CHAPTER 6
*Chapter 6: "Those Who Burrow"*
*Year: 4330 BC*
*Location: Indus Valley — Edge of the Black Hills*
The rain had ceased two days ago, but the earth still clung to moisture, thick and heavy underfoot. Mist curled like spectral serpents through towering trees, and the jungle whispered secrets older than memory.
Pluto moved beneath a new name: *Taranis*.
His skin was darker now, his frame broader and imposing. Silver eyes, hidden beneath a subtle illusion, glimmered like distant stars. To the villagers, he was a foreign wanderer, a man with no past—just silence and strange power.
Yet the land *knew* him.
Insects fell silent at his approach. Wolves gave way without a sound. The trees leaned back, as if wary of his presence.
Not instinct. Recognition.
He had walked here before — but only briefly, in another form. This time, something deeper stirred.
Something buried.
***
The small village of Karran-dal lay near the riverbank. Its people were gaunt, hollow-eyed, and sickly. At night, whispers told of missing children, vanished into the soil. The elders spoke of "The Burrowers" — creatures that tunneled beneath homes and feasted unseen.
Pluto remained still.
Listening.
Waiting.
Then, on the third night, the earth itself *screamed*.
Mud exploded skyward as a monstrous form erupted from beneath the village—its face a grotesque mask of spines and jaws, arms fused into cruel digging blades. It hissed and clicked like a beast born of nightmare.
The villagers fled, but Pluto did not move.
The creature sniffed him. Its many eyes locked on his.
Then it bowed.
Recognition, not fear.
He knelt, pressing his hand to the trembling earth.
His system whispered:
*[SUBTERRANEAN HIVE DETECTED]*
*Designation: Hive-Delta 9*
*Class: Burrower*
*Purpose: Genetic Harvest and Environmental Testing*
*Inhabitants: Approximately 130 Deviant-Derived Entities*
*Command Core: Unknown*
Pluto rose, intent burning beneath calm eyes.
He would descend into their lair.
***
Night fell again as he slipped beneath the soil, following dark tunnels slick with moisture and rot. Walls of obsidian glass reflected his silhouette, veins of glowing fungus pulsed softly, and the air was thick with a foul hum—the signature of Deviant pheromones.
This was a birthing vault.
Creatures crawled across ceilings and walls—hunched, pale, multi-limbed forms chittering in a language of clicks and hisses. They were Deviant derivatives, twisted by generations underground.
Pluto raised a hand.
*[ADAPTIVE BONE ARMOR: ACTIVATED]*
His skin shifted to hardened plate; his muscles flexed with unnatural strength.
The first attacker lunged—a shrieking clawed abomination. Pluto crushed its skull with a single blow.
The battle erupted into frenzied slaughter.
He moved like silent death—every strike measured, every motion perfected. Each blow he took was a lesson; his body adapted, growing tougher, faster, stronger. Acid dripped harmlessly off his skin. Razor claws shattered against his bone.
Soon, only the queen remained.
Massive, four-legged, with a brain sac swollen and pulsating, eyes like black stars.
It spoke without a mouth.
"You are no Celestial. What are you?"
Pluto stepped closer.
"I am the end of you."
The queen struck with psionic blasts and kinetic fury. Walls cracked and stones shattered. Pluto's system surged.
*[PAIN SENSATION: DISABLED]*
*[ADAPTATION RATE: 300% INCREASE]*
He did not feel broken ribs or shattered arms. His body remembered and rebuilt instantly.
He seized the queen's skull.
Crushed it.
The hive's shrieks echoed before falling silent.
Pluto set fire to the vaults, collapsing tunnels. The jungle would reclaim this place; the Burrowers' nightmare would fade into legend.
***
Days later, a wandering scribe found him at the village edge.
"What spirit walks in your steps?" the man asked.
Pluto only said:
"Keep the story alive. One day, they will believe."
And vanished into the wild.
A/N: I know the length of the chapter varies but please bear with me after I'm through with my exam I would try to stabilize it to 1k>