Chapter Thirteen

Mirel dropped to one knee and tightly covered her ears against the piercing screams let out by the Vantor creatures. Elena collapsed nearby, also clutching her ears.

Meanwhile, Alvin struggled to stay on his feet beside them, feeling as though his eardrums were about to rupture at any moment. He saw many hunters charging forward with their weapons, aiming to kill the creatures.

A young hunter leapt, determined to drive his dagger into a monster's neck—but another beast struck him, hurling him with great force. His back slammed against the wall before he collapsed to the ground.

One of the creatures approached and grabbed him by the shoulders. The hunter tried to escape its grip, but the monster's four hands held him tightly, preventing any attempt to flee.

Alvin then saw a small opening form in the center of the creature's chest. A transparent, sticky tube emerged from it, extending to pierce the unconscious hunter's chest. Hundreds of tiny white orbs traveled through the tube and entered the hunter's body.

Mirel had once said that these creatures feed on flesh during the first stage of their lives, before later evolving into plant-feeding beings… and now Alvin finally understood what was happening.

They were… searching for hosts for their eggs. And the hunters had been chosen!

Alvin quickly looked around and spotted a hunter struggling to lift a heavy sword. In one swift motion, he drew his own black sword with its violet blade and slashed the hunter's neck. The body collapsed to the ground as the head rolled away.

Alvin pulled out his earplugs and placed them in his ears.

"Why did you kill him, you bastard? We needed to help—" 

The hunter couldn't finish his sentence—Alvin had already driven his sword through his heart, and another hunter fell dead.

"Go to hell," Alvin whispered angrily.

— [I liked that!]

A message from "Smiling Moon" in the public chat.

"You go to hell too!" Alvin shouted bitterly at the planet. The hunters were now wary of him, keeping their distance. But where could they go? Alvin smirked sarcastically before stepping forward and plunging his sword into the back of a young huntress. Her right arm was severed, and she was struggling to fight with just one hand.

"You're immoral!" one of the hunters shouted furiously after witnessing Alvin kill two of their own.

"I left morality to you," he replied quietly, unfazed by the other hunters' glares. He handed the earplugs to Mirel and Elena, motioning for them to put them on quickly.

His gut feeling had been right—small creatures had begun crawling out of the hunter's body, feeding on his flesh without pause. The same was happening to dozens of other hunters.

Suddenly, a hand was placed on both Elena and Alvin's backs, and within seconds, they each felt something enter their bodies. Alvin was about to move, but stopped when Mirel said softly, 

"Don't move. I'm weaving the threads of life into your bodies."

"What does that mean?" Elena whispered, her heart nearly bursting out of her chest from the horrific scenes before her.

"I'm too weak to fight—I'd only be a burden to you. So… I'll heal your bodies while you fight." Mirel took a deep breath before adding, "Just make sure your vital organs don't get damaged."

"I don't even know what the vital organs are, but I don't get hit," Elena whispered, clutching her dagger tightly.

"You're both directly linked to me now. Even if they manage to inject you with their eggs, I'll destroy them before they can harm you." 

With that, she pushed them forward without another word.

Two thin threads, glowing golden, extended from Mirel's palms and pierced through the backs of Elena and Alvin. Only she could see them.

She quickly pulled out a circular metal chain, arranged it carefully, then sat at its center. Her hands trembled when she noticed a monster staring at her in silence. In a moment she couldn't fully grasp, the creature's face was suddenly inches from hers.

Slowly, and without alerting the beast, Mirel pressed the red button on the metal chain. A transparent barrier shot up in the blink of an eye from the outer edges, slicing through the monster's body. It was torn into tiny pieces, its blood splattering across Mirel's face and the filthy ground.

The severed head fell into her lap, and she flung it away in panic. The monster's mouth blades twitched several times before falling still forever.

— [That was an amazing scene. I'll donate 250 coins for that!]

A message from "Florist" in the public chat.

Mirel's features twisted with irritation. She closed the public planetary chat to better focus on Elena and Alvin.

Elena zeroed in on the monsters preoccupied with injecting their eggs into the hunters' bodies—she knew their attention wouldn't be on her.

She tightened her grip on her dagger as she sprinted toward one of them. Aimed straight for its neck, she was ready to slash—but suddenly, she was yanked to a stop. The monster had grabbed her by the throat with its upper hand.

She felt the bones in her neck begin to crack. Still, she gave the creature a sly grin before mercilessly severing its arm.

The monster let out a scream, but this time, she couldn't hear it. Elena drove her dagger into its head over and over until a system message appeared, notifying her of earned coins and experience points.

She glanced down at the hunter lying on the ground—tiny insects were crawling out of his eyes and neck, while his stomach and chest had already been devoured.

Elena snapped out of her daze when warm blood splattered across her back. She turned around and looked up—Alvin was standing behind her, his face soaked in fresh blood.

Just a few silent glances between them were enough for Elena to rise and rush off to slay another beast. As for Alvin, he stayed behind her, guarding her back and cutting down any creature that got close.

But what Alvin didn't know… was that while he protected Elena, a monster was watching him—waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Alvin's back slammed violently against the wall, pinned in place by four hands that left him no chance to move or escape. 

"Get away from me, you disgusting insect!" he shouted in her face.

The scissor-like blades pulled back, and for a moment, Alvin thought the creature said something, but its voice was inaudible. A small opening appeared in the creature's chest, and from it emerged a transparent tube. Alvin instantly knew—he was in deep trouble!

If that slimy tube pierced his chest, he would become a host for this giant insect's eggs. He tried to yank his arms free, even to move his legs, but he was firmly pinned to the wall.

His eyes searched for Elena. She was far away, struggling with another monster. It seemed she hadn't even noticed he was gone.

"Get this disgusting thing off me!" he shouted in fury, but the slimy tube kept advancing. Alvin felt his skin begin to melt—and it wasn't just a feeling. The sticky substance around the tube was designed to dissolve the skin, making it easier to penetrate the host's body and inject the eggs.

Suddenly, the creature screamed in pain and staggered back. As the burning sensation in Alvin's body faded, he realized Meryl had stepped in to save him.

And just in time!

Taking advantage of the creature's pain, Alvin clenched his fists and brought them down hard on its head, crushing its skull.

He cast a quick glance to his left, where Meryl had been left alone—but he couldn't see her through the mass of hunters and monsters.

Still, if she'd managed to save him, that had to mean she was okay.

Elena didn't know how much time had passed, nor how many monsters she had killed. What she did know, with painful clarity, was the state of her body.

She was exhausted. Her dagger barely pierced the monsters anymore, and when it did, it no longer dealt fatal wounds. She needed rest—but unfortunately for her, the number of these insect-like creatures kept increasing instead of decreasing.

Worse yet, many of the hunters had fled the tunnel. In order to escape without being pursued by the monsters, they had sacrificed other hunters in their place.

If there was one thing Elena was certain of, it was that the situation was getting worse by the second.

Most of the smaller monsters couldn't distinguish between the flesh of hunters and their own kind. They devoured anything that moved.

Maybe that's why they looked for hosts to lay their eggs in—because once the eggs hatched, the newborns would eat the host alive.

When Meryl had placed the Thread of Life in her body, Elena had felt a faint chill run through her—and it had lasted until just moments ago…

Which could only mean one thing—Meryl...

Elena left everything behind and ran in the direction where Meryl had been, her heart heavy with dread—terrified that she… might be dead.

She tripped over a corpse, crashing to the ground and scraping herself, but she didn't care. As she tried to get up, she felt things moving along her legs.

Elena panicked, quickly shaking her legs to brush off the insect larvae crawling up her body.

There was no time to think—or to crush them. She had to get to Meryl as fast as possible.

After a grueling search, she finally found her—lying within a transparent barrier, surrounded by dozens of torn-apart corpses.

Elena dropped to her knees beside the barrier, shouting desperately in an attempt to wake her: 

"Meryl, wake up!"

She called out again and again, but it was no use—Meryl remained unconscious.

The problem was, the barrier was being projected by the metal pendant—and it came from inside the circle, not outside.

If Meryl didn't wake up, no one would be able to break through.

The tunnel suddenly trembled with force, and even the solid walls shifted slightly. Elena's heart pounded with fear at the realization—if Meryl moved toward the edge of that barrier...

From the condition of the bodies around it, she could tell exactly what the barrier was capable of if touched.

The ground shook again—this time, Elena heard something approaching from the far right end of the tunnel.

"The tunnel's collapsing!"

Several hunters screamed as they ran for their lives.

Elena turned around frantically, searching for Alvin, but he was nowhere in sight. 

"Alvin!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Meryl was unconscious, and now Alvin was missing too! Elena rose to her feet, legs trembling, trying to get a better look.

"Alvin!" she cried again, but there was still no response. 

Someone crashed into her, knocking her to the ground—and because of him, several hunters trampled over her in their desperate attempt to escape…

One of them struck her head hard as they ran, and Elena lost consciousness beneath the stampede—before she could help Meryl, or find Alvin.