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The creature descended from the tree like an overgrown spider, its movements smooth and deliberate, yet deeply wrong. The sheer size of it—easily as large as a car—was monstrous, but it was the form that sent a chill rippling through my chest. Its body was a grotesque amalgamation of what could only be described as bones, twisted and fused together in ways that made no anatomical sense.
The legs were impossibly long, ending in razor-sharp points that stabbed into the ground with sickening cracks as it moved. There were four of them, arranged in a way that shouldn’t have been able to support the creature’s weight, yet it glided forward effortlessly, each step disturbingly precise. Its torso was a warped mass of jagged ridges, the bones jutting outward like a cage or exoskeleton.
But its head—or what should have been a head—was the most unnerving part. It was nothing but an oval mass of pale, polished bone.
No eyes, no mouth, no features at all. Just a blank, lifeless void where a face should have been.
“What the hell…” I whispered, my voice barely audible.
My grip on my swords tightened, the cool hum of their enchanted edges grounding me as I forced my body to stay calm. The fear effect that had gripped me earlier had faded, burned away by the steady flow of Exira coursing through me. My mind was clearer now, focused, but the sheer presence of this thing was enough to set my nerves on edge.
Fuuu…all the fucking horrors of the world and I have to face them…
The creature didn’t seem to notice me yet, its attention fixed on the deer-like corpse dangling from its grotesque, spindly hands. It moved with an eerie grace, lowering its body slightly as its deformed arms pushed the corpse toward the center of its chest.
I watched, with cold eyes as I conditioned my body to be ready, as I saw the monster’s chest opened.
The ribcage split apart with a series of loud cracks, revealing a dark, pulsing void within. It was as though the bones themselves had rearranged to create a jagged maw, one that eagerly swallowed the deer-like creature whole.
The sound was unbearable.
Bones crunching, flesh tearing, wet, mashing noises that echoed through the dead silence of the forest. The deer’s lifeless body disappeared piece by piece, dragged deeper into the creature’s chest until nothing remained.
“Disgusting,” I muttered, though my voice was laced with unease.
The creature’s chest snapped shut with a final, nauseating crunch, the ribs locking back into place as if nothing had happened. It stood there for a moment, its elongated legs twitching slightly, before it resumed its slow, deliberate movements.
My gaze flicked to the side, where I noticed another deer-like creature some distance away. This one was alive, but barely. It crouched low to the ground, its body trembling as though every muscle had locked up in terror.
It wasn’t moving. Not even a twitch.
“Interesting,” I muttered under my breath, narrowing my eyes as I analyzed the situation.
The horrifying monster continued its slow pace, seemingly unaware of the living deer nearby. Its movements were methodical, almost robotic, as though it were following some pre-programmed routine. It wasn’t searching actively, at least not in a way that involved sight.
It senses movement, piecing together what I was seeing. And probably sound.
It made sense. With no eyes or obvious sensory organs, the creature was likely relying on vibrations, sound waves, or some other method of detecting prey.
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I turned my attention back to the deer-like creature, noting its trembling body and wide, terrified eyes. It wasn’t going to move. Not unless it had no other choice.
The monster finished its grotesque feeding, standing upright as the jagged chest cavity that had devoured the deer snapped shut. Blood, scraps of flesh, and shards of bone dripped from its body, hitting the forest floor with wet, sickening splats. I grimaced, watching the gore trail down the bone-like legs as the creature let out a new, horrifying sound.
Clicking and grinding, the noises erupted from its body, echoing unnervingly through the unnaturally silent forest. It was as though the creature’s very existence was a violation of reality itself, a reminder that nothing here followed natural laws.
The monster, meanwhile, continued its slow patrol, its long, pointed legs clicking against the ground as it wandered aimlessly. Every step was deliberate, calculated, its movements too precise to be natural.
But what felt weird was that It didn’t moved quite right , it was difficult to put in words but felt more like a machine that has outdated software.
Channeling Exira to level 2, I felt the surge of power course through me, sharp and intense, like a jolt of electricity snapping across every nerve. My vision sharpened, my muscles tensed, and the familiar strain hit the edges of my mind like a vice tightening around my skull.
I didn’t hesitate. I slammed the weight of my Exira into the monster, focusing the energy to crash down on it like a sledgehammer.
The effect was immediate. The creature’s head snapped toward me, the blank oval of bone staring in my direction as though it had suddenly noticed me for the first time. Its body shuddered, faltering under the pressure, but only for a moment.
And then it screeched.
The sound was ear-splitting, raw and unrelenting, like metal tearing against stone. The noise alone was enough to make me clench my jaw, but the worst part was the way it began moving toward me, stumbling at first under the Exira’s pressure before quickly regaining its balance.
“Well, fuck…” I muttered, exhaling slowly, “plan B then.”
I raised my swords, channeling Exira into them with practiced precision. The green and white veins etched into their surfaces began to glow, faint at first but quickly intensifying as they hummed with raw power. The sound was subtle, almost like a distant vibration, but I could feel the energy radiating from the blades in waves.
The monster screeched again, the sound ripping through the air as it lunged at me.
I sidestepped, twisting my body out of the way as its massive frame sailed past me. My sword lashed out in the same motion, the blade slicing cleanly through its neck.
The monster’s head dropped to the ground with a dull thud, but my triumph was short-lived. Its body didn’t fall.
Instead, it twisted unnaturally, its legs stabbing forward with horrifying speed.
“What the—” I barely had time to react, throwing myself backward as one of the bone-like legs struck the ground where I’d been standing.
The thing was relentless. It didn’t give me a single moment to regroup, its legs stabbing at me again and again in a flurry of brutal, precise strikes.
I parried one of the blows with my swords, the impact rattling up my arms as I redirected the monster’s mass. It stumbled forward, its weight shifting awkwardly as it struggled to regain balance.
I didn’t waste the opportunity.
With a sharp inhale, I drove both blades forward, plunging them directly into the exposed chest cavity of the creature. The energy-infused swords tore through the bone-like armor with a crackling surge of power, embedding deep into its core.
The monster stilled. Its limbs jerked spasmodically before collapsing under its own weight, the body hitting the ground with a deafening crash. I let out a shaky breath, the tension in my shoulders easing slightly as I stepped back, my swords still humming faintly in my hands.
Haaa..that was quite easy… with how terrifying this thing looked…
But the relief was fleeting.
My senses flared with a sudden warning, the familiar prickle of danger snapping me out of my momentary reprieve. Before I could react, something burst out of the shattered remains of the monster’s chest—a smaller, faster shape, covered in the same bone-like armor.
“Shit!”
The thing lunged at me, its claws latching onto my chest with brutal force. The impact sent me tumbling backward, the weight of the creature pinning me down as I hit the ground hard.
Pain shot through me, the sharp sting of its claws tearing into my skin as I struggled against its grip. Its face—or lack of one—was inches from mine, the blank oval of bone somehow more horrifying up close.
“Fuck!” I snarled, channeling Exira again as I fought to break free, the forest spinning around me.
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