Varyan dove sideways.
The creature's claw slammed into the bookshelf behind him. Wood splintered. Books exploded in a cloud of torn pages.
[「ECHO」: Combat initiated. Chaos entity – Level 5. Significantly above your Level 1. Recommendation: Evade.]
*No shit*, Varyan thought.
He ran.
He knocked over a reading table. Chairs. A rolling ladder. The creature tore through everything.
[Chaos signature: 10 feet. Closing.]
Varyan made a sharp left into the history section. Narrow aisles. Tall shelves. He knew this section well.
The creature followed. But the narrow aisles worked. It was wider than him. It had to slow down.
Varyan climbed. Up a shelf, onto the top, crawling along wooden beams near the ceiling.
Below, the creature searched. Its crimson eyes swept the aisles.
*"Order... hiding..."*
It sounded almost amused.
Varyan reached a service hatch in the ceiling. He pulled himself inside, crawled ten feet, and dropped into the corridor outside the library.
[Chaos signature: still inside library. 30 feet.]
He had escaped. Barely.
But his hands were shaking. His heart pounded.
That thing had almost killed him.
And it would try again.