Five seconds

[00:05]

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The clock ticked.

Kazuki's mouth went dry.

The sound echoed— like a countdown to the world's doom.

It wasn't just in his head anymore. The atmosphere seems to ring along with it.

Every passing second felt like a thunderclap striking the heart of the world.

The creature swelled.

Its muscles twisted together—writhing— grotesque sculpture, some perversion of anatomy. Tendons snapped into place like taut wires. A chest heaved where there hadn't been one a moment ago. Eyes—too many eyes—opened and blinked out of sync across what might have been a face.

He knew the thing was up to no good.

The chirping, piercing sound that had rattled his skull for so long—

Morphed.

No longer a screech, no longer an annoyance. It became a voice.

A voice that didn't speak in words.