NOVEL NEXT Eleanor tumbled down the stairs, and lo and behold, it came flying at her as if nothing could stop it now.
A split-second surprise attack.
She was in no position to dodge—I mean, she was literally falling!
Just before its massive arm was about to collide with her, someone’s figure squeezed in between them.
―――Kuuuuuuung!
The ear-splitting sound echoed throughout the space.
A tremendous shock reverberated as if the whole place was shaking.
Its arm swung with intense force towards her but slammed down onto the floor instead.
By the time it passed, Eleanor had already disappeared from sight.
“Ugh, ugh…”
Eleanor felt a ringing in her ears and clutched her head.
With another wave of headache and dizziness, she could barely keep her wits about her.
Ironically, it was thanks to the pain that she could feel she was still alive.
Peeking over the barely raised head, she saw Elijah sprawled beside her, his arm twisted in a grotesque way.
――Bang!
In that instant, another gunshot rang out.
Amidst the ringing, a distinct flash burned into her blurry vision.
Bang, bang, bang! The sounds were coming from Cooper’s handgun, effectively blocking its advances, but soon enough, he ran out of rounds.
“Damn it, it’s not working…!”
He kept pulling the trigger.
But all he got was a click as the empty gun rattled. Realizing he was out of bullets, he cursed and dashed toward the two sprawled out on the floor.
“Hey! Get up already! You’re not just gonna lay there and die, are you?!”
“Wait… cough! My head…!”
“I’m fine! Just get her out of here first!”
“Hell, does that even motivate anyone? Just grit your teeth and get up!”
He tugged on the two and tried to lift them but—
Thanks to the intense shock, they couldn’t even stand.
He attempted to hoist them up somehow, but alas, he didn’t have the strength to carry two adult bodies.
Even the thing that had been shot and had stiffened now started moving toward them again.
――Thud, thud, thud
It began to stomp back toward them again.
The heavy footsteps shook the ground.
The sound felt much louder than before, to the point he felt the space itself was trembling.
Convinced he had no time left, Cooper dropped the attempt to lift them and tried to buy some time by swapping for a fresh magazine.
――Crack!
With a splitting sound, the ground beneath it shattered.
“――――”
Part of the staircase it was standing on began to crumble.
Having taken a lot of hits, the emergency exit was already a battleground of debris.
The beat-up door smashed completely after taking one last hit, and the cracked floor below met the same fate.
“――――!”
The ground shattered into pieces.
Simultaneously, it sank down.
With the fragments flying about, its grotesque face helplessly fell downwards.
Finally, it disappeared into some unknown abyss.
“What, what the hell just happened——Whoa?!”
After the ground he was standing on vanished, Cooper’s bewildered voice broke free.
Because without even a moment to think, he was hit by a real tremor shaking the whole space—not just a sensation like before.
――――Kugugugugugun!
The emergency exit trembled.
It was a struggle just to remain standing.
He braced himself against the wall to endure, but then realized the wall itself was shaking wildly and unsteadily.
Looking at the wall, he saw it cracking like the ground that had just crumbled.
“This freaking hell…!”
Another curse slipped from his mouth.
Ceiling, floor, wall, and stairs.
Everywhere he looked, cracks were forming.
Upon realizing that the place was collapsing, he felt there was no time to waste and started dragging the two up the stairs.
――Krrrroooong!
Rubble fell from the ceiling.
At the same time, a crack formed in the wall so wide it allowed him to peek through.
Thud, thud, the sound of debris falling echoed.
He was pulling Eleanor and Elijah up the stairs, but when he turned to the sound of the falling boulders, he froze in place.
“What the heck is—”
What he saw was someone dragging someone else.
A figure he had seen somewhere before—one he recognized well.
It was undoubtedly his own self, and like a mirror reflecting a mirror, his own image stretched infinitely through the crack.
It was disorienting, and he let go of his grip involuntarily—
――Thud!
Hearing the massive chunk of debris fall below them snapped him back to reality, and he began moving toward the exit again.
“This is just a never-ending mess…!”
With a guttural growl, he and the others inched closer to the exit.
And then, he felt a sensation he had never experienced before.
An indescribable, strange feeling.
As if he existed in dozens of places at once, he felt nausea welling up, but thanks to the pain from desperately dragging the two, he managed to keep his sanity.
Finally arriving at the emergency exit, as he dragged their bodies outside—
―――Kuuung!
A massive piece of debris fell just in time, blocking the door.
Moments later, the inside of the emergency exit crumbled with a deafening roar.
Silence fell.
A peaceful stillness settled within the emergency exit.
Just moments ago, it had been filled with the chaos of crumbling walls and objects, but now, not even a sound could be heard.
Once the dust and smoke cleared, the emergency exit was revealed in its full form.
It was much wider and geometrical than before, resembling an abnormal and enormous space as if crushed staircases had been glued together a hundredfold.
――Crunch!
Something stirred under the rubble.
A distorted face emerged dimly from the dark.
It was that exact figure that had fallen beneath the collapsing stairs.
――Crunch, crunch, crunch!
At the same time, countless figures began stirring from the mound of debris.
One by one, they revealed another multitude of distorted faces.
As if the very space had been replicated.
Within this grotesque area, where they all violently merged together, they had transformed from a single entity to many.
Searching for something, they all started looking around, and in unison, they fixed their gazes towards a particular location, as if they had made a pact.
“―――――”
They all stared at something intently.
Countless distorted faces focused on a place far above them.
The broken stairs and the vast space where massive debris had settled.
That location also existed in multiple forms, as if duplicated like the other spaces, but.
The metallic door visible beyond the enormous fragments indicated that those who had escaped this place were there.
――Clatter
A sound came from the falling debris.
And at that moment, they shifted their feet towards it.
Thud, thud, echoed throughout the ruins.
The heavy sounds generated by countless figures vibrated the debris on the ground, causing the scattered fragments to be moved toward the place they were gazing at.
As they trudged forward with deliberate steps—
――Pat, pat
A faint, tiny sound suddenly rang out.
All the twisted faces turned towards it.
――Pat, pat
They heard someone’s footsteps.
The small, light sounds were different from their massive, heavy footsteps, and they came from down below, from the lower stairways.
“――――”
Upon hearing those footsteps, they turned to face this new prey, as if they had found a banquet.
One by one, they turned towards the sound and began moving down instead of up.
――Thud, thud, thud
Once again, heavy footsteps reverberated throughout the space.
Shadows of countless distorted faces loomed in the dimness.
Though they created a chilling scene, the footsteps rising from below moved toward their hopeful arrival, seemingly unaware of the horror that awaited.
Pat, pat.
The consistent sound echoed from below.
It steadily approached until it was practically right beneath them.
As the thing at the very bottom crossed over the bottom stair—
Just as it was about to meet someone climbing up—
The same booming sound blasted through the emergency exit once more.
――――Kuuuuuuung!
With the colossal noise, the debris that was covering the ground pulsed.
An impact so strong it reverberated quite far away.
Whatever had emerged from the depths would certainly end a life or two.
Then, as if everything had come to a conclusion—
From down below, heavy footsteps began echoing again.
――Thud, thud, thud
The thudding sound of something monstrous hit the ground again.
The distorted faces above also resumed their march upward.
Their destination was the location where those who escaped were now.
Making their way to the entrance blocked by the massive debris, they turned to move there—
――Pat
Then came the small footsteps from the bottom again.
Once more, their heads turned toward the origin of the sound.
“――――?”
The distorted face wore an expression of confusion.
While they continued to hear their heavy sounds from below, there were also those small footsteps, as if matching their pace, coming up alongside them with a calmness that stood in stark contrast.
The twisted faces halted in place.
The ongoing heavy footsteps continued, but the sound beside them was entirely different, causing them to display unprecedented confusion.
Finally, as the sound from just beneath the stairs was heard—
What emerged from below was—
Dragging itself rather pathetically, its hand awkwardly brushing against the stairs as it came up with a soft thud, was a little girl.
“…What on earth is this?”