Chapter 564.5

Hey guys! 

This chapter tells a side story, a crossover that Saccade, the author of My Kaiju Evolution, and I collaborated on some time ago. In this chapter, Jake encounters Nox, the main character of My Kaiju Evolution, and in Saccade's book, the same events are told from Nox's perspective. 

This is the first time I've done a crossover like this, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out and can't wait to share it with you! 

On that note, I should mention that there's a small mistake in this chapter. As you remember, Jake lost his electrolarynx a couple of chapters ago. However, in this chapter, he still uses it to communicate with Nox. 

The reason for this mistake is that I didn't write this chapter in a single sitting. Instead, I worked on it over the course of a couple of weeks and, as a result, completely forgot that Jake wasn't supposed to have his electrolarynx at this point in the story. 

When I reread the chapter earlier today before scheduling it for publication, I noticed the mistake but decided to leave it as it was. The reason is that correcting it would've created a discrepancy between my version of this side story and the one told from Nox's perspective in Saccade's book. So yeah, that's why I decided not to fix it. 

Anyway, I won't keep you any longer. Happy reading!

Chapter 564.5

The Aberrant crackled in his hand as Jake took a shot at a cluster of aether crystals clinging to the wall of a building ahead. The blue bolt of energy launched from the muzzle with a sharp hiss, streaked through the air, and struck one of the crystals in the cluster. A spiderweb of cracks immediately spread across its surface before the crystal exploded into thousands of shards that shot through the air in every direction.

The vibration from the explosion traveled through the other crystals in a chain reaction, causing the entire cluster to explode. Fragments clattered against the pavement and the building’s wall. The street ahead was now safe to proceed through, so Jake continued forward, a loose group of humans following a dozen yards behind. None of them seemed particularly eager to get any closer than necessary, allowing him to clear the way while they simply trailed behind.

He continued down the street, shooting down every cluster of green crystals in his way. Each shot was followed by an explosion, gradually clearing a path through the crystallized city. Eventually, he reached the center of a large four-way intersection.

Something made him stop. To continue leading the humans to City Hall, he needed to keep moving forward through the intersection. However, his acute sense of smell caught a whiff of an unfamiliar scent, causing him to come to a halt. He was well used to the various smells of Lastlight: the stench of decay, the damp odor of ruined buildings, and the sharp scent of aether. But this new scent was different, and he immediately distinguished it from the background of others.

In the next instant, Feral Instincts told him he was being watched. There was no immediate sense of malevolent intent, however. At least, not yet.

Whoever was watching him was on his left, so Jake turned his head to look that way. Since he was in his human disguise, his field of vision was narrower, requiring him to turn his head whenever he needed to see something to his side. Down the road that branched off from the intersection to the left, there was a creature standing in the middle of the street, watching him.

The creature didn’t look like much. It was some kind of dog, or maybe a wolf. Except it looked weird. Its body seemed to be covered in a layer of slime that glistened under the bright sunlight. Its posture was strangely relaxed. It wasn’t crouching to attack or baring its teeth. It simply stood there, watching Jake from a distance.

Another strange detail immediately caught his attention. Its body didn’t have any green crystals jutting out of it. That was definitely new. So far, every single mutant he had encountered in Lastlight had numerous green crystals embedded in its body. So seeing a creature without a single crystal was definitely strange.

Sure enough, he also noticed the dead bodies of crystallized mutants strewn around the street. The green crystals that had been embedded in their bodies now lay scattered all over the cracked asphalt, glinting in the bright sunlight.

He shifted his gaze back to the dog-like creature. Had it actually taken down all those mutants? While it didn’t look like much, there was definitely more to the creature than met the eye.

For a second, neither Jake nor the creature moved. Then, suddenly, the dog-like creature spun around and bolted away. It moved with surprising speed and agility, its paws barely seeming to touch the cracked asphalt as it raced down the street. As Jake watched it disappear farther into the ruins, a system notification popped up before his eyes.

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New Hunt!

Objective: Track down Anak and find out what it’s doing in Lastlight.

Reward: 1,235,525 XP

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So this creature was called Anak? Interesting.

As Anak kept running down the street, one of the crystal clusters clinging to the side of a building suddenly launched a bolt of aether energy at the slimy dog-like creature. With surprising speed and agility, Anak darted to the side. The bolt slammed into the ground where it had just been, blasting a large hole into the asphalt and sending glowing fragments exploding in every direction.

The group of humans following Jake had stopped some distance away, not quite reaching the intersection, so they failed to notice the dog-like creature. But Flynn, who mostly followed just one step behind Jake, did notice it.

“What the hell?” he muttered as he raised his weapon, taking aim at the retreating creature.

With lightning-fast speed, Jake slapped the barrel of Flynn’s weapon from above, forcing the muzzle toward the ground.

“Don’t shoot at it,” Jake said calmly.

“I wasn’t going to,” Flynn objected. “I’ve never seen such a creature, so I wanted to have it in my iron sights. Just in case.”

“What case? It bolted away almost as soon as it noticed us. It clearly wasn’t going to attack us.”

“True. And it is weird. So far, I’ve never seen a mutant that wasn’t going for your throat as soon as it saw you.”

Jake didn’t bother to reply. His attention remained fixed on the dog-like creature as it raced down the street. Every few moments, another crystal cluster launched a bolt of aether energy at it. However, Anak was able to dodge out of the way every single time. A moment later, the creature reached a wide chasm running across the street and leaped into it and disappeared from sight.

Jake began walking in the direction the dog-like creature had gone, raising the Aberrant as he moved. The weapon crackled in his hand as he fired at the first cluster of crystals in his way, causing it to explode.

“Mark, where are you going?” Flynn called out behind him. “We need to keep moving forward to reach City Hall. I just checked the map on my PDA.”

“I’m gonna take a little detour,” Jake said over his shoulder before raising the Aberrant and shooting down another cluster of crystals up ahead.

“Are you looking for another mana cloud to refill your reserves?” Flynn asked as he hurried after Jake.

“Nope. Just want to see what that creature was and where it came from.”

“But why?” Flynn continued to object as he drew abreast of him. “I thought you were leading us to City Hall. What’s the point of following that creature? And it’s already disappeared out of sight. Shouldn’t we keep heading to City Hall?”

Jake wasn’t in the mood for another argument. He continued to move down the street without slowing down.

“I’m just curious about that creature, that’s all. But you can wait here if you want.”

Having said that, Jake picked up his pace. The sounds of explosions echoed through Lastlight as he kept systematically shooting down every cluster of crystals in his way, drawing upon the mana reserves within his body, replenishing the reservoir of his handgun after each shot.

Behind him, he could hear Flynn following. Apparently, the human had no intention of waiting behind after all.

Finally, he reached the chasm spanning across the street. Coming to a halt at its edge, he looked down. Below, he could see the sewers, the wide tunnel partially filled with filthy, stagnant water. The surface rippled lazily in places, carrying bits of debris along with it. The dog-like creature was nowhere in sight, having already run off deeper into the tunnel.

What was interesting, however, was that there wasn’t a single pool of aether energy down there.

In the Dead City, every surface had been swallowed by the organic plague, making it impossible to enter any building. The subway system, however, was completely devoid of the bio-plague, making it a safe refuge for the Spartans. Here, in Lastlight, the situation was quite different. The interiors of all the buildings in this city were completely free of aether energy, allowing humans to take refuge inside them without having to worry about being exposed to the deadly substance.

However, in the sewers and subway, the situation was entirely different. Every underground tunnel in Lastlight was covered with pools of aether energy. In some places, the glowing liquid completely covered the floor, while in others, it collected in deep pools that made passing through impossible. The Spartans had used the subway system to navigate the Dead City, but here, humans never ventured underground because doing so was practically a death sentence due to all the deadly aether energy gathered there.

But as Jake stood at the edge of the chasm, looking down into the sewer tunnel below, he didn’t see a single pool of aether energy. Only dirty water, damp concrete, and darkness. That was definitely strange. He couldn’t help but wonder if that dog-like creature had anything to do with the absence of aether energy in the underground passage.

Jake could jump down into the sewers without taking any fall damage. But he knew that would look very suspicious to the humans watching him from behind. He couldn’t exactly explain that he possessed abilities that made a fall like this completely harmless. So he took a moment to look around. After spotting a pile of rubble nearby, he walked over to it and began climbing down. A few loose stones shifted beneath his boots and tumbled into the darkness below, splashing into the dirty water.

Jake continued downward, keeping his attention fixed on the tunnel below. Whatever Anak was, he had a feeling he was about to find out. At that moment, Flynn reached the edge of the chasm and called out to him from above.

“Mark, what the hell?” he shouted, sounding genuinely terrified. “Don’t go there! It’s suicide! We never descend into the sewers or subway. They’re overwhelmed with aether energy. Don’t you know that?”

“The coast looks clear here, though,” Jake shouted back as he continued climbing down the pile of rubble. He didn’t bother looking up, keeping his attention on his footing as he made his way toward the tunnel below.

“Clear?” Flynn repeated incredulously. “Mark, that’s a sewer!”

Jake ignored him.

The rest of the humans had reached the chasm as well, lining up along the edge and peering down into the darkness. Some leaned forward cautiously, while others kept their distance, clearly unwilling to get anywhere near the drop. Jake could hear their murmured conversation from above.

“What’s going on?” somebody asked.

“Why is he climbing down there?” somebody else asked, sounding shocked. “Is he not right in the head?”

“Don’t tell me he’s expecting us to follow him down there,” a third voice chimed in.

“I won’t follow him there, no matter what.”

“Remain where you are, everyone.” It was Roland who said that. “It could be a trap. Stay on high alert.”

Jake knew the humans didn’t trust him. If anything, their distrust seemed to be growing with every strange thing he did. But he didn’t bother explaining himself or trying to dissipate their suspicions. There was no point. He had already decided to follow Anak, and nothing they said was going to change his mind.

He continued climbing down toward the tunnel below and jumped the remaining two feet, landing in the middle of the tunnel and sending dirty water splashing in every direction. The water soaked the lower part of his pants, but he barely paid attention to it. His senses were already focused on the scent he had picked up earlier.

Following the familiar scent of the dog-like creature, he began moving down the tunnel. His boots splashed through the shallow water as he left the chasm behind. The opening above disappeared from sight, replaced by an intact ceiling overhead. No more sunlight reached this far into the tunnel, leaving it completely dark.

But of course, it was fine. His dark vision was nearly perfect, allowing him to see the tunnel around him without a problem. He could make out the damp concrete walls, the uneven floor beneath the murky water, and the occasional pieces of debris scattered along the passage.

But there wasn’t a single pool of aether energy anywhere. That was baffling. Every underground tunnel in Lastlight was supposed to be saturated with that deadly energy. But here, there was nothing. It certainly seemed that the dog-like creature had gotten rid of them somehow.

Jake continued forward, following the creature’s scent deeper into the tunnel. Suddenly, a beam of light pierced through the darkness from behind. Apparently, the humans had decided to follow him into the tunnel after all. Or at least some of them.

Water splashed loudly as the group of humans sloshed through the waterlogged tunnel after him. He could also hear their voices behind him, but he didn’t bother listening in on their conversation.

Then Flynn called out, “Mark, wait for me!”

Jake slowed down, allowing Flynn and the others to catch up. Once they were close enough, he resumed walking deeper into the tunnel, following the scent that continued to lead him farther into the darkness.

“I don’t like it,” Flynn said as he examined the damp walls of the tunnel in the beam of the flashlight attached to the underside of his weapon. Water trickled down the concrete in thin streams, and every now and then, a drop fell from the ceiling with a soft plop. “Maybe we should head back, Mark.”

“I didn’t ask you to follow me down here,” Jake replied.

Up ahead, he suddenly detected something. A ragged hole had been torn through the wall. Flynn began to say something, but then he noticed the breach as well. It was large, with jagged edges, as if something huge had crashed straight through the wall. Pieces of broken concrete were scattered across the floor, while lengths of twisted rebar jutted from the exposed concrete.

“What the hell happened here?” Flynn muttered.

Jake didn’t answer. The scent of the dog-like creature was stronger here, drifting through the breach. Following it, Jake stepped through the opening and found himself in another tunnel. This one was much wider, with significantly more water covering the floor. He continued forward, following the scent deeper underground.

At some point, the tunnel angled downward for a while before leveling out again. As it did, it gradually widened into an even larger passage with a very tall ceiling. The darkness seemed to stretch endlessly ahead of them, swallowing the beam of Flynn’s flashlight after only a short distance.

Jake continued to slosh through the water, which was now almost up to his knees. The cold, dirty water pressed against his legs with every step. Flynn and the others followed him, even though they clearly didn’t like it one bit.

“It’s so dark in here,” Flynn muttered as he swung the beam of his under-barrel flashlight from side to side.

Then he suddenly realized something and looked at Jake.

“Come to think of it, how come you don’t have a flashlight?”

“Don’t need it,” Jake said without elaborating.

His attention was fixed on the tunnel up ahead. Something had caught his attention. Something he didn’t like.

There was something floating in the water. And he could already see what it was.

“Really?” Flynn asked, sounding increasingly incredulous. “Don’t tell me you can see in the dark in addition to all the other unique abilities of yours.”

“Something like that.”

Jake didn’t take his eyes off the objects floating in the water ahead. Even from this distance, he could already make out their shapes.

“I guess it’s another unique skill you acquired at some point?” Flynn said. He shook his head slightly. “As I said before, you’re full of surprises, Mark.”

Jake didn’t reply. His attention remained fixed on something farther ahead in the darkness. Finally, Flynn realized Jake wasn’t looking at him at all. He followed Jake’s gaze and turned his own toward the darkness ahead before raising his weapon. The beam of the flashlight attached beneath it cut through the darkness, sweeping across the waterlogged tunnel and the floating debris.

“What the hell?” he muttered as the beam finally settled on the objects Jake had already spotted.

Those were bodies. Bodies of dead mutants. Or, more accurately, pieces of dead mutants. They had been literally torn apart, the torsos ripped open and twisted into unnatural shapes, with pieces of flesh and bone floating on the surface of the water. Some of them still had intact crystals embedded in them, but now that the mutants were dead, the crystals were dark, no longer glowing, the energy stored within them gone. A few crystals had been cracked, while others remained completely intact.

As they progressed down the tunnel, more and more bodies appeared in sight, floating in the water or lying partially submerged along the edges of the tunnel. The deeper they went, the worse the carnage became. Some mutants had been ripped apart so violently that their internal organs were scattered several feet away from their main bodies.

The state of the bodies was awful. Whatever had killed the mutants must have been incredibly powerful. One thing was for sure: it hadn’t been the dog-like creature he had seen earlier. Anak was clearly fast and dangerous, but Jake couldn’t imagine that relatively small creature tearing apart mutants this large.

Jake and Flynn continued moving through the water, pieces of flesh now floating all around them. Every step sent ripples across the murky surface, occasionally making a loose piece of flesh bump against Jake’s legs.

Moreover, there weren’t just regular mutants. He spotted the remains of shamblers, too. Those mutants were much bigger and far more powerful than their regular crystallized counterparts. Their enormous frames were built to withstand tremendous amounts of damage, yet they had been torn to pieces just the same.

The shamblers’ enormous torsos lay on the floor, jutting out of the water, while their torn-off limbs floated nearby. One had been ripped open all the way along its torso, exposing its ruined bone structure. Another had lost most of its head, leaving behind nothing but a jagged mass of shattered bone.

The bodies bore the marks not only of claws but of enormous sharp teeth as well. Deep gouges ran across their crystallized bodies, while several rib cages had been crushed and torn open. The bodies weren’t just torn apart. Some of them looked half-eaten. Crystallized shells had been peeled back and bent outward, as if whatever had attacked them had actually tried to feed on the flesh within.

That came as a huge surprise to Jake. So far, he had never seen anything hunting crystallized mutants and feeding on them in this city. He had never seen anything that seemed to regard them as prey.

The humans following behind him finally spotted the bodies, too.

A series of gasps and “what-the-fucks” sounded from behind as the humans swung the beams of their flashlights around the water, taking in the carnage that had taken place there. The overlapping beams swept across twisted bodies, torn-off limbs, pulpy pieces of flesh, and darkened crystals, revealing more of the carnage with every movement.

“What the hell happened here?” somebody exclaimed, their voice echoing through the tunnel.

“Guys, I don’t like it,” somebody else said in a panicked tone. “I don’t like it at all.”

“Keep your voices down, everyone,” Roland said, his voice firm but noticeably tense, too.

“What’s the point?” somebody pointed out. “We’re already making a lot of noise moving through all this water as it is.”

“Oh gosh. Oh my gosh. Just look at all these bodies, guys.” The person’s voice trembled as they swept their flashlight across the water. “What the hell killed all these mutants?”

“I don’t know,” somebody replied. “But whatever killed them could still be here.”

The last phrase nearly set the others off the rails. Several of them immediately began looking around, swinging their flashlights toward the darkness ahead and behind them as panic spread through the group.

“Why the hell are we going forward, guys?” somebody said in a panicked voice. “We should head back. Let’s head back. Please.”

“Flynn, where are you leading us?” somebody called out to the team leader from behind.

But of course, Flynn himself had no idea. He hesitated for a moment before simply looking at Jake.

“Do you even know where we’re going?”

Then, as if thinking Jake wasn’t aware of what was happening behind him, he added, “People are getting really nervous, Mark.”

Jake could hear the fear in their voices. The water continued to ripple around their legs, carrying pieces of dead mutants past them, while the darkness around seemed to grow heavier with every passing second.

He didn’t reply. He came to a halt, staring ahead.

Farther down the damp tunnel, there was something in the darkness. Something huge. And terrifying-looking. Something that he didn’t like at all.

His instincts had already warned him that something was there, but now he could see it. A massive silhouette stood motionless in the darkness, barely visible even to his enhanced vision. It was difficult to make out its exact shape from this distance, but there was no mistaking its sheer size.

Flynn and the humans behind him didn’t immediately realize he had stopped. Somebody bumped into him from behind, bouncing back while Jake didn’t move at all, immovable like a mountain.

“Sorry,” the person muttered, but Jake didn’t even acknowledge them.

The humans exchanged confused questions and glances, not quite realizing what was happening or why Jake had suddenly stopped. Then, one by one, they noticed that he was staring directly ahead. Finally, one of them directed the beam of their flashlight farther ahead.

In the next second, the person who did so yelped in horror, their flashlight jumping wildly as they flinched in surprise. The beam briefly swept across the darkness before settling ahead again.

Immediately, the other humans stopped swinging their flashlights around the bodies floating in the water and instead directed them all ahead, down the tunnel.

One after another, beams of light converged on the same spot. Now that they were all shining their flashlights in the same direction, bathing the tunnel ahead in bright light, they could finally see what was there.

And they finally saw the reason for all the dead bodies floating in the water. Standing about twenty yards down the waterlogged tunnel was a Kaiju-like creature.

It was enormous. Its body nearly filled the tunnel from floor to ceiling above. Its body was completely black, absorbing much of the light from the flashlights, with what looked like glowing purple channels running across its body. The strange lines appeared to pulse faintly beneath its dark hide, like veins carrying some kind of energy.

The creature’s large eyes glowed in the darkness. And they were staring directly at them.

The overall shape of the Kaiju looked semi-aquatic, with its broad body and powerful limbs seeming almost perfectly suited for moving through the waterlogged tunnels. Jake thought that could explain why the creature preferred these damp, underground passages. It probably felt more at home here than it would have on the surface.

And standing by the Kaiju’s side was the dog-like creature. Anak was also eyeing the group of humans, its slimy body glistening faintly in the combined beams of the flashlights. Unlike the massive creature beside it, Anak looked tiny by comparison.

It was clear these two were together. Which was beyond weird. Jake had never seen anything like that before. Mutants and monsters in the post-Collapse world had never acted like this.

As Jake kept staring at the Kaiju-like creature, a sudden thought occurred to him. The creature looked… intelligent.

He wasn’t sure why he thought that. It wasn’t as if the monster had spoken or done anything particularly complicated. But something in its posture, the way it stared at them, and the fact that it was together with the dog-like creature told him the enormous black-and-purple creature wasn’t just a mindless monster.

There was something behind those glowing eyes. The Kaiju seemed to be studying him just as he was studying it. The creature seemed to single him out from the rest of the group for some reason, as if it could sense that he wasn’t who he was pretending to be.

“Guys… are you… seeing this?” somebody whispered, barely audible, even though it was impossible not to see the creature now.

“I can’t… this… guys… I… we…”

The humans behind him were in such a state of shock that they could barely form coherent speech. Those who tried to say something failed, their voices catching in their throats as they struggled to process what they were seeing. Most just kept silent, though. They stood frozen in the water, their flashlights remained fixed on the enormous creature farther down the tunnel, staring at the enormous creature ahead of them.

Almost a full minute passed without anything happening. The tunnel had gone eerily quiet. With everyone standing completely motionless in the knee-deep water, the nervous breathing of the humans behind him sounded impossibly loud.

“What do we do?” somebody finally whispered to the others. “Guys, this thing’s scary. Maybe we should leave now.”

“Nobody moves.” It was Roland who whispered that. “That thing might come after us as soon as we move.”

“Then what do we do?” another one asked in a shaky voice. “What the hell do we do?”

“Keep it together, everyone.”

But it was clear that it was getting increasingly harder for the humans to keep calm. Being trapped in a dark, waterlogged tunnel with an enormous monster that could tear through them without breaking a sweat did little to put them at ease.

“Flynn, say something,” somebody whispered to the team leader from behind. “What do we do?”

But Flynn didn’t say anything. He seemed paralyzed with terror, staring at the black-and-purple monster farther down the tunnel. For once, Flynn had nothing to say.

Suddenly, the Kaiju-like creature emitted a low, rumbling growl as it began to move. The sound reverberated through the tunnel, vibrating faintly through the water around Jake’s legs. For a brief moment, its enormous body shifted in a way that made it look like it was preparing to lunge toward them. But Jake immediately realized that the creature was actually turning around, slowly pivoting away from them, clearly trying to move deeper into the tunnel rather than approach them.

But the humans behind him failed to reach the same conclusion. A sharp crackle from an energy weapon being discharged suddenly pierced the air. A bolt of energy streaked down the tunnel, momentarily leaving a glowing tail in its wake and casting a bright blue glow across the damp walls. In the next instant, the bolt slammed into the front section of the Kaiju’s body. It didn’t so much as leave a scratch on its armored frame, though.

But the monster immediately stopped turning. Slowly, its enormous head shifted back toward the group of humans as its glowing eyes settled back on them.

For a second, everything went silent. Then Roland yelled, “Attack!”

Jake immediately shouted, “No! Don’t shoot!”

However, his voice was drowned out by the sudden crackle of energy weapons being fired. One blast after another streaked down the tunnel, filling the darkness with flashes of blue light. Bolts of energy slammed into the black-and-purple body of the Kaiju, but the creature didn’t immediately move. For a moment, it simply stared at them as the barrage continued.

Jake could see the humans weren’t going to listen to him, and he wasn’t sure what he could do to make them stop firing on the Kaiju. Sure, he could just step into their line of fire, knowing very well that it wouldn’t hurt him much, but by doing so, he would ultimately reveal that he wasn’t the mere human he was pretending to be.

He was seriously starting to consider forcefully disarming them one by one when he suddenly realized something. The black-and-purple Kaiju hadn’t moved from the spot.

Somehow, he could feel that it didn’t appreciate being fired upon, but at the same time, he could see that it wasn’t going to attack a bunch of stupid humans who had the audacity to attack it without provacation. The creature was beyond mindless aggression. It seemed strangely calm despite the barrage of energy bolts slamming into its body.

He couldn’t help but feel that the creature was intelligent. He could almost sense it. While it looked like a terrifying monster, there was a human inside it, just like him.

Moreover, the creature kept staring at him, having singled him out. He could feel that it was capable of seeing through his human disguise. Somehow, it knew that there was something else hiding beneath his human appearance.

The survivors stopped firing only when their energy weapons overheated. Not surprisingly, there wasn’t a scratch on the Kaiju’s body. The humans behind him whispered to one another in shock, completely unable to comprehend how their weapons had failed to leave a single dent on the creature’s armor. Some of them even checked their weapons as if there had to be something wrong with them.

Jake completely ignored their voices. His attention remained fixed on the creature. Its eyes remained fixed on him, barely paying any attention to the humans. Then the Kaiju’s jaws parted, and it spoke.

Those weren’t intelligible words, however. The creature rattled off a brief series of chittering and clicking sounds. The noises were strange, almost insect-like, but there was an unmistakable rhythm to them. It was definitely talking. It was definitely trying to communicate, and whatever it said seemed to be directed at him alone.

The humans didn’t even seem to have heard the noises the creature had just made. They were still too busy trying to get over the fact that their weapons were literally useless against the Kaiju. And those who did notice that the creature had just spoken didn’t seem to think much of it. To them, it was just some strange sounds coming from a monster.

But Jake knew better. The Kaiju had been trying to talk to him. He turned to look at Flynn, who still stood by his side, and said, “Take your people and get out of here.”

Flynn didn’t reply. He was still staring at the Kaiju in front of them, barely moving, as if he had been hypnotized. Jake grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him roughly.

“Hey. Did you hear what I just told you?”

Finally, the human snapped out of it and looked at Jake.

“What? What’s going on, Mark? What is that creature? It doesn’t seem…” Flynn hesitated, glancing at the Kaiju again. “It doesn’t seem willing to attack us.”

“I know, right? But that doesn’t mean you should stick around and find out how long its patience lasts. Lead your people back to the surface.”

Flynn stole another glance at the Kaiju. “But this monster…”

“What about it?”

“What if it changes its mind? What if it decides to attack us the moment we start leaving?”

“It didn’t attack you even when you stupidly opened fire on it,” Jake said. “So why would it suddenly decide to chase you?”

Flynn looked at the huge creature again. It definitely looked impressive. The human was clearly scared of it, but there was something else in his expression now as well. Awe, perhaps. Despite everything, he couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from the massive Kaiju.

“There’s no need to escalate things,” Jake said. “The creature’s not aggressive, but there’s no reason to tempt fate either. You need to get out of here while you still can.”

Flynn swallowed and nodded.

“Yes. Of course. You’re right, Mark. You’re right.”

He started to turn around but then suddenly stopped. A look of realization crossed his face, and he quickly turned back toward Jake.

“Wait. What about you?”

“What about me?”

“You’re coming with us, right?”

Jake shook his head. “I’ll stay here for now.”

Flynn stared at him in disbelief. “What? Are you crazy? What are you planning to do?”

Jake glanced toward the Kaiju. “I need to deal with this situation.”

Flynn opened his mouth, but for a moment, no words came out. He looked from Jake to the enormous creature and then back again.

Finally, he said, “Mark, I don’t understand…”

“There’s nothing to understand,” Jake interrupted. “Just lead your people out of here. Wait for me outside. When I return, I’ll continue leading you to City Hall.”

Flynn stared at him. “And what if you don’t come back?”

“If you wait long enough to come to the conclusion that I’m not coming back, then return to your safe zone. I shattered every crystal cluster on the way here, so the way back should be safe for you. Alternatively, you can try to make the rest of the way to City Hall on your own. The choice is yours.”

Flynn didn’t immediately reply. He stared at Jake with unblinking eyes, as if trying to figure out what was going on inside his head. Jake could also hear the other humans whispering among themselves behind them. They were all asking the same kinds of questions. What was going on? What was Mark planning to do once they were gone? Why was he staying behind with the Kaiju?

Quite understandably, they didn’t trust him one bit. They hardly knew anything about him, and every one of his actions seemed to add another mystery. Some of them were even suggesting that he had led them into a trap, speculating that he had intentionally brought them deep into the sewers just so they would encounter this monster. But when someone asked if that was really the case, then why hadn’t the monster attacked them yet, the others had no answer.

“Alright,” Flynn finally said. “We’ll do as you say.”

Jake simply nodded.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Mark,” Flynn said. “It’ll be a real shame if something happens to you.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen to me.”

Flynn gave him a skeptical look. He looked like he wanted to say something else but eventually thought better of it. He turned around and motioned for the others to follow him.

“Come on,” he called out. “Let’s go.”

One by one, the survivors began moving away, though several of them still glanced back at Jake and the massive Kaiju behind him. They waddled through the waterlogged tunnel, their boots splashing through the murky water as they constantly looked over their shoulders at the Kaiju, as if afraid it might suddenly come after them. Which didn’t happen.

Jake waited. He wanted to reveal his true form and show the black-and-purple Kaiju that he was a monster himself. But he couldn’t transform while he was still within the reach of the humans’ flashlights. As they moved farther away, some of them occasionally turned around, sweeping their flashlights back toward him as if checking to make sure they weren’t being followed.

Jake wanted to keep Morph Disguise a secret from the humans for as long as possible. Besides, if Flynn’s group learned the truth about him, getting them to City Hall would become even more troublesome than it already was.

Luckily, the black-and-purple Kaiju didn’t seem impatient. It chittered a couple more times, but it didn’t appear to be in any hurry to attack him or leave. It simply stood there, watching him.

While waiting for the humans to move farther down the tunnel, Jake attempted to use Mind Reader on the Kaiju. However, the ability failed to view its memories.

He knew that the ability didn’t work on monsters. But at the same time, he could tell that the black-and-purple Kaiju wasn’t just a mindless monster. There was intelligence behind those strange eyes, and its behavior was far too deliberate for it to be acting purely on instinct.

So perhaps it had some ability that worked similarly to the device Mad Mick had invented for the Spartans, shielding its mind from having its memories viewed.

The sounds of splashing water grew steadily quieter as the humans went farther and farther away, following the same route they had taken to get here. Soon, the light of their flashlights disappeared into the darkness, and the sounds of them sloshing through the water faded away as well.

Once Jake was sure the humans were gone for good and weren’t going to suddenly return, he finally decided it was safe. He morphed into his monster form.

The process was nearly instantaneous. His entire form blurred for a moment, his shape shifting and twisting as flesh rearranged itself beneath the disguise. Then, when his figure came back into focus, the human named Mark was gone.

In his place stood a pitch-black mutant with armored, textured skin. His large, solid-blue eyes stared unblinkingly at the Kaiju, and he could see the creature examining him in return. For several seconds, neither of them moved.

Then the black-and-purple Kaiju parted its jaws. More chittering sounds came out. Just like the previous times, Jake had no idea what the creature was saying.

Since he couldn’t speak in his monster form, Jake mentally reached into his inventory, extracted the electrolarynx, and pressed it against his mandible.

“I can’t understand what you’re saying,” he said, the device producing a cold, mechanical voice. “But I know you’re not just some mindless monster. You’re like me, aren’t you? There’s a human being trapped inside that body. We’re the same in that regard.”

He wasn’t one hundred percent sure he was right, but he would have been greatly surprised, and a little disappointed, if his assumption turned out to be wrong.

The Kaiju simply stared at him for a moment. It didn’t rattle off another series of chittering and clicking sounds. Perhaps it had figured that since Jake couldn’t understand the sounds it made, there was no point in wasting its breath.

Then the Kaiju shifted ever so slightly and looked down toward the floor beneath it. Jake followed its gaze and saw some sort of rainbow-colored, slime-like creature emerge from behind it. The strange creature glided through the dirty water with surprising ease, heading straight toward him.

Jake took a cautious step forward. Feral Instincts remained silent, but that didn’t really mean anything in this particular situation. The ability only warned him about danger when it came from somewhere out of sight. Since he could already see the slime gliding through the water, there was nothing for it to warn him about.

Noticing his reaction, the Kaiju chittered something once again. Jake still couldn’t understand it, but he got the impression that the creature was trying to tell him there was nothing to worry about. Its entire body language seemed to carry the same message. So he relaxed and simply waited to see what was going to happen next.

When the slime reached him, it wrapped itself around one of his legs and began creeping up his body. Jake tensed instinctively for a moment. He still had no idea what the strange creature intended to do, but he decided not to resist. If the Kaiju had wanted to attack him, it probably would have done so already.

The alien slime continued to spread over his body until it had completely enveloped him. Then the Kaiju began to chitter again. And this time, something was different.

Jake still couldn’t understand the strange sounds coming from its mouth. However, he suddenly felt foreign thoughts forming inside his mind. Only they weren’t exactly thoughts.

The slime didn’t actually translate her chittering into comprehensible words inside his head. It didn’t exactly work like that. Instead, the telepathic link filled his mind with the Kaiju’s perceptions and emotions rather than simply translating the sounds she made. Because of that, Jake couldn’t exactly understand everything she was trying to communicate. He could only grasp the general meaning behind it.

What he understood was that her name was Nox and that she had once been human before becoming the creature she was now. So the two of them were indeed similar in that respect. How exactly she had been turned into a Kaiju was lost in the “translation”. There were fragments of memories and emotions, but nothing clear enough for Jake to piece together the details.

As for the dog-like creature, its name was Anak, but Jake already knew that. The slime that had previously been wrapped around its body was called Dripmat. The two of them could become a single creature for a short amount of time, increasing their combat capabilities.

Jake hadn’t actually witnessed them fighting together, but he had seen all those crystallized mutants that Anak and Dripmat had slain. Whatever their fusion did, it definitely turned them into a force to be reckoned with.

He also understood that Nox and her companions were currently hunting some powerful enemy and looking for a way home.

And that was basically the extent of what Jake was able to catch.

Nox didn’t ask for his own backstory. Perhaps she simply didn’t care. Or maybe she figured she already knew everything she needed to know about him, and the details of how he had become what he was now didn’t really matter.

There was another possibility, though. Perhaps the slime enveloping his body could view his memories and pass them to Nox, the same way his own Mind Reader worked. Jake wasn’t sure.

Then the strange telepathic connection suddenly disappeared. The slime slid off his body, sank into the dirty water, and began gliding back toward Nox.

She then emitted a short series of chittering sounds before starting to move. She was clearly preparing to leave.

“Wait,” Jake said. “Let me help you. Let me help you find and slay whatever it is you’re hunting.”

Nox paused and shifted to look back at him. For a moment, she simply stared at him before chittering something in response. He couldn’t understand what she had just said, but her body language suggested she had accepted his offer.

Without another sound, she turned and moved down the tunnel, traveling with unexpected grace for something of her size. He broke into a run after the Kaiju and her companions.

Nox moved with incredible speed, but Jake had no trouble keeping pace with her. For a while, they moved through one waterlogged tunnel after another, taking turns and passing through junctions without slowing down. The only sounds were the splashing of their feet through the shallow water and the occasional chitter from Nox.

Then, when she reached another four-way intersection, she suddenly came to a stop in the center of it. Jake slowed to a halt beside her as well. She looked around, seemingly trying to decide which direction to take.

Then, off to the right, a bright portal suddenly swirled to life. The glowing rift quickly expanded, filling the entire width of the right-hand tunnel. Strange light spilled across the damp walls and reflected off the dirty water at their feet.

Nox glanced at Jake and chittered something. Jake still had no idea what she was saying, but he had a pretty good idea what she wanted him to do. She scurried toward the portal and disappeared through it. He hurried after her, stepping through the swirling light a moment later.

Once on the other side, he found himself underwater. Well, that was unexpected.

He immediately took stock of his surroundings. He was likely not too deep beneath the surface. He could feel water pressing against his body, but his armored form handled it without any problems. The fact that he didn’t need to breathe was another good thing.

For a moment, he simply let himself gradually sink into the depths, looking around. Even though he wasn’t very deep underwater, it was surprisingly dark. The murky water severely limited his visibility, and everything beyond a certain distance disappeared into the darkness.

Still, he was able to spot Anak not far away. The dog-like creature was struggling to swim toward the surface, its movements awkward and uncoordinated in the water. Luckily, a familiar shape soon appeared out of the darkness. Dripmat enveloped Anak’s body, wrapping around the dog-like creature and allowing them to float upward toward the surface together.

He was still sinking. It was then that an idea came to him. He sprouted numerous tendrils from his body and then used them as a tail, gliding through the water with undulating movements of his body and the makeshift tail formed by his tendrils. He pressed his hands against his sides, making his body as streamlined as possible. It actually worked surprisingly well.

Out of the darkness, a huge form suddenly appeared, and for a moment, Jake thought it was some kind of ocean predator coming straight for him. But then he recognized the familiar black-and-purple pattern covering its body. It was Nox.

For a moment, Jake simply glided through the water, enjoying the smooth movement. It wasn’t the first time he had found himself underwater, but it was definitely the first time he had actually attempted to swim by using his abilities in a completely new and unexpected way.

Then, suddenly, another huge form emerged from the darkness. This time, it wasn’t Nox. The creature passed Jake with incredible speed and power, the force of its movement throwing him into a tumble. Jake quickly recovered and morphed his left forearm into a grappling hook, immediately firing it at the enormous beast.

However, the hook moved much more slowly through the thick water than it did through the air. Before it could even come close to latching onto the creature, the beast was already out of range.

Due to its incredible speed and the darkness of the underworld, Jake hadn’t even been able to get a good look at it. All he was able to make out was the general shape of its enormous body. And it was really big.

Far in the distance, Jake saw the beast collide with Nox. The two massive creatures immediately locked in fierce combat, their movements stirring the surrounding water. Was this the creature they had come here to fight?

He would definitely have preferred to fight with solid ground beneath his feet. Fighting underwater was an entirely different experience. But he wasn’t going to complain. He had volunteered to help, so that was what he was going to do, even if he wasn’t exactly the most useful fighter in an underwater battle.

Jake propelled himself forward with his tendril-tail, heading toward the battle. He swam toward the two fighting Kaiju as fast as he could. However, he could already see that Nox had almost dealt with the ocean beast on her own. The creature was severely wounded and apparently decided it had had enough. It suddenly broke away from the fight and attempted to flee.

Dancing away from Nox, it glided downward, disappearing into the deeper waters. Only Nox wasn’t willing to let it go. She immediately followed, pursuing the wounded creature into the depths of the ocean.

They moved far too fast for Jake to keep up. Within moments, the two Kaiju had become little more than distant shapes before the darkness swallowed them completely. Still, Jake kept swimming down.

As he descended deeper and deeper, the darkness around him seemed to thicken, reducing his already narrow visibility even further. He kept gliding through the water, using his tendril-tail to propel himself downward through the water.

At the same time, the pressure steadily increased, squeezing against his armored body from all directions. So far, though, it wasn’t causing him any trouble. His body seemed more than capable of handling the increasing pressure.

Then, finally, he was able to see something far below him. Only it was neither Nox nor the ocean beast. Instead, some kind of structure emerged from the ocean floor.

Jake slowed down. He stared at the strange shape for a moment before descending a little farther. As more of it came into view, he realized it wasn’t alone. There were more. As he looked around, dozens of similar structures emerged from the darkness below. They were tall and cylindrical, resembling enormous towers rising from the ocean floor.

He simply stared. There was an entire city down there.

Stunned by what he had just discovered, Jake floated in place for a moment, studying the structures far below him. Even through the murky water and darkness, it definitely looked like a city that had ended up on the bottom of the ocean floor at some point in the past.

Jake was tempted to swim down and take a closer look, but fascinating as the discovery was, he wasn’t here to explore a sunken city. He needed to find Nox.

He swam over the towers, slowly scanning the ocean floor as best he could. He looked for any sign of movement, any trace of the two fighting Kaiju. But there was no sign of them. He searched for a while longer, but Nox was nowhere to be found.

Eventually, he gave up. The ocean was huge, and Nox could have gone almost anywhere. With the low visibility down here, his chances of discovering her were slim to none. Whatever direction she had gone, she had completely disappeared into the darkness.

Besides, she was more than capable of taking care of herself. So he decided to swim back to the surface. It would be more beneficial to see where exactly they were and check on Anak and Dripmat. As for Nox, she clearly could finish off the ocean beast that had attacked her without his help.

It didn’t take him long to emerge from the water. After breaking the surface, he took a moment to look around. Up above him, he saw a blue sky that looked pretty much like the sky back on Earth. The clouds were similar too.

But this world was clearly not Earth. Everywhere he looked, all he could see was endless water stretching toward the horizon. There was no land in sight. Where did Nox’s companions go?

Just then, he finally spotted what looked like an island far in the distance. He wasted no time swimming toward it.

However, the closer he got, the more convinced he became that it wasn’t an island at all. The shape was too strange, and the surface seemed unnaturally dark.

Finally, he reached it. Jake climbed onto the edge and stood there, feeling some kind of hard surface beneath his soles. It was definitely not soil. The surface was rough and heavily textured, almost like stone, and blackened in places as if it had been scorched.

He looked around. The ground sloped upward at a gentle angle, so he began walking farther inland. After a dozen or so feet, the ground flattened out, and he stopped, taking a moment to look around.

The “island” wasn’t particularly large, perhaps a thousand feet across or so. He then spotted Anak and Dripmat nearby, both looking in his direction. They were fine.

Jake briefly waved at them before returning his attention to the strange “island” they were standing on. Here and there, some weird-looking plants were growing out of the surface. They were unlike anything he had seen back on Earth, with strange shapes and colors that made them look almost alien.

Other than that, there was nothing else of note. He continued looking around, trying to figure out exactly what this place was. Then he finally realized it. It wasn’t an island at all.

He was standing on the remains of some colossal creature that had died long ago and whose enormous body had been left floating on the ocean’s surface. Or, more accurately, it was its shell. He stared down at the blackened surface beneath his feet. It had to have been some kind of enormous crab-like Kaiju.

Which made him wonder. First, there was the enormous ocean beast Nox was currently fighting somewhere underwater, and now this? Was this world populated solely by Kaiju? It also made him wish he could have brought his own Kaiju, the Saurian Prowler, with him to this world.

Suddenly, a huge shadow swept over him and Nox’s companions. They all looked up to see a massive winged creature passing overhead. It kind of looked like a luna moth. But sure enough, like everything else in this world, it was Kaiju-sized.

It passed over them before gracefully landing on the other side of the “island.” Despite its enormous size, it touched down with surprising ease. After landing, it rose onto its hind legs, standing like a person, and turned to face them.

The gigantic moth had four wings, which were now folded neatly against its back, and two pairs of arms. The first pair was larger and more heavily built, ending in nasty-looking claws that seemed powerful enough to rend metal. The second pair was longer and thinner, and the creature kept them crossed over its chest, almost as if it were protecting something.

The creature also had three heads. One was dragon-like, another was distinctly human, and the third was covered by a strange mask that seemed to have fused with its face.

Jake stared at it. Something about the creature made him wonder if it was sentient. It hadn’t attacked him or Nox’s companions on the spot. Still, by itself, that didn’t mean much. Not all the monsters he had encountered immediately attacked him. Elite monsters, in particular, tended to wait until he entered their aggro range before charging at him.

Still, there was something about the way the moth-like Kaiju studied them that made him think it wasn’t just a mindless monster. He decided to use Mind Reader on it. Since the ability didn’t work on monsters, it could give him an idea of whether the gigantic moth was just another elite monster or something else entirely.

So he used the ability on the creature, and his mind was suddenly flooded with memories that weren’t his. They belonged to the moth-like creature.

Only they weren’t really complete memories. They were more like glimpses and fragments, scattered pieces of a life that had been mostly forgotten by then. For whatever reason, most of the creature’s memories seemed to have been lost, leaving only a few fragments behind. Still, the glimpses he was able to view were more than enough for him to understand what this creature was and how it had come to be.

As it turned out, this creature was pretty much like Nox and him. Or at least, it had once been. Its story had started similarly to theirs, but it had taken a much darker turn. It had been human once, just like them. Then, at some point, it became a monster. Unlike Nox and Jake, however, it hadn’t been able to control its darker side. Instead, it had been corrupted by it.

Eventually, it became incredibly powerful. It drowned its own world and hunted down every living being that populated it. Hardly any creatures remained in that world. But it was still hungry. Eventually, it acquired the ability to open tears in the fabric of reality, creating connections between different worlds.

But it didn’t really understand how its ability worked or what the proper way to use it was. So it simply reached across all kinds of different worlds, pulling powerful creatures from them. Much like a spider casting its web and waiting for something to become trapped in it.

There was nothing human left in this creature anymore. There were only scattered memories of what it had once been. It had gone completely feral. All its needs and desires had been reduced to the simplest instinct of self-preservation.

And it was starving. All it wanted was to feed on any living beings it could pull from other worlds, and the larger the prey, the better.

That was how it had captured Nox. Something had gone wrong, though, and she had ended up in his world instead. But now she was back to this water world.

Jake had learned enough, so he stopped using Mind Reader on the Kaiju. It was now clear that the moth-like creature was the one Nox had been hunting, not the ocean beast they had encountered deep underwater.

And since she was still somewhere below the surface, it meant he was going to have to start the fight without her. Out of the corner of his eye, Jake saw Dripmat and Anak merge together, forming a single creature. It looked like they were going to help him. Good.

Jake charged across the island toward the moth-like Kaiju. Anak-Dripmat immediately followed, racing after him. Their opponent waited a second longer before finally breaking into a sprint toward them. The distance between them quickly disappeared.

As the Moth drew closer, Jake could now see that its body was covered in crystallized armor, much like the armor protecting the mutants in Lastlight. The crystals covered large portions of its body, giving it an even more intimidating appearance.

It made Jake wonder if the Moth had some kind of ability that allowed it to borrow abilities from creatures it pulled from other worlds. There was no time to dwell on it, though.

He performed a mana-infusing jump, activating Gravity Leap. The force of the ability propelled him forward and upward, sending him high into the air.

The Moth actually slowed down, tilting its heads back to look up at him as he rushed toward it from above now. The monster raised two of its arms, the larger and stronger ones, each ending in razor-sharp claws. The monster clearly intended to swipe at him or perhaps even snatch him out of the air once he got close enough.

Only Jake wasn’t going to let it grab him. He morphed both his forearms into launchers and fired two projectiles formed from his own flesh. The projectiles transformed in midair, unfolding into cinch nets that quickly expanded as they zipped toward the Moth.

A moment later, the nets tightly enveloped the monster’s hands. The sudden pull nearly broke its fingers, forcing the Moth’s arms down and preventing the monster from reaching him.

He then employed Gravity Strike, greatly increasing his falling speed while building up energy for a powerful punch. He plummeted toward the Moth like a falling meteor, one arm already cocked back and morphed into a massive smashfist.

A moment later, he collided with the monster, delivering a crushing blow directly to its human-like head. The impact was tremendous. The Moth’s head snapped backward from the force of the strike, and its entire body shuddered. It staggered backward, forced to take a step to keep itself from losing its balance.

Jake, meanwhile, was already clinging to its torso with Adhesive Secretion. He held on tightly as the enormous Kaiju struggled to recover from the blow. From this close up, he could indeed see that the Moth’s body was protected by a thick layer of powerful, crystal-like armor.

Breaking through it would take some effort. If he had brought his Saurian Prowler along, he could have merged with the Kaiju and taken control of it. That way, he would have been in the same weight category as the Moth.

Unfortunately, his Kaiju was a long way from here. So he was going to have to improvise.

Two of the monster’s weaker arms were crossed over its chest, as if they were protecting something. What was underneath them? Some kind of weak spot? If that was the case, then perhaps he wouldn’t have to go through all the trouble of trying to shatter its armored exterior after all.

The Moth was still dazed, still recovering from the devastating haymaker he had just delivered to its head. Its claws were still trapped by the cinch nets, too. The monster was vulnerable. Jake intended to take full advantage of that.

He morphed one of his hands into a drill and immediately activated it. A sharp mechanical whine filled the air as the bore spun to life. Jake wasted no time, driving it into the crystallized layer covering one of the monster’s arms.

The armor resisted at first. The drill dug into the crystal, sending tiny fragments flying, but the layer held firm. Jake pushed harder, pouring more force into the spinning weapon, and the drill finally punched through.

And as it bored deeper, he realized why the arms were covering the Moth’s chest. There was a hole in its chest. His drill finally broke through the armored arms, entering the opening beneath the creature’s crossed forearms. And then it drove into something in that hole.

As soon as it did, the Moth emitted an ear-splitting screech filled with agony. Yep, those weaker arms were definitely protecting a weak spot. Encouraged by his success, Jake pushed the drill even deeper, causing the monster to thrash and adding to its suffering.

Then something happened. A burst of aether energy erupted from the hole in its chest, violently blasting Jake away from the monster. He was thrown through the air before crashing hard onto the ground. He rolled with the impact to absorb as much of the force as possible, then quickly sprang back to his feet.

He looked up at the Moth. The creature was still struggling to cover the ragged hole in its chest with what remained of its weaker arms. The limbs were damaged and trembling, but the Moth desperately kept them pressed over the opening. From within the hole, wisps of green energy seeped out, curling into the air like smoke.

The Moth’s four wings became a blur of motion as the monster launched itself high into the air. Its human head emitted a high-pitched scream while its dragon-like head parted its jaws and launched a bolt of aether energy at them. Jake and Anak-Dripmat darted in different directions just before the bolt slammed into the ground with immense force. The impact sent fragments of the shell flying in every direction.

The winged monster circled the island through the sky, one of its heads screeching nonstop while the other continued launching bolts of aether energy one after another. It definitely seemed like the monster had picked up a few tricks from the Lastlight mutants.

The screech the monster was emitting would have blasted a regular human’s head to pieces, but both Jake and Anak-Dripmat were largely unaffected by it.

The bolts of aether were an entirely different matter. The shell the island was made of was incredibly sturdy and resistant to damage. Still, every time a bolt of aether energy smashed into it, a small crater was blasted open, sending shards of shell shooting in every direction.

That was why Jake and Anak-Dripmat did their best to avoid being hit. A single bolt of energy could probably pulverize either of them in an instant.

Luckily, their speed and agility allowed them to avoid the deadly projectiles raining down all around them. Feral Instincts helped as well, warning Jake where the next projectile was going to land before it even struck.

Anak-Dripmat raced across the shell, narrowly avoiding another bolt of energy as it smashed into the ground behind them. Jake threw himself to the side as another projectile struck the spot where he had been standing only a moment earlier, blasting a fresh crater into the shell.

It went on like this for a little while, Jake and his companions constantly dodging the barrage of deadly projectiles raining down all around them.

Then the Moth stopped screeching and firing bolts of energy. Either the abilities had been exhausted or the monster had simply decided there was no point in continuing to use them, seeing as they had accomplished nothing so far.

The winged monster circled the island one more time before landing on the far side from them. It touched down with surprising grace, then stood upright like a human being and turned to face them once more.

Jake tensed. Something was about to happen. In the next second, the Moth pulled its weaker arms away from its chest, revealing the ragged hole in its torso. A sickly green glow emanated from within the opening.

Then, without warning, a wave of aether energy erupted from the hole. It slammed into Jake and Anak-Dripmat like a powerful rush of wind, forcing them to brace themselves against the sudden blast. Almost immediately afterward, numerous spots across the island began to crack.

Then clusters of green crystals suddenly burst from the ground, rapidly pushing their way through the shell. They quickly developed and grew, some of them reaching over seven feet in length. And they didn’t stop there.

The crystal clusters began shifting. Crystalline growths twisted and reshaped themselves, forming limbs, torsos, and heads. Within moments, each cluster had transformed into a powerful humanoid shape.

The entire process took just a few seconds. Jake and Anak-Dripmat found themselves surrounded by dozens of powerful crystal golems, all of them bearing down on them from different directions.

As for the Moth, it wasn’t going to simply stand back and watch. In the next moment, the monster barreled toward them as well. Dealing with the crystal golems and the Moth at the same time was definitely going to be a problem.

But when the monster was halfway toward them, something happened. A huge form erupted from the water surrounding the island, zipping through the air like a missile. Of course, it was Nox.

She crashed into the Moth with incredible force, knocking the monster to the ground. The impact sent both of them rolling across the shell, but Nox was already moving again before the Moth could recover.

She couldn’t have picked a better time to show up! Now that she had the main opponent occupied, Jake could fully focus on dealing with the smaller monsters. He charged toward the nearest golem.

The creature swung a powerful fist at him, but Jake ducked underneath the blow and immediately countered with one of his own. His smashfist crashed into the middle of its chest, sending a spiderweb of cracks radiating outward from the point of impact.

The golem jabbed another fist toward him. He ducked under it again, then punched his drill directly into the weakened spot in its chest created by his previous blow. The armor cracked.

Jake didn’t give the monster a chance to recover. He delivered a series of powerful punches to the golem, each strike widening the cracks spreading across its body. Finally, the entire thing fragmented, breaking apart into countless pieces of crystal that scattered across the ground.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed two more golems approaching him. He immediately morphed his forearms into launchers and fired a series of circular saw blades at the enemies.

The projectiles sliced through the air before embedding themselves in the monsters’ crystallized bodies. Their jagged teeth began chewing through the armor, digging deeper and deeper into the crystal.

Then, as soon as the saw blades reached their stopping point, they shattered with immense force. Fragments of the blades shot in every direction, tearing through the crystal golems’ bodies from within. Both monsters collapsed into piles of broken crystal.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jake could see Nox fighting the Moth. She was inflicting an enormous amount of damage on the monster with every strike. The Moth tried to fight back, but Nox was simply too fast and too powerful. There wasn’t the slightest shadow of a doubt about who was winning.

As for Anak-Dripmat, it was attacking the crystal golems as well. The agile creature darted between them, biting into their bodies with its powerful jaws. With each bite, it tore out a chunk of crystal from its opponents, leaving jagged holes in their bodies. Apparently, Jake wasn’t the only one having fun.

They continued to fight the crystal golems, killing them one after another until none were left standing. The ground was now strewn with pieces of shattered crystal, glittering beneath the open sky of this world.

Jake and Anak-Dripmat turned to face the Moth. The monster was still standing. But barely. It was severely wounded, its body covered in deep gashes and cracks, with green energy still leaking from the ragged hole in its chest. It was surprising that it was still on its feet after the amount of beating it had taken from Nox.

The Moth must have decided it had had enough. Its four wings suddenly blurred into motion as the monster prepared to escape into the sky again.

Only this time, Jake wasn’t willing to let it go. He performed Gravity Leap, soaring high into the air after the winged creature. At the same time, he morphed his forearm into a grappling hook and launched it at the Moth above him. The hook latched onto its body. He immediately yanked on the cord, sending himself rushing toward the beast.

Once he collided with its body, he crawled toward its side before sprouting numerous bladed tentacles from his body. He stabbed them deep into the monster’s flesh, anchoring himself firmly in place despite the Moth’s frantic movements.

Then he extended a chainsaw from his forehead and immediately jammed it into the monster’s form. The chainsaw roared as it tore through the armor, which, thanks to all the damage Nox had inflicted on the Moth, was heavily damaged and weakened. He had little trouble cutting through it. 

He then punched a hole through its exterior with a drill before detaching a piece of his own flesh and forming a shardflare from it. He knew that the larger the shardflare was and the more mana it contained, the more powerful the resulting explosion would be.

So he made sure to create the largest explosive he could reasonably push through the hole. Once it was ready, he jammed the shardflare into the opening he had created with his drill. That should do it.

He then quickly detached himself from the Moth’s body and began plummeting toward the island far below. He landed hard, rolling with the impact before quickly getting back to his feet. Looking up, he watched the Moth desperately flap its wings as it tried to escape.

It didn’t get far. With a simple thought, Jake detonated the shardflare. The explosion erupted from inside the monster’s body, tearing through its side and ripping one of its wings completely off. The other wing on the same side was heavily damaged, hanging uselessly from its body.

The Moth immediately lost control. Unable to fly anymore, it began to spiral downward. A few moments later, the monster crashed into the center of the island.

Nox was ready. The instant the Moth hit the ground, she pounced on it. She tore into the monster with her teeth and claws, ripping through its already battered body. The Moth screeched and thrashed desperately, its remaining wings beating against the ground as it struggled to fight back. But there was nothing it could do to save itself.

It wasn’t long before the Moth’s struggling became weaker and weaker. Then it stopped altogether, and its body went limp. Immediately, a system message popped up before Jake’s eyes.

Hunt Complete! +1,235,525 XP.

Jake looked at the message for a moment before turning to Nox. He retrieved his electrolarynx and jammed it against his throat.

“Well, that was fun.”

Nox chittered something in reply.

And then Jake saw white light envelope Nox and her companions. Almost immediately, he realized the same light was enveloping him as well.

In the next moment, there was a bright flash of light, and the world around him disappeared. It was replaced by the darkness of the waterlogged underground tunnels.

He was back at the four-way junction of the sewers where they had been teleported from. He looked around, but there was no sign of Nox or her companions. They were gone. He was back in the post-Collapse world, so it was safe to assume that Nox and her companions were back in their own world, the one they had originally come from.

For a moment, he remained where he was, staring into the dark tunnel. He wondered where Nox was now. Would he ever meet her again? Probably not, though.

Jake began retracing his steps back toward the surface. He wasn’t sure how much time he had spent in the water world. It might have been only half an hour or considerably longer. Either way, Flynn had probably already led his group back to their safe zone by now.

However, when he emerged from the sewers and stepped back onto the street above, he was surprised to see them nearby. The looks they gave him made it clear they were just as surprised to see him as he was to see them.

Sure enough, before emerging from the sewers, Jake had made use of Morph Disguise, once again assuming the identity of his human alter ego.

“Mark, you’re back,” Flynn exclaimed, relief evident in his voice.

“I told you I’d be.” He glanced down the road. “Come on. Let’s keep moving. City Hall isn’t far now.”

He immediately began to stride down the road.

“Wait!” Flynn called out from behind him. “What was all that about? What was that monster? What happened down there? Is it still there?”

Jake glanced over his shoulder.  “No. It’s gone. You’ll never see it again. That’s all you need to know. Now, are you coming or not?”

Without waiting for a reply, Jake continued down the street.

The humans were confused. They didn’t know what to think. They still didn’t completely trust him, and they had no idea what was going on inside his head. Mark was a mysterious figure, and everything he did seemed to add another layer to that mystery.

Still, despite their doubts, they decided to follow. Jake hadn’t gone very far before he heard their footsteps coming up behind him.