Everyone who was running aimed straight for the main exit, desperate to escape the vast mansion.
As they hurried, they encountered one of the tall, slender beings with a large mouth on its stomach.
Kyle charged at the creature, utilizing his shield to shove it against the wall and stabbed its head with his sharp wooden weapon.
The others paused, astonished by Kyle's bravery, weighing their options on whether to flee or assist him.
"Don't worry about me, just get to the door, go!" Kyle shouted forcefully, prompting them to dash towards the main entrance, leaving him behind.
However, Kyle could no longer hold the creature in place and was forcefully thrown away as it slammed into the wall, leaving him with a broken left shoulder.
"A human can never triumph over beings like us. Submit, and I will grant you a swift death," the creature taunted Kyle as it readied to strike.
Just as it was about to attack, Kyle leapt aside and made his way towards the main entrance.
Meanwhile, the others continued their frantic escape from the building.
Suddenly, two towering creatures appeared and pulled two of the victims apart.
From the walls, one of the beings seized a man's head with its long arms. The remaining survivors rushed to the trapped man, attempting to pull him free and some began to strike at the creature's elongated arm.
But their attempts were futile; the creature immediately crushed the man's head in its grip.
"Ahhhhhh!" the others screamed as they finally burst out of the building.
Out of fifteen, only seven managed to escape and were now racing towards the main gate, but they were halted by a horrifying sight ahead of them.
"No, no, no, we're going to die!" a girl cried, dropping to her knees in tears upon witnessing the scene before them.
Hundreds of those tall creatures surrounded the building, blocking any chance of escape.
"Your escape plan ends here," the creatures spoke in unison.
Realizing there was no way out, the group stood frozen in terror.
"Don't give up, fight your way through!" Kyle's voice rang out from behind them.
They turned to see Kyle at the entrance, pinned down as he struggled to hold a steel bar against the creature's hand.
"Move! Don't hesitate—just go!" Kyle shouted, fighting against the creature's grip.
They were taken aback by the realization that the scrawny boy they had overlooked, dismissed as frail, and ignored was, in fact, the most valiant among them all. Despite the mistreatment he endured, he continued to make every effort to facilitate their escape, risking his own life in the process.
If someone deemed weak could stand firm against a monstrous being, then surely they were capable of doing the same. This newfound courage inspired them to brace themselves for a counterattack.
**Dooooom**
A horned creature suddenly materialized, creating a shockwave that sent everything, including the group of orphans, sprawling away.
Kyle could only watch in amazement as his friends were thrust aside.
"How irritating; so much energy wasted on something so simple," the massive horned being remarked, casting a long gaze at the towering, belly-mouthed creature before turning its attention to Kyle and the others.
"Listen closely, humans. You are about to become part of something far greater, a purpose that transcends your insignificant existence—beyond the fleeting flicker you refer to as life."
The horned creature's voice resonated with a menacing and captivating authority.
"Your souls, delicate yet powerful, will fuel an everlasting empire, a creation that will endure even longer than the stars themselves."
As it spoke, the horned creature extended its right hand toward the group.
In an instant, they began to lift into the air, terror evident in their eyes as they struggled against its influence.
"Shall we commence?" the creature stated, conjuring a stone egg marked with three closed eyes.
The egg started to glide toward the remaining orphan before coming to a halt in front of him.
"View this not as an end, but as a transformation—a sacrifice for a cause that dwarfs your trivial mortal dilemmas," the horned being added, reiterating its intent.
At that moment, the three eyes on the egg snapped open, and a mouth materialized, gaping wide. Suddenly, white energy surged from the orphans' mouths into the yawning maw of the enigmatic object.
Kyle watched in horror as they were stripped of their souls.
In just a few seconds, the levitating object had drained them entirely, and their lifeless forms crumpled to the ground. The creature then closed its eyes once more, and the mouth vanished.
"And now there is only one," the horned entity declared, locking eyes with Kyle.
Out of nowhere, an unfamiliar figure descended from the sky and began to devastate every towering creature in its vicinity.
Kyle was unable to perceive the figure because it moved too swiftly for his eyes to track; all he could witness were monsters being ripped apart.
The horned being shifted its focus to the turmoil occurring behind it and quickly grasped the situation.
"Vanguard!!!" the horned creature exclaimed aloud.
**Slice**
A powerful attack split everything in its path, annihilating every tall, belly-mouthed creature in sight.
Finally, Kyle caught sight of the mysterious figure that had descended from the sky. It was a woman dressed entirely in black, with a blindfold covering her eyes and two blades in her hands.
She surged toward the horned creature but was halted as it extended its arm to conjure a massive transparent barrier that enclosed both Kyle and the creature within it.
"You are too late, vanguard. Observe as humanity crumbles to nothing," the horned creature declared, telepathically forcing Kyle to float toward the egg-shaped object.
In just three seconds, Kyle found himself positioned directly in front of the horned creature, the egg-shaped object situated between them.
"I commend you, young human. You've become a leader and brought your kind this far. I respect that, but this is where your efforts conclude," the horned creature remarked as it approached the levitating Kyle.
"This is for my fellow inmates that you murdered," Kyle retorted, brandishing the pointed stick he had concealed, plunging it into the horned creature's skull, believing it would be fatal, or so he wished.
The horned creature was unfazed by the attack and continued to gaze intently into Kyle's eyes while leaning in ominously close.
"Your efforts conclude here," it declared just before pulling away and snapping its fingers to reactivate the floating egg-shaped object.
Once more, all the eyes on the object opened, and a mouth reemerged and gaped wide.
"No, you can't do this…" Kyle shouted, but his words were abruptly cut off as the object began to extract his soul from his body.
The horned creature turned to confront the woman in black standing outside the barrier, who was intently observing the events unfolding within.
"Vanguard, the moment has arrived for your kind to witness this realm reduced to ashes. Hell will rise, the earth will become a feast for demons, and we shall once again wage war against the heavens," the horned creature proclaimed as it approached her.
"Consider your position; as soon as this barrier collapses, it will mean your end," remarked the lady dressed in black, her tone icy.
"Such arrogance. The monolith awakens before your very eyes, and yet you cling to the delusion that your kind can resist. How utterly pitiful"
The horned creature replied the lady in black
At that moment, the horned creature heard an eerie scream behind him and quickly spun around to locate its origin.
**Screeeeeeeeeeech**
The egg-shaped object cried out as it started to break apart and flow into the mouth of an unconscious Kyle, who was shaking uncontrollably.
"This is impossible," the horned creature exclaimed in disbelief, rushing towards the object to seize it.
"No, this can't be happening," the creature uttered as he grasped the egg-shaped object, only to be met instantly with a blinding flash of light that consumed him, and the barrier surrounding them vanished.
Kyle's body quaked violently as the object continued to disintegrate and enter him, inflicting excruciating pain until it finally ceased.
The object had completely entered Kyle's being, and he collapsed to the ground, regaining consciousness, but something felt terribly wrong.
His veins began to bulge, his spine painfully extended outward, and his limbs felt burdensome.
Unable to move a single muscle, Kyle sank to his knees, overwhelmed by intense agony.
"Ahhh," Kyle cried out in distress.
Witnessing the shocking event unfold right before her, and realizing its implications in an instant, the lady in black rushed towards Kyle and swung both of her blades at his neck, aiming to behead him.
However, mere inches from making contact with Kyle's neck, a tremendous explosion erupted from his body, obliterating everything in its wake, collapsing the grand mansion, uprooting trees, and sending shockwaves that reached up to a mile away.