Belial's body ached from the savage blows he'd taken, each movement sending a wave of pain coursing through him. The Queen's twisted form had finally crumpled to the ground, her bloated body deflating like a punctured balloon. Her skin, once shifting and writhing, now lay still, her grotesque features frozen in an expression of unbearable agony. The battle had been long and brutal, and for a moment, Belial allowed himself to believe it was over. They had fought with everything they had, and the Queen's monstrous form lay defeated at their feet. But just as they dared to think they had won, the ground trembled again.
"Something's wrong," Raven whispered, her voice taut with dread. Her gauntlets, still slick with the Queen's dark blood, clenched into fists as she scanned the chamber. The air was thick with the stench of decay, and the faintest of sounds—scraping, skittering—reached their ears. It was a sound that sent a chill down Belial's spine, a sound that spoke of something far worse than what they had already faced.
Xin stood at the ready, his spear still gripped tightly in his hands, eyes scanning the darkened corners of the chamber. The shadows twisted unnaturally, as if alive, and the faint skittering grew louder. His heart pounded in his chest, each beat echoing the growing sense of unease that gripped them all. He could feel it—the oppressive weight of something terrible about to happen.
And then they saw it. The Queen's stomach quivered.
A low, gurgling noise erupted from within her, a terrible sound that echoed off the walls of the chamber. The air grew heavy with the stench of blood and bile, and suddenly, a mass of writhing, squirming creatures began to emerge from the Queen's open wounds. They were smaller, but no less terrifying—fiends, twisted amalgamations of flesh and bone, each one more grotesque than the last. Their bodies were misshapen, their limbs jagged and uneven, their eyes glowing with a feral, hungry light. These were her children. The spawn of the Volatile Queen, born from the dark, twisted remains of their mother.
"Get back!" Belial shouted, his voice raw. He barely had time to register the shock on Xin's face before the first of the creatures lunged at them, claws extended and jaws snapping. The fiends were faster than anything they had faced before, their small forms darting through the air like shadows. They were no less brutal than their mother—if anything, they were even more desperate to tear into their enemies. Their skin was like soft, bloated flesh, slick with dark, viscous fluid. The sharp, jagged limbs of the fiends scraped across the stone ground, dragging trails of blood and viscera behind them as they advanced.
Raven was the first to react, her gauntlets crashing into the side of the nearest fiend with a sickening crunch. The creature's head splintered upon impact, and blackened blood sprayed across her armor. But even as the first fiend fell, the others surged forward, determined to avenge their fallen mother. They moved as one, a swarm of horrors that seemed to multiply with every passing second.
Xin swung his spear with force, the sharp blade cutting through one of the fiends' heads, but the thing didn't stop. Its body twitched, convulsed, and the severed head was flung back onto its neck. The fiend hissed and continued its charge, now more feral than before, moving with terrifying speed and agility. Xin's eyes widened in disbelief as he realized the creatures were not only relentless but nearly impossible to kill. His spear was not enough to keep the swarm at bay, and he could feel his arms growing weaker with every failed attempt to push back the creatures.
"There are too many of them!" Xin shouted, his voice full of panic. He stumbled back, his spear slipping in his blood-slicked hands. The fiends were everywhere, their jagged claws slashing at him from all sides. He could feel the sting of their attacks, the warm trickle of blood running down his arms and legs. His breath came in ragged gasps, his heart pounding in his chest as he fought to stay on his feet.
Belial's eyes darted around, every instinct telling him that the odds were stacking against them. They were outnumbered, the fiends were everywhere, and each one of them seemed to carry the same twisted hunger for flesh that their mother had. He was struck by a wave of despair, but he pushed it aside. He couldn't let this be their end.
His sword cleaved through the air, cutting down fiend after fiend in swift motions, the dark fluid spraying onto the stone floor. But for every fiend he felled, two more took its place, crawling over their fallen kin in a frenzy of bloodlust. The chamber was a nightmare of movement and sound, the air filled with the hisses and snarls of the fiends, the sickening crunch of bone and flesh, and the desperate cries of his companions.
"Focus! Keep fighting!" Raven yelled, knocking one of the fiends to the ground before stomping down on its skull.
The sound of its head caving in beneath His boot was almost satisfying, but it was short-lived as the others swarmed around them, each one more ferocious than the last. Her gauntlets were stained with blood, her armor dented and scratched from the relentless attacks. She could feel her strength waning, her movements growing slower as exhaustion set in. But she couldn't stop. Not now.
The fiends were relentless. They moved like a swarm of locusts, their bodies contorting and shifting as they attacked. Raven's breath came in ragged gasps, her movements becoming slower as exhaustion set in. She could feel the weight of her armor dragging her down, the fatigue in her muscles making every swing of her gauntlets a struggle.
But he couldn't stop. Not now.
He couldn't keep this up forever.
Xin's spear glistened with gore, but his hands were slick with sweat and blood. His focus was starting to slip. He barely saw the fiend darting toward him until it was too late. It collided with his side, knocking him to the ground. His spear was wrenched from his grasp as the creature's claws dug into his flesh, tearing through his armor like paper. Pain shot through his body, and he cried out as the fiend's jagged teeth sank into his shoulder.
"Xin!" Belial shouted, rushing forward to aid him. His curved sword slashed through the fiend's throat in one clean strike, but not before it had caused deep lacerations to Xin's leg. Blood poured from the wounds, soaking through his cloak and pooling on the floor beneath him. Xin's face was pale, his breathing shallow as he clutched at his injuries. Belial's heart clenched with fear as he realized how badly his friend was hurt.
With his ally down, Belial fought with newfound ferocity, desperate to protect him. He struck out with vicious, calculated strikes, cutting down fiend after fiend. But the fiends didn't stop. They were everywhere—on the walls, on the ceiling, crawling over each other in a maddened frenzy. Raven roared as she crushed another fiend beneath her gauntlets, but there were too many. The creatures were overwhelming them, pushing them back with sheer numbers and savagery.
"We're running out of time," Raven muttered through gritted teeth, wiping the blood from her brow. Her gaze flicked to the motionless body of the Queen, the queen who was now just a hollow shell, a bloated, rotting carcass. But it wasn't enough.
Suddenly, the skittering stopped.
A cold, heavy silence fell over the room. Xin's heart pounded in his chest, the tension unbearable. Had they killed them all? The fiends lay scattered across the floor, their twisted bodies still and lifeless. But the silence was unnerving, the stillness too complete. Belial's grip on his sword tightened as he scanned the room, his instincts screaming that something was wrong.
"It's over," Xin breathed, his voice hoarse, but a sense of dread settled in his gut. Something wasn't right.
And then, they heard it.
A faint, agonizing hiss.
The floor cracked open as the last fiend, barely alive, crawled its way across the stone floor. It was a grotesque, mangled thing, its body twitching with unnatural spasms. Its insides were visible, shredded organs exposed and bleeding as it dragged itself toward the Queen's mutilated corpse. Raven's eyes widened in horror as the fiend slithered across the blood-soaked ground and climbed into the Queen's open mouth, its body wriggling and thrashing as it forced itself into her stomach.
"No, it's not over," Belial whispered, her voice barely audible as she watched the creature disappear inside the Queen's mangled form.
For a moment, everything seemed still. Then, with a final wet, squelching noise, the fiend disappeared entirely, its body absorbed into the Queen's bloated, rotting form.
And then, the Queen's stomach began to swell.
A terrible, low growl reverberated from deep within her corpse.
Belial's blood ran cold as he watched the Queen's body twist and writhe, as if the fiend inside her