Kazik fired shot after shot, aiming for the creature’s weak points. Bullets ricocheted off its armor ptes, but a few struck softer segments of its abdomen or slipped between the chitin shielding its chest. From the wounds oozed a thick, bck ichor. The monster let out a furious roar that made the air itself vibrate, forcing Ren to cover his ears. It was the howl of a wounded beast—pain and rage fused into a primal scream.

  The creature had fully pulled itself from the pit. It was even rger than they had feared—towering like a two-story building. Its swollen abdomen remained embedded in the crater, tethered by a pulsing mass that resembled an enormous umbilical cord. Good, Ren thought grimly—maybe that limited its mobility.

  The beast smmed one of its massive limbs into the ground near Kazik’s cover. The impact sent a wave of shattered earth flying, engulfing the area in dust and debris. Ren’s heart jumped into his throat. Was Kazik still alive? The gunfire ceased for several agonizing seconds.

  There was no time to hesitate. Using the chaos as cover, Ren bolted from hiding and sprinted toward the exposed side of the monster. He felt like an ant charging an elephant. One misstep, one swing from that colossal limb, and he’d be crushed.

  He reached a massive root—no, a tentacle—snaking from the beast’s abdomen into the ground. It was thicker than a man’s torso, pulsing like a grotesque artery filled with greenish light. Ren screamed to steel his nerves and swung his crowbar with all his strength. The metal bit into the flesh with a sickening ease. Bck fluid gushed out in a thick stream, spttering across his face and clothes. It tasted metallic, salty.

  The monster screamed. The sound stabbed into Ren’s skull, forcing him to his knees. But it worked. He’d hurt it. Before he could yank the crowbar free, the tentacle twitched—and then shot upward like a snake. Ren didn’t let go in time. In the blink of an eye, he was flung into the air.

  He shouted, surprised as the ground vanished beneath him. He tore the crowbar from the wound, widening it, and tried to grab onto something—but there was nothing to hold. The tentacle whipped violently, smming him into something hard—likely a jagged rock. Pain exploded across his back. Stars danced in his vision. His knife slipped from his hand, lost in the darkness.

  In that instant, he realized the thing was about to sm him down and shatter his body. He let go of the crowbar and wrapped both arms around the tentacle, hugging it like a tree trunk. Its slimy surface made it difficult to grip, but he dug his fingers into the wound he had just made. The beast howled again, this time clearly in pain. The tentacle twitched, then smmed down.

  The world spun. Pain shot through Ren’s left leg—a crack, likely a broken bone. He screamed involuntarily, but still clung to the twitching limb. The impact nearly knocked him unconscious; his ears rang, and his vision blurred. But he couldn’t stop.

  Howling in pain and rage, he dragged himself up the tentacle and grabbed the embedded crowbar. With all his strength, he tore it downward, ripping through the flesh like a butcher’s cleaver. A geyser of bck ichor sprayed over him, drenching him in putrid slime. The stench of rotten blood was unbearable—he gagged, choking on the fumes.

  The tentacle convulsed, then dropped limply like a severed rope. Ren slumped to his knees, gasping. He was soaked in filth, sticky and reeking. His leg throbbed with white-hot pain. He tried to rise, but colpsed with a cry. He couldn’t stand—either his ankle or shin was shattered.

  Just then, gunfire erupted again. From Kazik’s position, bullets tore through the air, smming into the rampaging monster. Ren couldn’t see it from where he y—hidden by the severed tentacle and the beast’s belly—but he heard the enraged roars and the crack of gunfire. Kazik was alive, drawing the creature’s attention again, probably realizing Ren had attacked.

  I have to help... I have to... Ren thought. He clenched his jaw. His leg was broken, his eyes stung with blood, and he held only a crowbar. But he was still breathing. That meant he could still fight.

  He wiped his face with a filthy sleeve, trying to ignore the sting and nausea. Crawling forward, he peered past the limp tentacle. The sight took his breath away.

  The monster was in a frenzy. Losing a limb had weakened it, but it still had enough strength to wreak havoc. Its forelimbs—like giant scythes—shed out wildly. Kazik must have retreated deeper into the forest, because the creature couldn’t reach him. It smashed the ground in blind fury, crushing piles of bones and the trunk where Kazik had hidden earlier. It was bleeding—oozing from multiple gunshot wounds, and the stump of its lost limb gushed bck fluid. But it wasn’t enough. Not yet. Its gaping maw opened wide, emitting a screech that sounded like a call—or a scream of agony.

  Ren’s trembling hand found the only weapon he had left—a knife. Miraculously, it was still at his belt, shoved deeper into his clothes during the fall. He gripped it tightly. It felt like a needle against an elephant… but up close, maybe that needle could pierce something vital.

  He tried to rise, but his leg gave out. Gritting his teeth, he began to crawl across the bckened ground, dodging bones and debris, keeping out of the monster’s line of sight. Every inch was agony—his leg burned, his chest barely drew breath. He was at his limit. But so long as there was breath in his lungs, he would keep going.

  He reached another thick root—another tentacle tethering the creature to the earth. This one was on the opposite side, away from Kazik and closer to him. It seemed the monster hadn’t noticed the second intruder under its belly, too distracted by the gunfire. Climbing it would bring him closer to the monster’s underbelly—maybe even give him a chance to strike.

  Summoning what little strength he had, he pulled himself up onto the pulsing root. His hands slipped on the slime, but he climbed—every movement a battle. The knife stayed clutched in his right hand. His heart pounded in his throat. He knew this was his st chance. If it failed, they’d all die—him, Kazik, even unconscious Dominik. No one would be left to save them.

  He climbed higher, toward where the tentacle met the abdomen. From this angle, almost beneath the monster, he saw a patch of soft tissue between the ptes of its armor. It pulsed like it contained vital organs—maybe a heart. If he could just reach it…

  Suddenly, the beast moved. Ren nearly slipped, catching himself by jamming his fingers into a seam in the tentacle’s surface. The creature was shifting position, likely trying to follow Kazik. Its body twisted, lifting slightly—exposing more of its underside.

  And there it was. A soft, pulsing sac, veined with red. A heart? A blood reservoir? Didn’t matter. Ren knew this was it.

  With a cry of fury and desperation, he lunged. Ignoring the screaming pain in his leg, he unched himself upward, driving the knife deep into the vulnerable flesh. The bde sank to the hilt. The monster howled—a sound so loud the air itself shuddered. A wave of rot and heat washed over him.

  He struck again. The second stab burst a membrane, spraying fluid. The creature convulsed in fury. One of its limbs smmed into him. Ren didn’t even have time to react. He was swatted from its body like a fly.

  The impact was unbearable. He screamed as something cracked in his ribs—maybe more. A sharp edge jabbed inward, stealing his breath. He nded hard, coughing blood, struggling to inhale. He couldn’t feel his leg anymore—the pain had gone numb. He still gripped the knife, slick with bck blood and slime.

  Above him, the monster writhed in agony. Between the bullets, the severed limb, and now two deep stabs to its core, it was reaching its breaking point. Its body twisted unnaturally, abdomen anchored to the pit while its upper half thrashed. Was it dying?

  It was hard to tell. The monster’s gaping maw emitted guttural, distorted sounds—like it was choking on air or drowning. Its limbs jerked and twitched chaotically. Then, in a burst of rage, it somehow turned toward Ren—and saw him.

  Huge, pale eyes emerged from beneath armored folds, extending outward like telescopes. Ren froze. The eyes were milky, pupil-less, yet unmistakably locked onto him. For a moment, man and monster stared at one another. In those white orbs, there was only madness. And hate.

  The beast raised one of its massive limbs and swung it down toward Ren. He tried to roll away, but his body refused to move. He clenched his eyes shut, convinced it was the end.

  "Nooo!!!" Kazik’s scream tore through the night.

  A burst of gunfire cut through the air, interrupting the descending limb. Bullets tore into the creature’s side. One struck the exposed eye. There was a wet, bursting sound—then a fountain of getinous fluid. The monster let out a shriek so loud it fttened the trees still standing around the clearing.

  Ren felt something heavy nd beside him—Kazik, who grabbed him under the arms and dragged him away with all his strength. The blinded monster smmed a limb into the ground beside them, missing Ren by inches. If Kazik hadn’t moved… Ren didn’t want to think about it.

  Kazik hauled him further, panting and sobbing. Ren could feel his friend trembling—whether from exhaustion or emotion, he didn’t know. Probably both.

  "We’re pulling out! Now!" Kazik yelled frantically, not waiting for a reply. "We’ll kill this bastard from a distance! Just hold on, damn it!"

  Ren barely registered the words. The world spun. His mouth was full of warm, metallic blood. Every breath sent daggers through his broken ribs.

  But he was alive. They both were.

  Kazik rolled them behind a chunk of shattered rock, far enough from the dying beast. He helped Ren sit up and leaned him against the stone. Then he knelt beside him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Kazik looked just as bad—his arm soaked in blood, face streaked with tears and bck slime, his clothes in tatters. And yet, he still had the rifle slung across his back.

  The monster let out another gurgling sound, slumping lower as if its strength was draining. It wasn’t dead yet—but it was fading. Slowly.

  "We... have to finish it..." Ren rasped, surprised he could speak at all. Blood dribbled from his mouth with every word.

  "Shhh, don’t talk," Kazik said, horrified. "Please, Ren..." He held him tighter, like he could keep him alive through sheer will. "Save your strength... I’ll end this damn thing."

  He pulled the bloody knife from Ren’s trembling grip and tossed it aside without looking. Then he reached for the rifle, quickly loading a fresh magazine—one of the spares Ren had found. Tears ran down his dirty cheeks, falling onto Ren’s hands.

  "You crazy bastard," Kazik choked, a broken mix of relief and grief in his voice. His eyes burned. "You almost died... We almost died..."

  Ren moved his cracked lips but couldn’t speak. His vision blurred. He was so tired... so unbearably tired...

  Then the sky split with a fsh.

  For a moment, both he and Kazik thought it was the monster’s final breath—a desperate attack, maybe an energy bst. But the light didn’t come from the beast.

  Just meters from the dying creature, the air shimmered like heat waves, then erupted in a blinding white fre that seared their eyes.

  "What the hell is that?!" Kazik shouted, shielding his face.

  Figures emerged from the depths of the forest. First one—a tall, broad silhouette—then three more, smaller but armed. Ren caught glints of metal, gun barrels, dark uniforms or armor. He couldn’t be sure—his vision wavered, and the light scorched his eyes.

  But he heard voices—muted by the hum of energy, yet unmistakably human. Reinforcements? Had the military come after all?

  "There’s the beast!" someone roared. "You see that, Igor?"

  "Oh, I see it... Perfectly," came the reply, deep and cold, ced with grim satisfaction.

  Ren tried to focus. There were four of them, moving into a battle formation, ignoring Ren, Kazik, and their cover. Their eyes locked on the monster, which stirred at their presence and let out a defiant roar.

  "Disgusting..." a woman’s voice said, icy and sharp. "Let’s end this quickly."

  The rgest figure—an enormous man at the front—let out a guttural ugh.

  "Time to work. Let’s show this meat pile what Awakened can do."

  Ren felt consciousness slipping, but he forced his eyes to stay open. He saw the four advancing with eerie calm and confidence—nothing like the panicked soldiers or even themselves. There was something inhuman about them. Something terrifying. Like hunters, not saviors.

  One of them—the giant—wielded a massive two-handed sword, glowing faintly with a bluish light. He raised it high. The bde burst into blue fme. Ren watched him charge the creature, leaving the others behind.

  "Igor, wait!" someone called out.

  "First strike’s mine!" the giant roared, voice booming with savage joy.