The air became stuffy. Douma could feel the temperature drop. Was the storm here? Looking up at the sky he saw clouds and a flock of birds nothing unusual.
A man started running up the slope in his direction. He looked horrified Douma wondered why he came all the way here in a panic.
"Don't go in there!" He cried.
"What's going on?" Douma asked but the man ran past him in annoyance.
"Move! I said don't go in there you'll get killed!" The man continued running towards the construction site.
Hmm what's up with him? Glancing back, Douma assumed he was getting help or take cover from what he was warning the young founder about.
That was when something idle appeared at the corner of his vision sending waves of alarm through his veins. It appeared for a few seconds and then disappeared into the tree line leaving no trace of its presence.
"What was that..." Douma could only guess he was not alone in this part of the mountain. The nearest sign of life was miles down, whoever it was had gotten stranded. But why would it hide from him none of this made any sense.
Unless it wasn't even human. There were eerie stories surrounding the isolated areas of Hasu Mountains, even villagers encountered the unseen in their own neighborhood. Douma wasn't afraid but the vibes he got from that figure was unsettling like something he would encounter in another world. He had to check before anyone gets seriously hurt.
As he ran towards the bushes following the trail leading to deeper parts of the forest, Douma heard voices ahead of him. They sounded like a person calling for help. It's a good thing nobody was here, the voices were a trick to lure their victims in.
Soon he reached a lake that was beside a small hut and bridge. The first thing he heard was the sound of crows and cicadas. Dead leaves fell from the trees surrounding the dark murky lake. Douma could only imagine how terrifying this place would look at night plus the voices that stopped.
"Time for some spirit extermination." Douma sneered pulling out a lotus-engraved fan from his pocket. Fanning himself, the young founder took a few steps towards the lake, looking at the reflection illuminated on the surface of the dark water.
A howl came from behind him as the young founder quickly turned around and saw a figure approaching him from the bushes. It walked slowly, keeping an eye on him.
Douma got ready as the creature paused and stared at him. The appearance of this strange animal made Douma want to crawl out of his skin. For something on Earth this would give anyone nightmares for months.
"So you're the creature that was watching me huh?"
Not moving an inch, the creature looked at him with a few whispers and mutters. Half of its face was hidden underneath the coat it was wearing, the same one he saw in the pictures on the newspapers. Douma was disturbed by how it appeared to look like a frail human in the body of an aquatic creature. It's humanoid features alone gave off the impression. For anyone to end up like this was a fate worse than death. If that were the case, Hasu Mountains would be held accountable and Douma didn't want that to happen.
And it won't because Douma sensed something else from it. But he couldn't make out what just yet.
The creature was still muttering, inching closer to him. It sounded incoherent and would sometimes turn into soft eerie whispers. Douma instinctively grabbed the other fan in his pocket and got into a fighting stance.
Immediately the creature screamed and ran towards him, raising its arms in an attempt to hit the young founder. Its cry was so loud flocks of birds flew away from the area to get away. Douma moved aside and braced himself for this creature's attack.
Douma evaded the creature's claw swipe and kicked the creature towards the large tree trunk at the side which broke on impact. Grunting from the pain it felt on the right shoulder blade, the monster got up and moved to the back covering itself with the coat again. This made the blonde laugh at it mockingly it seemed clueless of what to do in this scenario.
"Such a pitiful creature you certainly don't have the capabilities to even fight." Spinning his fan, Douma got ready for another ambush.
The monster narrowed its eyes at the shrine leader. It didn't move an inch from its spot. Douma was starting to think there it was setting up a trap he just had to wait and see but whatever the monster had planned won't work on him. It's no surprise if that ambush was a form of distraction to let his guard down.
Hollow dull eyes peering into him, the monster brought down the portion of the coat that was covering half of its face which now displayed the exact same monstrous appearance in the pictures. Those razor-sharp teeth and facial features resembling a mix between an aquatic animal and an insectoid.
So this was the alien creature that everyone feared. It made sense because of that appearance. Douma was sure there was another segment of its face underneath that fish-like head for a while there he thought he saw another mouth underneath those rows of teeth. Almost as if it had a more docile personality on the outside that allowed it to blend in with people and another animalistic personality waiting to lunge at someone. The way those outer teeth curl up revealing their second mouth was unsettling.
This was shocking, how Earth had such alien-like creatures too but he wasn't that surprised it's not like this is the first time he encountered something like this. The monstrosity was a chicken compared to its otherworldly friends.
"Well let's see here should I spare you or not? That wasn't a nice greeting was it?" Douma said mockingly.
"That's because you're trespassing." The creature responded.
Douma raised a brow at the purple creature. "Oh you talk? That's surprising." Who knew these monsters could speak coherently. For all people know, maybe these were really aliens with high intellectual capabilities. They did give off this extraterrestrial vibe that everyone was taking about. Interesting, humans managed to identify these creatures well before the shrine leader even saw them up close. But that doesn't mean they're welcome here.
Despite the mockery that Douma was making out of the creature, it didn't say anything however Douma noticed something in its hands, a tool of some sort or most likely a weapon that it was hiding. If this same creature was responsible for the massacres in those areas mentioned, than this weapon was about to be used for the very same purpose.
And it just so happens his intuition was correct. The creature raised the staff in the air and sped towards him. Douma used his fan to block the incoming weapon and pushed the creature towards a tree sending it flying backward which it used as a chance to dive in closer with another slash from its staff that missed.
Quickly, Douma jumped up and slammed the creature with his fan. It got up right away and unleashed a whirlwind that was surrounded by all the dead leaves that had risen from the ground. Douma braced himself, getting ready for the creature's next attack that it was about to throw at him.
The creature raced towards the blonde and slashed its claw that created a force of wind sent flying towards him. Douma blocked the attack with his fan and leaped away when another one of the same attack was heading his way colliding with the side of the shed.
Slashes of the staff were continuous against both of Douma's fans. This monster was desperately trying to land a hit on Douma but couldn't, nothing it did was effective. Douma was just too agile, every attack unleashed at him resulted in something else getting decimated instead. The creature couldn't believe that the accumulated force given off by his claws didn't do the trick.
Douma could sense the inferiority from the creature, even at the start of the battle. Until now, the monstrosity wasn't sure if it made the right decision to show up since it could've simply hid away. It's been contemplating about every decision made with its inner-self that demanded it gave in to the aggression and switch with it. Coincidentally, it had already done that, the sudden ambush that happened earlier.
Suddenly, stones and planks of wood from the hut flew in their direction. Douma quickly darted back, surprised to see the objects lumped together before the magnetic force of the staff attracting them went off.
"I wasn't expecting that." With all these tricks surfacing, Douma had to be careful this creature was stealthy too.
We understand everybody's concerns. But it seems we have to start accepting the fact that we're not the only ones here. Whilst these aliens are highly dangerous, safety precautions have been put in place. Nevertheless, we will still find a solution to this matter but in the meantime let's not worry too much about it. Those words rang in Douma's head continuously. He wasn't going to let these monsters get away they've caused too much suffering. Douma moved back after the last clash with his fan and the staff, getting into another fighting stance.
Just then a pair of moist hands grabbed his ankle making Douma stumble towards the lake. Quickly the blonde broke free from the grip and slashed the other monstrosity with his fan.
Now there were two of these things coming after him. Douma smirked and dashed towards the nearest one, getting a hold of its arm to which the creature winced in pain from the tough grip colliding with its friend beside it.
"Another round?" Douma covered his face with his fan and watched the two aquatic creatures that were scrambling helplessly.
"I could literally just end these two in one blow but if that happens the entire mountain will collapse. This is gonna take a while cause I'm on easy mode." Narrowing his eyes at the monstrosities, Douma swung his fans to the back waiting to land another hit on the targets in front of him.
Both monsters stood next to each other watching Douma from a distance. "I don't think he's from around here." One of them, the green creature whispered to the other.
"Never mind that, we have to get him out of here." The two of them were aware that none of their attacks were working on the shrine leader so they had to think of another plan.
Taking notice of Douma's preparation, one of the creatures got up and ran towards him at full speed leaving the other behind.
"Scattering Lotuses!" Douma summoned two large icicles in the shape of lotus petals that sliced right through the creature, cutting it in half. The other one cried and did the same only to be met with the same fate.
Keeping one of his fans in the pocket Douma grinned at the sight of the monsters lying motionless on the forest floor. Dark liquid seeped onto the grass turning the ground into a pool of petroleum.
"You were the ones responsible for the disappearances of those people weren't you? I can't let that happen."
The sky started spiraling. This was the monsters' attempt at trying to confuse their opponent with some sort of illusion.
In response to Douma's taunts, one of the alien's limbs twitched catching his attention. Douma got his fan out again the creature was regenerating at the same time its remaining limbs were joining back with its still body.
This time glowing streaks of ice formed on the areas of its body that got sliced apart by the icicles. An expression of fury and hatred formed on its distressed face.
"Of course they can regenerate how could I have forgotten about that boring old technique that everyone uses including myself? Time to step up the game here." Douma leaped into the air raising his foot.
The creature caught him by the knee and flung him away. Landing steadily on the ground Douma summoned another large icicle that slashed the creature at the side of its head causing it to let out a loud scream. A minor explosion occurred from the impact the icicle had on the ground. The soil temporarily blocked the creature's vision which gave Douma the chance to strike.
Swinging his fan the blonde bolted to the alien landing a slash on its shoulder that went off with a loud "Clang!"
Taking a step back Douma stared at the creature in shock. Its skin was hardening to endure any impact from his attacks. Talk about impressive but it was nothing compared to other tricks up his sleeve.
"I'm not even trying." Douma said to himself.
Letting out a bloodcurdling scream the alien smashed its iron fists into the ground sending crumbles of soil to Douma who leaped into the air swiftly.
When he got down the other alien rushed towards him exposing its sharp teeth that were ready to bite. Douma was unamused the monsters have changed their tactic, it didn't bother him at all he knew what to expect.
The alien released his arm that it grabbed stumbling back its teeth broke upon making contact with it. Nothing could penetrate Douma's skin be it blades, spears or anything that creates a wound.
"Foolish creature," Douma sneered narrowly missing the alien's tail. "It's pointless just give up already!"
Meanwhile the first alien Douma fought dashed to the row of trees at full speed. It pulled out one of the trees by the trunk and spun it around in the air creating a large whirlwind that sent everything backwards. The alien then threw it at the young founder hissing in anger.
Douma quickly ducked down as the third alien approaching from behind him got hit and fell into the lake with the entire tree sinking after it.
So it has superhuman strength... that's interesting but no match for what I'm about to do next. Raising his fan, a gust of cold wind spiraled towards the alien near the trees freezing it in place and covering its entire body with ice. Douma summoned ice stalagmites from the ground that stabbed the creature leaving cracks and shattered fragments.
In a few seconds the alien broke into pieces like a statue collapsing.
"Finally now I can- "
Suddenly the ground below him became saturated like the quicksand from before. Douma's surroundings were flipped upside down the last thing he saw was the bright sky turning dark and murky.
Cries and whispers echoed throughout the clearing startling Douma as he looked around to see nothing but trees and lakes similar to a regular forested area. That was until three humanoid figures started approaching him with the familiar coats and muttering.
"This is another dimension underwater," Bubbles floated past him which meant he was in a different realm filled with water only this time he could stand on the floor without getting pulled to the surface. "I'll just clean up this mess and leave this place it's so dull."
The same walking fish Douma fought earlier casted a dark energy above the ground that summoned two shadowy figures resembling the monsters.
It then lunged at him while the other two followed after it like a mother hen and its chicks. Douma elbowed the alien's head sending it backwards he did the same with the others who fell to the ground in confusion.
From the looks on their faces Douma could tell these new opponents were bewildered by his presence in their dimension. They were the ones who brought him here in the first place they asked for it. Douma didn't even want to be in this secret hideout of theirs.