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HUFF!

HUFF!

Sae-wee panted as she ran. Her legs burned and her heart pounded into her ears, almost as loud as the thundering of the Spectors behind her.

Each of which blazed through the ground with the speed and ferocity of a bullet train. Threatening to destroy anything that would get caught in their path.

Looking ahead, Sae-wee could see Jang-book in the distance. He was standing on the artificial floor he made over the pool of acid with his hammer in his hands. He was waiting, for her and Dok-su.

Though she wished seeing him meant that she was close, she still had over 500 meters to race toward.

And the Spectors were closing in.

Fortunately, they had accounted for this.

Above Sae-wee were large chunks of stone barely hanging from ropes attached to the roof of the tunnel.

Having neared one of them, Sae-wee summoned her dagger from smoke into her hands, then she swung the dagger at the rope lining the right side of the wall.

SNAP!

The whiplash sound smacked against the air followed by a heavy groan as the chunk of stone fell on the Spector behind her.

The stone alone was not enough to kill the Spector, but it did trip it over. Causing a cascade of Spectors to fall over themselves, putting Sae-wee that much further away.

She repeated this once more before she finally exited the tunnel and set foot on the artificial ground.

Upon doing so, her breath caught when she remembered what had happened last time they walked over the pool of acid.

But having no time to dread, she ran across it at full speed.

Half a minute later, the Spectors poured out of the tunnel like blood from a torn vein.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the same thing happen to the tunnel on her left. At the forefront but a little behind her, Dok-su ran with the speed of a cheetah.

A small wave of relief sank into her heart upon seeing him. But it quickly vanished when she remembered that death was chasing after her.

They continued to give it their all, and so did the Spectors.

They closed in on Sae-wee and Dok-su as the seconds went by.

Leaving out only two meters between them.

Fortunately, Sae-wee and Dok-su wouldn’t have to run further for much longer.

Up ahead, about six meters away was Jang-book.

Immediately they entered the threshold of six meters, he lifted his hammer.

And without wasting even a second, he slammed his hammer into the ground.

CRACK!

GRAAAAKK!

SHRACK!

Cracks spread out across the ground like severals bolts of lightning. In the second that followed, the ground gave out, and the green liquid below shone through the cracks.

Dok-su and Sae-wee had leaped the moment before Jang-book’s hammer came down. Yet they couldn’t reach the tunnel on the other side.

Fortunately they weren’t aiming for the tunnel.

On the ground that was quickly falling apart, was a rope attached to the tunnel before them.

Sae-wee grabbed the rope just as the ground gave out, so she swung across the air and over the burning hot liquid below.

She outstretched both legs and—

SLAM!

Her feet crashed into the wall, sending a shock wave of pain reverberating from her feet up to her thighs.

She gritted her teeth and squinted for a moment, then she turned to her left.

Once again, relief seeped into her heart when she saw Dok-su and Jang-book hanging from their ropes.

"TAAA!"

"TAAA!"

Blood cuddling cries similar to that of the queen filled the air, which was in actuality music to Sae-wee’s ears.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Sae-wee ignored the Spectors for now and began to ascend.

With just how things went with them, part of her was afraid the Spectors would be immune to the acid or something to that degree despite the cries. So she held off on looking for now.

"They’re still coming," Dok-su’s voice rang out, causing her heart to thump. She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes for a moment. Then she exhaled and hoisted herself up before gathering the courage to turn around.

When she did, her eyes fell on the Spectors in the pool. They were all melting away, feeding the acid as their exoskeleton dissolved into the green liquid.

She didn’t immediately see the problem until she lifted her gaze. Then her eyes widened.

Several more Spectors were still coming out of the tunnels.

Though some fell into the pool, others clung to the wall and began ascending it, heading for them.

Dok-su and Jang-book clambered up their ropes, standing next to Sae-wee.

"They were more than we thought," Dok-su said, dread weighing on his heart as he watched their plan crumble before their very eyes.

"Does this mean we’re not getting out here?" Jang-book asked, his voice low and weak.

Sae-wee stared, her heart thumping and her breathing spiking.

She looked at the Spectors as they kept coming.

***

Min-ho stood still, watching the queen make her rounds across the eggs, checking each pile individually. He turned away from it and faced the tunnel behind him.

It had been more than three minutes now and they weren’t here yet. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Im-hee met his gaze, deep fear in hers.

"They’ll be here," Min-ho said, then he turned to the path on his left.

’I should get started,’ he said, then walked toward the path.

"You two stay here," he said, then summoned his dagger into his hand.

He walked into the tunnel housing cocoons, then he froze for a moment.

The thought of what he was about to do made his skin crawl.

He bit his lip, then forced his body to move.

He maneuvered across the Z-Eyes lining the floor and walked toward the cocoon closest to him.

Standing before it, he tightened his grip on his dagger, then gulped.

Breathing hard, he lifted his dagger. Then he brought it down, slicing the edge of the cocoon open.

Instinctively, he shut his eyes as he was too afraid to face the full brute of the gruesome image. Yet it would seem his other senses would more than make up for it.

Slushing sounds emanated, and warm goo poured onto his feet.

He jittered back and stepped on a Z-Eye, causing him to fall on his backside and open his eyes unwilling.

As he did so, his heart had thumped by what he saw.

One of the Z-Eyes slowly came alive, as its owner groaned and shuffled in the purple goo.

’He’s still alive,’ Min-ho thought, his eyes widening.