Teba led the students and the four knights through the castle hallways. They raced past the bodies of maids, servants, knights, and even gharzthuls strewn across the floor. Suddenly, Teba came to an abrupt halt and held out an arm to stop the others. Four gharzthuls were charging straight toward them.
"Stay put."
"Ok."
Teba grabbed a shield from the floor and swiftly unsheathed his short sword. He charged toward the gharzthuls, beating his wings to propel himself forward. With a powerful shield bash, he knocked all four creatures to the ground. Before they could recover, he drove his sword into the first gharzthul's stomach, then twisted and swung the blade into the second one's head.
Teba raised his shield just in time to block the third gharzthul's bladed tail. He pushed the creature away and severed its tail with a swift slash. Without hesitation, he reversed his sword grip and drove the blade into its head. The fourth gharzthul suddenly pounced on him, but Teba caught its head in his sharp talons and violently smashed it into the ground, crushing its skull.
"Come on!" Teba shouted, motioning for the students and knights to follow as he hurried down the hallway.
They continued racing through the hallways when a flesh-like whip suddenly lashed out and coiled around the neck of a student carrying a greataxe. It violently yanked him backward, prompting him to scream for help.
"Gh-h-help..."
Teba, the knights, and the students turned in surprise, only to face a new type of eldritch monster. Its dark green, scaled body tapered into a long, serpentine tail instead of legs. Four crooked arms sprouted from its torso, each ending in four sharp claws. A grotesque, flesh-like whip extended from one palm, coiled around a student's throat, and tightened its grip. Light shell armor covered its torso, while four glowing green lines formed its eyes. Tendrils writhed across its face, concealing its mouth.
"W-what is that thing?"
The knights recoiled in terror at the sight of a monster unlike anything they had ever seen. Teba immediately charged toward it, desperate to free the student from its grasp. But the creature's whip suddenly morphed into a vicious blade. It snapped the bladed tendril backward in one swift motion, slicing through the student's neck and sending his head tumbling to the floor.
Teba froze in horror after witnessing the student's death. The monster seized the opportunity, extending three additional bladed tendrils from its palm. With all four tendrils, it unleashed a furious barrage of slashes, tearing through three knights and a female student and cutting them into pieces. One tendril struck a male student wielding a dagger, severing his right hand at the wrist.
The remaining students and a knight crouched low, covering their heads as the bladed tendrils whipped through the air above them. Two tendrils suddenly shot toward Tatsu, but Teba swiftly raised his shield and blocked their strike. He advanced on the creature, enduring its furious barrage as he used his shield to block each strike and his short sword to parry the bladed tendrils.
The male student squirmed on the ground, shrieking in pain as he desperately clutched his amputated wrist. Meanwhile, Haru rushed over to Tatsu.
"Come on, Tatsu! We need to keep moving. Hurry!"
With Haru supporting him, Tatsu struggled back to his feet. His gaze shifted upward and froze. Another eldritch monster was crawling across the ceiling. Its broad, horseshoe-crab-like carapace was covered in ten reptilian eyes, while eight arachnid legs clung to the stone overhead. It halted directly above the injured student.
"Look out!" He yelled at the injured student.
Wincing from the agony of his severed hand, the injured student slowly opened his eyes. His gaze drifted toward the ceiling, only for the eldritch horseshoe-crab monster to drop onto his face. He screamed as it latched onto him, driving the bone needle in its mouth into his forehead. A moment later, his body began to shake violently, as though something inside him were struggling to break free, while the creature injected its mysterious substance, leaving Tatsu staring in horror.
The eldritch horseshoe-crab withdrew its bone needle and sprang away. The student's body convulsed as the transformation began. Tendrils burst through his face, tearing his skin to shreds. A bone sword pushed out from his severed wrist, while his abdomen split apart and morphed into a set of bladed claws and five blades coming out of his left knuckles. With a series of sickening movements, the creature rose to its feet. Its head swung forward, leaving it hunched over in a lifeless, unnatural slouch.
"Oh! Oh, dear gods!!"
A knight crawled backward, fear overwhelming him as he watched the student become a terrifying monster. The eldritch student suddenly glanced in his direction. The knight jolted in alarm and tried to run, but the creature rushed him in an instant. It stabbed him with the blades growing from its severed wrist before tearing into him with the bladed claws protruding from its stomach. The knight let out a scream of agony.
Tatsu and Haru could only stare in horror as the knight was slaughtered before them. Then they heard Emi scream and immediately turned toward her. The eldritch horseshoe-crab monster had tried to leap onto her face, but she managed to block it with her spellbook. Its bone needle pierced straight through the book, stopping just short of her eye.
"Help!!"
"Haru! Cast a spell and knock that thing away from her!" Tatsu shouted as he pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it onto his bow.
"A-alright!" Haru stammered. He aimed at the eldritch horseshoe crab, steadied himself, and unleashed a minor mana blast that sent the creature hurtling away from Emi.
Tatsu carefully aimed his bow at the flying eldritch horseshoe crab, focusing on the flesh exposed beneath its carapace. Everything around him seemed to slow to a crawl. He let out a small breath as Commander Corvik's words echoed in his mind. Then he loosed the arrow. It struck the monster's exposed flesh, causing it to plummet to the ground.
Tatsu couldn't believe it. He had actually landed a hit on the eldritch horseshoe crab while it was still moving through the air.
"Oh....Oh! Holy crap! I actually landed a hit!"
An eldritch student crept up behind Tatsu, its blades held high as the tendrils on its whole face spread apart, revealing a gaping mouth. Tatsu glanced back in alarm, caught off guard by the sudden attack, and stumbled several steps away from the creature. However, before it could attack, Emi unleashed a blast of ice from her hand, encasing the creature's body and arms in a thick layer of ice.
"Now, Tatsu! Shoot it in the head!" Emi called out to him.
Tatsu nodded to Emi and swiftly drew an arrow from his quiver, nocking it onto his bowstring. With the eldritch student still frozen in place, he aimed at its head. The creature snarled at him, its mouth gaping open, and Tatsu seized the opportunity, releasing the arrow straight into its maw.
"We need to help Mister Teba, now!"
Teba continued to parry and deflect the four-armed eldritch's bladed tendrils, struggling to get within striking distance. Without warning, all four tendrils swung at him at once. He braced himself behind his shield, but the tremendous impact staggered him backward. His guard was broken, leaving him wide open for the creature's finishing attack.
The creature raised all four bladed tendrils and slithered toward Teba, ready to finish him off. Suddenly, a blinding light burst from Haru's wand. The creature recoiled, shielding its eyes with two of its upper tendrils and pulling them back toward its palms. Before it could recover, an arrow shot through both upper arms, binding them together.
"Now, Teba!" Tatsu yelled.
Teba smirked before dashing forward, beating his wings to propel himself toward the creature. The eldritch monster swung both of its lowered bladed tendrils at him, but Teba blocked the attack with his shield. He then hurled his short sword with incredible speed, striking the creature in the abdomen and sending it crashing to the ground.
Teba leaped onto the fallen creature, driving his talons into its chest to pin it down. Gripping his shield with both hands, he raised it high and brought its edge down against the creature again and again. Finally, with one last brutal strike, he severed its head.
Teba stood motionless, his body weary from the fight. His eyes were shaken by the countless deaths he had witnessed. Tatsu gently rested a hand on his wing, trying to comfort him. Teba glanced back at the three remaining students.
"Mister Teba, we should get going..."
"Y-yeah...you're right."
The four of them suddenly heard monstrous screeches echoing through the hallways.
"We're almost there. The keep is just ahead. Come on."
"Ok!"
The four of them hurried through the hallways, running as fast as they could. Moments later, they turned left and spotted a bricked-up doorway at the far end of the corridor.
"There it is! Come on-"
An explosion ripped through the wall, sending all four of them flying into the opposite side of the corridor. Tatsu, trailing behind them, was forced backward by the tremendous shock wave. He stared in horror as Teba and his friends were hurled through the air and slammed against the wall. His mind went blank. He couldn't move or speak, and he had no idea whether they were still alive or had been killed by the blast.