Under the moonlight, US Route 9 stretched out endlessly into the distance.
The woods on either side rustled in the gentle night breeze, the eerie quiet broken only by the occasional chirp of insects.
Siblings Trish and Darry slumped on the ground not far from the burning wreckage of their car.
Their lungs burned with every ragged breath, and their legs were completely turned to jelly from sheer terror.
“Is… is he gone?” Darry’s voice was utterly hoarse as he stared fixedly down the highway.
Trish didn’t answer.
Her gaze was completely frozen on the road ahead.
That rusty, beat-up truck was slowly backing up, coming to a halt on the shoulder just a few yards from their burning car.
The engine died, plunging the world into a momentary, suffocating silence.
Then, with a loud creak, the driver’s side door swung open.
A towering silhouette stepped out, its heavy leather boots crunching dead branches underfoot.
It wore a filthy fedora.
Beneath the brim, a patch of ashen skin, cracked lips, and a sharp, hooked nose were barely visible, illuminated only by a pair of eyes that glowed with a sickly, eerie yellow light in the dark.
It was clad in a tattered leather duster, the hem heavily stained with dark brown spots that looked sickeningly like dried blood.
The figure turned and strode toward the back of the truck, viciously yanking the metal doors open.
Crash!
Several human-shaped bundles wrapped in white sheets tumbled out of the truck bed, hitting the asphalt with heavy, dead thuds.
The corner of one sheet came loose, revealing a bruised, purplish arm.
Its fingers were curled into claws, the fingernails caked with dirt.
The dark figure bent down, scooped up the corpse like a bag of trash, and casually tossed it back into the truck.
Thud…
Next, it pulled a massive battleaxe out from the bed.
The blade was heavily rusted but still possessed a wickedly sharp, jagged edge.
Dirty bandages were tightly wrapped around the handle, and a few strands of dried, matted hair hung loosely from the bottom.
“Run—!” Trish squeezed a terrified scream from her throat.
Operating purely on survival instinct, Darry hauled his sister up, and the two of them bolted into the depths of the woods.
Rustle, rustle…
The siblings stumbled blindly through the trees.
Dead branches whipped mercilessly across their faces, and the damp soil caused them to slip and slide.
Every step felt like walking through molasses; the shock and trauma of the car crash made their limbs feel as heavy as lead.
“Is it following us?!” Darry gasped for air, too terrified to even look back.
Trish cast a quick glance over her shoulder, and the blood instantly froze in her veins.
Screeeech!
The monster was taking massive, terrifyingly quick strides toward them, dragging the heavy axe across the ground in a cacophony of shrieking metal.
In the chaotic light cast by the moon and the burning car, they finally got a clear look at its face.
Its skin was like dead bark, covered in deep cracks and festering sores.
Its mouth was stretched all the way to its ears, revealing a jagged row of needle-like fangs.
There was absolutely zero humanity in those glowing yellow eyes—only cloudy, slit-like pupils belonging to a feral beast.
“Keep running!” Trish shrieked, shoving Darry forward while desperately forcing her own legs to move faster.
But they were far too slow.
The creature suddenly put on a horrifying burst of speed. This story is hosted at g.com.
Dropping onto all fours like a predatory beast, it sprinted after them in a sick, twisted crawl, emitting a low, clicking growl from the back of its throat.
“Trish, what do we do?!” Darry cried out in total despair.
Gritting her teeth, Trish slammed on the brakes.
She spun around, throwing herself directly in front of her younger brother.
“Darry, run!
Don’t look back!”
“No!
I can’t just leave you—”
“I said RUN!”
Trish snatched a heavy rock from the dirt and hurled it at the charging monster with every ounce of strength she had left.
“Come on, you sick freak!
I’m right here!”
Smack!
The rock bounced off the creature’s chest like it had hit a solid tree trunk, not slowing it down for even a fraction of a second.
The monster completely ignored Trish.
It leaped right over her, lunging straight for Darry!
“DARRY!” Trish’s scream ripped through the night air.
Whoosh!
Darry stood frozen in place, watching in helpless horror as the monster launched itself high into the air, its rusted axe raised to strike—
BOOM!
A blinding wave of blazing fire abruptly erupted from the depths of the forest, slamming directly into the creature’s chest like a falling meteor!
“Roar—!”
Crack!
The monster let out a bloodcurdling shriek as it was blasted backward like a ragdoll.
It smashed brutally into a tree, snapping the trunk clean in half and sending deadly splinters shooting out like shrapnel.
Darry slumped onto the ground, a fresh cut on his cheek from a flying splinter.
He stared blankly toward the source of the raging fire.
From the shadows of the trees, a man slowly stepped into view.
He was tall and impeccably postured, dressed in a sleek, black-and-red leather coat.
The tails of the coat billowed around him with every step he took, moving like dark, flickering flames.
His long hair was the color of fresh blood, tied back in a high ponytail, the slightly curled ends catching the firelight with a metallic sheen.
But the most striking thing about him was the magnificent, wildly oversized claymore gripped in his hand.
Blazing crimson flames wreathed the blade, burning so intensely that the air around it visibly warped and distorted.
Trish scrambled over to her brother and pulled him into a desperate, crushing hug, her voice trembling violently.
“Darry!
Oh, thank god!
You’re okay!”
She whipped her head around to look at the man, tears of profound, life-saving gratitude welling in her eyes.
“Thank you, sir!
Thank you so much!
Diluc didn’t reply.
He simply walked past them, his dark coat snapping sharply in the night wind.
His gaze remained locked entirely on the threat ahead.
“Get back,” he ordered, his voice low and freezing cold.
Only then did Trish and Darry realize that the monster, despite taking a direct hit from the fireblast, was slowly climbing back to its feet.
Its chest was scorched pitch black, the bark-like skin peeling away to reveal wet, writhing flesh underneath.
Click, click, click…
The monster glared death at Diluc.
A potent mix of pure rage and instinctual fear warred within its slit-like pupils.
It released a guttural, rattling growl—the sound of a cornered beast.
It tightened its grip on the massive axe, its knuckles popping with a sickening crack.
“Roar!”
With an explosive bellow, the monster vaulted forward.
It swung the giant axe down at Diluc’s head, the blade tearing through the air and carrying the foul stench of blood with it!
Diluc’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
He swung the Blackcliff Slasher up, instantly blocking the strike.
CLANG!
The deafening screech of colliding metal nearly ruptured their eardrums as sparks exploded in every direction.
The monster’s arms bulged grotesquely, thick veins threatening to burst through its skin as it forced the axe blade down inch by inch, fully intending to crush Diluc into dust.
Whoosh!
However, Diluc didn’t budge an inch.
With a swift flick of his wrist, the edge of his claymore violently erupted into a blinding pillar of fire!
“Back off!”
BOOM!
Searing flames roared from the blade like an angry dragon.
The creature was completely overwhelmed by the explosive wave of heat, sent hurtling backward to violently snap yet another dead tree in half.
It barely managed to scramble back to its feet before Diluc was instantly upon it like a phantom.
The Blackcliff Slasher cleaved through the air in a flawless, crimson arc!
Schlick!
The superheated blade sliced brutally across the monster’s abdomen, spraying foul, black blood and filling the air with the putrid stench of burning flesh.
“Graaagh!”
The creature shrieked in agony, stumbling backward.
Before it could even regain its footing, Diluc’s second strike was already coming down!
Crash!
Bang!
Boom!
Flames and steel danced together in a deadly, mesmerizing flurry.
Diluc’s offensive was relentless—a raging hurricane where every single strike was ruthless and terrifyingly precise.
The monster swung its axe in a desperate, futile attempt to block, but Diluc’s overwhelming, crushing power forced it back step by bloody step.
Its skin sizzled hideously under the searing heat of the flames, foul black smoke rising steadily from its cauterized wounds.
“Roar—!”
The monster wailed in pure agony, and for the very first time, genuine, undeniable terror finally surfaced in those beast-like yellow eyes.