Facing his enemy, Jargen backs away towards his two comrades. Punjo, now barely conscious, seemed earnestly perturbed by his words.

Rel: What do you mean, Jargen...?

Jargen looks back for a brief moment, smiling, as his bloodshot eyes meet Rel's concerned gaze.

Jargen: You have a plan, don't you? You always do. You kids are great, you know that...? Despite all the crap life's thrown your way... You're still here. Fighting. Protecting what you care about. True to your friends, your family... Yourselves. Don't ever stray from that. You understand?

Rel, too, was starting to get teary-eyed.

Rel: Shut the fuck up, Jargen! Why are you talking like that?! This isn't over yet...!

Facing the carefully approaching enemy, Jargen nodded with a bloody, ear-to-ear grin.

Jargen: Yeah. You're right.

He holds his fists up, as his body started heating up again. The air around his skin began warping slightly.

Jargen: LET'S HEAR IT, THEN! WHAT'S YOUR PLAN?!

In the meantime, Tyssa raced out of the lab, heading towards the area most suited to lure the monster. However, just outside the laboratory... She was greeted with a worrying sight.

Tyssa: Oh no... Oh no...!

The closet where they had stuffed the unconscious guard was open, with nobody inside anymore.

Tyssa: Fuck... Just what we needed...

Heading down the corridor, she keeps her ears perked for any sound. Looking down at the wool tapestry, she could note a pair of footsteps that were distinctly imprinted onto it... As if whoever had left them behind walked with a heavy, laboured gait. They continued all the way down the long corridor that they had first been met with, right after exiting the cellar.

Voices in the distance: LEAVE THE GODDAMN CAKE AND MOVE IT, YOU FAT FUCKS!

Farther ahead, she could hear movement. A group of guards seemed to be rapidly approaching her position. Too far from the corridor's bend to turn back, yet not close enough to the cellar's entrance to make it there quietly, Tyssa had a difficult decision in her hands.

Voices in the distance: And they choose the laboratory... Of course they choose the laboratory. WHY COULDN'T THEY BREAK INTO THE PANTRY INSTEAD?!

Bolting down the corridor, she decides to head for the cellar's entrance regardless. As she rushes down the wooden steps, the voices become clearer and clearer.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Voices in the distance: Do we even need to do anything...? It's Dmitri we're talking about! You've seen that... Thing he has in there. Whoever those idiots were, they're food for his pet by now.

It seemed like they hadn't noticed her presence. Arriving at the cellar, she hides behind two foudres, waiting for the voices to pass her by.

Voices in the distance: Doesn't matter. We show up, play our role, then we can go back. All we need is for Dmitri to see we're doing our jobs, you know how this goes.

As the voices began fading out again, Tyssa slowly got out of her hiding spot, dagger in hand.

Tyssa: Here goes...!

Stabbing the bottom of each foudre, wine starting pouring down and slowly covering the cellar's floor. She only hoped she wasn't too noisy... Though there was little time to play things safely. The lives of her friends hanged in the balance.

Tyssa: Now... To double down on the bait...

Stowing her dagger away and breathing in through her mouth, she bravely makes her way inside the room where Lacerbus' corpses were kept. With wine slowly filling up the entire cellar, the additional buoyancy made it easier for her to drag the last remaining body out of the room and into the centre of the cellar.

Tyssa: All that's left is an open fla-

Suddenly from behind her rushed the sound of footsteps splashing on the wet floor. As she turns around, she is promptly tackled by one of the guards.

Guard: Well well! What have we here?! Trying to start a fire, are we?! Thought I heard something down here...!

Tyssa thrashed and twisted her body, trying to free herself from the man's clutches. He easily overpowered her, however. With her face dripping with wine, she roared at him.

Tyssa: LET GO OF ME! We're all going to die if we don't burn Dmitri's pet!

The guard furrowed his brow.

Guard: Pet?! How would you know of that...? Did you overhear our conversation, girl?! Nice bluff...!

Gripping the back of her neck hard, he grabs Tyssa and raises her up, dragging her up the cellar's stairs.

Tyssa: LET GO OF ME! The thing with black tentacles and an appetite for those corpses... You think I'm making these things up?! I SAW IT!

The guard seemed more and more perturbed.

Guard: Y-you saw all that and lived...? How?!

Tyssa: Because I ran before it could get me! It's... Awake. And guess what, in no time it's going to come hulking down that corridor, headed right this way. Do you know what it will do to anyone in its path?!

The guard swallows drily, knowing full well what their fate would be should that scenario come to pass.

Guard: Even so, hell's any of that have to do with burning down the cellar?!

Tyssa: It has a weakness... Heat.

The guard's eyes widen.

Guard: Madness. You plan to lure it down here to burn it alive...

Tyssa: Right... That was the plan, until you showed up!

Even after hearing all of this, the guard seemed reluctant to let her go.

Guard: W-what of Dmitri...? What happened to him?!

Tyssa: He's laying motionless on the lab's floor... I'm not sure that he's alive anymore.

Immediately, he lets go of her. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

Guard: Heh... Heheh. So, mad doctor went too far this time, huh... Serves that fucker right.

Turning his back on her as he heads towards the cellar's yard exit, he delivers his final remarks.

Guard: Listen, kid. You want to stay here, try and rob the place after you burn it to the ground? Your fucking funeral. But me...? I'm not being paid enough for this shit. I'm getting the hell out, and getting far, far from here. If you value your life, you'd be doing the same... Let it all burn and run. You're trying to kill something that we don't know can be killed. Something that should've never lived to begin with. That said...

He turns around, throwing something Tyssa's way.

Guard: I admire your guts... And your death wish.

It was a small matchbox with a familiar insignia... One she had seen before somewhere she couldn't quite recall.

Tyssa: T-thanks...

Gripping the matchbox tightly, her heart pounded in anticipation as she waited for the monster's arrival.