章 5: Monsters

"And that's the reason why you humans never encountered awakenings. Now have a happy time sleeping. Oh, and here is a spoiler for you all. There are other humans in the Pantheon of Lost Gods, and they certainly aren't weak."

Just as Mr. Flare said that a mist surrounded everyone, enveloping their bodies. Many of the people panicked, thinking it was the same calamity that had eaten other people back then on Earth, but a voice pierced through this panic.

"Now slowly but surely you people will awaken here, ah, and as always there is a catch. If the monster inside of you comes out instead of 'you', then you will become corrupted. Beings that are mindless killing monsters, those who awaken their power will be transported but those who don't will become corrupted with the ones that are late in line, so do your best to survive."

"Corrupted don't differentiate just like Calamities. They will kill without reason, so don't be a wimp here," said Mr. Flare, disappearing into a portal that suddenly manifested behind.

BOOM! SHAAA

Coruscating bursts of light and other strange phenomena started happening in Licht's vicinity. Some people were running faster than ever before, leaving dust in their tracks and then disappearing into particles.

Some of them had caught fire, their whole body burning, but instead of shrieks of pain, astonished and wondrous noises came from them. The fire was burning on their bodies and they could partially control it.

It was an astonishing feat for normal humans, being able to control fire. The radiant show went on for some moments when even that person started converting into particles and disappeared from everyone's sight.

'Is everyone being transported somewhere else? I wonder what my 'monster' will be…' Licht was in a daze. He didn't care much about the situation as he pondered on and on about his own power.

But suddenly the area became quite loud, instead of the happy and astonished noises. The sound of terror was resounding everywhere. Everything present was enveloped in chaos.

"Huh, what's happening?" Everyone around Licht was running back and forth as if a deadly predator was on their trail.

Focusing on the initiator of this chaos, Licht finally found it. A wolf- no, a monster in every sense.

An ethereal black wolf-like creature, its fur flowing in the stagnant air as if it was running on a plain. Black mist flowed around its body, making it more menacing with the greenish mucus being secreted from its body.

The creepiest thing about it wasn't its size but the number of eyes it had. Hundreds of eyes were constantly blinking on its body. The greenish puke-like mucus was being secreted by those eyes.

ROAR!

A big roar from its maw further fueled the chaos. The creature shook its head and stretched its body and then it just disappeared?

A shriek came from Licht's left. Some feet away was a man dying. His body was being eaten by the creature First, it bit the neck, ultimately killing the man, and then munched on his body.

Tearing his limbs piece by piece. The horror didn't end there. New kinds of these monsters erupted all around Licht. People's screams drowned the whole hall. No place was safe. The lucky ones escaped with time, awakening their monsters and teleporting.

Others were not so lucky. Some got eaten, some trampled under the chaos, and some hid under dead bodies.

Nobody fought the creatures. Everyone wanted to survive, but they didn't have the power to even get past this confrontation.

Licht was in the second category. He didn't think these creatures would be fooled by some people hiding in some pile of dead bodies or even clothes.

And as he had guessed correctly, they went for the easiest targets. The stationary and hidden ones. Another batch of gurgling screams echoed.

Yet Licht didn't turn back. He kept running without looking back. Trying his best to avoid the area with more of these monsters.

'I have to....run faster!' The same thing kept repeating in his head.

Even though his feet ached under the unfamiliar strain, he continued running.

He couldn't.

And lastly, he wouldn't.

Yet a look of terror still found its way to his face. The world felt like it would end for him. A slimy tentacle was binding itself to his leg.

Licht bent down in horror, scratching the slimy thing with his nails. Yet nothing worked, hacking it with his arm or trying to tear it with his teeth. Even in desperation, he couldn't do anything.

But it all became futile when he was dragged from behind. Licht's head banged into the ground. His world started spinning and he couldn't make anything out, but his hands never left the tentacle.

Just as he was going to be devoured by infinite darkness inside the mouth of a slime kinda monster, something inherently changed inside Licht.

BOOM

An explosion happened under his hands, which were grabbing the tentacle, tearing it apart.

Blood started to flow rapidly inside his body. Some blood spurted out of the hole in his hands as well when he crashed onto the ground.

Finally being given a small breather, he stood back up on his feet.

Something started protruding out of his hand. But instead of letting it come out by itself, his other free hand pulled it out with force.

A stick- no, a sword made out of his own bone was resting in his right arm.

Suddenly, two more tentacles emerged out of that monster, coming to take back its prey. Licht's body moved by itself, dodging one of the tentacles while slashing the other in half.

In reality, Licht's mind was hazy. He couldn't understand what was happening around him.

'Why is my body moving on its own?' Only this thought occurred in his mind when his body again leaped forward.

He ran across the distance, closing the gap instantaneously. Shoving his sword inside the monster, his other hand touched the mushy skin of the monster and another explosion happened.

BOOM

The explosion obliterated half of the monster's body with it. But Licht's body was slowly turning into particles.

The dark mist enveloped his body and with that, another blackout occurred for Licht....or so he had thought.

(This comment will have how the wolf kinda monster's illustration)