Nightmare Mythos

Chapter 22: Prelude

Cesar felt every hair of his skin stand up, unable to contain anymore the surprises and the shivers he just witnessed. The corrupted appeared eerily sentient enough, clearly mocking them, and did the disappearance trick to further insult their capabilities.

It was hunting them now.

Cesar trusted his guts more than ever, not doubting the sense of danger he was feeling. Now that his senses were heightened, he had no choice but to do so.

The group acted swiftly. Whatever Cesar was thinking, they understood it all too well.

When something like this happens, they make protocols. In a situation where they needed to form a group swiftly while the person in charge was far from them, they had thought of an optimal formation at that moment.

The squad immediately circled around Quentin, who started hoisting up a flare gun placed on his back. Loading it with a shell, he raised it above and clicked the trigger.

Phew—!

The flare shot up through the sky, signaling their position to Alms and Chin, hopefully, to come to them as soon as possible.

After all, when the document was given to them, it was heavily highlighted that they must seek help right away instead of confronting relating to a Nightmare problem, even if it was a Corrupted Human.

'Calm down, just think,'

The disappearance of the corrupted took him off guard, and swiftly made him re-evaluate the threat that was just looming around the corner

'It looked sentient enough and its speed was insane that even Jacqueline couldn't even follow it with her eyes. The way she also worriedly looks around proves this point. It might be a Level Three Corrupted,'

Corrupted Humans had a ranking on their own. Unlike Nightmares which were still full of mysteries, these type of monsters had a distinct ranking on their own.

The lowest of the corrupted is Level One while the highest recorded yet was Level Seven Corrupted.

And the corrupted they were currently looking out for was a bit higher than they were supposed to know, understanding that such a level of the creature shouldn't have appeared in such a region where humans are prominent.

After all, this city has been declared a green zone.

Cesar finally began to understand why he was surprised. It was because the situation didn't make any sense.

Though he didn't have time to worry about it anymore after sensing something was looking at them from above.

On a rooftop, the same corrupted human was staring at them with two of its head's lips still smiling.

Then, it splits its body apart, separating one head from another. The torso of the monster was torn, making the corrupted two. Then, it formed a new flesh, identical to its previous body to stand upright.

There, they saw two bodies from the same creature.

'it's clearly mocking us…'

Cesar couldn't help but click his tongue, and continued staring at the creature for a moment before speaking.

"Ready…"

Soon, the two corrupted lunged forward, going through the roofs as they stayed side by side.

This time, however, their swift movement could be seen by the eyes of the cohort. Still, its speed was nothing to scoff at.

Whoosh—!

As they were closing, everyone began to ready their weapon, surging the power inside them to channel any time they wanted.

Suddenly, the corrupted did something outrageous again.

As they were closing into the squad, the corrupted… bounded once more, forming into one horrible monster that they've seen earlier.

'Shit!'

The corrupted disappeared from their vision once more and the last thing they knew, it was close by.

"!"

It was very close to Cesar, who saw only a swinging arm coming right on his face, and he could not do anything about it.

His hand to use as a cover wasn't even fast enough nor were the abilities that the others had set up which they only did a second too late.

Slash—!

Even though he considered that he'd be dead if the fist coming to him hit him, Cesar's eyes still opened widely. That's why he saw a blade slicing through the creature's arms, bringing Cesar to safety.

It was agile, much faster than the corrupted itself. The only thing it could do was move away, giving a great distance to the group and itself.

"You're a very lucky man,"

Standing in front of Cesar was no other than Chin, who appeared haggard and sweaty. It looked like he had run through a marathon and barely caught his breath after running here.

Cesar continued staring at the rotting hands that almost cost his life before looking at Chin with a slightly respectable face.

"Sir, about the Corrupted…"

Chin looked at the creature which shivered upon gazing at his eyes. Then, it immediately ran away, probably trying to escape.

It seemed to feel fear after not noticing Chin coming up to it and slashing down its two hands. It was caught off guard, fleeing away which the Shaded didn't had any intention to pursue.

"Are you guys okay?"

Cesar, who was supposed to be the most affected of all, was the calmest. He looked at the condition of everyone in their group before finally answering Chin.

"We're not hurt. Thank you for arriving in time,"

Chin nodded, "I guess it's also a timing for me but it wouldn't have happened if you didn't signal the flare. Good work,"

Soon, Alms finally arrived at the scene and appeared relieved that everyone was well. By the looks of it, it was he who discovered the flare and informed Chin, knowing the signal belonged to the academy students.

Alms is a scout which is why he was able to see the flare while Chin looks like he battles up on front, clearly demonstrating the tip of his skills just by cutting the corrupted's hands.

"You guys almost had the worst day outside after being deployed from the sites," Chin chuckled, trying to lift up the mood before adding, "Before we went on our way, let's scout for any abnormalities left. Judging how quiet this city is, looks like that is the only corrupted seen,"

Since no physical injuries or psychological statements needed to be concerned about, the group decided to follow Chin's orders and followed

…

Their search came uneventfully, yet this result was what anyone wanted to expect rather than a troubling one where every single person in the city would be put in danger. Hectic situations either end with a casualty or death after all.

Thus, their search was quick and fast.

"Hahh…"

Sitting down on his seat with a haggard expression, Cesar let out an exasperated sigh while bringing his case full of cash down.

'Still not enough,'

Now that he was looking back at what actually transpired, Cesar realized that he had just been lucky. As if he had excluded every luck point he had just to survive the punch from the corrupted at that moment and now, he was lamenting at the fact that he was still powerless and unable to do anything at such a crucial situation.

'This was just a corrupted human. Nightmares are on a different level… yet I froze at that last moment…'

Cesar covered his eyes with his arms while clenching both of his fists. The others who was looking in his direction wanted to console him but Chin gestured silently to leave him be, knowing he didn't need any consolation from anyone.

If he had to self-reflect, he had to do it on his own.

'What situation suited there anyway? Should I have gone to another strategy? Instead of thinking efficiently, should I choose the risky one where I could achieve efficiency, at the same time, avoid risking the lives of my team? Man…'

The van started while their supervisors remained quiet. It just moved, letting the kids rest as this was a prelude to the hell they had signed in for.

Once they step onto the site they deployed, there will be no breaks, no second chances, and no gambling about how lucky a person is when faced with a situation.

It will only come down to a moment, and it will be a life or death scenario for each in the squad.

They will make hard choices and their resilience will be tested.

This day was a good day to reflect on the tiny mistakes they made to make sure the same mistakes couldn't happen again.

"Pheww…"

Cesar finally calmed down before he picked up the case full of cash and counted them once more. Seeing that they were full and not a single paper was thrown when they did a formation, he asked the people in the front seat.

"Sir Alms, Sir Chin, where can I buy a specialized gun when we get to the City of Wheels?"