Introduction of Inase 3: Even the Ugliest of Bastards Has Its Charm

"…except you aren't like anything I've ever seen."

His gamble proved worth the risk, as the last bullet was enough to shatter the monster's illusion.

Inase opened his eyes to a blinding light, its iridescent colors spilling across his face, as he found himself trapped in the tight grip of the appendages, squeezing the very air from his lungs.

The oozing sensation all over his body sent chills down his spine.

Ugh, gross.

The monster's wide-open, three-lobed beak stared right back at him, its radiance so bright that he had to scrunch his eyebrows into an unpleasant scowl.

What a harrowing image.

Despite the pungent stench, a burning sensation, and the hissing noise of a predator, Inase could not look away in the slightest, like he was obligated to succumb to the creature, becoming its next meal.

He was forced to stare into the shimmering, ever-changing colors coming from inside of the monster's mouth as though his consciousness was fiercely pulled into another dimension. There wasn't a thing in the world as mesmerizing as this.

So it was hypnosis.

Inase chuckled while he was trying to wriggle himself out of the creature's grip, but his struggles were proven pointless when he couldn't move a muscle.

Wouldn't be surprised if this thing had eaten hundreds of people thanks to this trick.

Finally, he remembered how he got himself into this situation...

***

After Inase stepped through the portal, he found himself face-to-face with the monster in the same room. At first, he stood motionless, trying to keep a low profile. Maybe that thing wouldn't have noticed him if he hadn't made a sound.

However, the loud squeak of his sole against the floor gave out his position, alerting the creature in an instant.

A rookie mistake, really, but enough to bring him trouble.

The horror's jaw snapped open in a split second, revealing a bright source of light coming from within its ethereal insides. Pulsating with various vibrant hues, resembling a cuttlefish on the hunt, the bright colors stretched all the way along its inner mouth, similar to the captivating patterns found in psychedelic art.

Inase felt an irresistible pull toward the creature's hypnotic mouth. Just like the sailors lured by a siren into the abyssal embrace of the ocean, he, too, was closing toward his impending doom, barely feeling the grip on his knife and his pistol loosening from his hand. Both tools echoed in the room when they loudly fell to the ground right under his feet.

The entity's tentacles snaked in his direction, wrapping around his torso and engulfing him fully—except for his head. That thing couldn't afford to lose the advantage of breaking eye contact, which kept the hypnosis cast.

Through this ability, Inase was put in a trance and brought to an imaginary world.

***

…but now, he had freed himself from the delusion and could freely move once again.

So with a swift kick of his heel, he sent the gun into the air, catching it effortlessly. He spun it around, steadied his grip, aimed at it with precision, "Time for round two—!" and shot right into its vibrant mouth.

He saw the bullet pierce through its body, gushes of blood being pulled along its trajectory and staining the room's floor.

An agonized, deafening shriek followed. The glass panels trembled and vibrated violently in response.

The man knew he had more at stake now than in the realm of hypnotic illusion. Unlike back there, he could feel the aching soreness in his muscles from being gripped so tightly—he could feel the pain. The appendages coiling around his limbs left no room for error anymore.

This time, it was real.

The being was enraged.

The bullet's impact forced the creature to release Inase from its slimy grasp, flinging him violently to the ground in defense.

Its wings jittered fast like a threatened insect, and the iridescent hues grew to be more vibrant than before—its mouth was pulsating to the rhythm of its quickened heartbeat. The once serene tendrils thrashed wildly as Inase heavily hit the ground in his rough landing.

"Ow, ow, ow—"

Wincing from pain, the man spotted the incoming tentacles, so he swiftly rolled out of the way, slipping under the table. Though not before he snatched his knife from the ground in one quick motion.

Hard to notice otherwise, but having it close by at all times brought him a sense of calm.

"Could've waited a little, geez…"

As if.

These ugly bastards never wait.

Another deadly clump of wet muscle lunged at him, slithering effortlessly beneath the wooden furniture where he hid. Forced to act, he fired through the tendrils to maintain his distance.

But there were too many—they crashed down on him, similar to the first wave of a flood.

Even when he dodged them under the table like a circus monkey, their slimy texture still brushed his cheek and hit the marble statue behind.

His back crawled with goosebumps.

"Blergh."

The stench of rotten sea air nearly made him gag, but he was no quitter. He would see his job through to the very end. Thus, he kicked the table's leg until it snapped, sending the corner down onto the mass of meat; the sharp, pointed wood crushed them beneath its weight.

They had no choice but to retreat instinctively, giving Inase the opportunity to tip and push the sturdy furniture over, using it as a shield—it gave him the cover he needed.

The monster's view was obstructed. Unable to see the man hiding behind it, it blindly followed the motion of a shadow leaping out from the makeshift barricade. Its tentacles pierced through, ripping him apart.

That is, if it was truly a man.

What was thrown into the air was nothing more than a distraction. Inase's beloved jacket, now full of holes and thoroughly ruined, hung in tatters, much to his dissatisfaction.

Meanwhile, Inase steadied his hands on the edge of the broken table, taking careful aim at the creature.

"I quite liked it, so you gotta pay—"

With life.

The enraged entity bellowed louder, recklessly widening its beak even further. This gave Inase a chance to view it from a different angle, allowing him to notice more than when he was blinded by it from up close.

The beast's mouth flickered with more intense and erratic shifts of colors, revealing a core on its inside, the source of its beautiful glow—a perfect target for his aim.

Narrowing his eyes, he pressed on the trigger. The shot should have landed right in the middle, deeming it useless in seconds.

It should have…

Then why had it not yet? The trigger was already pulled.

Inase looked down only to realize that his gun was sliced clean in half by the thin, thread-like tendrils. As if in slow motion, he watched it slide apart into two pieces.

"Eh-"

If his hand had been a millimeter closer, his fingers would have also been detached, fallen bloodied on the ground.

"Damn it."

Tossing aside the useless piece of metal, Inase clicked his tongue and frantically scanned the room for a new ranged weapon.

Not only the big grabbers were dangerous, but also the thin ones had been lethal since the beginning. Their function wasn't just to feel the room around so it would see the environment (it had no eyes). They worked like wires—waiting for an unsuspecting prey to stumble into them, only to be cut cleanly in half by the slightest touch of their motion. So thin, they were hard to spot.

And though he knew better, Inase's body instinctively froze, every nerve screaming for caution.

This brief moment of hesitation was enough for the eldritch being to seize the opening, launching everything it had toward the man.

It landed a clean hit on his torso, sending him slamming into the wall and crushing his ribcage. Having felt this kind of pain many times before, he was certain of it: at least two ribs were broken.

Cough!

The severe collision knocked the air out of him, but it was far from the end of the entity's relentless assault. It coiled a tentacle around his arm and leg, wasting no time in yanking him across the room, over and over again.

Inase lost count after slamming into the ceiling, the floor, each wall, pillars, and sculptures—his body crashing repeatedly, each blow like being run over by a truck. A sharp pain shot through his shoulder; it must have dislocated since he couldn't move it anymore—the monster's grip was that powerful.

Finally, he was thrown against a tall glass cabinet, the impact leaving him breathless. The glass shattered, raining down upon him, cutting his cheek and piercing his hands—even through his gloves. He swore he felt warm liquid trickle down his temple; his head was spinning slightly.

The entity must have believed it had killed him, as its viscous, cold grip loosened around his motionless frame.

…it was exactly what he was hoping for.

"Haha…" His body screamed for a break, yearning to shut down his senses and sink into a long rest. Yet, somehow, he clung to consciousness.

His wicked grin stretched as he felt a familiar sensation of pain.

And being in pain meant that he was still alive.

He loved it.

He loved this feeling of powerlessness. The sickly obsession. The immediate danger. The thrill. The risk. The gamble. The dance over the edge of the cliff where even the slightest mistake would cost him everything—that was what made a man named Inase, himself.

Who else would have gone against such horrors if not for him?

Crack went his bones when he managed to put his dislocated arm back into place just as he lethargically lifted himself up.

In the short moment of leisure, he noticed that this room and the one from the hypnosis were the same.

"Aha, that's how it is."

Maybe it's because the hypnosis was connected, the creature had to show itself in the same room it resided in reality; chaotic thoughts ran through his dizzy head.

How lucky~ That meant he roughly remembered the placements of everything inside.

The globe in the corner and the map on the wall, the big statue of a hunting man in the middle. The cabinets with artifacts inside. The shields. The plates. The metal busts and masks. And most importantly, the weapons.

Specifically, the spear he was now standing above.

The melodic sound of glass shards falling to the floor alerted the monster to Inase's survival. But before it could even turn, the man had already held the long pike tightly in his hand.

Being cornered fueled him. After taking two quick steps to gain momentum, he hurled the pike with all his might, aiming to pin the creature to the wall. Every muscle in his legs, waist, back, and arms coiled with tension as he poured every ounce of his strength into it.

But, the throw missed.

Inase cursed inwardly when the creature's tentacles swiped at the pike's trajectory, knocking it off course and forcing it to pierce the wall behind instead, where it remained lodged.

Its shriek echoed through the air, the tone eerily reminiscent of mocking laughter. The man was certain—he was out of options. Nothing had worked...

...right?

"Aren't you getting careless?" However, a dry chuckle emerged from his lips instead.

It apparently wasn't the case.

Inase's body followed the throw. His mind remembered his childhood games, where he'd pretend to be a secret agent dodging lasers like in those old movies. Now, he leaped through the air, narrowly avoiding the thin tendrils, cutting it close at times and nearly giving himself a new haircut.

As a tentacle swung at him mid-air, threatening to knock the wind out of him again, Inase gripped it tightly. He didn't let go. Rather, he used it like a springboard, bouncing off it to land beside the staggered creature.

The spear was nothing more than another distraction.

As he vaulted over, seeing that thing's shimmering mouth open and ready to give out a screech, he grabbed onto it, keeping it wide open so it wouldn't escape. His actions exposed its most vulnerable spot—the core.

With a fearless grin, Inase plunged his trusty knife (that he had hidden it until now—there's no way he would retreat only the gun, is there?) deep into its mouth. His enemy writhed with the last of its strength, desperately trying to escape. In defense, it let out a wail of agony, one so intense it nearly knocked the man unconscious as well.

But it wasn't enough to take Inase down.

Despite every fiber of his body screaming in agony, his chest sending waves of pain that begged him to stop, he drove his dagger into the core, where the light source pulsed brightest.

With the last of his strength, Inase's voice rose, too, as he leaned in close to face the beast. He shouted with all his might, refusing to let his enemy have the upper hand—not even through a scream.

"HaaaaaaaaaaaAAARGHHHHHHHHHH—!!!"

The creature refused to go down easily, but neither would Inase. In the final struggle, they wrestled, each pushing against the other in a test of strength.

With sheer determination, Inase overpowered the beast, twisting the dagger's hilt before plunging it deeper, delivering a fatal blow. The cyan ooze, its blood glowing in the dark like the sea-blue eyes of a time-travel agent, sprayed across his hands, chest and face.

"..."

Finally, it was dead.

"Haa..."

The man exhaled a soft gasp of relief when the monster collapsed motionless, turning into a lifeless heap of meat. Silence settled over the scene, broken only by a brief, subconscious flicker of hypnotic light from the corpse, which was met with an ironic sneeze and a powerful kick at once time.

"You can stop trying that trick on me." He tapped the side of his head with his fingertips, fully aware that it was already dead. "All in my head, isn't it."

He's dealt with quite a few other eldritch beings that elicit similar psychological attacks, to the point where by now, he could withstand them once he had experienced any before. He knew that the faster he could hunt them down, the sooner his brain would no longer be under such influences.

"You can try and hypnotize me how many times you want, this trick won't work on me twice."

Well… In a way, it was rather an adorable creature. Cuter than most of the ones he had stumbled upon. Maybe he could spare it if it wasn't dead already…

Nah, like hell he would. No way he was going to let it escape.

All eldritch invaders have only one fate in Inase's mind, and that is to be ridden, killed, banished, or put to another million years of sleep.

"Poor thing, you underestimated me."

He scoffed at the tricks it pulled and poked its dead mass with the tip of his boot for good measure.

It was not getting up.