Thayd

  Thayd smiled as he walked slowly toward his comrades. He approached the room and opened the door, but it was completely dark. He lit a small flame, and as he ventured inside, he spotted one of his friends—Loui.

  Loui was a handsome young man with black hair and green eyes. Thayd waved at him and said,

  "It’s been a while since I’ve seen you."

  Loui replied in an unusually slow voice,

  "You haven’t seen me? Ah, yes… I haven’t seen you in a while either."

  Noticing the strange expression on Loui’s face, Thayd felt something was off. His instincts told him that something was wrong. Deciding to test his hunch, he spoke slowly and asked,

  "Where is everyone?"

  Loui smiled gently and said,

  "They’re all asleep in the room. Can’t you see them? Come, I’ll show you a beautiful chest we found here."

  Thayd scoffed and said sarcastically,

  "How am I supposed to see them when the room is this dark? And why are all the torches out? What, are you guys bats now?

  If I didn’t try to sense them, I wouldn’t have even known they were here… and I don’t intend to tire myself out during rest time."

  Thayd felt uneasy about Loui’s calm demeanor. Loui was usually a man of few words, but now he was speaking hesitantly and sluggishly as if he weren’t fully in control of himself.

  Then, Loui abruptly changed the subject and said,

  "By the way, do you remember when we were kids and you saved me from the wild dogs that were chasing me?"

  Loui smiled warmly.

  "Oh, yes, of course. You helped me a lot when I was little. I’m sorry for the trouble."

  He laughed naturally, but Thayd wasn’t convinced. Deep down, he knew that such an event had never happened. To be sure, he continued,

  "And do you remember when I paid off your family’s debts and saved you? You even thanked me. Your father himself came to express his gratitude. He was poor and miserable, unable to do anything but beg me to find a way to settle the debt."

  Loui’s expression showed surprise as he said,

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  "Yes… that’s right. But what are you trying to say?"

  Thayd smirked, grasped a dagger-shaped medallion, and leaned close to Loui’s ear. In a hushed voice, he whispered,

  "But your father has been dead since you were two years old… How did you meet him?"

  In an instant, Thayd severed Loui’s head. Blood splattered onto the floor. He touched the severed head—it was cold, as if it had been dead for a long time.

  Suddenly, a chilling sound echoed—a chest breaking violently.

  Thayd instantly activated his mana detection and saw a sinister shadow approaching. He immediately ignited flames and attempted to exit, only to find the door surrounded by grotesque, hanging flesh-like tendrils. They looked either burning hot or poisonous, so he cautiously stepped back.

  Then, heavy footsteps resounded. He ignited the flames on his daggers and considered breaking through the thick walls, but he dismissed the idea—there was no time. Especially since his comrades were all around him.

  He spotted eight people—his classmates. He realized he was surrounded. This was the end.

  He raised his dagger and targeted the earth-element user, stabbing him in the neck and igniting his body in a terrifying blaze. He would have finished him off completely, but then he noticed something eerie…

  Their eyes—all of them—were fixated in the same direction. Their mouths opened in unison. And then they spoke in a single, bone-chilling voice!

  Suddenly, two of them started fusing together, and jagged, bizarre spikes sprouted from their stomachs.

  It was as if the creature was testing Thayd’s abilities.

  He sprinted, flipping midair to evade the sharp edges aiming for his legs. He tried to make as much noise as possible, but when he increased his flames to illuminate the room, he made a grim realization—the grotesque flesh tendrils had spread throughout the chamber. That meant… sound might not escape.

  He was in a dire situation. He couldn’t risk attacking without knowing the nature of the monster controlling his comrades. And he didn’t want to think about the possibility that they could wield a dangerous element like lightning.

  Lightning was fast and had devastating power, much like fire, but with an additional nuisance—it was unpredictable, making it a terrifying weapon for those unprepared.

  He sighed internally and muttered,

  "Good thing I killed Loui… He had the lightning element."

  But suddenly, he heard the sickening sound of flesh twisting and merging. The unsettling noise intensified. He increased his flames to get a full view of the room, and then he confirmed something horrifying…

  The creature was fusing again—but this time, all of them merged at an alarming speed! Thayd didn’t even get a chance to attack.

  As they combined into an even more grotesque abomination, their clothes tore apart, revealing a hideous mass of forcefully fused flesh.

  The most horrifying part? The monster had three heads with pitch-black eyes and burning red pupils. Its skin was red, like raw, bloodied meat. Five additional faces were scattered across its body. It stood over two meters tall, its grotesque, muscular frame pulsing unnaturally. But this state didn’t last long.

  Two parts separated from the main body.

  Thayd realized there were limits to how much it could merge. He bolted forward, plunging his dagger into its flesh, slicing it open. A terrifying shriek sent shivers down his spine, but he pressed on.

  He targeted the three ghastly heads and severed them—but they didn’t fall!

  The moment he cut them off, lumps of flesh extended outward, regenerating the heads almost instantly.

  This was beyond frustrating. This fight was going to be insanely difficult.

  The monster didn’t move. It didn’t tire. It showed no weaknesses.

  At that moment, Thayd knew—he had made a mistake.

  He had assumed its weakness was in the head. He was wrong.

  His last remaining theory was that the creature controlling his classmates was just a pawn. Could this be the parasite that Ilarion and Fabian had warned about?

  But before he could act, the monster fully recovered. Its glowing red eyes flared in the darkness, and then—

  A powerful bolt of lightning struck Thayd, partially knocking him unconscious!

  A brutal punch landed in his stomach, but it didn’t kill him. The monster was testing its strength on him.

  Thayd snapped back to his senses and staggered toward the wall. Channeling mana into his hands, he struck with all his might, breaking through. He thought to himself,

  "I need to escape and get help… This isn’t just one person—it’s several!"

  As he neared the exit, the flesh tendrils on the walls suddenly transformed into jagged spikes and lunged at him!

  He tried to dodge, but the pain was unbearable. One of the spikes pierced through his left eye, making him scream in agony!

  Thayd cursed, lost his balance, and fell forward—straight onto the grotesque

  , bladed tendrils, brutally scarring his face.

  Tears welled in his eyes, but his focus remained sharp…