The soldiers rushed down the stairs as the sound of explosions and machine guns began to rumble outside. The piercing roar had caused the mutants to stampede out of the building, not caring whether they exited through doors or windows. No one knew for sure what had produced such a terrifying sound, but everyone was reminded of the recording they had seen on the cyberboard just a few minutes before.

Upon reaching the first floor, the elevator doors where Burmac had died were open. The bodies of the two workers who had been trapped in them had been brutally thrown against one of the walls, and a trail of fresh blood led down the hallway toward the exit.

"This can't be," André said, puzzled. "Burmac's body is gone."

"And these two weren't here before," Neisa pointed her flashlight at the mutilated bodies of the workers.

"He...lp..." came a rough voice from the hallway.

"Did you hear that?" Bargu whispered.

"That's the same thing Burmac said he heard!" André exclaimed.

The combat mage signaled for silence and then for them to advance. The soldiers moved stealthily along the walls but couldn't help being startled when they saw the chilling origin of the voice.

A mutant that had once been a human worker was crawling upside down and on all fours, slowly moving down the hallway. Its neck had stretched to about a meter long, and its face was a picture of terror. Its stomach had turned into a mouth of flesh and bones, from which numerous long, thin tentacles emerged, moving in all directions as if dancing. One of them had the body of its former comrade by the neck, while another that had pierced its head seemed to be sucking out the insides.

"It's all because of that damned magic," André thought, though it wasn't his own voice he heard.

"By Ibelir... it's disgusting," Neisa said.

"Damned foul creature!" Dragen shouted, filled with rage.

"He...lp?" The monster turned around. "He...lp." The mutant's face contorted, its eyes darting in all directions as the tentacles began to stretch toward the soldiers of Ibelir.

"Watch out, it's attacking!" Isen said before rolling on the ground to take cover behind a wall. Dragen mimicked the mage. The two childhood friends and the young drauo dodged to the sides to avoid the tentacles that slammed into the ground with force.

"He...lp," the mutant accelerated its pace, its tentacles dancing in search of victims.

Dragen and Isen peeked out and fired a few shots before taking cover again. Apparently, the combat mage's magical weapon hadn't recovered yet. Neisa fired two bursts, hitting the monster's body before dodging a lash, while André fired accurately and managed to destroy two tentacles with a few shots. Bargu also followed his comrades' example, but a tentacle moving close to the ground managed to grab him, pulling him down onto his back.

"Damn it, it got me!" Bargu shouted.

"Let him go, you freak!" Neisa roared and fired a burst that severed the tentacle holding her comrade.

"Move, kid!" Dragen yelled as he and the mage fired again.

Bargu got up as best he could and moved out of the mutant's path just as it burst into the room where they were. The corrupted creature spun around, trying to hit and impale its moving, shooting prey. A tentacle injured the corporal's arm, and another slashed the mage's leg, but soon after, the former worker collapsed, and a dark puddle began to form on the floor as some of its tentacles spasmed.

"This is for Burmac, you piece of shit," Dragen said before splitting its head in two.

Outside, the sound of a new explosion reminded them that the battle was still raging outside.

"Let's go, Sergeant Raed is waiting for us," the drauo corporal said, and the others followed.

***

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The soldiers of the combat mage's squad exited the central building and hurried down the avenue toward the bloody battle. However, after advancing a short distance, they all stopped abruptly behind an overturned car that the workers and soldiers used to move around the plant.

Neisa's heart skipped a beat when she saw a massive red-skinned, horned monster with bulging muscles split the light tank with a blade-like arm, while mutants and other horrendous creatures pounced on the few remaining soldiers of the platoon.

“Shit… This can’t be happening,” André said, terrified. “We’re doomed.”

“Damn…” Bargu added. “This nightmare never ends.”

“They’re beyond saving,” Isen said coldly. “Let’s head back to the V4-3. With some luck, they might still be alive, and we can get out of here.”

“We… we have to help them!” The words took much longer to leave Neisa’s mouth than she expected. She was paralyzed by the horrendous scene unfolding in front of her.

“Help them? Don’t you see? We need to get out of here as fast as we can,” André said desperately. “This is a fucking hell!”

“You coward! They’re your brothers in arms!” Although she was addressing her childhood friend, the words burst from Neisa’s mouth with fury. And the worst part was, deep down, a part of her also wanted to run away.

André looked her in the eyes, about to respond, but finally looked away and said nothing. When they argued, he usually backed down or ended up agreeing with her.

“Listen to me, human,” Dragen said with a serious expression. His orange eyes were filled with fury. The mineral scales that ran across his body like tribal tattoos glimmered. “I’m the first who wants to save the sergeant.” His fist trembled. “But the mission comes first. And if we go there, their sacrifice will have been in vain. So you better turn around and get moving before they notice our presence.”

Neisa bit her lip, and after a few seconds of hesitation, obeyed her superior. The group began to flee the scene as quickly and silently as possible.

Suddenly, a loud explosion sounded behind them, and they reflexively ducked, hands over their helmets.

“What was that?” Bargu asked.

Neisa had heard enough grenade explosions to know what had caused it.

“Don’t look,” she told herself. “Keep going. You won’t like what you see.”

But she did. In the distance, the massive red-skinned monster was emitting smoke from its mutilated body.

“Someone took out the monster with a grenade,” Neisa said. “I’m sure it was…” she began to say while trying to spot any of her comrades. A sudden, firm grip on her wrist made her turn around.

“They’re dead,” Dragen’s face was contorted. His jaw clenched tightly. “Move.”

"You don't know that..." The soldier turned her gaze back to the battlefield and saw the creature's body starting to shrink and change color. "That thing is turning... human."

"What are you saying, girl?" said the drauo corporal, turning to answer her but unable to avoid glancing in the same direction. "What the hell...?"

The creature's body transformed into that of a human, with most of its torso from the waist up ripped off. A thin strip of flesh and bone barely held its left arm.

"By Ibelir..." Bargu said. "What are those things supposed to be?"

"Damn... can those things take human form?" André said, curled up. "I can't take it anymore... Please, let's get out of here."

"Let's move," said the mage, continuing past a dented and bullet-ridden car. Neisa forced herself to turn and keep moving. There was no time to process what that thing was. She just wanted to get out of there. For the first time in her life, she was as scared as André, or more.

The combat mage's squad hugged the wall of the National Defense Corps auxiliary building and slipped through the ajar door. The interior of the vast room mirrored the scene in the central building. Numerous mutant corpses were mixed with those of savages, soldiers, and plant workers, forming a gruesome and bloody mosaic. Much of the furniture was destroyed, and the walls and floor were splattered with red and black.

They continued through the room in formation, unfazed by the bloody scene, heading toward the opposite door like runners at the end of a marathon.

"Please, let the vehicle be intact, please..." André whispered.

However, when they emerged on the other side, their faint hope turned into utter despair; the V4-3 was split into three pieces, and their comrades lay mutilated.

"We're trapped," André said, falling to his knees, tears streaming down his lifeless face. "We're going to die here..."

"Now we're really screwed," Bargu said, slumping to the ground.

"Damn it!" Dragen shouted, kicking a mutant's head. "All this for nothing!?"

Neisa bent her knees, exhausted and on the verge of a panic attack.

Isen looked around as if searching for something, then lifted his head toward the sky.

"Something's coming," the mage said. "Inside, quickly."

The soldiers retreated into the building and took cover behind pillars and wrecked objects. The sound of wings flapping grew louder until they saw a creature with a serpent's torso, dark bird wings, and tentacles coiled like extensions of its torso descend and perch on one of the metal fragments of the destroyed V4-3.

Neisa's heart pounded so hard behind the column that she feared the creature might hear it. Across from her was Isen, pistol in hand. His calculating, ice-blue eyes only made her feel more terrified. The mage, seemingly aware, looked away.

The creature flapped its wings and descended to the ground. It slithered like a snake into the building and stopped.

"It can't be... did it hear my heartbeat?" Neisa thought, a cold sweat running down her neck.

A few seconds later, the subtle hissing began to fade outside. Isen peeked out slightly to see the creature, and Neisa held her breath to do the same.

Outside, the snake-torso monster shifted into an aehul and headed toward the parking lot.

"Let's find a room where we can take cover and tend to our wounds," Isen ordered.