CHAPTER 12: ABOMINATION
I shove the eggs into Ivy's arms and
screamed.
"RUN!"
And we ran.
We Sprinted.
We didn't even look back.
Actually— I didn't look back.
Ivy tried.
But she's a child, with tiny legs, and she looks like a penguin trying to escape a tsunami.
"AH… AHJUSSI! WAIT M—"
Nope.
Nope. nope. Nope.
I scooped her up mid-sprint like she weighed nothing, which basically she doesn't.
She gasps.
"AHJUSSI!! BRIDAL CARR—"
"No. This is EVACUATION, dumbass."
I threw her over my shoulder like a sack of talking potatoes and kept running.
Behind us?
The cashier is jogging at first, completely calm, Too calm.
"Ah… this again… same dream. Portal, monster, customers screaming…" she muttered.
"But different customers this time since it's Mr. Si Hon, huhk TUAH?"
"mm, hmmm"
Then—
There's a roar.
A REAL one.
The ground trembled.
The parking lot lights explode.
The cashier froze mid step.
Slowly… She turned.
Sees the actual portal tearing open, electricity crackling in the air, a massive monster claw ripping reality apart.
Her face was pale. like she just saw something out of a horror movie.
This is worse than a horror movie.
"Wait. Wait. WAIT—"
She dropped the groceries bag.
Nooooo!!! My groceries!!!
"This isn't my dream... This isn't My DREAM...! SIR PLEASE WAIT FOR ME—"
Now she is sprinting faster than all of us.
Terrifyingly fast.
"Is she an athlete…?" I panted.
Even Vesper looks impressed.
***
After running for like what felt like hours we reached the far end of the parking lot.
Realistically, maybe three minutes, but my lungs felt like they'd died.
I dropped to my knees.
Ivy is shaking in my arms.
Vesper was… running. Gracefully. Like a goddess who forgot she hadn't exercised in ten thousand years..
Then—
I set Ivy down.
She panted like a puppy.
Even though I did all the running.
I then pointed at Vesper.
"You… said the dungeon, portals, and system, or whatever BS…"
Deep inhale.
"…Was supposed to start in three days."
She nodded.
"Indeed, you're correct."
I pointed. At the literal portal tearing open above a CU store, with a side dish of a Bigass claw.
"It's been just ONE day."
Vesper stared at the glowing tear in the sky.
The claw emerged.
The air thic.
The cashier screaming in the background.
Vesper whispered, horrified.
"…Si Hon. Mortal schedules are… regrettably flexible, Si Hon."
"Vesper, I SWEAR TO GOD," I don't understand... What you're saying... I don't know those words...
Then a thunderous roar erupts from behind us.
Ivy clung to my shirt.
"AHJUSSI, it's coming."
The portal widened.
The monster pushes through.
Vesper stepped in front of us.
No glow, no smile.
Only wind whipping around her.
"Stand behind me, and do no waver you three." She commanded.
Her voice drops into something ancient.
"Whatever dares manifest from yon portal… shall be smitten by me. Vesper Aurelia Evernight Moonfall the Fifth, Slayer of beasts, breaker of realms, ruler of the Divine Palace—"
"Wha—"
I was about to tease her. For all that bullshit Title and introduction but, for the first time since meeting her.
She doesn't sound dramatic...?
She sounds serious.
Dead serious.
Like for real…
She held out her hand and pointed it to the portal, and started chanting something.
"Ahjussi vesper is doing something!"
"Explode." Vesper muttered.
Nothing happened.
Silence.
Ivy, the cashier and me blinked.
Vesper slowly lowered her hand.
"A... a moment, if you please… my... Devine power... Refused to answer me."
Then the portal tears wider!
Then a massive bigass claw pushes through first. Black. Scaled. Cracked, glowing red, and like there's something tryna get out.
Then another.
Ivy squeaks. "Ahjussi! it has hands!!! TWO BIG HANDS"
"THAT'S CALLED A PAW. by Google."
She stared at me.
"AHJUSSI YOU'RE TALKING LIKE THE AUTHOR—"
The creature forces its head through next.
And holy hell.
Its face is a nightmare. A wolf skull shape.
But with a bit of a dragon skin, still has fur tho. multiple eyes blinking in random patterns.
Left cheek, right cheek, forehead, jaw, some that shouldn't even EXIST, even... Its eyebrows have eyes!!!
"That's disgusting as hell..." I muttered.
Every single eye opened at once. Stared at us.
"HAAAAAAAAH" it took its first breath.
A wave of hot air bursts out, distorting the space around us.
Every breath it sends out dark smoke, curling around its mouth like a poison fog.
The cashier collapsed instantly.
"OoOoOH HELL NO! That thing was NOT in my dream."
tears start to form in Lila eyes, *sniff, *sobs, *sob. "Wahhhhhh, someone wake me up!"
The monster stepped out fully.
Six meters tall.
Wings are folded against its back, massive dragon-like, and its body has cracked with glowing lines scars.
Its body is wolf-shaped, but too long, too big, and too wrong.
Its paws hit the ground— claws long enough to peel a car open like a can.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Each step cracks the ground.
Cracks across its body pulsing like a heartbeat.
Tudud… tudud… tudud…
Ivy clutched my legs.
"Ahjussi… it's looking at us…"
Every eye turned toward us.
Vesper stepped forward again, unarmed.
"behind me," she commanded, her voice low but unwavering.
"You stand before a Corrupted Beast, a wretched, malformed thing, birthed from mana that has lost all reason."
"FAILED??" I yelled.
"THIS IS FAILURE?!"
Ivy gripped my legs.
"AHJUSSI, RUN!!! Let's run again! RUN PART TWO!!!"
And then.
The beast inhaled again.
Then—
"RAAAWR!"
The sound crushed the air.
A sound so deep and violent like it's abusing me, sucking the air out of my lungs.
Light poles rattled.
Windows shattered.
Ivy screamed.
Vesper braced herself.
And then—
Lila stands up.
Just stands...
She wiped her tears with the back of her sleeve like she's clocking in for her shift again.
She sniffles.
Step forward.
in front of us.
I grabbed Ivy, and carried her.
"HEY!" I yelled.
She raised a finger. "Shh. Let me think."
The beast roared again. "GRAWR~"
The ground cracked.
Ivy clung to me. "WE'RE GONNA DIE!!!"
But Lila stared at the portal.
"…This isn't my dream. Different setting. Different monster. Mr. Si Hon is not supposed to be here."
She inhaled.
Then turned to us.
Calm.
Serious.
"It's fine."
"...What!?"
"Relax," she said. "Don't run. Don't scream. Don't breathe too loud."
Vesper snapped. "Madam Lila, that abomination shall rend us limb fro—"
"Nope." Lila held up a finger. "Trust me."
She looked back at the monster.
"…Something always takes it."
Silence.
"Take what…?" I whispered.
"The monster."
Even the beast tilted its head. "RADAMN!"
Lila nodded.
"Just watch."
————
GAD DAMN LILA IS A Y/N!!!! she must need her CEO.