At first, it was dull like the sound of distant heartbeats.

Then pounding with speed.

Horrifying heavy footfalls came in a burst, lunging towards where they all stood. And louder and louder it rose with each passing moment.

BombomboMbOMBOM!

There out in the mist, a massive shadow bled through the gray: a tall figure like that of a distorted human ran down the street. Long limbs and an abnormally big head came in their direction. It then jumped on all fours, propelling itself forward like a large phantom.

And that phantom roared.

Kgraaaaaar!

Already the people were running, like bugs they scattered in the street in a panic.

The ragged woman also returned to the building where she came from. Hope was about to follow, passing the corpse which sprawled on the car like a ragged doll—

Whoosh!

!!!

But at that next moment, Hope's cover was gone.

The car flew over his head, its large shadow flying over him as if light itself blinked.

And when Hope turned, dozens of feet away from him, he met face to face with the monster…

Kggrrrrrrr!

Time seemed to slow.

Stretched.

The fog no longer concealed the horrid face as the monster loomed over him, its canines exposed in a menacing growl.

It was nearly twice his height. Dark shaggy fur was made for its pelt from head to toe and a hot wrenching smell stung his nose. A thick neck with a long snout bore numerous numbers of sharp teeth which snarled with predatory hunger.

But its eyes…

It didn't have any.

Hope's sword was already swinging, the jagged edge reaching forward to block the monster's claws. He could see the monster's muscles coiled for its strike as well.

Just as it was about to lunge, another sound tore through the fog.

CRASH!

The car finally slammed down with a deafening crash. Metal crumpled and glass shattered as it groaned, the weight settling as it tilted side to side.

And through that noise, a scream tethered in its midst.

"Aaaaaaagh!!"

A cry of vulnerability, of easy prey, from one of the running strays announced themselves to the monster. The remaining five men around immediately froze. Despite the pale terror on their faces, they swallowed any screams clawing at their throats in fear that they'd also be discovered.

In that split moment, the monster's nostrils flared. Pointed ears flicked from the tempting noise.

It seemed hesitant as Hope stood in front of it, but already the monster's body pulled itself in the crashed car's direction, pouncing towards the pinned human. Towards an immediate prey.

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'Move move move—'

Without wasting another second, Hope ran towards the building, where he saw that ragged woman run to. He could also hear another distant echo of running footfalls down the street. No doubt another one of the monster's kind.

How unfortunate…

His legs carried him towards the shadowed building's entrance, the blackness ready to embrace his entry. And the man's screams behind choked into gurgles and drowned from the tear of metal and flesh.

That alone lured the next monster to that grisly scene.

Heavy vibrating beats shook beneath him as he sprinted through the entrance. But right as Hope entered the building, a glint of metal gleamed in front of his eyes like a smile of silver.

!!!

Puiik!

Instinctively, Hope braced his sword up, blocking a thrusted knife at his face. Behind the measly knife's hilt was the ragged woman again. Her face creased into a snarl and eyes filled with disgust as she looked at him.

"You." She rasped.

Hope blinked as he calmly held up against her strike.

'She didn't forget me yet.' Hope thought. Well, not enough time passed anyway for his Flaw. But Hope was prepared for her forgetfulness.

His eyes quickly adjusted to the dark room they were in, the objects outlining themselves and fleshing into readable images as the blackness melted. Hidden in the corners and flanked along the walls were more people. More strays. They huddled against each other, eyes and body worn as they shakily held their salvaged weapons. All their gazes were directed at the entrance in fear of the monsters lurking outside.

It almost looked as if their eyes were on him.

"Turn around and head back if you know what's good for you." She said.

The woman then quietly scoffed and a terrible grin pulled on her face.

"Ha…what fine spoil you would have made…You could've been up there along with your friends haha..."

Hope blinked at her words.

'Tsk. Not going to happen.'

Heading back wasn't an option.

And being lynched along with those bodies—strung like trophy dolls out of their pride or enjoyment—was not in his plan either.

Kgrrrrrrrr…

A growl then reverberated, crawling on the back of Hope's neck. The woman's smile also vanished, and the people's breath hitched. Hope turned his head and stared at the monster.

Sniff…sniff- sniff–

That disgustingly long snout opened.

The monster next to it kept feasting on the pinned man under the car, while the other five men continued to crouch and watch in horrified silence. Not a single person dared to move or even breathe aloud.

The monster's tongue licked the space, tasting the air.

Snap!

And its head snapped in Hope's direction.

Even without eyes, he was unmistakably in its direct line of sight.

"…"

Hope looked down at his arms and hands which were stained earlier from the demon hound's blood. From the time when he butchered its body for soul shards and bones…From when his hands rummaged the innards and dug between the torn flesh.

'Fucking hell…'

Hope immediately grabbed onto the woman's wrist.

Of course, what Hope was going to do next was not in his plan either. But there was no other logical option.

"W-what are you–!"

"If you believe what you said about the dead, then join them yourself."

Thoughts had raced in Hope's mind at that moment.

Blind. The monster was blind. Obviously. But it would be difficult to escape the monster when he carried the thick scent of death. A proper bath would be very sufficient... But what was another sense that the monster heavily relied on?

Sound.

And it had to be a tempting one.

Kgrraaaaaaar!!

The monster burst forward. Its body rippling through the air toward them. Whatever coppery taste or trace of Nightmare Creature's blood on Hope screamed for its attention, a desire that could not be ignored.

Hope tugged the woman outside. Twisting the knife out of her hand, he flipped it in his grip before he stabbed her in the leg.

Her eyes bulged. Body trembled. Pain uncontrollably exploded inside of her. To her heart. To her throat. To her mind.

And she screamed.

A high shrill running out of her throat.

"Aaaahhh!!"

KgraaAAR!!

The monster lunged, claws outstretched.

But Hope was already gone.

It grappled onto her small frame. Jaws stretched wide open for one second. Then closed the next around her head. Her screams quickly drowned out as flesh ripped from her shoulders followed by a bone's terrible crunch.

Wssh-

But while the monster savagely killed the woman, behind it appeared a flying shadow. A spiky weapon pulled back into a swing with the fog clinging onto it like ghostly whispers.

Kggrrr?!

Thud.

The woman's body fell limp, blood pouring out of her neck into a puddle.

And the monster turned. Its soaked teeth in fleshy red bared. Claws unflexed to snatch the shadow.

But bone whistled down first.

Slash!

And a jagged blade fell, connecting to the monster's jaws.

Ripped through the side of its face, a pitched black edge snatched under the shaggy pelt and into the muscle.

And the monster's roar was cut short.