Chapter 11 - I Need a Hand
Carn's curiosity piqued as he watched the strange man closely.
Could this really be a doppelganger?
From his father's stories, doppelgangers were supposed to be far more dangerous, capable of wiping out entire cities in a single day. Yet, this guy had only managed to claim around 500 victims. It didn't add up.
Surely, the local authorities, police, investigators, and FBI agents, weren't that incompetent. By now, they should have noticed the disturbing pattern of murders and mobilized every resource to capture the killer.
But this guy was still walking free, dragging his bloody suitcase through a crowded shopping mall like he had nothing to fear. Why hadn't he been apprehended yet?
Carn grew more cautious. Something was very off about this man, and it wasn't just the skin mask or the heavy air of death surrounding him. He seemed too conspicuous, yet somehow untouched by law enforcement. Carn silently switched from hunting mode to stalking mode, deciding to observe the entity from a safe distance.
The man boarded the escalator and headed down to the first floor. Carn waited until the man was halfway down before stepping on the escalator himself, maintaining just enough distance to avoid suspicion.
Ahead, the college girls exited the escalator and were still lost in their own world of chatter, selfies, and phone calls. One girl even started a video call, completely oblivious to the looming danger behind them.
Meanwhile, the suitcase stalker followed 10 steps behind, widening his grin as he dragged the luggage behind him. Sweat poured from his body despite the mall's cool 18°C (64.4°F) temperature.
Carn, now halfway down the escalator, noticed something disturbing. The man briefly turned his face toward the group of girls. Even more unsettling, a faint black aura began to seep from his body, causing the nearby spirits to wail in terror.
'…run…'
'…get…away…'
The desperate cries of the spirits filled the air, but no normal human could hear these ghosts. The girls remained completely unaware of the horror lurking behind them.
Carn clenched his jaw as he looked up, biting his lower lip in frustration. The spirits' haunting pleas reminded him of the innocent monsters and beasts that haunted the so-called heroes, who indiscriminately slaughtered everybody who was not of the human race.
"I hear you," Carn muttered quietly, activating a minor spell under his breath. He knew he couldn't let this go on any longer. Communicating through the haze of spirits, he produced a silent vibrating voice with his throat, asking for their help. "I can hear you. Look at me. I'll help you."
The reaction was immediate. The floating human faces in the haze whipped around, staring directly at Carn with hollow, pleading expressions. They swarmed him, their voices rising in desperation.
'You can see me…'
'Can you hear us…?'
'Help me!'
The spirits, driven by the last traces of their wills and agony, shouted in Carn's ears, begging for salvation.
Carn's focus wavered for a moment as he was bombarded with their voices, but he quickly steeled himself. He was going to put an end to this monster and free them from their torment.
"I'll help you," Carn negotiated with the spirits. "But first, I need you to help me. Can you disable the mall's CCTV cameras? I need to move without being seen."
The spirits, their spectral faces momentarily frozen, seemed to process his request. Without uttering a word in response, they suddenly dispersed into the air like wisps of smoke.
*BOOM*
A deafening noise echoed through the mall. Every LED light shattered in an instant, cascading glass fragments to the floor. The CCTV camera lenses exploded in a shower of sparks, rendered useless.
Even worse, every mobile phone within a hundred meters began to overheat, causing panicked shoppers to scream as they frantically dropped their burning devices.
Phones hit the ground with dull thuds. Some threw them away in pure terror, causing their screens to crack.
The interior of the mall was plunged into an unsettling darkness. As the blackness consumed the building, the ventilation system began emitting a low, eerie sound. A ghostly, howling wail echoed through the emptying halls.
The atmosphere quickly shifted from an ordinary shopping day to something out of a horror movie. Only the faintest beams of sunlight pierced through windows and skylights, casting jagged shafts of light that barely illuminated small patches of the ground. The once bustling shopping mall now resembled a haunted house.
Screams erupted. Shoppers, storekeepers, and employees fled in a chaotic stampede, rushing toward the nearest exits in sheer terror. Some store owners, confused but unwilling to leave their merchandise behind, remained frozen inside their shops. Their eyes darted nervously around as they tried to make sense of what had just happened.
Amid the chaos, a few opportunistic figures emerged. They were startled at first by the sudden explosions, but they quickly recovered and began eyeing the abandoned stores, thinking about what they could snatch before fleeing into the confusion.
The exploding lights and the chaos around him acted as the signal Carn had been waiting for. His head throbbed because of the backlash from the lack of Aether, but he didn't hesitate. He launched himself forward, sprinting toward the mysterious entity without a second thought.
The suitcase man, still trailing the group of shoppers, found himself caught off guard by the sudden darkness and chaos. Panicked crowds flooded the mall, blocking his path. The group of girls he had been stalking earlier screamed in terror and disappeared into the frantic mass of fleeing people.
Frustration boiled within him. Realizing his prey had slipped away, the man let out a growl of rage. He stomped his feet hard, and in a fit of anger, he lifted his heavy suitcase and slammed it down onto the ground with a thunderous crash.
The impact was so violent that the suitcase burst open slightly, allowing its gruesome contents to spill out.
A collection of bloodstained tools slid from the cracks—small surgeon's scissors, wooden sticks soaked in dried blood, forks twisted at odd angles, and a butcher's knife that gleamed even in the faint light. The items scattered across the floor, creating a grisly mosaic that mirrored the bloodied horror this man had carried with him.
Carn observed from a distance. His gaze fixed on the blood-soaked tools that spilled from the suitcase. The sight confirmed his suspicion that this being wasn't a doppelganger but something else.
'Shame. I wanted to see what a doppelganger really looked like,' Carn thought, mildly disappointed. Still, that didn't change the fact that this creature in human disguise had more to hide, such as supernatural power or other abilities to hide his presence.
It was time to test the waters.
The darkness enveloping the mall was now Carn's ally, allowing him to move with ease. Preserving his limited spell usage, he decided to rely on his physical prowess.
Silently, he closed the distance between himself and the suitcase man. The entity, entirely oblivious to Carn's approach, grumbled to himself as he bent over, fumbling with his scattered tools.
Carn loomed over the creature's massive form, blending into the darkness. As quiet as a shadow, he reached out, his fingers wrapping around the crown of the man's head with one hand, while his other hand clamped down on the man's chin.
Before the man could even register the danger, Carn twisted the head.
*CRACK!*
The sound reverberated through the chaos. The entity's head rotated vertically, dangling like a grotesque hook.
"REEEEEEEEEE!!"
A high-pitched screech pierced the air, rattling the nerves of anyone close enough to hear.
Carn's satisfaction from the clean twist quickly dissolved as the creature retaliated. Without hesitation, the unknown entity swung a punch toward his face, its fist barreling through the air with unnatural speed.
Carn leaped backward instinctively, but his momentum sent him into an unintentional backflip. As his feet hit the ground, he pivoted, launching himself sideways, vanishing into the shadows like a ghost.
'As expected, that thing is never a human' Carn thought, watching from the darkness.
"REEEEEEEEEE!!"
The creature screamed the ear-splitting screech again. With the sound of tearing fabric, its grotesque transformation began.
The mask it wore, a hideous mockery of human skin, was ripped away, revealing not a face but a massive, broken fingertip with a jagged, vertical mouth lined with sharp fangs.
Its entire body expanded, doubling its size, shredding its clothes like fragile paper. From a regular 5'11 fat man, it turned into an 8-foot giant.
The human guise fell apart, revealing the monstrosity beneath. It was a colossal hand-like creature, complete with seven thick fingers, four thumbs, and six slithering tentacles extending from beneath its twisted palm. Each finger featured smaller mouths, gnashing and dripping with saliva, while its tentacles acted as grotesque legs. Five eyes, embedded in the palm of its bloated hand-body, rolled in every direction, scanning for its attacker.
On the back of the creature's body, patches of its victims' facial skins were grotesquely grafted onto its flesh. Hundreds of tiny black tentacles, like writhing threads, appeared to have sewn the disfigured faces into place as if some twisted being had stitched them onto the monster's body.
Carn crouched in the shadows and observed its form. Indeed, it looked impressive for a monster from another dimension.
However, compared to THOSE CALAMITOUS ABOMINATIONS that Carn had fought in that dungeon, he found this entity cute.
'Alright. One of those skinwalkers, I see. I thought they were extinct.'
Chapter 12 - I Choose You, SENTRY GARGOYLE MODE - ON!
Carn knew of five different types of shapeshifters.
The first type was mimics. These monsters were capable of flawlessly replicating and evolving all the organs and physical features of their victims. These creatures didn't just assume a new form, but they also inherited the memories of those they consumed, blending into their surroundings with perfect precision.
Mimics could grow stronger in their new bodies, evolving over time, making them extremely dangerous. Carn had once employed such beings in his dungeon, where they silently infiltrated human societies.
The second type, copycats, could almost match the abilities of mimics. However, they were limited in their ability to retain the memories of their victims or grow stronger than the original.
Still, this didn't make them any less deadly. Many copycat monsters had slain adventurers and even heroes without Carn's direct involvement. A selected few elite copycats who mimicked hero abilities had risen to become demon generals under his command.
The third category consisted of disguisers. Carn himself could be considered one if he used a shapeshifting spell.
Disguisers lacked the ability to copy their target's powers, but they could freely alter their appearance, physique, or even gender at will. Their strength varied depending on their race, the amount of Aether they possessed, and their mastery of shapeshifting magic. Some were deadly due to sheer physical prowess, while others used subtlety to infiltrate.
The fourth type, transformers, were creatures that grew more powerful by transforming into unique second forms. Werewolves were a prime example of this category.
These monsters gained immense strength when transformed, but their abilities were restricted to specific conditions. Some humans in Carn's previous world took inspiration from these monsters and had even developed gadgets that could change their appearance or provide new powers.
Lastly, there were the skinwalkers, a mysterious group Carn had only heard of through rumors. In his previous world, they were said to have gone extinct, and Carn had never encountered one.
Skinwalkers were infamous for wearing the skin of their victims, making their grotesque appearance stand out. They were reputed to have immense physical strength, an insatiable appetite, and terrifying hypnosis abilities, enabling them to control others with their will.
Based on the stories, skinwalkers were among the most feared shapeshifters, and the human countries formed an alliance for the sake of removing these monsters from their land for good. Even the demon lord hated them because of their powerful mind spells.
Carn now had a suspicion. If this grotesque entity wasn't a doppelganger, it could very well be one of the elusive skinwalkers.
If this guy was really a skinwalker, Carn knew exactly where to strike. He steadied himself, holding his breath as he activated a bigger spell, hardening his skin into stone.
Sentry Gargoyle Mode - ON!
Carn's skin turned gray, his face, hair, and clothes becoming the same rough, stony texture. He locked his gaze on the skinwalker just before the petrification reached his eyes, transforming him into a lifelike stone statue in a matter of seconds.
Meanwhile, the skinwalker hissed in frustration, searching the area for Carn. One of its eyes landed on the statue and paused. The other eyes followed, locking onto the stone figure.
The monstrous hand crawled over, dragging its grotesque fingers closer. The tongues from its finger-mouths extended, licking the surface of the statue. But all they tasted was cold stone.
"Ptui!" The monster spat in disgust, recoiling its tongues. Losing interest, it turned away from Carn, dismissing him as a threat.
As soon as the skinwalker's back was turned, the statue shifted with blinding speed. Carn moved like a shadow, reappearing behind the creature in an instant. His stone arms moved faster than the eye could follow, leaving behind afterimages as his hands shot out, targeting the monster's grotesque fingers.
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
The sound of bones breaking echoed through the eerie silence as Carn dislocated and shattered the joints of the skinwalker's fingers.
The creature screeched in agony, turning into a frenzy, but by the time it looked back, Carn had already returned to his original spot and resumed his statue pose.
The skinwalker's eyes swept the area in confusion. It stared suspiciously at the stone figure, but its senses detected no life. Frustrated, it scanned the mall.
Just as the monster looked around, a store employee who had finished closing her store, leisurely walked down the escalator to leave the building. The store employee, flashlight in hand, looked below.
Then, the flashlight shone upon the monster. She froze when her eyes met the monster's grotesque form.
"EEEK!" she screamed, dropping the flashlight in horror. She turned tail and ran back to where she had come from.
The skinwalker's attention immediately shifted to her, and it flipped itself over, crawling after the fleeing woman with its mangled fingers.
Carn seized his chance. In the blink of an eye, he reappeared on top of the skinwalker, moving his stone hands with brutal efficiency at lightning speed. He shattered the entire bone structure of the hand, leaving it a useless lump of muscle and skin.
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
*CRACK*
The sound of breaking bones echoed like a symphony in the darkened mall. The creature didn't even have time to scream. Within seconds, its hand was nothing but a limp mass, unable to move.
Carn reverted to his human form, but the toll on his body was immediate. Blood dripped from his nose, and the familiar searing headache hit him like a hammer. He collapsed to his knees on top of the now-crippled monster.
'Five minor spells for the sentry mode... that's seven spells total. This is over my limit,' he thought while his vision blurred.
But the monster wasn't dead yet. Carn pushed himself up, staggering toward the skinwalker's suitcase. He reached for a blood-soaked rusty knife.
With the knife in hand, he stabbed it and dragged it across the creature's back, slicing it open. Inside, a pulsing purple cubic mass—its core—was embedded in a tangle of crimson flesh and organs, feeding the monster with mysterious energy.
Carn snickered at the sight. He grabbed the cube and yanked it free, tearing it from the creature's innards.
As soon as it was removed, the skinwalker's massive body began shriveling, withering like decayed flower petals.
The cube continued to pulse in Carn's hand, regenerating purple tendrils that reached toward him, trying to bond with his skin.
"Wanna eat me? You've picked the wrong host, you pest," Carn muttered.
With a firm grip, he crushed the cube, smashing it into pieces. The purple blood splattered across his face and clothes but evaporated upon contact with the outside air. As for the last remnants of the cube's flesh, it dissolved into dust.
It was over.
The monster finally died.
Carn looked up, noticing that the crimson haze had cleared, leaving behind the victims' spirits.
They were free at last.
Hundreds of tiny will-o'-wisps floated in the air, glowing faintly. Some of the spirits ascended, fading into nothingness, while others hovered around him.
'Thank you,' they whispered.
The will-o'-wisps briefly morphed into the faces of the people they once were, gazing at him with gratitude. They hovered around Carn before they faded into nothingness, vanishing into the ether like fleeting memories.
As the last wisp disappeared, shimmering silver dust settled on Carn's right arm and hand, etching 150 silvery scratch marks into his skin. Two of those marks quickly faded, replenishing some of his drained energy, and leaving him with 148 Aether marks.
Finally, Carn managed to score a surplus, but it was still less than what he had hoped for.
The yield had been lower than anticipated because of the earlier cooperation with the spirits. Some of them had expended the last of their strength generating a poltergeist-like effect, shattering every CCTV camera lens, frying mobile phones, and scrambling any electronic device capable of capturing footage of him.
The effort had cost him precious Aether but bought him invaluable cover. But looking at it on the bright side, there would be no footage of the monstrous fight or evidence of what had really transpired there. The exchange was worth it.
Carn clenched his fist, quietly celebrating his victory. He could now "farm" Aether without overextending himself.
But his moment of peace was short-lived.
Loud footsteps echoed through the mall as five police officers burst into the scene with their guns drawn. As soon as they spotted Carn holding a rusty bloody knife, they pointed their pistols at him.
"HANDS UP!!"
Carn frowned, exhaling a sigh. Memories of old movies flashed through his mind—scenes where the cops always showed up AFTER the hero had already dealt with the villain.
"Hah... I'm gonna get detained again, and Mom's gonna kill me," he muttered under his breath, preparing to face his mother's wrath.
Edited: I failed at math.
Explanation: Carn used 7 points of Aether in total (5 for gargoyle mode, two for miscellaneous abilities). One silver mark equals five points of Aether. Therefore, only two marks should decrease, not seven.
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