of this world!”
Unable to contain its frenzy any longer, it suddenly stretched out a massive claw, easily pried open the skull of the gang member in its grasp, and began gnawing on the contents.
Manville instinctively shut his eyes, but the warm brain matter still splattered onto his cheek. A pungent, metallic smell of blood assaulted his nostrils. Fear and rage surged through him like a tidal wave, overwhelming him in an instant.
“We can’t wait any longer! Aim for the human head—shoot!”
Manville shouted at the top of his lungs.
All the gang members snapped to attention, quickly taking aim at the human head on the monster in front of them. Their fingers squeezed the triggers, unleashing a hail of bullets.
Yet, the bullets seemed to strike an invisible wall, deflected by a substance resembling steel plates that bulged from the monster’s chest. They clattered harmlessly to the ground with a series of metallic pings.
“Now! Run!”
Manville made a split-second decision and yelled the command.
Hearing Manville’s voice, the monster looked down warily at its feet, only to find no one there. It realized it had been tricked, but when it shifted its gaze back to where Manville and the others had been standing, that spot was equally empty—not a single person in sight.
Where had they gone? The monster was baffled. But its sense of smell was keen; as long as these pests were still inside this prison, it was confident it could sniff them out one by one.
Manville and his group sprinted desperately toward the depths of the prison. Even though they had four or five boxes of ammunition left, they lacked the confidence to kill the terrifying monster before them.
The creature was enormous; trying to run under its legs to escape was clearly unrealistic.
So, against the protests of the others, Manville resolutely led everyone deeper into the prison. It might be their only chance at survival.
That hulking monster was too large to move easily through the narrow confines of the prison. Their real concern was the monster with the hound’s head.
What they feared most was being caught in a pincer attack by both creatures. Since they had ample firepower, taking out one of them and then using the prison’s complex layout to maneuver around the giant one might eventually lead them to a way out.
And so, they ran for their lives. Bullets were hastily loaded into chambers as they dashed past the hound-like monster feasting on a corpse and fired at its dog-like head.
The hound monster seemed caught off guard. Several bullets hit their mark, creating two bloody holes in its skull from which crimson blood flowed freely.
“Did we get it?”
No one dared to slow their pace. Lingering a moment longer in this deadly place was a profound disrespect for their own lives.
“That thing’s not dead yet!”
One gang member familiar with canine behavior pointed at the creature’s head in alarm.
The hound monster bared its teeth, a vicious glint in its eyes, as if still reeling from the pain. The flesh on its head writhed, and the wounds showed faint signs of closing up.
Without a second thought, Manville pulled the kerosene lamp from his waist and hurled it with all his might.
The lamp shattered upon impact, spilling kerosene across the floor. Flames eagerly caught hold, swiftly engulfing the hound monster.
The creature let out a pitiful howl and staggered out of the fire.
Driven by instinct, it began rolling frantically on the ground, its massive body slamming into nearby bars and bending them out of shape with deafening clangs.
“I… I’ve got an idea!”
One gang member suddenly pointed at the twisted metal bars, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes.
If that giant creature was blocking their path forward, perhaps they could use these warped iron bars and damaged walls to bypass it. If they moved carefully, they might go unnoticed.
Manville quickly outlined his plan, and no one could think of a better alternative. Taking advantage of the hound’s thrashing on the ground, Manville cautiously approached a cell and used his pistol to shoot at the weak points in the bars.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
After several shots, Manville swiftly kicked and pulled, creating an opening just wide enough for a single person to squeeze through.
Once the path was clear, they unleashed a volley of bullets at the hound-headed monster.
In their eyes, this creature was merely a chimera stitched together from the flesh and blood of common beasts. Bullets could still kill it, provided enough of them. Between Manville’s group, they had over a hundred and fifty rounds, and they poured every last one into the hound monster.
Soon, under the combined assault of gunfire and flame, the creature gradually ceased moving, its head slumping down. By the firelight, they could clearly see its dog-like skull riddled with bullets, a gruesome mess of blood and brain matter. Seeing this, they finally felt a sense of relief.
Right there, they loaded their last remaining bullets into their guns. While testing the viability of their makeshift passage, they kept a vigilant watch for the arrival of the giant monster.
Before long, the flames began to die down, and the hulking creature finally arrived.
It looked at the charred remains of the hound monster and scoffed dismissively.
“I was wondering what that smell of roasted meat was. So you managed to take down that failure. Just a reject, dead or alive, it makes no difference.”
The giant casually crushed the corpse of the hound monster underfoot. Everyone raised their weapons, but the behemoth showed no fear. It lumbered closer with heavy, deliberate steps.
“One… two… three… four.”
The giant creature counted heads, then suddenly roared, “Why is there one less of you?”
“Heh, planning an ambush on me?”
“Of course… right here!”
Manville’s voice rang out coldly from behind the monster, accompanied by the sharp crack of a gunshot.
The bullet struck the swaying serpent-like tail, much to Manville’s regret—he had been aiming for the creature’s human head.
“You—!”
The monster bellowed in fury. Its serpentine tail, like a steel whip, lashed out violently. Razor-sharp claws sliced through the air with a shrieking wind, hurtling toward Manville.
Manville glanced sideways and saw his teammates struggling to climb through the damaged wall. His heart sank. There was nowhere to dodge. Gritting his teeth, he made a desperate decision and charged straight ahead.
He twisted his body, narrowly evading the blade-like claws, but the monster’s arm, thick as an iron pillar, slammed heavily into him. An overwhelming force struck him, leaving him dizzy and disoriented, his internal organs feeling as if they had been rearranged. He stumbled, nearly collapsing from the shock.
But behind him, his teammates had seized every second and successfully navigated the broken wall.
Now, all they had to do was get past the bars Manville had breached, and they would see daylight again—free from this nightmare creature!
“Hey!”
Manville fought through the searing pain and flashed a quick hand signal, urging his teammates to take cover immediately.
The monster, seeing this, paused its attack. Its crimson eyes fixed intently on Manville, as if trying to decipher his intentions.
“Look behind you again,” Manville said loudly, a provocative smirk curling his lips.
The monster’s heart lurched, and it instinctively glanced back. The four figures who had been standing behind it moments ago had vanished like ghosts.
“Their scent is still nearby!”
The monster sniffed the air vigorously, its keen nose tracking the scent of its prey, and it let out a furious roar.
“Damn it! Where did they hide?”
It was obsessed with food; to sustain its massive body, it needed to eat constantly. The disappearance of four potential meals right under its nose sent it into a violent rage, its hackles rising.
It heard a faint noise and whirled around with astonishing speed.
At that very moment, Manville was pulling one teammate by the arm, with the other two gang members close by. He hadn’t expected the monster to turn so quickly. Sensing imminent danger, he didn’t dare hesitate and urgently yanked one teammate forward.
But the monster advanced two steps, forcing Manville’s group back. Its thick leg now firmly blocked the escape route, trapping one man inside.
“Get out of here!”
The trapped man shouted desperately from inside the cell.
Manville hesitated, torn.
But a seasoned gang member beside him didn’t waste a second. He grabbed Manville by the collar and roared, “Stop dawdling! If we don’t leave now, none of us will get out!”
With that, he dragged Manville toward the main prison entrance at a full sprint.
The giant monster did not immediately give chase. Yet, from behind them, everyone clearly heard the sickening crunch of bones being ground to powder, echoing through the pitch-black space. The sound was utterly chilling.
Terror gripped everyone’s heart. Each step they ran felt fraught with peril. Having lost their kerosene lamp, they were plunged into absolute darkness, which slowed their escape considerably. But they pressed on by feel until they finally reached the main gate of the prison.
Manville took a deep breath and kicked the door open with all his might.
In an instant, light flooded over their faces like a tidal wave, so bright it stung their eyes.
As if to vent their fury, each of them delivered a vicious kick to the two prison guards before tossing them inside like discarded garbage and slamming the heavy door shut.
