Chapter 4

Eternal Threat

 

The monster took a step forward that caused a minor tumble of vibration on the ground of the tunnel, and another…slowly approaching them like a slow motion of an impending doom that was. The faint growls of the monster echoed in the covered area; they could even feel the heat of hunger from the monster when its predatory eyes landed on them.  In the monsters…description of missions, easy usually meant a smaller monster or a monster with an accepting size where they could reach its head or so…but surely not a… monster where they would need double ladders or machineries to even touch the top of its head. At this very unwanted moment, barely either of them moved an inch or let out a breath of air even though they knew that there wasn’t a second to waste the instant the monster was within their sight. The existence of the monster was enough to divert them from the awful situation of the environment…like the smell and darkness. But thankfully for them there were some faint lights so there was enough support if they needed a slight chance of killing that vile creature.

Reid glanced around his team, as what he expected that despite them being shocked, most of his team members including his unfavored leader were in both their attack and defense stance with the weapon facing the monster, but his concern fell onto the newbie more since this was his first monster that he had to take down and kill instead of escaping and hiding. 

Just as Reid thought about it, he heard an annoyed yet frustrated groan from Lloyd who dashed towards the monster while gripping his sword that was made of the bones of a larger monster. 

“Let’s get this done and over with!” At least this was neither the first monster nor kill in his life, so he was and should be more than ready. Lloyd raised his sword higher to build the momentum with his speed and pressure of the weapon for it to be able to penetrate the flesh of the monster when he neared the leg. 

“Here take this you beast!” Of course, he was close…so close yet so far as usual.

But unfortunately, since the monster was larger, it naturally did have the upper hand in terms of speed and overall sight over them compared to one puny human that before Lloyd was able to swing the sword, its large claw swatted him to the side like a speck of dust creating quite a loud thud that echoed when Lloyd’s body was slammed into the wall but based on the velocity of the thud and the groan that came out of Lloyd, it shouldn’t be a fatal wound. Since it was quite the flat surface, meaning that there weren’t any edges or uneven rocks or surfaces or even anything that could impale them, it had a slightly higher chance of surviving because the cost of deaths would be from the monster’s strength and not the environment. 

At most Lloyd and possible the others if the same thing happened to them, would have heavy internal and external bruising or a broken rib so the worst-case scenario if they succeeded in making out of this tunnel alive, was that they had to use a few weeks to heal and get out of commissions for that time being. 

Well, that was better than death itself.

Anything…was better than death itself.

But that was both the surface and common issue that didn’t and shouldn’t shake them…shouldn’t shake Reid. Other than the monster, he was more concerned about the newbie than Chris was. It was his first and it was already a dangerous sized monster that nearly whipped Llyod out of existence within seconds. He wouldn’t even blame Eric for wanting to get out of this right as it started because no matter how many trainings one had, facing the actual mission was times scarier because there was always the chance of someone dying or living fatally afterwards. 

“Hey-,” Reid was about to call out to Eric to reassure him for his first time. Yes, he didn’t enjoy giving out false hope to others as it was hopeless in these situations, but he felt that Eric needed a little boost for his first time and especially since it wasn’t an easy monster. 

It was also partly when Reid noticed how their leader doesn’t seem to be reacting or moving to anything. Something else told him that his mission…will not go as promised even though he had already expected the results.

Nonetheless, expecting it was far different than merely accepting its end including what happens in the middle of it. There were too many factors to consider, too many lives and sanity.

Their sanity. 

Which was why he stands his ground about using the monsters for intel.  

“I- I’m fine, I’ll go in now.” Eric mumbled; the anxiety built up in him causing him to dash towards the monster. Similarly, to Chris, Eric was using both a gun and a dagger that gave him the advantage of being able to attack it without coming as close as Llyod. 

However, Reid wasn’t that assured about the weapon Eric chose. Gun indeed was a good option if he was afraid of getting too close to the monster which Reid understood deeply for a newbie but…the dagger? 

Was…was the dagger a right choice? Well, it could work for a quick escape but to go against this giant sized creature with that tiny knife even though it was made from the monster. He could only hope for the best…for all of them.

Reid had expected Melissa or Chris to stand in and charge towards the monster then get into their briefed positions. What didn’t he expect was Eric’s…response to all of these? He seemed unceasingly energetic about killing that monster despite his obvious lack of confidence. At least Melissa took the que to run around the monster in a standby for any openings as it wasn’t the time for an impulse attack. Reid on the other hand was calculating where would be the least fatal but most damaging attacks while watching Eric pull the trigger of his gun, causing a loud echo in the tunnel along the squeamish sound of a bullet puncturing and drilling into flesh and meat. One could call it a mini meat grinder. 

“Yes!” Eric grinned and shot it again, causing the monster to roar in agony and rage. And they should have realized that that was a bright flashing red light, after all those years of hunting down, they should have.

If only they had. 

While Eric was in his little internal celebration of his first shot; a rookie and survival mistake especially when dealing with a giant powerful in strength monster, no one in the team had enough time to notice how the monster was still swift enough to grab Eric without a warning. At this point, Reid had his heart dropping rapidly at what might happen. He hoped and prayed that the monster would only toss him aside so there would least be a chance of saving Eric and preventing him from dying but alas…the worst had come. Before anyone in the team could even think of blinking, the monster grabbed Eric’s head and pulled it away from his body, ceasing any reactions or screams before it dropped on the floor where the head rolled while the body was gushing out a whole pool of blood under its feet. 

There was the saying that when a person’s head had been…detached from its body they had a few seconds of consciousness before they completely left this world. Reid wondered if Eric was able to say his last goodbyes in his head no pun intended at this beginning of another grief...

It surely didn’t help him when that head landed right at Reid’s feet.

Everything happened so fast that Reid nearly froze once again in disbelief while staring at the newbie’s…lifeless eyes…the still bleeding head with that…torn neck that was now near his feet away from where it was supposed to be. It wasn’t his first time witnessing a death of a comrade…or a death in general ever since these monsters arrived. But that never meant that he was immune to watching it. If watching someone he didn’t know was bad enough…what about this? 

“What…” His comrade, Melissa gasped. “Oh no Eric!” 

What more was that it was the newbie hunter…how would…how could…they ever live in peace, and there was another issue about revealing the news to their family, to Eric’s family. It would be found if they blamed the monsters but there were instances where the hunters themselves were blamed for it when it was out of their control, and they were trying to fix the situation.

Guess looking at blood and bodies should be the norm.

Isn’t it already? 

This made Reid side eye Chris who barely moved an inch of muscle the entire time. 

“Easy one huh…if you had just told us what it was…or made us expect the worse he wouldn’t have died…” Despite his internal resentment, Reid couldn’t didn’t have the luxury of time spared to grief or respond healthily to it. 

They had to end this monster now.

Or it would end them.

“Reid! Get in there now, I’ll cover you!” Chris commanded Reid and loaded his gun to show that he was ready. 

But with Reid’s ability, it was pounding on him that Chris wasn’t telling the truth about something. He knew Chris wouldn’t be covering for him. Even without the ability, he had a feeling he could still figure out when Chris was lying to them or not simply based on his attitude alone. 

“I wouldn’t mind obediently complying with his orders if only he would stop lying, who in the lovely world made him into our leader?” Reid had to resist himself from rolling his eyes. 

“Come on get moving! Do you want another one of us to die just because you refuse to kill this thing!?” Chris yelled even more. 

Deep down in Chris he just wanted to toss Reid towards the monster especially when his stubbornness is overseeing him as a leader. He should be respected by every team, but Reid decided to be his little special case of annoyance. Every time he would either go against his word or bring up his brains. As if that would do anything to help them. He was already glaring at Reid the entire time before he ordered him to get over to the monster since it was already bad enough that they lost their newbie before they could even make it to 5 minutes of the time since they spotted the monster. 

If there was one person Chris would have sacrificed, it would have been Reid instead of Eric but who could have predicted what would happen or who would have died?

Right?

With the order given to him, Reid wanted to argue back to Chris that he was their leader and not their boss. He was supposed to be leading them in the first not away from the fight as Reid was witnessing now. He was supposed to scout the monster and follow what he had instructed them so confidently earlier on. But now all Reid saw was a slight hint of cowardice. But at the same time, he couldn’t fully accuse of that because who would know if Chris had a better plan. 

However, this wasn’t the right time to confront his leader, plus Reid didn’t want his ability to be known or anyone else in his team to suffer the same fate as Eric. So, without any objections or resistance, Reid moved in. He held onto his claymore tighter as he ran, using his free hand to grab a gun at the same time. He never knew when the chance was for whether a close ranged or a far ranged weapon would work better on the instinct of the situation. 

While the monster was somewhat distracted by Lloyd who managed to get up from his stumble, Melissa assisted while Reid ran towards the monsters, using the lights and shadows to constantly keep himself at bay so he would neither get swatted by the monster or in the worst-case scenario, he can say goodbye to his head too. As the monster’s scents and eyes were onto Lloyd and Melissa, Reid first tried to attack his arm by holding his breath and swinging the claymore but unfortunately, he missed when the monster swung its arm at the same time to attack Lloyd. His heart clenched in fear of another team member. But he had to remind himself that this wasn’t their first time and Lloyd managed to both successfully stab the palm of the monster while dodging its strikes, causing it to roar once again. 

“Got you covered Reid!” This time with the support, Reid hurriedly attempted to use his gun, hoping he could at least hit its eyes and blind it to make it easier and faster for them. As soon as Reid pulled the trigger, the monster made an unexpected turn, causing it to brush its skin and before it instantly turned towards Reid, ignoring the other two members.

“Hey! Uh Reid keep your eyes up and weapons out!” Lloyd called out quickly.

“Tch come on not now…” Reid barely glanced his eyes towards Chris, but he couldn’t focus on the sight while he tossed his gun to a safe space in case he needed it later. He used both hands to grip onto the handle of the claymore to swing it again at the monster. It was a good momentum till the monster grabbed it despite it nearly fully piercing its claw. It once again roared in agony while lifting the claymore before Reid could let go of it or realize it.

“WOAH NO-!” Reid was starting to panic as the monster lifted him abruptly but another gunshot was heard followed by another roar from the monster where it clenched the now bloody claymore, slamming Reid against the ceiling of the tunnel before dropping him down. The height from the ceiling of the tunnel to the floor wasn’t too high to take his soul away but it was enough to cost him some bones if he didn’t land well. Thankfully they were trained for this so Reid managed to break his fall with the arm of the monster for a mere second before his body kissed the ground with a loud thud.

“Ow…hnn…” Reid groaned while trying to ignore the fact that his body was burning, tingling, and numbing all at once. He didn’t have time to indulge himself with the pain. As quickly as he could, Reid tried getting up, but he wasn’t prepared for his body to freeze as soon as he noticed the monster’s claws above him. His breath hitched and his eyes closed when the monster was about to smash him, only for its claw to finally be cut off from Melissa’s claymore. Lloyd managed to use some smoke bombs to divert and blur off the monster’s vision and other senses.

“Glad you’re alive Reid but move when you can if you don’t want to turn into that puree from earlier on!” Melissa yelled out. 

Reid could only reluctantly comply since he had to let his body adjust before he could even think about attacking, because if he were to do it right now, he would be a burden to the other two and possibly cause all of them to die…all of them except for Chris.

As he crawled away to safety for a short second before he could help, he noticed how Chris was still at the doorway. He didn’t seem to move away from the same place as they entered.

“Wasn’t he the one who was enthusiastic about this whole ordeal? About killing these monsters. So, So…why? Why is he standing there like a coward?” Reid wondered as his eyes narrowed while he grimaced at the thought. What made it worse was that the stance that Chris was in seemed as if he was about to run if anything goes wrong. Which meant that if the monster overpowered them Chris would most likely run to save himself and not bother to attack, but…if they did win against this monster, he would take the credit for their hard work.

Reid shook his head; he didn’t have time to think about Chris and his cowardice. Reid stood up as fast as he could, grabbing his gun and stumbling a distance to shoot the monster in the eye once again.

With both guns from Reid and Lloyd, at long last they were able to blind the monster, allowing Melissa to hack off one of its arms. Soon enough, Reid gathered enough energy to resist the pain in his body to snatch his claymore from the palm of the monster that was hacked off, to slash its leg, causing it to lose its balance. Finally with the monster roaring and tumbling down, Reid glanced at Melissa for her to do the finishing blow as fast as they could since Reid’s pain wasn’t working well with his body. 

Within a flash, Melissa quickly used her claymore to decapitate the monster while it was roaring midway, causing its blood to create a huge fountain of blood around them. 

Finally…it was dead.

Among those who knew how many more of them are out there…

Including two dead bodies in this tunnel…and one of them was their newest comrades. 

“Come on…” Reid snapped himself back and the others. Well mostly Melissa and Lloyd since Chris should be fine as he wasn’t anywhere near the monster the entire time. 

“I’ll…I’ll light up the fire with the acids…get whatever parts we might need to create weapons or something.” Reid mumbled and started on the fire to get rid of the monster’s body. What a waste that they couldn’t bring it alive or be injured for intel.

“That’s what I’m talking about.” Chris intervened. “We come in, we kill it, and now we get rid of it.”