Colossus Horror

It was horrifying.

Having eyes that covered its hard exoskeleton, while resembling an abominable mix of spider and crab—with the stinger of a scorpion—this Horror's height would cause anyone who witnessed it to stumble and fall just to see its peak.

Everything about the Colossus was frightening, yet…

'Eve, that crazy woman!'

… Des did not feel fear as he felt the Horror's terrifying eyes slowly fixating on his back.

Instead, he cursed under his breath once he instantly realized the reason for his current situation.

This had to be the work of Eve.

'She set me up! She was the one who made the Flash Grenade, which means she intentionally made it last longer so it would cause that thing to wake up!' Des' thoughts echoed as he felt the ground beneath him rumble.

Eve was very big on Rule Number One, and the current situation was a perfect representation of one of her cruel ways to beat it into him—mind and body.

'How do I get out of this predicament now?' Des thought to himself as he looked at the Worms around him, noticing something peculiar about them.

'Their eyes… they're burning up.'

This was one of the ways that the Worms dealt with their many limitations—getting rid of their sight completely.

Even if an Explorer ended up realizing their weakness surrounding light and exploited it, the Worms had this trick up their sleeve. By intentionally destroying their ocular nerves, they completely got rid of their vision, choosing to rely on their other sensory method.

—Heat.

Worms could still detect the heat signatures of their victims, so while bright lights were active for too long, they would adapt by getting rid of their eyes and focus on Heat Sensing.

This method was not without its demerits, though.

Since their senses were quite dull in this regard, they could only properly detect slow-moving or stationary targets, thus giving rise to the second way to deal with the Worms.

—Swift movement.

Even with eyes, Worms would still find it difficult to react to any fast target. Once they began to solely rely on their Heat Sensing, this problem only became amplified.

By moving fast enough, anyone would be able to completely avoid the Worms.

In essence, Des had a good opportunity to avoid the already blind Horrors who were now closing in on his location, clattering their jaws and slithering with their slimy bodies.

There was only one problem, though.

'The Colossus responds to swift or spontaneous movements, which means it'll attack me the moment I try anything abrupt.'

Ultimately, he had to choose between evading the Worms, or hiding from the Colossus.

The bright flashes around him were already dimming, which meant everything would get dark very soon. In that case, the Colossus would return to sleep, and he would be able to move as freely as he wanted.

Unfortunately, the Worms were going to get to him before that happened.

"Haaa…" Des grinned to himself. "... How do I get myself out of this mess, then?"

Clearly, he had been placed in this dilemma by the intentional efforts of his dear friend and teacher, Eve, which meant there had to be some way to resolve the problem,

Yes, the lesson was that unexpected situations like this could arise in Exploration, and as an Explorer, one had to be quick to come up with solutions to extricate themselves from such a predicament.

In this case, Des had to figure something out before he met his end—or completely failed his mission.

"I only see one way, though…" Slowly moving his body, he dropped the bag that was comfortably resting on his back.

This action of his spurred the lively Worms on, but the Colossus remained in place.

'So you won't attack them even though they're moving above your allowed speed. How unfair…'

It was already obvious to Des that Horrors could care less about their own kind when a Native was present. Hence, these Horrors on both sides—despite living in different worlds of night and day—were temporarily allied for the single cause of causing him tragedy.

The Worms neared him, while the Colossus kept watching him with its eyes, daring him to take just a swift step forward.

Time was up!

If he wanted to make his choice, it had to be now—right as the Worms were about to pounce on him and have their first bite.

'Horror Aspect… Release.'

~VWUUUM!~

At that instant, a brilliant surge of energy burst through the air; a manifestation of the power that currently flowed through his veins.

Thus far, he had only activated the Aspect of his eye in order to aid his visual prowess. Everything else was a product of his base physical ability.

Worms were quick, but when it came to detecting and targeting fast moving targets, they often fumbled, which was why he could easily evade them. However, he did not have the same confidence when it came to the Colossus.

Hence—

~WHOOOSH!~

The moment he darted away from his position, a brilliant explosion replaced his presence there.

~BOOOOOOOOOOM!~

All the Worms located at the spot were incinerated by the flames from the Colossus—the same flames that should have marked the end of the man who stood there just a second ago.

Where was he, then?

"Huuu… that was close…" Des murmured, a small distance from the crowd of Worms which were initially moving in the direction of the flames, but were now changing location.

'They've spotted me again, huh? Guess I can't just stay still.'

More clattering sounds reverberated through the air as the Horrors crawled over the corpses of their comrades and charged towards him in primal desperation.

Almost like piranhas, they swam in the puddle of their comrades to rip him apart.

He didn't pay them any mind, though.

'I guess things are a bit different now. After all…' Instead of focusing on the creeping Horrors, his eyes were fixed on the gargantuan thing that kept staring at him.

It stood majestically, revealing its perverse grin that exposed its jagged teeth, formed from the cracked lines on its face.

'... We're both smiling this time.'

Des remembered the past, but there was no trembling in his thoughts this time—no pain in his heart, or loud ringing in his head.

—Just the pulsating sensation that pervaded his entire body.

Red-like veins warbled on his body, and some sort of transparent energy began to dance around him. As this happened, misty breaths escaped his parted lips.

Then—

~WHOOOSH!~

—Des darted away, just as the Worms were about to pounce on him, and yet again, an explosion followed his departure.

~BOOOOOOOOOM!~

This time, unfortunately, he did not escape unscathed.

"Keuk!"

A portion of his arm was burned off, just as he was about to completely escape the fiery punishment for his defiance. 

Normally, such a thing would cause anyone in his shoes to despair.

But, Des had long passed that point.

"Haha! Is it getting used to my movements?" He muttered to himself, ignoring the stinging sensation that coursed through his arm as his steaming flesh began to regenerate.

"I guess running away until the lights fully dim isn't an option." He chuckled to himself, casting his gaze on the approaching Worms as well.

'I can't remain stagnant either.'

The way Des saw it, there was only one solution that currently presented itself—the worst-case answer that he wanted to avoid from the very beginning.

"It looks like I'll have to fight."

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[A/N]

Thanks for reading!

I certainly hope you're not too bored with the story's flow and style. What do you think will happen next, though?