In a familiar, quiet plaza, bathed in pale moonlight, Claude stood alone. His eyes remained fixed on the cobblestones beneath his feet. Staring. Lost in thought.

Boom!

The ground quaked beneath him as a monstrous figure slammed into the earth, its massive form sending jagged fissures spiralling outward like cracks in a broken mirror. Dust and loose gravel were thrown up into the air.

The air grew thick with the nauseating stench of spoiled meat and stagnant water. From every orifice of the creature—its sunken eyes, nose, mouth, and ears—pus oozed in sickening streams, staining the stone streets beneath its feet.

Claude stood, unmoving, his gaze fixed on the creature. His thoughts raced as he analysed the creature, its putrid stench, and its pale, milky-white eyes.

A thick black vapour billowed from its mouth as it spoke, its voice gurgling. "You must be brave, mage," it sneered, its twisted grin revealing yellowed, jagged teeth. "Brave… or foolish."

Claude didn't answer. He just waited. Patiently.

The creature lunged, forming a blur of rotting sinew and bone despite its decaying appearance. Its claws slashed downward, aiming to cleave Claude in two.

Yet, it wasn't fast enough.

With little hesitation, Claude summoned a now familiar dome of water to surround him. The liquid spun into a shimmering dome just as the monster's claws connected, the impact sending ripples through the dome but not penetrating it.

Claude's eyes flicked to the creature's limbs, watching as the mucous-like substance dripped onto the water's surface, creating small hissing bubbles that sizzled and popped.

He inhaled sharply, focusing. 'Acidic properties in its fluids. Direct contact would be... catastrophic.'

The creature's sunken eyes gleamed with frustration as it smashed both clawed hands against the barrier, its rotten flesh quivering with the effort. Pus bubbled from its wounds, splattering against the shimmering water, but the dome stayed strong.

Then, without warning, the dome exploded outward.

Water shot in every direction, transforming into whips of liquid that lashed out, wrapping around the monster's arms and legs, restraining its movements. The liquid tightened, pulling the decaying creature to its knees with a sickening squelch.

Snapping its head toward Claude, black vapour continued to spill from the monster's gnarled mouth. "Impressive... but not enough."

Before he could react, the creature's muscles bulged, and with a disturbing crack, its limbs tore themselves free from the water bindings.

Claude took a step back as the severed arms hit the ground with a sickening thud, oozing black sludge. Almost instantly, the rotting appendages began to bubble and writhe, splitting open.

From the ooze, new figures emerged—smaller versions of the original creature, their bodies equally rotten, their skin peeling away in places to reveal sinew and bone beneath. They rose from the slime, their glowing white eyes fixated on Claude.

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Five. There were five of them now.

A wave rose in Claude's heart, though his expression remained calm. He had seen many ridiculous things over his years, but this was certainly a first.

The five newly formed creatures lunged at once, as they slashed at him with their clawed hands, black mucus trailing behind them.

Claude reacted swiftly. The puddles of water from previous spells soon spread thin across the floor as they crystallised into ice.

Using the ice beneath his feet to slide effortlessly out of reach, Claude avoided the closest creature's claws by mere inches.

Instantly, tendrils of water sprang to life, lashing out and wrapping around the closest creature's legs. He yanked them back, sending it crashing to the ground.

But the others kept coming. Claude ducked beneath a sweeping strike, narrowly avoiding a claw that sliced through the air where his head had been a moment before.

He retaliated. With a flick of his wrist, a rotating disc of water appeared. It flew through the air, aimed directly at one of the creatures' heads. The disc cleaved through the decaying flesh, severing the head from its body with a wet squelch.

'There!' A bright light flashed in Claude's eyes as he realised that the clones weren't able to clone themselves.

But what if...?

An icy spike erupted from the ground, piercing through the feet of the monsters, rooting them in place for an instant. Without hesitation, he launched another disc—this time aimed directly at the original.

Futilely, the creature tried to lumber out of the projectile's way but wasn't able to dodge it completely.

Squelch!

Thud!

An abhorrent grey limb dropped to the floor. And, within his expectations, the limb did not spawn another entity, much to Claude's relief. Yet, it was unsurprising.

'If it was able to replicate infinitely, this thing would have already gone on to conquer the continent.' Claude jested in his thoughts, but he knew the situation still wasn't finished.

He could feel his mental energy reserves dwindling—this fight had to end soon.

Without wasting another moment, he slammed his foot into the ground, and a wave of ice surged upwards, freezing the creatures where they stood. The clones, caught mid-attack, froze solid, their eyes still glowing beneath the ice.

But the original monster remained partially free. It's head unfrozen. Milky-white eyes locked onto Claude as he began to advance nearer.

Claude approached the original, its head still free of ice. Surrounding the creature's skull, he conjured spears of water that hovered menacingly, ready to strike.

Yet, the monster's eyes narrowed ignoring the threat hovering near it, instead studying the countenance of his approaching foe.

"A mere boy?" it spat, the words laced with disdain. "This is who I've been fighting? Pathetic. Go on, finish me. Do you think this changes anything? Do you think you can stop Him?"

But there was something else in the monster's gaze—something beyond its arrogance. A flicker of recognition. Its eyes, wild moments before, now seemed to widen in... shock?

Claude ignored the creature's odd reaction. He had questions. "How many of you are there in the Grey Falcon Gang? Where are you taking the missing people?"

The creature grinned, teeth bared in defiance. "You think I'll betray Him? You think your little tricks scare me?"

Claude's expression darkened. A spear of water shot forward, piercing the creature's left eye. A spray of grey pus burst from the wound, splattering the ice below. The monster howled, but still refused to yield.

"Do what you want," it rasped. "In a few weeks, we'll succeed. Everything you love will burn and crumble. This city, this country, this damn world. We'll-"

Claude grimaced, realising that nothing more could be gleaned. With little hesitation, another spear sliced through the creature's neck.

Its head hit the ground with a dull thud, and the frozen clones began to melt away, dissolving into thick, grey puddles.

The plaza fell silent once more, save for Claude's soft panting. He stood amidst the carnage, his mind spinning with questions left unanswered. The creature's final words echoed in his thoughts.

Just a few more weeks...

Yet something felt off. As he looked down at the now-frozen corpse. His vision blurred for a moment, narrowing as he took in the sight of the figure before him.

It wasn't a monster anymore.

It was a person.

An aged person.

A bespectacled person.

An all-too-familiar person.

The breath caught in Claude's throat. This... this was someone he knew.