Silent and unseen like the shadows on the wall, Zexus entered the room. At first, he stepped slowly, but soon picked up the pace as he descended the stairs and neared the ongoing battle. It was still four people, three humans and one elf, against two of the leechs’ offsprings.

“Is ‘Sally’ dormant in assimilation or is her sentient self resisting?” Zexus wondered as he slammed his left foot down, cracking the ground as he gathered his strength. The muscles in his leg felt as if they were about to burst as he pulled back his right arm, his fingers curling into a fist as the heads of all the combatants reacted to the sound he made.

Before anyone could fully register his presence however, the amber-eyed man pushed forward. At speeds just a notch lower than Vex’s by using the strength of his muscles, Zexus darted to the monster with a vaguely feminine body. As the creature turned to face him, his fist made contact with its midriff.

*BOOM*

Like a cannonball shot from a barrel filled to the brimm with gunpowder, the monster sailed through the air, its body limb even before it crashed into the opposing wall. Bits of concrete, now rubble, erupted with the impact. They dropped like rain in the deathly silence.

“Remember, cub. You wanna punch someone head on down here, aim for the solar plexus. That or the balls. Either one goes.” The voice of Juno spoke from his memories.

“Ssssss…” Hunched over with his right hand still balled, Zexus exhaled. Instead of air, a long stream of steam passed through clenched teeth. His body burned as if it were on fire, but his mind remained clear as he turned to the other monster combatant.

“How very human of you.” Zexus noted the creature’s pause that was not unlike those of Orange Block. That said, the male egghead was still faster in its recovery than the sentient.

Swiping its clawed hand in a horizontal arc at his neck, Zexus simply bent backwards. His feet remained planted as he pulled back his right hand for another attack.

*Boom*

He struck again, but not nearly as hard. He had little momentum after all, but it still hit many times harder than the average man’s strongest blow. With that in mind, the result caused him to raise a brow in surprise.

“Oh?”

The monster, about his stature at just over two metres tall, held strong with its arms shielding its head. Still, the blow pushed it no less than three metres back, evident by the pair of dug up trails leading to its feet.

“That shell’s quite durable.” Zexus remarked in silence. The monster’s leather-like skin had torn, but it remained standing without any bones broken. That was if it still had any.

Recovering, the monster charged, intending to slash at him again. Limited in its intelligence, it seemed to have no plan beyond inflicting as much damage as possible to its opponent. That begged the question as to how it blocked, and in such a skilled manner.

Was it instinct, or perhaps some left over muscle memory from whoever he was before being turned? Zexus kept these thoughts at the back of his mind, his focus on his opponent’s movements.

“Right-handed. Wide arcs. Long reach.”

Zexus took the hit this time despite having more than enough room to dodge. Raising his arm up to defend, he took the brunt of the force, leaning into it as he did. The creature was strong, easily worth as much as two human men. It was enough to cause his arm to tilt and his muscles to ache dully.

“It’s strong but it has little speed.” His eyes shifted to his opponent’s arms. “The ‘armour’ or perhaps something inside him is weighing him down.”

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Before Zexus could assess any further, battlecries sounded from behind his foe, followed by the appearance of the Orange Block participants.

“Die, you bastard!” The blonde haired man roared, attacking the monster in the back with punches.

Following his lead, a larger human man with a girthy midsection attacked from the left with heavy hammerfists. Whereas the pale-skinned man was motivated by anger, this one seemed to be drawing strength more from desperation and fear than anything else.

From the right side, the older elven man with greying hair and a pimpled human youth still short of his adult years also joined the fray. The former delivered many kicks to the monster’s legs, whilst the latter did his best to attack the creature’s head with his height advantage.

However, even with attacks on all fronts, none of their hits seemed to damage the slow yet durable monster. Still, the strikes were enough to stagger and distract the monster from Zexus, allowing the latter to take a backstep.

Under normal circumstances, Zexus would have pressed the attack. Numbers were an advantage in most fights, after all, and he was never to hold back against ‘monsters’. However, given that he sensed movement towards his side and his lack of knowledge of the creatures and the environment around him, he decided to play safe.

Moving away, Zexus turned his head left and right, his mind working at full speed as he observed everything, taking in as much detail as possible.

‘Sally’ was beginning to twitch, her body convulsing once more but remaining upright through the process. Beyond the person-turned monster, something else shifted at the edge of the room. At the wall where the feminine egghead had been sent flying towards, a leech had its ‘head’ down towards the ground in the dark.

“Is that thing…?”

*Click*

The gears of Zexus’ mind turned as amber orbs flickered back to the spasming form of Sally then the three men who fought against the male egghead.

There, within the timeframe of a second, he made a call.

Abandoning the fight with the monster combatant preoccupied by Orange Block’s team C, the dark-haired man dashed towards Sally.

The distance closed within the blink of an eye. Once before her with his vision turned colourless, Zexus struck forward with open hands. His fingers, hard as a blade’s edge, dug into Sally’s chest, or more specifically the shell that covered her.

“I wonder…”

Without hesitation and before anyone could see what he was up to, he pulled the leathery form apart. The shell had attached itself to her clothes it seemed, causing her bare form to become exposed to the cold air as her uniform was torn. That in itself would not have been so bad, until the shell on her face came off. Blood, skin, hair and flesh splattered across the ground, mixed in with droplets of black ooze. Joining their fall was Sally herself, a Sorkosi if he judged based on what he could gather on her appearance. Breathless and spasming. Her opaque eyes were wide open as her mouth foamed.

…

Zexus remained stoic as he looked down at the tanned woman’s body. There were gashes running across her limbs where the joints had been torn apart. Gruesome as it was, his breath remained even and his eyes were emotionless. His lips however, turned into an ever-so-slight frown.

“Dead…” It seemed certain with the damage the woman sustained. At best, she had one foot in the grave. He was not so sure as he laid her on her side. At least that way if she were alive, she would not choke herself to death.

Unfortunately, that was as much as she was going to do for her. Zexus was not like most of his family. He had helped her, but he was no saint.

Death was simply a natural process of life. If this woman was to die in that moment, then perhaps it was destined by whatever gods or fate she believed in.

He had more immediate matters to attend to.

Rising to his feet, Zexus had no time to ponder or observe further as an alien yet familiar gulping sound came from the shattered wall nearby.

His amber gaze looked up, and was greeted by the scene of yet another ‘birth’. The leech, bigger, perhaps twice the size of the one that converted Sally, pulsed with its entire mass. Its blue veins popped out against the charcoaled skin as it regurgitated a rather large object.

“...”

The feminine egghead monster arose, but with a changed appearance. Claws as long as daggers, sleek blades protruding from its elbow, and a chest reinforced with the black leathery gunk, specifically where it had been hit by Zexus. It was a head taller than before, but maintained a leaner build than its broader compatriot still engaged in combat. In spite of its stature, the aura emitted by this particular egghead seemed much more dangerous than the male.

Meanwhile, the leech that bore it had retreated, shrivelling back into the walls, lesser in its girth and colour. It was still visible, but blended well with the dark sludge splattered across the walls. Someone passing by may have mistaked it for a part of the corrupted concrete if they were not paying attention.

“Rejuvenated and adapted.” A glimmer of excitement shone through Zexus’ eyes. “It seems everything starts and ends with the leeches.”

Sidefaced and fists raised, Zexus readied himself for combat just as a handful of red tendrils fanned out behind the remade egghead. At the same time, slits of light flashed from within the monster’s round head. There were hundreds of them, shining like the fireworks Skye would display on the eve of a year’s final day.

Watching as the lengthy appendages wrapped around each limb and the neck of the female egghead, Zexus could not help but feel a sense of familiarity. He had seen this creature before, or at least something similar. Somewhere, most likely in a bestiary or monster encyclopedia some of his extended family members liked to keep around in Hearthwood Isle’s library.

Zexus narrowed his eyes, contemplating deeply as the monster seemed to be taking its time. Moments passed before a rather odd word popped into his mind.

*Click*

“Niggurath…?”