The petrifying light spared Janet but swept across all other areas, turning every small Shoggoth to stone without exception.

“Shadow Familiar!”

Carmen summoned his Shadow Familiar, which emerged from the twisted shadow of a sturdy stag, charging at the petrified Shoggoths.

These creatures were indeed formidable; each amorphous cell possessed a unique ability to self-evolve, allowing the bubbling cells to reorganize instantly, mimicking various forms and organs. The ancients used them as slaves, laborers, and soldiers. Even a full battalion of ordinary humans couldn't stop a true Shoggoth. Even in their diminished form, Carmen and Xu Lin had to struggle against them.

However, once turned to stone, they posed no threat. The stag's sharp antlers easily shattered these stone forms, and in no time, a large number of Shoggoths were destroyed.

They rushed to Janet’s side, only to find he hadn’t moved at all. Upon removing the mask from his face, they were shocked to discover that it was actually Abigail, the young Black man.

Abigail was bleeding from all his orifices, slumped lifelessly in the chair, his body cold—he had been dead for some time.

“We’ve been deceived. In the Past Sight, Abigail was just walking to the chair like this. I didn’t notice anything wrong. It seems he must have been bewitched or hypnotized.”

“You’re cleverer than I imagined, Mr. Carmen. Very impressive…”

A voice spoke from Abigail’s pocket, where a radio transceiver was hidden.

“I’m also surprised that you possess such extraordinary abilities, even my summoned Shoggoths couldn’t withstand you, which forces me to accelerate my plans…”

Shoggoths are immensely powerful creatures, originally created by ancient races as slaves. Before life appeared on Earth, the ancients used Shoggoths for building. Shapeless Shoggoths could morph into any form as commanded, performing various tasks. Eventually, the Shoggoths rebelled against their creators and aligned with the Old Gods.

If they were larger, they would be even more troublesome—capable of smothering or consuming their enemies, most often appearing as shape-shifting black ooze, disgusting in every way.

But Janet apparently couldn’t summon large Shoggoths, or they’d be even harder to deal with!

“But this is as far as it goes!” Janet’s voice sneered through the radio as an explosion blasted from beneath their feet.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“We walked into a trap. They planted explosives below before leaving, undetectable by my Past Sight…”

Carmen hadn’t anticipated such cunning, with explosives buried under the floor. The explosion rocked them, and they couldn’t resist the force; they fell from the floor’s height.

Not just the seventeenth floor exploded; Janet had also rigged the sixteenth and fifteenth floors to collapse, intending to bury them completely.

Coughing up blood, Xu Lin was critically injured, a broken steel rod protruding from the ground piercing his lung.

“Damn, if only I’d been more cautious.”

Regrettably, there’s no remedy for regret; even as a veteran strategist, Xu Lin was caught in dire straits.

On the other hand, Carmen’s injuries were slightly less severe, though he lay with a broken leg and couldn’t easily move.

“Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!”

An eerie fluted sound emanated from the rubble, causing Carmen and Xu Lin to smile bitterly.

“Looks like this is the end for us.” Carmen lit a cigarette.

“No, there’s still a chance to fight.”

Xu Lin looked at his old comrade and asked softly, “Old Li, how many times have you saved me since entering Ghost Space?”

“If it weren’t for your plans and strategies before, we’d be long dead.”

Carmen took a drag from the cigarette. Despite his strength, blood loss alone could kill him. He spoke softly, “I don’t want to just sit here and wait to die. Even if I can’t move, my Shadow Familiar can still fight. Use whatever means you have.”

“Alright, come over to me.”

“Understood!” Carmen summoned his stag, which used its mouth to drag him by his collar over to Xu Lin.

Xu Lin handed him three vials of magic serum.

“These are the last three vials—enough for some time.” Xu Lin passed his items to Carmen.

“Old Li, I owe you too much. I won’t have a chance to repay you in the future, but at least I want you to live.”

He suddenly grabbed Carmen’s head, and with Carmen staring in shock, turned him to solid granite in just seconds.

The magic serum allowed two consecutive uses of the "Turandot” Fragment Magic within twenty minutes, and this was Xu Lin’s final use.

“In forty minutes, you’ll return to normal, and the petrification will temporarily stop the bleeding.

Though Shoggoths are known for eating humans, they aren’t known to eat granite, so Carmen would be safe for at least forty minutes...

Looking at Carmen as a granite statue, Xu Lin sighed deeply.

“Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!”

Masses of shapeless, bubbling creatures began converging on their location from the rubble, forming a cordon.

Xu Lin calmly pulled out his Sacrificial Blade, picking up Carmen's fallen cigarette and placing it in his mouth. After a long drag, he couldn’t help but cough.

“This isn’t too bad…”

Bracing himself, he gazed at the encroaching Shoggoths. In his last moments, he allowed himself a fearless smile and spoke:

“Thatisnotdeadwhichcaneternallie, Andwithstrangeaeonsevendeathmaydie.” (That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die.)

…

“Let me drive this time!” Jin Jianshu suggested.

They found an old car, smashed the window, and hot-wired it by pulling out the wires under the ignition and connecting the spark and hot wire, before starting it up.

Jin Jianshu took the driver’s seat, assuming the responsibility of driving. The town was now entrenched in deep night, eerily quiet without a single sound, creating an exceedingly strange atmosphere.

“What do we do now?”

The middle schooler Eric asked uneasily.

“Head straight to the fishing port. If I'm not mistaken, Maldan must be hiding somewhere nearby!” Alexander rubbed his temples, trying to stay calm.

“The plot has reached a crucial stage, becoming more pivotal, and our danger level has increased accordingly.”