Memories of a dream, half forgotten after more than a month, surged in Oliver's mind. Images of a burning city, of fleeing for his life as something hunted him. The feelings of fear and panic as he ran through the searing heat... Facing his fear, and the ensuing ambush by a twisted creature.

As the memory of that dream overlaid itself with reality, Oliver recognized this thing, this entity. It wasn't just similar to the creature from his dream. It was the same. The same twisted features that seemed out of sync with reality. The same palpable aura of wrongness.

The same desire to kill and consume... Not just him, but everything.

The entity was roughly the same size and shape of a man, yet it also wasn't. While his mind insisted that it was, he could sense a weight to its presence. Like part of it existed beyond what his eyes could see.

Pale white skin shone in the dim light of the ruined home. It was completely nude, though that hardly mattered as the thing was obviously sexless- it reminded Oliver vaguely of some sort of alien action figure. Long, razor sharp claws extended from its fingers and toes and black, needle like teeth glinted wickedly in its gaping maw.

But it was the lack of eyes- the lack of ears or any apparent sensory organ- that disturbed him more... Especially when its head immediately snapped around to focus on him, somehow sensing his presence without any obvious means.

Oliver could feel his adrenaline spike as his fight-or-flight response kicked in... and he charged at the creature.

Manifesting his Psi Blade, he slashed at the creature, only for it to dart back with alarming speed. The light flashed on its claws as it lunged at him, instantly pushing Oliver on the defensive. When the first claw passed, he wanted to counter, only quickly shift his attack to a block as the second clawed hand swung wildly at his head... And the impact shocked him in more than one way.

The creature was strong, definitely stronger than him... But, worse yet... His Psi Blade, which had so easily cut through Hardeman's spine, was stopped dead by the claws like it struck steel.

Leaping back before the creature could overpower his block, Oliver switched up his strategy. While the creature was clearly stronger and faster, his blade gave him much greater reach. He kept his movements small and controlled, punishing the creatures aggression with a number of stabs and cuts, but never leaving himself open for a sudden lunge from the creature... But, while that brought the fight back to even, it wasn't a winning move.

All the wounds he had managed to leave on the thing were shallow... And, as they fought, he saw them slowly closing over as the creature healed.

And, when Oliver's back slammed into a wall, he realized he had fucked up. He was too unfamiliar with the space they were fighting in, and being constantly pushed back made it harder to watch were he was going.

The creature, sensing the opening, lunged at him in a frenzy. Oliver brought up blade, leveling the point at the thing's chest, and let its own moment drive the blade straight through... Only for it to ignore the hole being punched through it, driving itself further onto the sword as it lashed out at him.

Releasing his hold on the Psi Blade, Oliver barely managed to avoid having his head taken off by dropping to a knee. As the blade dissipated into motes of mental energy, he lunged to his feet, driving a fist into the stomach of the monster... And winced when it felt like punching a brick wall.

A backhand slap caught Oliver in the side, launching him across the room with a grunt of pain. Tumbling across the shattered furniture, he could feel it as his armor, Lita, warded off dozens shards and splinters that would have left him bloody. Before he could regain his feet, the creature was nearly on him as it actually leapt clear across the room.

Rolling frantically aside, Oliver winced at the grinding pain in his chest even as he hurriedly pushed himself to his feet to square off with the creature again.

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“Fucking asshole cracked a rib...”

The creature ignored his words, likely not understanding them at all. Its purpose was to hunt, to kill. It had no need for words.

Stalking closer, the creature hesitated for a moment as Oliver reformed his Psi Blade, the wound on its chest leaking a black, tar like blood. And, he was relieved to see, the creature moved a little slower now.

He was even more relieved by the fact that its flesh wasn't nearly as tough as its claws.

“Strong... Fast... But smart enough to recognize a threat...” Oliver mutter to himself. Shaking his head minutely, he smirked as he corrected himself. “Not smart... More like animal cunning, right? You recognize what hurt you, but don't have deeper thoughts than that.”

The creature continued to stalk closer as a plan form in Oliver's mind. He watched as its muscles tense, readying to pounce... But Oliver acted first.

Before it could jump, Oliver dropped his blade and pulled the shotgun from his warehouse as he cast the only spell he knew- Blood Aura. He was surprised when the creature flinched, though he imagined having part of your blood and life ripped from you would do that. He suppressed a grimace, as the life pulled from the thing still carried that same oily wrongness.

Pulling the gun tight to his shoulder, he aimed for center mass and squeezed the trigger. Chunks of skin and flesh were carved from the things torso, and Oliver frowned at how little damage it really did... Until he remembered that the thing was resistant to physical damage.

With a grunt of annoyance, he fired again and again, driving the creature back even as he marched towards it. Mirroring when it was pushing him around, it's back slammed into a wall, and Oliver fired a shot point-blank into its chest, stunning it.

Dropping the gun, he hurriedly formed the Psi Blade once more and struck. The creature's clawed hands came up, instinctively protecting its head... But Oliver aimed lower. Much lower.

A vicious grin spread across his face as the blade sheared through the creatures knee, sending it toppling to the floor. It quickly tried to scramble up on three limbs, but Oliver didn't relent. Powerful swings of the blade rained down on the creature, carving chunks from it over and over until he managed to lop off a hand.

Then the other leg. And, just to be safe, the remaining hand.

With the creature laying helpless before him, Oliver didn't hesitate to cut off its head. Then, to be extra sure, he rammed his blade through the open mouth and up to where its brain should be... He hoped.

“Fuck... Do these things have a brain like people do? And is it even in their head? I... ah, fuck it.”

With a hiss of displeasure, he proceeded to dismantle the thing piece by piece, cutting it into more than a dozen parts. When his sword suddenly became stuck while cutting through the torso again, he cursed while violently yanking it free... Only to scowl in confusion when it came free coated in a disgusting tar-like substance. When he returned his focus to the creature's corpse, he understood why...

It was rapidly dissolving right before his eyes. Bit by bit, the creature slowly melted until nothing but a black stain was left spread across the beige carpet.

Dismissing his Psi Blade and deactivating the Blood Aura, Oliver sagged in relief. The system had told him this thing would be dangerous, and he now understood exactly how bad it was... And, if he was interpreting the message correctly, this creature was considered the weakest of what could come through one of these rifts.

Shaking his head, he knew he wasn't done yet. He still needed to find the rift and make sure nothing else came out of it.

But there was one more thing before he went in search of the rift.

Standing over the body of the elderly home owner, Oliver bowed his head to her.

“I know it's not my fault you died. And, honestly, I'm not really bothered by it.”

“But you didn't deserve to die like this. Filled with horror and fear as a creature not of this world tried to eat you... It's fucked up.”

“And I'm sorry you had to face something like that.”

With a sigh, Oliver grumbled to himself. “Maybe if I wasn't forced to grope blindly for answers... Or if the system gave me a little more information... I could have gotten here quicker.”

“Maybe whoever slipped that little message into the bounty is listening and will cough up a couple of fucking answers?” He mused, not knowing if there even was a person behind it, or if they were listening... Or if they would answer.

Not fucking knowing was starting to annoy him.