Silence washed the street for a breath, then the floor exploded. Dust flooded the streets as the sound of the explosion echoed between buildings, rattling their windows. Marcus covered his mouth looking away, eyes shut, praying that falling debris wouldn't land on him and cave his skull in. A second passed and the pattering of debris ceased. The dust died down; it was safe enough to open his eyes. Marcus froze, heart pounding. His widened gaze locked on a grotesque creature nearly the size of the damaged buildings around them. Its vomit-inducing oily skin glistened in the sun, reflecting the tiny organisms that crawled across it. Its massive yet short and stubby arms clutched on the side of a building; its massive frame rising like smoke from a fire. The putrid smell of sewage rose alongside the creature. Its bulbous eyes swung in different directions erratically. Then they landed on Marcus—still frozen since this thing's appearance. It's dark, lifeless excuse for pupils remai

The creature swung at Marcus, aiming for his neck, but the tip of its claws missed it by a hair's breath.It miscalculated its swing. Maybe because of the blood running down its head. But it didn't miscalculate its trajectory; it slammed straight into Marcus's chest, sending him flying back, creasing into the wall behind him. The body slam sent all the breath out of him a second time; he fell to the ground gasping for air. Still, he never let go of the bat.Breath strained and legs shaky, his tenacity brought him back to his feet. Blood ran down the side of his head. If something wasn't broken before, it definitely was now. With one eye closed—covered by the blood—he watched the frog prepare to launch at him again. This time, he was prepared.Right before it jumped, he side-stepped and swung hard again without looking, bashing its head mid-flight as hard as he could.The force snapped his bat in half, leaving the upper half stuck to the frog's head. It let out a piercing scream as i

The flames surrounding her body moved and swerved, sliding up her back and down her arms before gathering at the blade of her katana. “I just gotta put my back into it, kid. Don't worry about me and run along…” She wore a look of anger for a split second, “I won't let anyone else die,“ she muttered.He wasn't sure he was meant to hear that last part. But now that he had, coupled with that look on her face he recognised all too well, one question he'd had been answered. She hadn't been fighting alone.Marcus finally took a look around. There were others in black suits—bodies laid on the floor and not moving—scattered around the battlefield. None were in pieces or missing limbs, but pools of blood sat underneath each of them. Blood pools too big to belong to living people.He felt his heart twist. Something inside him made his blood boil. He grabbed his chest, squeezing his shirt.The scene reminded him of ten years ago… he didn't want to think about that right now.Of course, the girl

“… lucky this kid was there.”Whose… whose voice was that?“… civilians shouldn't have been anywhere near that place.”He recognised the second voice. The voice of a girl… “… that soul stone we found is… evidence to convince them.“His couldn't hear completely clearly, but those were the voices of a man and a girl talking. Where the hell was he?“… the fact that he's alive is no coincidence.“He groggily opened his eyes. A bright blinding light came flooding into them, forcing him to wince, straining his eyes and turning his head. His other senses returned way too quickly.There was a soft cushy feeling under his head and body, like he was lying in a bed, covered by a bed sheet. Strangely, this place had no smell at all.His ability to track the supernatural by smell ended up improving his normal scent as well. He could separate everyone in his class by scent alone even if they were all in a separate classroom. Yet, aside from the scent of expensive perfume and a less expensive pe