The group stared as a wall of midnight feathers filled the hole. The sound of massive beating wings filled their ears as it soared upward. Chad caught a glimpse of talons the size of scythes as the shape passed. A moment later, it circled back around and gave the group a more complete view of their foe.

It was a Ghoulture, all right. But far bigger than they'd bargained for. Where the others had ranged from pig- to cow-sized, this one couldn't have been smaller than a monster truck. It was absolutely massive. The fanged beak that had already been scary enough now boasted serrations as large as small swords. Its oily plumage seemed to absorb the daylight itself, giving it an almost ethereal veil of night.

Ghoulture (Lvl 13)

The beak opened to reveal a spiked purple tongue. It let out a deep, rasping cry like nails on a chalkboard that sent them all reaching for their ears. The sheer volume of it shook the building, sending dust tumbling down from the cracked and damaged ceiling. It lowered its head, hateful eyes locking on the group. Then, it banked toward the hole.

"Shit!" Rick hefted his rifle. "Get ready!"

Squawkers screeched in barely repressed panic. "Hold the line! Fire when it gets close!"

"You heard the bird!"

Chad swore, gaze darting around the area, looking desperately for any potential projectiles he'd missed earlier. Nothing.

With a final screech, the massive Ghoulture's bulk soared closer and closer, growing to an almost preposterous size as it approached. The building shook as it slammed into the wall. The sheer impact sent them all stumbling as a massive black and purple head stretched into the corridor. The neck alone was long enough to reach a third of the way down the hall.

"It's too big! It can't fit!" Chad shouted with relief. "Ha! Take that, sucker! Maybe try and lose some weight next time!"

Perhaps the bird understood the provocation. Perhaps not. Either way, the Ghoulture began to writhe about, tearing against the walls and floor with its beak. It tore through the plaster, concrete, and steel as though it they were cardboard.

Chad's grin fell. "Damn. That's not good."

With another screech, the bird began to tear through the building in earnest as it thrashed its way forward. The walls and floor crumbled as it waded toward the group with malice in its gaze. Rick and his companions fired into the beast, aiming for its face and eyes, but to no apparent effect. If anything, the bullets just made the thing angrier.

"Retreat!" Rick shouted as his gun clicked empty. "Quickly, get to the stairs!"

The grey parrot flapped furiously. "We have to do something! If we don't, there's nothing stopping it from breaking through downstairs!"

The dark man gritted his teeth and shook his head. "If we stay, we're dead. The best we can do is evacuate people or lead it away somehow."

The group backed away from the encroaching creature as it stretched its neck forward. It peered at the group, then let out a long and sinister hiss.

A silver mist filled the hallway, similar to the one they'd seen just before the final bird's appearance. But rather than rising up from the dead bodies and gore all around them, this time it came from the living.

Some of the men cried out in panic as the vapor flew from their bodies and toward the bird. It sucked the mist in with a deep inhale. In an instant, Chad felt himself grow even more exhausted. His limbs felt twice as heavy as they had been only moments before. That was the last straw for the others. Rick and his men bolted for the stairs, their empty weapons slung across their backs.

As it siphoned off more of the silver mist, it drove them ever closer to the stairs at the other end of the hallway. Chad glanced up at Squawkers. "Squawk? Any ideas?"

"I…! Uh!" The parrot screeched in panic. "I don't know!"

One thing was certain – they had to deal with this thing now. The ease with which it tore into the building didn't bode well for the people below. And if it could tear through the walls and ceiling this easily, who was to say it would stop with them? The Ghoulture might decide to vent some frustration on the collection of much squishier targets below.

I have to take care of this. A sudden calm settled over Chad. His mind cleared as he realized what needed to be done. We don't have time to regroup and plan or do anything fancy. The only option is an old fashioned ass-kicking.

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He felt at his side. He suddenly remembered that there was, in fact, one more thing he could throw. While he didn't have any more weights, he did have that ax hanging from his belt loop. If that wasn't enough…

"Squawk, get outta here."

"Chad?!" The bird asked incredulously. "What are you—"

"Go! Make sure the others get away!"

With that, he ignored the bird's further protests. He had to trust that Squawk would keep himself safe. For now, he had bigger problems.

Chad turned his attention forward and pulled the ax from his belt. The longer he waited, the more exhausted he was getting. He had to act now.

I've only got one shot. Better make it count.

With that, he pulled his arm back. Not for a shotput-style throw this time. This had to be overhand. He couldn't afford to hold back. Then, he activated Adrenaline Surge.

Energy surged through his entire body. His arm crackled with barely contained electricity and vigor, the sensation almost enough to distract him from the exhaustion and pain. Chad felt stronger than he ever had in his life – strong enough to shoulder-press a mountain.

With a final grunt of effort, he whipped his arm forward and threw the ax.

Immediately Chad felt something slip in his back. He cried out in pain as the fire tracing up his spine and shoulder became a raging inferno. It was like his muscles were being constantly pulled and stabbed into. Yet the ax flew forward.

A shockwave blasted through the hallway as the ax shot down its length. Its wake tore feathers and bits of gore from the walls around, sending them tumbling through the air in a cloud of shrapnel. But even through the chaos, Chad kept his eyes on his target.

For a moment, he thought he had missed altogether. The ax had flown fast enough that he couldn't easily track it by eye, and the bird didn't explode into misty gore or develop a spontaneous crater in its body like he'd grown so used to seeing today. Even the Ghoulture didn't react to his attack initially. Then its wing fell off.

The mass of feathers slid to the ground like a piece of iceberg shearing off. As it fell, the few bits of sinew and muscle that still remained stretched and snapped from the weight. The ax had passed straight through the shoulder and wing like a massive sword.

The bird turned to stare at the damage in disbelief. Then, it let out a deafening screech of pain. Chad felt blood begin to run from his ears as the bird thrashed even harder in fury and panic. His vision darkened slightly, but he forced himself to stay upright and conscious. He wasn't done. The bird wasn't dead. And he only had a few seconds left of Adrenaline Surge.

Without hesitation, he began a hobbling sprint forward. Each step sent fresh pain shooting up his back, turning each breath into a ragged gasp. But he pushed on anyway.

The Ghoulture reeled back, flapping its remaining wing as it tried to retreat. Unfortunately, the sudden and unexpected loss of a limb left it quite off-balance. The massive bird struggled to move as Chad closed the distance, tripping over itself in a frenzy. Once he was in range, it stabbed its beak forward in an attempt to skewer him.

Chad looked into the beast's eyes as time slowed down. Its gaze no longer held the same malice and hunger as before. Now, all that Chad could see in those red orbs was fear.

With a scream of pain and effort, Chad met the bird's gaping maw with his fist.

As his knuckles met the tip of the Ghoulture's beak, Chad felt another shockwave ripple out. His knuckles turned the solid bony material into powder in an instant, powder which blasted back into his foe's face with the force of the blow. The strike continued without slowing, erasing the massive beak as though it were simply turning to ash in the wind. All the way until he reached the bird's head.

Its eyes widened for an instant as Chad's fist finally met flesh. Then, its head popped as though he'd pricked a water balloon with a needle. A very, very gory water balloon. One that exploded all over him.

The screech cut off, leaving a sudden and deafening silence in its wake. The Ghoulture's massive carcass fell to the ground, twitching for a few moments before going perfectly still. A few sections of half-destroyed wall crumbled under its sudden weight.

Chad also fell, collapsing forward into the puddle of blackish-purple puree that had once been its head. The effects of Adrenaline Surge faded, leaving him even more wrung out and depleted than he had been moments before. He felt weak. Weak and in pain.

Ow.

Chad's ears rang as blood continued to trickle from them. Whatever he'd done to his back and shoulder certainly hadn't improved from that last punch. The white-hot pain seared his nerves and sent stars through his vision. Each breath only added fresh stabs of pain to the whole thing.

As for the hotel corridor, it was arguably doing even worse. It had been rendered completely unrecognizable from the battle. The previously yellow walls had been completely painted over with Ghoulture blood, rendering them an inky black. A thick coating of feathers and irregularly-sized fleshy bits stuck to the surface as well, making the walls look like some kind of weird living tunnel. The walls that were still intact, at least. Many of them had been reduced to piles of debris by the larger bird.

The Ghoulture's neck poured out blackish-purple blood into the destroyed hall. The sludge pooled around Chad, filling his nose and mouth as he tried to take in short and painful gulps of air. He tried to push himself up only to find that he couldn't even move his right arm anymore.

After a moment, he stopped trying. He was exhausted. After all that, Chad wanted to do nothing more than take a nice, long rest. Preferably one that took the pain away. His vision darkened once more.

Dang. Guess I'll need another shower, too.

With that final thought, the darkness closed over him.