Chương 23: U-turn.

'It's the same…' Mark thought. 'Those things… they are…'

He recalled the crown-like halo floating above Malarak's head. Back then, the sight of a giant black dragon was too much of a distraction, and because of that, Mark hadn't given its crown much thought. Now that the swarm of monsters started showing something similar, however, Mark began to suspect it had something to do with all the madness seeping into their world.

"These creatures…" Lara spoke. "They are Demon Spawn. To think that Fallen is capable of creating this many..."

Mark wanted to ask what she meant but couldn't find the chance. More monsters jumped in their way, clawing at the vehicle and chasing once it managed to escape them.

Rubble was tossed into the street, and fire lit it up. The lizardmen could spit flames now. Others gained an indescribable boost in strength. Some grew hard shells while some gained sharper claws. Some deformed completely, losing their previous shape and gaining a new one.

The monstrosities were changing, and so was the world. The screams that were previously missing suddenly returned. People took to the streets, leaving whatever hiding spots they previously crammed themselves into.

The buildings were no longer safe, but the streets were no different.

A woman appeared out of nowhere and stopped right in front of the SUV. An instant later her body was flipping in the air. Mark didn't get the chance to slow down or dodge, not without putting himself at risk. In the end, no matter how far he stretched his driving skills, it wouldn't change the fact that he was little more than a novice. In fact, he was surprised he made it this far without running into anything. The windshield still being intact was a miracle after everything they went through.

Nevertheless, his good luck, if it could even be called that, was bound to run out at some point. That point was fast approaching. Driving through the desolate streets was difficult enough, but then the city had to change and become a nightmarish wasteland.

The darkness that swallowed the world was unlike anything he had experienced before and the SUV's headlights barely showed a couple of meters ahead of them.

Despite his desperate attempts to remain focused, Mark felt his eyes giving in with each second. In front of him was a destroyed yet normal street. He blinked once, and when he opened his eyes, he found himself driving through the dirt road of an untamed mountain path.

Strange rock formations jutted out in their path, their shapes sharp and spiky. As he tried to evade them, Mark almost drove the car into a fissure. Doing a U-turn, he found himself face to face with one of the monsters chasing after them.

The beast looked like a mutated giant boar. A crooked halo floated over its head, and its tusks shined with an ominous red glow. There were no corners to turn, and the ditch behind them made it impossible to retreat. They weren't even allowed to stop.

There was no time to think, and before he could come up with anything, Mark felt his body thrust forward and his field of vision go white. There was a floating sensation and the world went silent for a second. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, but then time returned to its usual flow. There was a second impact, and a third one, then darkness took over.

~[ ]~

[Lara has defeated Malarak's Spawn (Fiend).]

[+25 AP]

[Lara has defeated Malarak's Spawn (Fiend).]

[+25 AP]

[Lara has defeated Malarak's Spawn (Fiend).]

[+25 AP]

[+30 AP]

[+40 AP]

[+35 AP]

[+15 AP]

[+40 AP]

[+45 AP]

Notifications popped up one after the other, gradually bringing focus back to Mark's blurry vision. As his mind struggled to boot up even with the sharp pain spreading across his body. It was then that he realized he was hanging upside down.

His mind struggled to recall what had led him to this situation. The demonic boar had sent the vehicle flying, and after flipping a couple of times, it landed on its roof. The airbag activated after the first impact, but it could do nothing about what followed. Mark was glad he hadn't neglected to put on the seatbelt even amidst all the chaos. Without it, he probably would've been thrown out of the car, though he couldn't determine if it was that bad of an outcome.

[+25 AP]

[+30 AP]

[+40 AP]

[+30 AP]

"La…ra…"

The notifications continued to flash in his field of vision one after the other. Mark tried to look around, fighting through the pain. Something slammed into the ground right beside his window. Fear overtook him for a moment before he saw that it was the beheaded corpse of a monster. A lizardman.

The beastly howls, growls, and cries reached his ears, some filled with anger and rage, others fear and pain. Quickly forming an idea of what was happening outside, Mark fought through the pain and removed the seatbelt. Doing so was a bad idea as he ended up falling on his head. Thankfully, he was already in pain so a little more didn't bother him too much. Gritting his teeth, he pushed himself out of the car one inch at a time. He forced himself not to look at the seats in the back, afraid to see what happened to the little children he left there.

Everything was on fire and corpses littered the ground. Keeping close to the beheaded corpse of a lizardman, Mark did his best to ignore the stench of blood and tried to look around. Something flashed through the chaos, and everywhere it went, crimson fountains burst into the air. It formed something akin to a boundary, one that, if crossed, nothing but death awaited.

That did not stop the demented monsters, however. They kept rushing toward the boundary with frenzied fury, uncaring about the certain death that awaited them. The more perceptive among them led with fire and stone, but none seemed to reach its target, instead devastating their own ranks.

Seeing the hoard of monsters struggling to advance, one would think there was an army of fearless warriors standing in their way. There was no army, however. Only a single maid stood in the face of chaos, the spear in her hand reaping lives in every direction it went.