Chapter 265

The three remaining operatives stood frozen in shock.

Their fellow squad members—now lifeless corpses—were hanging before them, arranged in a grotesque display.

Their eyes were wide open in sheer terror, as if their souls had been consumed by whatever horror had taken their lives.

It had only been minutes since they entered the house.

Yet, somehow, everyone else was dead.

What had happened in such a short span of time?

All they knew were the eerie sounds they had heard over the radio…

"Wait… the time!"

The squad leader suddenly looked at his wristwatch, only to feel a cold chill creep up his spine.

The time was exactly the same as when they first entered the house.

Not a single second had passed.

The other two operatives checked their watches—same result.

Their mouths went dry, sweat poured down their faces, and their minds momentarily froze.

Creak…

A loud, grating noise came from upstairs, as if a door that hadn't been opened in years was being forced open.

They snapped their heads toward the sound.

A figure in a white dress emerged from the second floor, slowly descending the stairs.

But the way she moved defied human anatomy.

She wasn't walking.

She was crawling down backward, limbs bent at unnatural angles, her long hair trailing against the stairs like a grotesque insect.

Her movement was erratic, inhuman, and impossible to look away from.

It was like something straight out of a nightmare.

"Who's there?!"

Despite the sheer wrongness of what he was seeing, the squad leader gritted his teeth and shouted.

The thing paused.

Now, she was level with them.

Slowly…

Her head twisted unnaturally far, rotating as if her neck had no bones.

Her pale, lifeless face was now staring directly at them.

Her eyes were pitch black.

And overflowing with boundless hatred and killing intent.

"OPEN FIRE!"

Without hesitation, the squad leader gave the command.

The three of them unleashed a barrage of gunfire, bullets raining down on the creature—more to suppress their own fear than to actually kill her.

But then, something impossible happened.

The bullets stopped.

Right in front of her.

As if time itself had frozen them in midair.

No matter how many rounds they fired, none of them could touch her.

"AAAAHHHHH!!!"

The woman let out a horrifying, high-pitched scream—

A scream so sharp, so piercing, it felt like it was slicing through their very souls.

Then, with a sudden burst of unseen force, the suspended bullets flew back at them at full speed.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The rounds struck their tactical armor, sparks flying on impact—

But the force was amplified.

Far beyond their original power, the bullets slammed into them with brutal impact, sending all three operatives flying in different directions.

Two of them were hurled through the air, one even crashing through a wall.

"Ugh… ahh…"

One of the operatives groaned as he struggled to his feet.

Pain shot through his body.

If not for his reinforced combat suit, the impact would have killed him.

He barely had time to recover before—

Tap. Tap. Tap.

A sickeningly fast scuttling sound filled the air.

His blood ran cold.

He looked up—

And saw her.

She was crawling toward him at an impossible speed.

Her body was still upside down, her limbs twisting and contorting unnaturally—

Yet her head had rotated back to face forward, as if her spine was a mere inconvenience.

Her long black hair flowed wildly, her empty eyes locked onto him with predatory intent.

Her mouth was stretched far too wide, revealing jagged, rotting teeth.

She wasn't human.

She wasn't even a beast.

She was something beyond comprehension.

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!"

Panic overtook the soldier.

He screamed, his mind breaking under sheer primal terror.

He turned and ran for his life.

He didn't know where he was going.

Didn't know how far he had run.

All he knew was that he had to get away.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The relentless scuttling footsteps echoed behind him.

Like a beast hunting its prey.

No matter how fast he ran, they stayed close.

He could feel it.

She was right behind him.

At some point, the footsteps stopped.

Daring to hope, he slowed down and glanced over his shoulder.

Nothing.

No one was chasing him.

His chest heaved as he gasped for breath.

Did… did I escape?

For a moment, he felt relief.

Then he noticed something terribly wrong.

He was back where he started.

At the entrance of the house.

His heart pounded.

"This… this isn't right… I was running the opposite way!"

His voice trembled as he tried to make sense of what happened.

No matter which way he had run—he had somehow ended up back here.

And then—

A figure appeared from the corner ahead.

It was another operative.

Someone dressed exactly like him.

Relieved, he shouted—

"Hey! We have to get out of here! It's not safe!"

Having any companion was better than being alone in this hellhole.

But…

The other operative did not respond.

They simply stood still, staring blankly.

"Hey! Can you hear me?! We need to go!"

He approached, grabbing their shoulder—

And then the operative turned around.

His blood froze.

The body belonged to a fully grown adult.

But the head…

Was that of a pale-faced child.

A child's lifeless, emotionless face—

Staring at him.

His eyes trailed downward.

There was a gaping hole at the base of the neck.

It was as if…

The child had crawled into the decapitated body…

And worn it like a suit.

"Hssssss…."

The child exhaled, a sinister hissing noise escaping its lips.

The soldier stumbled backward.

His hands trembled as he raised his gun.

"W-WHO ARE YOU?!"

The child's mouth stretched open—far wider than any human should be able to.

Then—

"AAAAAHHHHH!!!"

A piercing, unnatural scream erupted from its throat—

A sound so sharp, so monstrous, it felt like countless invisible blades were slicing into his flesh.

His mind shattered under the sheer agony.

And then—

Everything went black.

(End of Chapter)

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