The party of three; Steven, Nott, and Shawn moved with careful precision through the ruined kingdom.

Steven led from the front, with Nott following closely beside him, while Shawn watched their rear. At the very least, with his ability to weave spiders, he would be able to protect them from anything attempting to flank their position.

Steven made sure to remain cautious. He steadied his breathing as silently as he could, forcing each breath to be shallow and controlled, letting his footfalls become as light as possible against the fractured marbled flooring. ’This place is like a maze,’ he contemplated, taking a brief glance at his system before returning his focus to the path ahead.

The walls were caved in at several points, the flooring painted red in others, as though a massive battle had occurred many years ago. Yet what made it worse was not the signs of combat—but the implication of the monsters that had caused it.

Steven and the party came to a halt in one of the many halls of the ruined kingdom. A massive pile of rubble consumed one side of the wall, with parts of the ceiling having collapsed, blocking nearly half the path. But that was not what made them stop in their tracks—not quite. It was something far more deplorable to witness.

Buried halfway within the rubble was the skeleton of a monster.

The frame of whatever demonic beast lay entombed there was so massive that the rubble only managed to cover a portion of it. Even so, not enough was buried to make the scene any less horrifying than it already was. Cracked bones jutted outward at grotesque angles, some stained black as though scorched by something unnatural.

Shawn swallowed hard at the sight, stepping closer to the devoid remains with a visibly terrified expression.

Steven noticed immediately. They surely shared the same thoughts. This monster looked to be of a rank close to a Dreadling—or possibly even a Disaster. But that was not what frightened them both. It was the fact that whatever had inflicted this level of destruction would be on a rank entirely higher than that of the dead creature before them.

The group lingered there for a moment too long before Steven snapped himself out of his daze and spoke, "Let’s—keep moving."

They continued through the halls with far more caution than before. Adding to their unease, signs of destruction grew more frequent—crumbling walls, shattered pillars, and torn-up flooring appearing at shorter intervals.

It seemed whatever had inflicted such devastation upon the earlier monster was close.

Very close.

Then, from a distance, a sound echoed faintly through the halls—a low, pitiful whimper. It came from beyond a set of grand double doors, pristine in structure yet stained heavily with human blood, blood that had not yet dried. Rubble lay scattered nearby, along with torn parchments of flesh and splintered bones belonging to fallen Awakened who had dared come too close.

Steven quivered slightly, opening his hand and summoning into his grasp the verdant longsword, Echo. In his other hand, he weaved into existence the despicable red dagger—Red Fang—its surface pulsing faintly as though alive.

Nott did nothing outwardly, but his stance stiffened. It was subtle, nearly imperceptible, yet he was readying himself for the worst.

Shawn was the last to react, weaving two giant spiders into existence as he braced himself, muscles tense and jaw clenched.

They all did.

Steven continued forward, his steps more deliberate than before as he approached the massive double doors.

Upon reaching them, his gaze fell upon the bloodied body of an Awakened fused grotesquely into the door itself. She was faceless, her armor crushed inward and melded into her body, as though she had been slammed against the door with unfathomable force. Her life had been snuffed out like a single flame, extinguished without mercy.

He swallowed hard, then shifted his gaze back to the doors, fully aware that whatever had done this was waiting beyond them.

"Ready, Nott!" he boomed, raising his leg and kicking hard at the center of the doors. The force sent both doors flying off their hinges, crashing violently inward.

Beyond them lay a massive assembly hall, so vast it could have once housed a hundred souls—or more. Now, all that remained was a desecrated ruin of broken pillars, smeared blood, and the overwhelming stench of death that clung thickly to the air.

Steven tensed further at the sight. Something felt awfully wrong.

He waited, refusing to let his guard drop.

Then—

{Ding}

The system chimed sharply in his ears. At the same moment, he blinked—and when he opened his eyes, he was met with an impossible sight.

Three meters before him, a person had appeared as though conjured from thin air.

It was a girl.

A little girl, no older than eight, stood there in tattered sackcloth clothing. Her white hair was disheveled and matted, her eyes sunken deep into her skull, her body frail and skeletal. Her lips were cracked and broken as she struggled to force words past them.

She was far too malnourished—yet she attempted to speak anyway.

"A little girl?" Shawn murmured in a low tone, though he did not relax his guard.

Steven didn’t either. His grip around his weapons tightened. "Who the hell are you?!" he yelled.

The girl tilted her head slightly. "This is my home," her voice came out as a low, cracking gurgle. "I should be the one asking you."

Steven frowned. "And so fucking what? You call this place a hub for monsters, your home?!"

The girl sighed slowly. "You have not only broken into my home... my room," she said, irritation creeping into her tone. "But you threatened my friends. You and the other flesh beasts."

"Pardon?" Shawn hesitated, clearly confused. "What happened to your family? We can help."

Steven felt no such urge. With every second that passed, the gnawing sensation that something was deeply wrong intensified within him.

Nott felt the same. A grey spear began weaving itself into his grasp, formed from flickering lights that pulsed ominously.

Silence followed.

Each person studied the others carefully, attempting to discern truth from deception. The girl remained stiff and blank, her expression revealing nothing of who or what she truly was.

The silence dragged on, agonizingly slow, until Steven finally spoke.

"You’re a monster, aren’t you?"

The question lingered in the air.

Then, a hoarse, insane laugh burst from the girl’s lips as she jerked her head back.

Steven grit his teeth. He had expected as much.

As the girl continued laughing maniacally, her body began to undergo a horrifying transformation.

Her skin peeled away, pale white flesh crumbling into ash that whisked into the air, leaving behind raw, red, bulging muscle. Her sackcloth burned away entirely, consumed by heat that had no visible source. She became an embodiment of exposed muscle tissue, her form swelling unnaturally, her size tripling in seconds.

Her nails elongated into claws. Her back tore open with wet, sickening sounds as massive spiraling blood tendrils erupted outward, writhing as though alive.

"Awww! What a disgusting fuck!"

Steven frowned as his eyes flicked briefly to the system notification before him.

{Title: Blood Burst}

{Status: Disaster Rank 2}

{Warning: Escape the vicinity}

"Bloody hell."