The air suddenly becomes chilly.

Miya's body trembles as she lets out a visibly cold breath. The window panes of the bridge then start to ice, along with the lights surrounding them beginning to flicker.

Miya puts a hand on her holster as she departs, another chilled breath, her eyes shift around the room, trying to find the cause for such supernatural phenomena.

“… Bwuuuuhaaaa…”

—Yruuum

Another inhuman growl is followed by the powering down of the ship's lights and engines, causing the entire bridge to go dark. The only light came from the tiny specks of stars in the distance. However, a prominent shadowy figure consumes the sights of the celestial bodies causing the left side of the panes to go completely black.

The figure stops moving and turns to the side as if looking inside the vessel. Kyamyo takes a few steps back with a gasp escaping her mouth. She then backs into Miya, causing her to jump.

The shadowed figure then expands, with its body stemming away from itself as if it was growing multiple appendages. One of the ship's front lights then flickers on and off, slowly revealing the physique of the creature staring at them.

Flick.

Pinkish-red slick skin.

Flick.

Elongated tubular body.

Flick.

Its head, round and fleshy, with the ends wavy giving it the appearance of a woman.

Flick.

One of its arms glides through the air.

Flick.

—Scuuluush

Loliel eyes widen as the light stays on for a while longer, illuminating the 7-meter-long monstrosity looking back at her. Its body was similar to that of a cephalopod. Long, smooth, and boneless appendages surround its sleek body as its tentacle's suction cups continue to grip the glass.

The creature then leans in, one of its velvet eyes covered by a yellowish membrane blinking horizontally as it locks eyes with Miya. Despite the creature's horrific stature, she gazes into its eyes, causing it to look to the side.

The cephalopod then looks over to Loliel, causing her to take a step back as a gasp escapes her throat.

Miya grabs her arm before she can take another step while continuing to look at the beast.

"Don't… Move. Seeming alarmed will make it hostile. You must stay calm and look it in the eye. Show it has nothing to be concerned about."

"T-That thing has nothing to be concerned about? Are we looking at the same monster?"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Just do as I say! If it breaches our hull then we're all dead, so just do as I say!"

Loliel nods her head with a gulp of saliva running down her throat. She looks down at the ground, trying to calm her nerve, then gazes into the creature's eyes. The monstrosity rests its gaze on her while its tentacle extrudes a velvet liquid onto the glass of their window.

As if passing judgment, the creature blinks and then looks down at Kyamyo, now sitting on the floor, trembling immensely. The eerie cephalopod releases a low screech, with one of its appendages, this one being a scaly arm with sharp edges waving behind its back.

The scaled arm then drags itself along the glass, causing the room to reverberate with an intense ear-splitting streak.

Loliel drops to her knees and holds the sides of her head, with Miya shaking hers, then looking down at Kymayo, now curled into a ball. Miya bends down and grabs Kyamyo's mask with a smack of her teeth.

"You're going to get us killed dammit. Take this stupid thing off!"

Kyamyo clings to Miya's hands and attempts to move her away. "N-no! It stays on, please!"

Miya smacks her hand away and snatches the red mask from her face. Immediately, Kyamyo shields her eyes from the creature, causing the leviathan to latch onto the ship with another of its scaled talons.

"Stop being such a nemluv and just look at it!" Miya commands, grabbing the sides of Kyamyo's head.

Kyamyo's light-blue eyes dilate as she makes eye contact with the beast. Her face is moist with tears as she continues to sob uncontrollably; They roll past the subtle purple bags under her eyes, now red and puffy.

The large wells at the sides of her face fall down once more as she blinks, clenching her eyes shut. Miya forces her eyes open with her fingers, making Kyamyo shake and whimper beneath her grasp.

“Please stop… Please stop… Please stop…”

The cephalopod tilts its head to the side then backs away from the glass. It then reels one of its scaled tentacles back as if it was ready to strike.

Kyamyo clings onto Miya's shirt, shielding her eyes beneath her chest with another murmur. The creature stops mid-assault and bolts to the side until it goes out of view. The lights around the bridge then flicker, before turning on completely, along with engines revving up beneath the bridge.

Loliel stumbles up from the floor and runs over to Kyamyo crouched, clutching onto Miya's front with a soft sob. Miya attempts to crawl away, but Kyamyo clings onto her tighter, causing her to grit her teeth with a scowl.

"It's gone Kyamyo, you can look now. See, the lights are back on!" Loliel enthuses while putting a hand on her shoulder.

Kyamyo sniffs, takes her head from the center of Miya's chest, and looks around the room. She then glances at the floor in a frenzy, as if she'd forgotten something.

Miya hands Loliel back her mask, which she adjusts back onto Kyamyo's face making her senseless head movements cease with a deep breath.

Loliel rubs Kyamyo's back with a smile. "See, you're fine. Nothing is here to hurt you."

"O-okay… I see now… It's gone…." Kyamyo mumbles with a hick.

Loliel helps her up from the floor, her knees making it so she can barely stand, needing support from the holo-base. She then tilts her mask to the side and wipes some tears still streaming down her face.

"I think… I think I'm done for the night… I'm going back to my room…."

Loliel nods her head as Kyamyo walks into the bridge's elevator. Kyamyo hesitates to press the elevator panel and looks back at Loliel with a nervous jitter.

"Do you think you could… Walk down with me…?"

Loliel strides into the elevator and puts a hand on Kyamyo's back. "Of course. And I won't leave until you fall asleep, okay?"

Kyamyo sniffs and holds onto Loliel's hand. "O-okay… Thank you…"

The elevator door then starts to close. Loliel locks eyes with Miya, who then mouths, 'Stay here,' as the door closes and begins to descend.

Miya rolls her eyes and walks over to the panel Loliel was typing on. Inputting the final command as the screen deteriorates.

"Special Circumstance Warp Code Accepted… Now Approaching Loneburto Picaa… Picon Loneburto Section, Orionis Quadrant…" A male AI voice beckons.

The ship then rattles slightly as its thrusters begin to increase their output. The corners of the glass on the bridge are filled with a bright green and blue light until the ship converges in on itself, then shoots forward at an incredible pace.

Miya plops down in the pilot's seat with a sigh, noticing tiny specks of water from Kyamyo's tears laminated on her shirt. Her eye twitches in disgust as she leans her hand onto the side of her head.

“… Humans are such… Weaklings.”