Who?!
The voice that suddenly sounded in his mind stunned Aiden. He immediately looked around, but other than him and the monster in front of him, there was no one else.
"Stop looking! Run! I can't hold on any longer!"
The voice sounded in his mind again with a hint of weakness. As soon as it finished speaking, Aiden clearly saw the monster in front of him suddenly tremble violently.
No matter how stupid he was, he knew that the owner of the mysterious voice had controlled the monster, and he had already reached his limit.
Without any hesitation, Aiden turned around and fled like a madman. He didn't know where he got the strength from, but his legs, which had been weak from fear, seemed to have an endless amount of strength as he quickly fled the forest.
It was already dusk, and there were more people in the park, but no one was paying attention to the grove. Even so, Aiden relaxed when he saw this. His heart relaxed, and exhaustion and weakness spread throughout his body. He could no longer hold on. He staggered and fell to his knees, panting heavily.
"I-I'm saved…"
Recalling the previous scene, Aiden's heart palpitated again. The disgusting taste from before seemed to still be lingering in his mouth. He could not help but lie on the ground and retch. It took him a long time to calm down. He forced himself to stand up and walked towards the crowd.
"You can't go there!"
Just as he stood up, the mysterious voice appeared again, carrying deep fatigue and anxiety.
"You can't let anyone see you like this, or you'll still be in danger!"
"Why?" Aiden was puzzled. Wasn't he supposed to seek help from others first? Even if the monster caught up, there were so many of them. So many people could surely match it, right?
As if guessing his thoughts, the mysterious voice was silent for a moment before saying, "There are monsters among those people. Once you're exposed, you'll die even more miserably!"
"What?!"
Aiden was stunned. He looked at the crowd with fear in his eyes. If it was really as the voice had said, there were monsters in the crowd. If he ran out so rashly, he might really be in danger.
"Then, then what should I do?" Aiden hurriedly asked. At this moment, he had an inexplicable sense of trust in the owner of the mysterious voice that had saved his life. No matter what the other party's motive was for saving him, it was better than being sucked dry and eaten by that disgusting monster. He did not want to experience that bone-deep pain again.
"Find a place to hide first. Remember, no matter what, you can't tell anyone about what happened to you just now, not even your family. Unless you want to die!"
The tone of the voice was very serious and full of foreboding, especially when he said the word "death". There was no threat at all. It was as if he was talking about something that would definitely happen.
"Okay, okay."
Although Aiden didn't understand, he still agreed immediately. However, the mysterious voice seemed to have disappeared. No matter how he called out, there was no response.
"Who on earth…"
Aiden muttered to himself. However, the most important thing now was to find a place to hide and not attract the attention of passersby.
He came to a relatively remote public toilet in the park. After making sure that there was no one around, he found an empty spot and crawled in. Although the stench inside was unbearable, the narrow space gave him a sense of security.
Exhausted, he sat on the toilet lid and recalled everything that had just happened. Aiden couldn't help but feel confused. Even now, he still felt that everything that had just happened was so unreal.
Lily Avril… the publicly acknowledged goddess of Lefa University, the best partner that countless boys yearned for, had suddenly become a man-eating monster?!
How could anyone accept this? Aiden was even more willing to believe that the Lily he was dating was not her in the first place, but a monster in disguise. It was just like the story of Little Red Riding Hood, where the wolf ate her grandmother and pretended to be her grandmother.
Was that really the case?
There was something odd about Lily today, but there was no doubt that her way of speaking and her memories were of Lily herself. Could it be that Lily Avril herself was a monster that no one had ever discovered?
And what did the word 'Priest' mean? Why did the monster in front of him not react at all when the light appeared? It was as if only he could see the light.
There were too many unanswered questions that made Aiden's mind chaotic. He leaned against the wall of the toilet exhausted and only got up to leave when it was completely dark outside.
At this moment, the wetland park had regained its tranquility. There was almost no one in sight, but this made Aiden even more afraid. He kept feeling that there seemed to be some terrifying monster hiding in the darkness that could pounce on him and tear him apart at any moment.
Just like that, he was on tenterhooks all the way until he saw the familiar house in front of him. Only then did he relax.
At the moment, the lights in the living room of the house were on. Aiden thought that perhaps his parents had been worried that he wouldn't be back so late, so they hadn't rested. However, just as he was about to push open the door and enter, the warning of the mysterious voice from earlier in the day suddenly flashed through his mind.
"No matter what, you can't tell anyone what happened to you just now, not even your family. Unless you want to die!"
Aiden shivered and subconsciously loosened his grip on the doorknob. After hesitating for a long time, he decided to listen to the mysterious person's warning. Before he figured out everything, it was better to hide what had happened today.
Taking off his shoes, Aiden tiptoed to the backyard and climbed up the pipe to the bedroom. He gently opened the window and entered the house. He changed out of his tattered clothes and wiped the blood off his face. After making sure that there was nothing unusual, he jumped out of the window and returned to the main door.
Dong dong dong…
Aiden knocked on the door and footsteps came from inside the house. The door opened, and a middle-aged woman in pajamas poked her head out. When she saw who it was, she first heaved a visible sigh of relief, and then her face immediately darkened.
"Why are you back so late?!"
"I sent my classmates home, so I'm a little late."
Aiden scratched his head and smiled awkwardly.
"What? A female classmate?" An excited male voice came from the room. Then, a middle-aged man with a big belly walked over and looked at Aiden with a smile, his eyes filled with anticipation.
"Good boy. How was your date today?"
Aiden looked at his familiar parents in front of him. The fear in his heart instantly turned into grief. He wanted to tell them what had happened today countless times, but when he thought of the mysterious person's warning, he stopped. He gritted his teeth and gently pushed his parents away.
"I'm sorry. I'm very tired. Let's talk about it tomorrow."
As he spoke, he went upstairs to his room. After locking the door, he heaved a sigh of relief.
After calming himself down, Aiden lay on the bed, exhausted.
After his thoughts calmed down, he sensed that something was wrong. He clearly felt that he was about to be crushed by the monster earlier, and a large piece of his flesh had been rubbed off by the tentacle when he was struggling, but why didn't he feel any special pain along the way?
He lowered his head and carefully examined the wound on his waist. Because his skin had torn off, the wound looked a little hideous and blood-red. However, after careful examination, Aiden discovered that the wound was actually healing slowly, as if his body was repairing itself. Although it looked slow, compared to the self-healing speed of the human body, it was dozens of times faster. According to the current speed, the wound would probably recover as good as new overnight.
This discovery caused Aiden's heart, which had calmed down, to pound violently once more. As he recalled the warm sensation from before, the doubts in his heart grew.
"What's going on… Could it be that… I've become a monster too?"
Aiden felt uneasy. His heart throbbed when he thought of the hideous monster from before. If he had to become that disgusting and terrifying monster, he would rather be killed by it.
At this moment, the void in front of him flickered with light again. Then, the word 'Priest' appeared and floated quietly in the void.
"What the hell is this?"