The monster lunged with terrifying speed, its claws slashing through the air like streaks of black lightning. Ochieng barely had time to react—his body moved on instinct, twisting as the razor-sharp talons missed him by mere inches. The cavern trembled under the force of the creature's attack, sending chunks of stone raining from above.
Lin Feng was already in motion, his daggers gleaming under the dim cavern light. He threw one, aiming for the beast's glowing silver eyes.
Clang!
The blade struck—but instead of piercing, it bounced off as if hitting solid steel. The monster barely flinched.
"What… the hell?" Lin Feng muttered, eyes widening.
Cassandra, meanwhile, had activated her plasma pistol, aiming it at the creature's head. A blue streak of energy shot forward, crackling through the air.
The creature turned its head slightly—and the blast vanished into the darkness of its body, as if swallowed whole.
Ochieng felt it.
A pulse.
A strange, familiar sensation—something inside him responding to the abyssal force before him.
The monster wasn't attacking outright. It was testing him.
And then, it spoke.
"You are still blind."
The voice was deep, layered—like multiple entities speaking as one.
Ochieng's breath hitched. "I don't know you."
The creature's blackened tendrils curled along the cavern floor. "You do."
The words hit him like a hammer.
Because deep down, he knew it was true.
Something in his blood resonated with this being.
But there was no time to dwell on that.
The cavern was collapsing—fast.
Cassandra was already pulling at Ochieng's sleeve. "We need to get out of here—NOW!"
Lin Feng nodded. "I don't think we can kill that thing, whatever it is."
The monster's silver eyes followed them, but it made no move to chase.
Instead, it spoke one final time.
"Run. But the abyss will always find you."
Ochieng didn't wait to hear more. He turned and ran, his heart pounding, his thoughts a chaotic storm.
Who was that creature?
And why did he feel like…
He had met it before?
---