Swoosh~
Figures tore through the glowing forest, running like the wind, swerving through the undergrowth and around the trees.
At the forefront were the Medusae, all seven of them, their pearl-like skin slightly blurring as they moved with surprising speed and behind them were the humans, moving at full throttle and yet barely catching up.
'Where is it?' Alderic wondered, his eyes scanning the surroundings, trying to lock on to the creature that was supposed to be chasing them but there was nothing.
Alderic eyes narrowed as he began to wonder if maybe the Medusae were just being paranoid but then he remembered Vaku's words,
'There are no anomalies in Xythris.'
'Xythris is either the name of this forest or the whole area we are in…. And Latin?...'
The fact that the people of this world were speaking Latin bothered Alderic. Latin was an ancient and lost language that barely any humans knew, but Alderic made it compulsory for everyone in his team to get a basic understanding of Latin.
He himself was an expert on the language and it has helped him during many missions while exploring ruined alien planets because once upon a time, Latin was the universally accepted language.
And after arriving here, Alderic assumed they were in another dimension yet he was seeing a race that not only looked like jellyfish but also bore the name Medusae, the Latin name for jellyfish.
He didn't think it was a coincidence, especially considering the fact that Latin seemed to be the general language here.
'I thought this place would be completely different but this…..'
'I'm still lacking information, I have to gather more as soon as possible.'
Rustle~ Crack~
Finally, there were signs of the beast. By this point, the Medusaes were so far ahead of the Humans, it was like they weren't even running together in the first place. The vast difference in pure physicals was distant and Alderic was quickly realising that they might be more of a sitting duck than he thought.
"Commander!" Nerissa called, prompting Alderic to take a quick glance behind. What he saw made him feel intense fear.
Behind them was a creature that looked like a massive caterpillar, its green bioluminescent body was round and massive, roughly five meters in diameter and double that in length.
But its size wasn't the scariest thing, it was its legs, its speed to be exact. The creature's many small legs tapped on the floor, propelling its body and pushing it forward with amazing speed.
It was quickly gaining in them
'This is bad…'
Alderic suddenly realised why the Medusae were running so fast, it was because if they didn't get such a head start, they would never be able to outrun the monster.
'We don't even have weapons that can enable us to fight back…. '
Alderic gritted his teeth, he hated this feeling. He couldn't help but feel like it was all his fault even though at the back of his mind, he knew that even if he had weapons, he still wouldn't be able to do anything.
If the Medusae whose skin were impenetrable by the steel were running from this creature,....
"Run faster!" Alderic yelled as he pushed his body to the very limit, running like his life depended on it because it very much did. Nerissa and Faris were also following behind, the former having no trouble keeping up but the latter slowly lagging behind.
Nerissa was a close combat specialist and her speed was topnotch, unlike Faris who spent more time behind a table or hiding to snipe an opponent. He was the slowest among the three.
Alderic noticed this too.
'I have to do something….' Alderic began to think, his mind running at several minds per hour as he tried to think of what to do.
There was nothing to do, except fight.
'I hope this works… NOEMIE!!'
The moment Alderic yelled in his mind, there was a lull, one that was incredibly short but felt like an eternity to him especially with the threat of the gigantic yet very fast and possibly hungry monster baby chasing behind him and his team.
And then there was a response. It was a link, a subtle link that seemed to spark to live. Alderic didn't wait to confirm if Noemie was truly connected to his mind before he spoke,
'I need weapons!.... Please….'
Then there was silence once again, but this time, there was hope in Alderic's eyes as his gaze locked on a particular place in the distance. He could tell that there was something waiting for him there.
'We'll be cutting it close, but we can manage.'
Alderic picked up the pace even more, leaving his team behind and rushing for the spot in the distance that was known to only him and Noemie. As he ran, the monster gained on them at an increasing pace. It was like an accelerating vehicle and it was obvious that it still hadn't reached its top speed.
'Just a few meters more….'
"Commander!" Faris yelled. At this point, the monster was barely a few meters away from him and the hopelessness of the situation was beginning to settle in for him. Seeing Alderic running in the distance, he couldn't help but consider if maybe the latter was abandoning him.
'No, he would never do that… he wouldn't…. Right?'
Faris' eyes widened in despair as he felt hot hair behind him, that was the breath of the monster, it was hot and it reeked of death and decay. But even as death was about to claim him, Faris kept running.
"Don't stop." A voice suddenly sounded close to him. A figure blurred past him but Faris didn't even dare look back to see who it was.
But he already knew who it was, deep down he knew that Alderic would never abandon him and the tears and slight smile on his lips said it all.
The moment Alderic ran past Faris, he slammed his foot on the floor and leaped high into the sky.
The monster was moving too fast, it hadn't expected that one of its prey would suddenly turn around and run towards it.
And when there was suddenly a man high in the air, his hands gleaming with a dim green glow from the daggers in his hand, the monster was a bit slow to react but it reacted nonetheless.
It opened its mouth, ready to swallow up it's foe, a shriek booming from its mouth,
Shrieeeeekkkk~
Monster and Human clashed.