Shadow Slave

Sunny was buried under a moving carpet of dark beetles. His armor was being chewed through, and a few of them had already gotten inside somehow, their razor-sharp mandibles sinking into his flesh.

'C-crap...'

For a moment, his thoughts were scattered, but the sudden pulse of pain cleared them. Blinded, Sunny shuddered and tried to move. his hand to cover the eye slits of his helmet's featureless mask...

It was too late.

One of the insects had already crawled through. Since Sunny could not see anything, he only realized it when something cold and slithering brushed against his nose. l-le instantly closed his eyes, and a split second later, a sharp pain pierced his face as one of his cheeks was torn open.

A repulsed hiss escaped through Sunny's lips.

Jerking his head, he felt the beetle fall down, and then caught it with his mouth, crushing the bastard between his teeth. It felt like chewing on steel, but the resilient shell broke with an appalling crunch, filling his mouth with sharp fragments and an indescribably bitter taste.

'Argh!'

Finally, he managed to free his hand from underneath the mass of beetles and covered the eye slits with it, then struggled to stand up. Sunny managed to rise to his knees, but at that moment, a new wave of beetles smashed into his chest, throwing him back down.

It felt as though he was drowning.

A crushing weight of the endless river of creatures pressed him down, making it hard to breathe. With each second, there were more and more of them, and the weight grew more unbearable...

in the dark cave, the seething darkness that consisted of countless myriads of tiny insects was rising like a tidal wave, already flooding most of the tunnels. The uninterrupted surface of wriggling black insects was slowly crawling higher and higher, the shards of the broken sphere already disappearing beneath them. The rustling httm of tiny feet scraping against stone turned into a rumbling roar.

...Then, a hand in an armored gauntlet broke through the surface, the chemical flare grasped by it igniting with intense scarlet flame.

the squirming mass of dark beetles and managed to rise to his feet with a stagger. Even standing, he was waist-deep in the rushing river of the black shells. As several of them continued to bite into his flesh, he briefly looked around. It took him a split second to take

now, all that

bugs... why did it have to be

hand stuttered, the stream of red flame it was spewing rapidly

he already dove into the shadows, disappearing

was instantly swallowed by it,

***

tunnel, the convoy was nervously waiting for something to change. Everyone was already loaded into the vehicles, and waiting for the Captain to return. Minute passed after minute, with no news of hint. The

was sitting quietly in the pilot's seat. Professor Obel and Beth were in the lounge area, discussing something among themselves. The young woman glanced at her communicator, then took a

fell from under the roof, and a familiar figure crashed into the floor, shattering one of the robust alloy chairs in the clangor of metal. All they saw was the battered surface of the bleak

wasted a second to catch his balance, and then jerked his head sideways

Drive! Go as fast

next moment, the whole mountain shuddered, and streams of dust fell from the tunnel's roof. Luster's eyes widened, and he sent the APC forward

the Captain was shouting, things were

both rose, startled

"What..."

threw a hand

"Stop! Don't get closer!"

the Rhino rolled into the darkness, swiftly accelerating, the rest of the vehicles promptly followed. Inside the APC, the Undying Chain disappeared into a rain of sparks,

the floor, and were promptly and viciously stomped to death by him. Nevertheless, even after disposing of the beetles, Sunny did not look

bent over,

looking around in search of a

"What is going on?"