Daisuke slowly rose to his feet, his pulse thundering in his veins at Reginald’s ominous words. For a moment, the transmutation circle and the abomination it sculpted didn’t matter. All he could think about was the wretched fate that awaited him and the others because they stepped out of line.

  “I was fully aware of your deception from the very beginning,” fessed Reginald with a wicked smile. “But I didn’t mind; what intrigued me was the mysterious aura you exuded—it was like you were an enigma, some sort of anomaly.

  You thought you were taking advantage of me, but I’m afraid it was quite the other way around. I had a hunch that keeping you close would somehow lead to a breakthrough in my work. And,” he grinned widely as a feral and menag roar echoed from the materializing monster, “it seems I was correct.”

  The man’s final set of words entered Daisuke’s ears in an uone as he sprinted out the door and down the long corridor.

  Reginald, oher hand, had no room for fear. He felt nothing but gratification for his creation and was reassured that the master-sve dynamic woven into the transmutation formu would win him plete fealty of the chimera. A hearty chuckle erupted from his throat, his eyes gleaming with anticipation for the impending cataclysm he was destio unleash upon the royal capital.

  “Yes! I’ve finally do! You’re the culmination of turies’ worth of blood, sweat, and researow I’ll finally be able to show them! I’ll let them regret the day they decided to tarnish my family’s honor!”

  Standing at an imposi of over two meters, the grotesque, humanoid creation loomed over its ecstatic creator. Its visage resembled an unfathomable abyss while a pair of bzing red eyes seethed with tangible fury. Whether fueled by the malice inald’s mother, the collective loathing of his young victims, or simply driven by the instincts of a mindless beast, the abomination surged toward its maker in a grisly assault.

  Reginald’s breath caught in his throat as he was forcefully ko the ground, pinned beh the weight of a massive, spiny arm. Razor-sharp cws gradually tore into his flesh, pierg skin and muscle as the fieed relentless pressure.

  “Keuuugh!” Reginald cried out in dismay. “Wh-what do you think you’re doing, you fool?! I created you! I’m your master, so why aren’t you obeying me?! Uwwaahhhk!”

  A blood-curdling scream erupted from his throat as two rows of deadly teeth cmped down around his arm. With a wreng pull of its thick, elongated neck, the limb began to tear at the elbow, sending waves of mind-shattering pain c through Reginald’s body. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he writhed in agony, his bulging eyes refleg a maze of veins.

  CRICK-CRACK!

  The bone suddenly shattered, followed by the siing sound of muscles, tendons, veins, flesh, and skin tearing apart like pstic. A geyser of blood erupted forth, baptizing the monster in a bitter twist of fate.

  Unyielding lines of terror and anguish creased Reginald’s face as he frantically clutched the injured arm, attempting to stem the gushing blood. His plexion paled as he peered into the dark abyss of the creature’s maw, watg in horror as its blood-smeared teeth tore the limb to shreds before it disappeared down its throat. Then the beast let out a hiss, fiery eyes locked onto the remaining arm of its squirming prey.

  “Hiiiick!” Reginald squealed like a pig.

  All of a sudden, the beast ss head to the side. A reptilian tail armed with spikes shot out like a whip to atta uninvited guest. It let out a pained shriek, however, when the appendage was severed and fell limply to the ground.

  “W-Winston!”

  At the desperate call, the butler clicked his tongue discreetly. He’s lost quite a bit of blood; I o finish this quickly.

  The beast looked on, enraged by the injury while Winston simply smoothed his slick, permed hair bato pce, his expression dreary. His unassuming demeanor then transformed into that of a warrior as he uhed a long knife cealed within his jacket. Without hesitation, he charged at the monstrous abomination that Reginald’s ambitions had brought forth. The csh was fierce, a dance of primal painst calcuted precision.

  Again and again, without missing a beat, Winston’s bde met the armored scales coating the creature’s body with a resounding g—jugur, wrists, sor plexus, knees, and the tendons behind the ankles, but not oack mao properly find its mark.

  Uerred, the man’s eyes darted across the beast’s hulking form, seeking vulnerabilities. A gap caught his attention—a slender openiled between the protective ptes at the base of the torso.

  In a blur, Winston closed the distance again, his long legs propelling him across the room. Striking with a lethal focus, he aimed for the oint. However, his knife’s durability had waned from the previous flurry of attacks.

  PINGG!

  The bde shattered upon impact against the unyieldiher that sat beh the scales. Time seemed to stretch as if suspended in a void. In that moment, Winston’s fate was sealed. The scattered fragments of stainless steel from the kill spiraling mid-flight, reflected his crumbling nonce.

  The sight of his body being torn asunder shimmered in Reginald’s widened eyes, a haunting realization of the sequences of his as.

  Suddenly, the creature’s head snapped around, its expression ravenous as it closed in on its unfinished meal. Then, a gut-wreng scream echoed from the heart of the b, apanied by the gruesome sounds of breaking bones and rending flesh.

  ***

  Thousands of miles away, a figure cloaked in shadows stood, extrag his sword from the eye socket of a lifeless corpse. As he stood amidst the aftermath of a bloody battle, a subtle disturbance resohrough the metaphysical vessel of his power, akin to ripples in a bowl.

  “...One of my puppets just had its strings severed,” he mused with indifference, his gaze casually drifting to the side.

  ***

  Drunken eyes, a perverse smirk, brutish hands—her mind trembled in recolle. Unwele words, suffog closeness, and the btant disregard of her boundaries and innoce—these haunting memories surged through her mind like an unyielding tempest.

  Despite her efforts to quell them, they surged forth with even more iy, sending shivers of disfort rippling through her body. Suddenly, amidst the turmoil, a pained scream shattered the silence, jolting Sheba from her nightmarish stupor.

  CRASH!

  The backdoor of the barn house swung open, unleashing chaos as two guards burst in, their faces torted in terror. Around them, the residents of the crude dwelling stirred from their slumber, their faces drained of color as the ghastly chorus of bones crag and flesh tearing echoed through the night.

  One guard leaned against the door upon smming it shut, desperatioched in his features. “You fool!” he barked at the other man. “Quickly, get something to block the—”

  BOOOM!

  A sed explosion echoed, sending shockwaves of panic rippling through the trembling onlookers. A monstrous arm burst through the door, seizing the guard in its deadly grasp and tearing him mercilessly through the splintered wood. As his agonized screams pierced the night, his sword tumbled to the ground, nding amidst the tehering of Beastfolk.

  The guards’ scheme to unleash the chimera upon the sves and flee during the age noeared nothing but a desperate fantasy. Aware of the folly of their pns, the remaining guard brandished his sword at the approag beast, its menag presence creeping closer with each passing moment.

  In the midst of his kins’ panicked cries, a youth retrieved the sword and leveled it at the snarling creature. Under normal circumstahe guard would’ve ed him to a post outside and shed him in the presence of his people for being in possession of a on. But now, fag immi danger, such distins were trivial. Death did not discrimiween races, and the guard khis all too well.

  As another Beastkin frantically scoured for any sembnce of a on, Feng sprang into a. A single gold him the odds were firmly stacked against them; opposing the beast wasn’t a solution, but simply a distra.

  He clicked his tongue in frustration when he realized that all the horses were paralyzed by fear. Dammit, they’re pretty much useless in this state!

  “Everyone!” his voied, anding attention. “Get outside, now!”

  Driven by panic, the sves began to flee, leaving behind the valiant few who stood against the creature. As the buildiied in a panicked frenzy, Sheba’s senses suddenly honed in on April’s fallen form he doorway.

  Within moments, a flicker of crimson emanated from withiructure, signaling the advang threat. Sheba’s heart quied, a heady mix of dread aermination c through her veins as she reminisced about her mother and siblings.

  As her quivering gaze lingered on the helpless child, a silent vow echoed in her mind. She refused to let fear paralyze her again, knowing all too well the sequences of ina. With a shaky breath, she darted forward, her steps fueled by a newfound resolve.

  When she reached April’s side, the iy of the creature’s presened closer, its ominous eyes pierg through the darkness. Sheba’s pulse raced, her trembling hands reag out to lift the girl from the ground. Then she cradled the child in her arms, a surge of protective instinct flooding her senses.

  Every fiber of her being screamed to escape as she bolted toward the others, yet a gut feeling told her fleeing together was utterly futile. The creature’s relentless pursuit echoed behind her, gaining ground, its presence a looming shadow.

  With a heavy heart, Sheba gently lowered April to the ground, her voice urgeinged with sorrow as she urged the girl to run.

  “B-But what about you?” the child protested, her fingers ched into defiant fists as tears welled up in her eyes.

  “I’ll distract it while you escape with the others,” Sheba reassured with a smile. “Please hurry! Run as fast as you ! There’s not much time!”

  “No!” April shouted stubbornly, her face turning red. “You’re lying!”

  Sheba’s gaze shifted, finding so the sight of Aldric rag toward them to forcefully pull the girl to safety. With a fleeting moment to spare, she sought out Feng’s eyes, a bittersweet smile pying upon her lips, veying a blend of remorse and gratitude.

  In a hushed tone, she slurred the words, “Find them for me.”

  Feng’s eyes widened in arm. “Sheba!” his cry pierced the chaos, determination propelling him forward. Yet his momentum faltered as the creature’s limb desded like a bde, its lethal cws finding their mark.

  Fear of monsters & the unknown: 20.2%