Their speed was terrifying—so fast that the eye couldn't follow, so swift that even sensing their exact position felt impossible.
Maan leaned closer, his voice barely a whisper.
"Are they gone…?"
Before the words could fully escape, Siya's hand clamped over his mouth. Her eyes widened—not in fear, but in warning.
Too late.
Something had already sensed them.
Right in front of Maan… it appeared.
Not walked. Not emerged.
It was just there.
Its face hovered inches away from the invisible barrier that concealed them. Those hollow, pitch-black eyes—empty yet endless—stared directly through the unseen wall, as if reality itself meant nothing to it.
Maan stopped breathing.
What stood before him was not a creature… it was a nightmare given form.
A half-rotted face, with chunks of decaying flesh slipping off to reveal bone beneath. Jagged, razor-like teeth protruded from its mouth, capable of shredding anything into dust. From the center of its forehead rose a twisted horn, pulsing faintly with dark energy.
Its body was grotesque—four arms, two massive legs… and from its back extended writhing tentacles, dozens of them, moving with a hunger that felt alive. Not for flesh… but for something deeper.
Souls.
Maan's mind froze. His body refused to move.
Then—suddenly—the creature turned away.
Siya didn't waste a second.
Inside her mind, her voice reached Andy.
"Start digging. Now. A tunnel—far, fast, and deep. We need to get out of here."
Andy moved instantly.
Faster than any machine, faster than logic—his hands cut through the ground as if it were nothing. The tunnel began to form at an impossible speed.
"Move!" Siya whispered sharply. "Now!"
Everyone rushed in.
But the moment their feet touched the tunnel—
The hunters knew.
They smelled them.
A horrifying chorus of shrieks erupted behind them. The invisible barrier began to crack under relentless force as the creatures slammed against it, again and again.
Siya and Ali joined Andy, accelerating the tunneling process. Dirt and stone tore apart as they pushed forward with urgency.
Then—
Siya heard it.
Footsteps.
Closing in.
Her voice cut through the chaos.
"Faster! They're here—!"
And suddenly…
Silence.
A suffocating, unnatural silence filled the tunnel.
Siya raised her hand, signaling everyone to stay still.
She stepped forward.
One step.
Another.
And then—
A piercing scream shattered the silence.
From the darkness, one of them lunged.
Its tentacles lashed out violently, striking toward Siya with deadly precision. They moved like living blades, aiming to pierce, to tear, to consume.
"Don't stop!" Siya shouted. "Keep moving!"
She dodged, twisting through the narrow space, narrowly avoiding each strike. Her focus sharpened—not on defense, but on ending it.
One tentacle shot straight toward her abdomen.
In a split second—
She grabbed it.
And tore it apart.
A scream erupted—not from Siya, but from the creature.
The sound echoed like a signal.
More were coming.
Siya's eyes hardened.
Before the creature could strike again, she moved—swift, precise, unstoppable. One by one, she severed its tentacles. Then, with a final motion—
Its head came off.
The body collapsed instantly.
But there was no victory.
Only urgency.
"They're too many," Siya said, her voice steady but sharp. "We can't waste time fighting. We disappear."
She turned to Andy.
"Create another tunnel—here."
Then to Ali—
"You too. Two tunnels at once."
Without hesitation, all three began digging—multiple tunnels branching in different directions.
A trap.
Or an escape.
Within moments, they regrouped.
"Andy," Siya ordered, "an invisible chamber. Now."
He obeyed.
In mere seconds, a hidden cave formed around them—sealed, silent, unseen.
They slipped inside.
And waited.
Then it came—
A storm of noise.
Shrieks. Footsteps. Chaos.
Dozens—no, hundreds—of those creatures arrived above. Without pause, they rushed into the tunnels… splitting, chasing, hunting shadows that were no longer there.
The ground trembled with their movement.
But the chamber held.
Still.
Silent.
Hidden.
Minutes passed like hours.
Then—
Nothing.
Siya signaled.
They moved upward, emerging carefully from the ground.
The air felt different.
Alive.
They had escaped.
Barely.
Maan exhaled slowly, his heartbeat still racing.
"We survived…"
Siya didn't respond immediately.
Her eyes scanned the distance, alert… calculating.
This wasn't over.
Not even close.
Because now they knew—
They weren't just being chased.
They were being hunted.