Зугтах Цаг

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

'C, crap…'

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

It was too late.

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

A repulsed hiss escaped through Sunny's lips.

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

'Argh!'

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

It felt as though he was drowning.

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

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

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

Growling, Sunny pushed himself through the squirming mass of dark beetles and managed to rise to his feet with a stagger. Even standing, he was waist-deep in the rushing river of the black shells. As several of them continued to bite into his flesh, he briefly looked around.

It took him a split second to take in the sight of the underground cave, which was painted crimson by his last flare and swiftly drowning in the tide of darkness.

He had already dismissed Saint, so now, all that was left for him… was to run.

'Damned bugs… why did it have to be bugs...'

The flare in his hand stuttered, the stream of red flame it was spewing rapidly growing shorter.

But before it died, he already dove into the shadows, disappearing from view.

The fluttering flare fell into the mass of dark beetles, and was instantly swallowed by it, the last hint of light disappearing from the hidden cave... perhaps forever.

Back in the main tunnel, the convoy was nervously waiting for something to change. Everyone was already loaded into the vehicles, and waiting for the Captain to return. Minute passed after minute, with no news of him. The ever-present darkness remained the same.

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

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

Rolling over his shoulder and jumping to his feet, Sunny wasted a second to catch his balance, and then jerked his head sideways to look at Luster.

"...What the hell are you waiting for?! Drive! Go as fast as you can! Now!"

In the next moment, the whole mountain shuddered, and streams of dust fell from the tunnel's roof. Luster's eyes widened, and he sent the APC forward without asking a single question.

If the Captain was shouting, things were seriously, seriously bad.

Beth and Professor Obel both rose, startled by Sunny's sudden arrival.

"What…"

He threw a hand in their direction.

"Stop! Don't get closer!"

As the Rhino rolled into the darkness, swiftly accelerating, the rest of the vehicles promptly followed. Inside the APC, the Undying Chain disappeared into a rain of sparks, leaving Sunny half-naked.

His pale body was covered with small, ugly lacerations, but there was almost no blood in sight.

Several tiny black insects fell to the floor, and were promptly and viciously stomped to death by him. Nevertheless, even after disposing of the beetles, Sunny did not look relieved.

Instead, he paled even more, and then bent over, vomiting a mouthful of dark blood.

Beth took a step forward, looking around in search of a medkit with a worried expression on her face.

"What is going on?"

Sunny bared his teeth in a growl.

"I said stay back!"

With that, a strange stiletto appeared in his hand. Its blade was long, narrow, and seemed to be forged out of ghostly glass.

Without hesitating even for a second, Sunny sent both the young woman and the old man into a momentary shock by turning the stiletto against himself… and plunging it into his chest.

"Hey! What are you..."

A startled yelp escaped from Beth's mouth, drowning Sunny's own groan.

'Ah… damn it!'

He twisted the Moonlight Shard in the wound, causing an ugly grimace to appear on his face, and then pulled the stiletto out.

Impaled on it was the body of a strange beetle with a jet-black carapace, its shell broken, crushed, and smeared with blood.

The tiny creature had almost reached his heart. A few moments later… and Sunny would have been in a sea of trouble.

He stared at the dead insect for a few moments, and then shivered. The mountain quaked again, and a net of cracks appeared on the roof of the tunnel just ahead.

Sunny looked through the windshield of the speeding APC and inhaled deeply, not paying attention to the pain.

'Time to run…'