A tall figure appeared around the corner.
The entity that made the clicking noises stumbled into view, its head covered in fungus twitching with every sharp click.
They exchanged a quick, panicked look as their eyes widened in fear. The normally composed Finch felt his heart thumping against his chest, each heartbeat a warning that a nightmare was about to strike.
The clicker emerges with a jerky, unnerving pace from the curve that leads to the ground floor. Its head was split open and bloomed into ugly fungal growth, grotesquely changing its once-human shape.
Most of its face features are replaced by fungal plates and thick cordyceps tendrils, which make it appear somewhat alien but also blind.
With his hands trembling, Damien immediately activated the Sanguine Arts as his breath seized in his throat. Fear and excitement surged through his mind.
The monstrous human shape, about three meters tall, twisted and ruined, its face ripped open into a nightmare bloom of fungus, it was beyond his comprehension.
Standing just behind Damien, Finch stepped back, his gaze fixed on the monstrosity.
The grotesque crunch of its fungal growths and the jerky movements of the clicker were terrifyingly strange. Every muscle in his body screamed for him to run as a cold sweat spread across his skin, but he believed that any sound could attract the creature's notice.
The clicker stopped and snapped its head toward them.
The clicking became more frantic and louder. Damien's knuckles turned white as he felt his hold on the metal fragment tighten. Finch swallowed forcefully, battling the panic that threatened to overwhelm him.
"Damien," Finch said in a barely audible whisper. "What do we do?"
Though Damien's mind was racing with ideas, he seemed to be paralyzed by the sight of the clicker, which was so real and close. He inhaled deeply and watched it intently, looking for any hint of weakness or a chance to survive this confrontation.
He saw that the clicker's flesh was bursting with tough, bark-like fungi, and that the skin was mottled and decomposing. Its body is covered in fungal growths that give it a hardened, armor-like look in some areas.
That is to say, unless he could trade a significant number of primal energy points for a more potent blood arrow, his blood arrows and the metal fragments they contained would not harm it much.
However, even if he were to do so, it would still be challenging for him to use his current speed to hit the beast from his position.
Damien gave a small shake of his head. He put his finger to his lips and motioned to Finch to keep quiet as he continued to watch the clicker.
Its clothing, which indicates its previous identity as a member of the teaching staff at the school, hangs in tatters and a remnant of its past existence that is now barely hanging on to its emaciated body.
The clicker appeared frighteningly robust and nimble despite its seeming weakness.
Each of its step is followed by a nauseating crunch of bone and fungal growth as its limbs move with disjointed precision.
Rapid, high-pitched clicking sounds come from its mouth, or what's left of it. These echolocation sounds give the air an eerie resonance by rebounding off surfaces and directing the clicker toward any source of noise.
Damien drew on the Sanguine Arts, his expression firm and full of resolve. His eyes shone a deep red, and his veins surged with a dark, crimson energy. His senses were heightened and his reflexes were sharpened as his blood flowed through him.
"Finch, keep your distance and aim for its legs!" Damien said with a voice that broke the tension and alerted the clicker in front.
The abrupt noise echoed through the quiet hallway, prompting the clicker to make a series of high-pitched clicks.
With his hands already filled with metal spikes, Finch nodded.
After inhaling deeply, he steadied his aim and threw a spike with lethal accuracy. With a sickening thud, the metal spike embedded itself in the clicker's leg after slicing through the air.
The clicker's action was momentarily slowed as it screamed in agony. It was obviously different from the earlier zombies and had the ability to sense pain.
Damien took advantage of the distraction and charged forward, his fists glowing red. He hit the side of the clicker with a quick, fluid move, the force of his punch was heightened by the primal energy.
The creature staggered back from the strike, but it soon regained its balance. Its clicks growing more frantic.
"Now, Finch!" Damien yelled out after dodging a furious swing from the clicker.
The clicker's opposite leg was the target of Finch's next round of spikes. Every spike found its target, ripping into the flesh of the fungus and impairing its ability to move.
The clicker let out a wail as its once-predatory grace now diminished to a desperate and unsteady hobbling walk.
Damien grabbed the opportunity and used a lot of his primal energy points to create a single blood arrow. He suddenly grew pale as a result of using up sixty primal energy points at once.
Damien bit his lip and he regained a moment of clarity. Then he lunged toward the clicker, and the pressure caused one of the bottles he was carrying to burst open, releasing a congealed blood arrow.
This blood arrow, which was more than two feet long and half a finger thick, glowed with a dark-crimson light and had a deadly aura.
Damien unleashed it and it struck the Clicker in the chest. Fungal growth splintered off the creature's body as it crashed against the wall due to the force of the attack.
Despite his extreme weakness, the Clicker resisted. Its jaws snapped as it lunged at Damien.
Damien, however, had anticipated its retaliation. He sidestepped the blow and rammed his metal spike into the Clicker's head with a speed double that of a normal human. Spores and shards flew as the impact broke the fungus bloom.
From a safe distance, Finch observed the Clicker's movements becoming sluggish.
With one last strike, he aimed for the fragile and exposed core of the Clicker at the base of its skull. When the spike pierced through, the Clicker jerked suddenly and fell in a lifeless heap. Two blobs of light instantly flew into the duo.
Damien straightened, breathing deeply as the red light in his eyes receding. With a look of relief on his face, he turned to face Finch, who lowered his arm.
"Nice work, Finch," Damien remarked with a slight smile on his lips.
With his eyes still wide from the fight's adrenaline, Finch smiled. "You as well, Damien. Your blood art is truly unique."
With their hearts still thumping from the encounter, they examined the fallen Clicker. Their strained breaths were the only sound in the hallway again.