Capítulo 16: WHAT.... ARE YOU?
The group scrambled out of the suffocating darkness of the abyss, gasping for fresh air as they found themselves in a forest floor. Their bodies ached, their minds reeled from the horrors they'd just endured. Before they could even begin to process their escape, they found Kaguya standing nearby, her massive bio-shield propped confidently on the ground. Her hood was up, obscuring her face once more, though her calm demeanor offered a stark contrast to their frazzled states.
"Kaguya?!" Hanabi exclaimed, her sky-blue hair clinging to her sweat-drenched face. "How—when—how did you get here?"
Kaguya tilted her head slightly, her voice as steady as ever. "The same way you did." She glanced toward the hole they'd just emerged from, her tone matter-of-fact. "That... thing saved me too."
Lady Naga furrowed her brows, her distrust evident as she clutched her weapon tighter. "You're saying that thing—no, that creature—saved all of us?"
Kaguya simply nodded.
"Wait, where is Ashiro?" Kyoto who was the first to notice suddenly asked with a panicked look on his face.
But before anyone else could react, a sudden tremor shook the ground violently. The forest groaned in protest as birds fled the treetops, their panicked cries piercing the air. Everyone stumbled, grabbing onto the nearest stable surface to keep their footing.
"What now?!" Suguru shouted, gripping his crossbow tightly, his wide eyes scanning the surroundings.
The ground beneath them continued to quake with increasing intensity, then abruptly stopped, replaced by an eerie silence. But the reprieve was short-lived.
A low rumbling came from the direction of the hole they'd just escaped from. They turned toward it, watching in horrified anticipation. Then, without warning, a massive section of land not far from them—several trees, rocks, and earth—simply ceased to exist. It didn't collapse. It didn't explode. It just... vanished.
The group froze, dumbfounded. Where the land had been was now an empty void, a perfect, featureless blackness that seemed to devour light itself.
"What in the hell...?" Kyoto whispered, his limpid yellow eyes wide with disbelief.
Lady Naga tightened her grip on her blade, her voice low and filled with unease. "That wasn't natural. I doubt that wasn't even Kaiju work."
Ino crouched, scanning the void cautiously, her hands gripping the hilts of her dual flaming katana. "I am having a feeling that might be the work of what saved us" she muttered, her tanned face pale under the weight of what she'd just witnessed. "And am also having a bad feeling that that thing might be Ashiro"
"Ashiro?"
"How is that possible!?"
Suguru and Kyoto gasped with a disbelieving look on their faces, while Hanabi had a perturbed look on her face. It was only Kaguya amongst the rest of the children who had a natural reaction to what Ino just said.
Bang!!
But before anyone could say it do anything else, the ground right beside them suddenly burst open as a creature came flying out of it amidst the dust now flying around. "Everyone, get behind me!!" Lady Naga who is the first to react, exclaimed anxiously as she tightly gripped her small blade while she faced the direction the mini explosion occured.
Not wasting anymore time, Hanabi and the others quickly went behind Lady Naga as Ino stood beside her while she muttered with a strange smile on her face. "I never believed the day will come that I will become an interracial hunter"
"Beats me, just keep your eyes peeled for any slightest movement" Lady Naga replied with a solemn look on her face. "Roger that, captain" Ino said before she put her full attention on the dust that is right before them.
And so, the air was thick with tension as Lady Naga and Ino stood at the forefront, their weapons raised, eyes locked on the swirling dust cloud that hovered ominously before them. Every muscle in their bodies was taut, their instincts screaming at them to stay vigilant. Behind them, Hanabi, Suguru, Kyoto, and Kaguya watched in silence, their bio-weapons at the ready but trembling slightly in their hands.
"Ino," Lady Naga murmured, her voice barely audible over the eerie stillness. "Don't hesitate to go all out as soon as you found any funny moment. We don't know what we are dealing here"
Ino nodded, her dual katanas blazing faintly, the fiery glow illuminating her determined expression. The silence stretched on for what felt like an eternity.
Then it happened.
From within the dust, a shadow burst forth, its speed blinding. The Nexomorph lunged at them with an otherworldly ferocity, its grotesque, slimy form cutting through the air like a blade. Its black hole of a face seemed to absorb all light around it, radiating pure chaos.
"Shit!"
Lady Naga's eyes widened, her body unable to react in time. Ino barely managed to raise her weapons before realizing it was futile—the creature was too fast.
But just as the Nexomorph was about to make contact, it froze mid-lunge. Its tendril-like limbs quivered violently as it hovered mere inches from Lady Naga and Ino, its chaotic form spasming unnaturally. A guttural, pained growl erupted from its abyssal core, reverberating through the forest like a thunderclap.
Everyone stared in stunned silence as the monstrous figure began to convulse. The Nexomorph clawed at itself, its tendrils writhing wildly as if fighting an invisible force. It let out another agonized growl, this one higher-pitched and filled with despair.
Slowly, its horrifying form began to shrink. The black hole face collapsed in on itself, the slimy purple skin retracting like liquid sliding off a surface. Inch by inch, the creature diminished, its alien appearance giving way to familiar human features.
The group watched, breathless, as Ashiro's face and body emerged from the chaos. His eyes were shut tight, his expression twisted in pain, and his clothes hung tattered on his trembling frame.
Finally, with one last growl of agony, the transformation completed, and Ashiro collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily as if he'd just run for miles.
"Ashiro?" Hanabi's voice trembled as she stepped forward cautiously, her cannon still raised.
Ashiro opened his eyes, blinking dazedly. He looked around at the stunned group, confusion etched on his pale face. "What... happened?" he whispered hoarsely before his body gave out, and he fell unconscious at Lady Naga's feet.
The silence was deafening as the group exchanged uneasy glances, the weight of what they'd just witnessed sinking in. And in the middle of such an intense silence, Kaguya suddenly muttered both in curiosity and fright.
"What.... Are you?"
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