There were hardly any better scenarios for a predator to pounce upon a prey than this one. My targets were tired, unsuspecting, and very easily slashed into bloody chunks of meat… The only problem was that, unlike the typical predator, I wasn’t after just one meal here. I was seeking the total decimation of this mismatched herd of beastfolks and humans.

  As such, I couldn’t just rush in. This would definitely cause them to start running in every direction. It would be quite easy to lose track of some of them… And if they ran around like maniacs, then they weren’t unlikely to run into another staircase and really slip out of my grasp.

  I needed to strike swiftly and smartly!

  To this end, I observed them from a distance at first. They didn’t just start resting out in the open, especially since the wall-hating headbutt-maniac was still staring right at them. No… They headed for a room where all of the doors could be shut.

  It seems like they didn’t care, from the broken-down door to this floor, or the fact that I told some of them earlier that this place was crawling with monsters. Either they were too tired not to take a pause, or those I had spoken to had decided to just keep quiet about what I had told them.

  Regardless of what was true, they were willingly blocking themselves off inside a room right now–Barricading every door from the sounds of things. Using the many desks and strange–But heavy–Items to their advantage.

  I doubt any monster at this point in time would have the strength to break through, or if it did, it would probably be too stupid to understand that people were inside there.

  Mmh… How could I get inside here without causing a commotion? I would have liked to meld into the group, but there had been no good occasions to do so. Mmh…?

  I noticed something moving out of the staircases.

  The resident wall-hitter was moving, walking with very small steps for something with such long, slender legs.

  Was that thing actually waiting for them to look away before moving? That’s an odd behaviour that only worked out because they were unwilling to get into a fight. Otherwise, that monster would have definitely been killed.

  The creature got close to the closest door and then… It just stood there, probably waiting for someone to go out the door.

  This gives me an idea. Don’t you move from there, tall guy!

  The room where my prey were hiding, like rats, had three entrances. So I simply barricaded the two doors where the monster was not, so that if something happened inside and there was a panic, the only door that would actually lead outside would lead straight into the arms of a monster.

  “If someone opens this door, you better not let them slip past, understand? If you catch one, I’ll give you a kiss on the forehead”

  I whispered, and I could have sworn the monster trembled a bit at the mention of a kiss as a reward.

  Seriously? Even the monsters are little freaks? Who the hell designed these things?

  I shook my head.

  Anyway… How can I get into this room quietly?

  Through the ceiling

  The ceiling?

  I looked up with a raised eyebrow. Only then did I realise that the ceiling was indeed not as…Solid? Smooth? Whatever. It was made up of lots of squares that did not seem directly connected to one another.

  Huh…

  The squares can be lifted, granting access to a crawling space above, which will allow you to get into the room without any problem

  That’s quite the bizarre architectural choice, but since it benefits me. I might as well say that it's a good choice.

  I found something to stand upon, and lifted one of the squares out of the way, lifting myself into the dark, dusty space above–It was weirdly spacious up there. I imagined that I would have to crawl, but I could technically move while crouching.

  Regardless, I quietly made my way over to the neighbouring room, putting my weight on the edge-things that held the squares in place, which was rather easy with my current feline agility. It felt almost right for me to move around on all four like this.

  The voices of the people hiding inside became clearer.

  “How long are we going to stay here? May I remind you that the longer we take, the more danger we’ll be in?”

  “Listen. We can’t progress like this! Nearly all of us coughed our lungs out while trying to kill the fat lard that was blocking the staircase! We can barely get up these stairs right now! Also, there is no doubt that the higher we go, the more monsters there will be!”

  “Right, right… Then maybe those who aren’t tired can just keep going?”

  “You idiotic bastard… Very well! Why don’t you keep going and tell us how nice it is to deal with monsters on your own? Do you even think? Is there anything in that skull of yours? Is it hollow, or is your cranium solid bone inside out?”

  “You-!”

  “You two are seriously going to shut up before I make you! Go make out in a corner already instead of subjecting us to this!”

  “What’s up with you? What makes you think I would even want to touch this woman with a stick? Did you see those stupid, soft-looking lips?”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “And why would I want anything to do with him? Nobody would be interested in those ugly, big, strong arms!”

  “Goddamnit… I hate both of you from the bottom of my soul…”

  It seemed like the two lovers were still squabbling over nothing.

  “...Just… Keep quiet and take a rest, I’ll stand guard, alright?”

  I waited for dozens of minutes in the ceiling, waiting for all the noises to die down before slightly prying off one of the squares, peering into the room where a single flashlight was shining. The light was not moving, and a change of perspective soon revealed that the one who had said he would stand guard was sitting in a chair–A grave mistake.

  He was clearly tired as well. His head kept drooping downward before he would suddenly jolt awake–Only to restart a few seconds later.

  Now. I just need to hope that no one else is awake, or that if they are awake, they aren’t paying close attention to the one standing guard.

  I positioned myself directly above him. Slowly removing the square before attempting a risky manoeuvre… I let myself hang upside down, only held from falling because I was using my own feet like hooks.

  Feet weren’t exactly perfect for such a thing. They were rather flat, so one wrong movement could easily lead to falling to the ground–My feline traits came in handy, though. Something I would have found rather technical normally was accomplished with astonishing ease.

  I was directly behind the tired man. He was a bald man with the attitude of someone dealing with children whom he wasn’t certain how to act with. Nonetheless, he had clearly taken it upon himself to act as a sort of leader for the group in this difficult and confusing situation.

  …He took too much upon himself, however.

  In one swift motion, I reached for him and snapped his neck.

  Mmh… That one is always so satisfying…

  The crack did not seem to alert anyone. It might sound like a regular noise to some rather than the mark of a life’s end.

  I grabbed the bald man and hoisted him up into the crawling space above, carefully placing his body down before descending into the room in full. I sat upon the chair for a few moments, looking around.

  The light of this flashlight item was indeed quite powerful, even the directions it wasn’t directly aimed at were illuminated… With my feline eyes, just a little bit of light was enough for me to see quite clearly–Or at least, clearly enough not to trip over something.

  My ears twitched, and my tail swung as I wondered where to start.

  There were quite a lot of people in this room, and I wouldn’t want to wake them up too early. However, even if I broke all of their necks, at least one was susceptible to jolt as they were killed, which could easily lead to them kicking someone who was still very much alive. If this happened, chances were that the kicked one would wake up and scream as they realised what was going on…

  It happened to me once before. That time had been a close one…

  I scratched my head here, and eventually headed for the ones who weren’t too close to other people. Sneaking up to them without a sound before snapping their necks with precision. I had always been quite good at this, always managing to get just the right crack.

  In fact, I was quite proud of the fact that I knew how to snap a neck in several ways–I could do it with my hands, from a headlock, with just one foot and the ground, and even with my thighs. I had never done the last one very often. Freaks liked it too much.

  They would probably like it even more right now. This body's thighs were simply majestically large and muscular.

  Slowly but surely, the number of corpses in the room grew. Until I spotted two people huddled together underneath a desk.

  Those two were arguing like they hated each other just a while ago, but had somehow fallen asleep in each other’s arms… This sight was reminding me of my failed romantic life. Thus, this sight was rather infuriating.

  No strong man had ever held me like that–No man had ever held me like that in general, actually! And these bastards are getting lovey-dovey in a nightmare trial of all places? This has to be a personal slight against me or something.

  I decided to leave them for last, getting through the rest without any bumps in the road.

  Let’s give them a good scare before they die.

  I removed the barricades on the door behind which my lanky friend was standing, and moved the flashlight so that it would really focus on the approaching monster, then I picked up something heavy and threw it as hard as I could against the wall, making the lovers jump up in fright.

  They hit their heads against the underside of the desk, but after a little bit of cursing, they noticed the slowly approaching creature alongside the many motionless bodies all around.

  Most of them had their empty eyes wide open. Only sign that, for a split moment, they had been conscious of their death.

  The man was a pretty strong-looking human, and without wasting a second, he grabbed one of those weird wheely chairs and smashed it against the monster, making the slender creature take a step back. It vocalised a bizarre whine of pain in the process.

  As for the woman–I honestly didn’t know what she was. She was either a beastfolk who took after an actual beast instead of an animal, or was a monsterfolk of some kind. Regardless, she looked mostly human, save for a black tail that was longer than she was tall.

  That thing had a rather sharp-looking blade at the end of it, and that tail was very much prehensile, capable of impressive mobility. She swung it at the monster, slashing one of its arms right off and leaving a deep gash in its chest.

  It bled pale blood and cried louder than before, sending spit flying before moving forward again, this time actually running instead of walking.

  The monster tackled the woman against the wall, then swung its remaining arm at the man, but the human was able to catch the limb and, in an impressive display of martial prowess, threw the monster over his shoulder, throwing the creature right onto a desk before repeatedly stepping down on its face until only squelching sounds could be heard.

  He breathed heavily, turning around the check on the girl.

  “Are you al-”

  I plunged my arm through his back, blasting a hole right through his chest.

  The woman was horrified as I pulled my arm back out and threw his lifeless body back, making him spin before he hit the ground like a bag of bricks.

  I casually licked my bloody hand as a cat would, and instead of appreciating the sight, she attempted to stab me through the face… Of course, I wouldn’t be standing here if I hadn’t clearly noticed that her tail wasn’t fast enough to catch me.

  I stepped aside, and with a flashy, completely unnecessary spin, I severed part of her tail, making it recoil as its owner cried out in pain.

  Wide open, I lunged straight at my prey, biting into the side of her neck, tearing out a big chunk of it, warm blood splattered all over my face right as I did so.

  “Aah…”

  Wouldn’t you know, killing like this isn’t half-bad at all…

  I blinked a few times.

  Nara.

  Yes?

  Why isn’t the nightmare ending?

  There must still be survivors… Maybe they weren’t all gathered into this one group?

  I sighed.

  Alright… Where the hell are they hiding?