“Now, for my first question…”


    Before I could finish my sentence, an eerie sensation crawled up my spine.


    My body reacted before my mind fully registered it—goosebumps ran along my arms, and my hair stood on end.


    A presence.


    Something wrong.


    Something watching.


    Ignoring the pitiful expressions of the captives—who were still waiting for my impending question—I shifted my focus. My instincts screamed that there was something else here, something hidden in the depths of this cave.


    The prisoners, however, seemed completely oblivious. They were too lost in their fear, their fingers digging so hard into their palms that I could see thin trails of blood dripping to the floor.


    They were already in enough pain and discomfort—so much so that they hadn’t noticed this presence at all.


    Which meant one thing.


    It wasn’t them.


    They didn’t know what was lurking around us.


    If they had, I would have sensed it in their emotions. But they were already panicked, already at their limit.


    Azrael’s voice broke the silence.


    “Something is here. You feel it too, right, Kaltain?”


    I exhaled sharply. “Right back at you.”


    If something could put both of us on guard—two warriors at Planetoid Rank—then this thing was a serious threat.


    “What?” one of the captives stammered. “What is here? Are you guys just trying to scare us? Because we already are, there’s no nee—”


    I shot him a sharp glare.


    “Will you shut up for a minute, or should I rip your tongue out?”


    The words were spoken casually, but the weight behind them made him freeze.


    One of his companions clamped a hand over his mouth, nodding hastily to me in apology.


    Ah. They were competent when they needed to be.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    I narrowed my eyes, scanning the surroundings.


    This wasn’t exactly a room—it was a cave. A large one.


    The ceiling stretched high above us, riddled with entrances connected by ladders. At least a hundred entrances, likely corresponding to every cradle in this underground facility.


    There was nothing in those openings—no shadows, no movement.


    But the crevices…


    Cracks ran along the cave walls, small gaps barely big enough to notice. And within them—


    Pitch-black darkness.


    I almost dismissed it.


    Until something moved.


    A slimy, gooey mass shifted inside the cracks, a liquified, living substance slithering within the shadows.


    Not mortal.


    Not even close.


    Azrael tensed. “Kaltain… that’s not a mortal, right?”


    He had seen it too.


    But that wasn’t the concerning part.


    The concerning part was that this thing—whatever it was—was not only Planetoid Rank but at the very peak of it.


    The same level as me.


    My cosmic energy surged instinctively, wrapping around my body in an invisible shield. My fingers curled into a tight fist, my entire being prepared for battle.


    But to my shock, the ‘goo’… ran.


    Or skidded. Or dripped.


    Or however the hell it moved.


    It just—escaped.


    Leaving me stranded with my high-strung battle instincts, like a hunter expecting a fight only to watch its prey flee.


    Or at least, that’s what I thought.


    But then—


    It stopped.


    It wasn’t running away.


    It was repositioning.


    Preparing.


    And that’s when the cave trembled.


    ……


    The vibrations escalated, turning into full-blown quakes.


    I barely had time to register it before the entire cave began collapsing.


    Cracks splintered across the ceiling, and large chunks of debris broke loose—falling directly toward the cradles.


    Azrael reacted first.


    With a flick of his wrist, he condensed cosmic energy into miniature black holes.


    The orbs distorted space itself, their event horizons devouring the debris before it could crush the helpless infants.


    But the cave didn’t stop falling apart.


    The debris was relentless, the collapsing rock pouring down in a seemingly endless wave.


    I moved next.


    Sweeping my hand forward, I flattened the incoming debris, forcing it to one side and clearing a safe zone around the cradles.


    I barely glanced at the lifeless bodies of the captives and experimenters buried beneath the rubble.


    Azrael, too, didn’t react to them.


    We had other priorities.


    “Thanks for the assist,” Azrael said as the last of the debris settled. “It’s a tragedy that we lost them.”


    I snorted. “No worries. The next sector still remains. There should be more rebels like them.”


    The entire Bronze Sector was likely crawling with people like these.


    How did I know?


    Because they didn’t have the resources to build something like this.


    These workers barely had enough credits for medical care or rations.


    And yet they had built an entire underground cave system?


    Something was off.


    ……


    A whistle cut through the air.


    A split second later, dozens of spear-like tendrils shot toward us—pitch-black, sharp, and fast.


    They tore through the cave air, stretching space itself in their wake.


    There was no time to dodge.


    I raised my arm, bracing.


    The spears struck.


    The impact sent a shockwave rippling through my body, the force strong enough to obliterate mountains.


    I tanked it.


    Pain flared in my nerves, but it was nothing compared to what I had endured before.


    And then—it emerged.


    As the last of the cave crumbled, the sky became visible.


    Dawn.


    We had arrived here in the morning, yet somehow, the entire day had passed.


    Funnily enough—we hadn’t done jack sh*t.


    But there was no time for that thought.


    Because the ‘goo’ moved.


    Or rather, it dripped.


    From the remaining crevices, its liquid form oozed out, gathering into a mass before shifting—


    Attempting to take shape.


    It mimicked a humanoid form.


    Me.


    But its body was unstable, liquid flesh constantly dripping to the ground before reforming again.


    Azrael narrowed his eyes.


    “It acts like ferrofluid,” he muttered. “The way it moves… the way it shifts.”


    I glanced at him. “So, if it’s ferrofluid, it should be attracted to metal, right?”


    He shook his head. “Not necessarily. This one seems attracted to humans.”


    He pointed.


    At the spot where the lifeless corpses should have been.


    But they were gone.


    That thing had consumed them.


    Sh*t.


    In the chaos, I had forgotten about the corpses.


    Because something this interesting had appeared.


    ……


    I exhaled, shaking off the stray thoughts.


    Focus.


    This thing wasn’t human.


    It wasn’t like anything I had ever fought before.


    And for the first time in a long time—


    I was excited.


    The ‘goo’ pulsed, shifting again, as if sensing my change in mood.


    It raised one of its arms—


    And launched another wave of tendrils.


    But this time, I was ready.


    My cosmic energy surged, responding to the thrill of battle.


    And with a predator’s grin, I lunged forward.


    This was going to be fun.