Act 3: Empire's Stand - Chapter 554: The Hybrids

Act 3: Empire's Stand - Chapter 554: The Hybrids

What were they? Oscar's eyes slowly widened, and he sent out a flare, engulfing them in bright flames that drove away the darkness and lit up the corridor. Part of him wished he had never come here. The foul creatures seemed undisturbed by the fires, steam hissing from the drool leaking out of their mouths. The heads looked like an odd fusion of a wolf and a human. One ear was a human's ear, whilst the other was long and furred like a wolf's. Fangs extended from their lips, but rows of human-like teeth showed in between, and their faces had splotches of deep gray fur while the other spots held bare skin.

Their bodies of fur and skin, claw and hand, claw and feet, stepped forward, not a single burn on any strand of fur. Parts of their limbs were larger, and others were skinny, much like a person's. Their mouths parted, showing off two tongues, one round and short and another flat and long. They howled and wailed, two voices combining into a discord of primal cries, the wolf's beastly roar intertwining with the lamentations of a human whimper. Oscar nearly retched, disgusted by the horrific hybrids wandering closer.

One suddenly blurred ahead, crossing the great distance in a single leap from its malformed legs, its nails and claws digging into the stone. The large bear-like claw scraped on his shield, the sheer weight behind its single blow almost forcing Oscar off his feet, but he held on and stomped ahead, thrusting a fiery Golden Drill. He sought to end the creature's suffering, unable to bear hearing the wailing behind each howl, the screams of the tortured soul within. Shocked, he found his Golden Drill could not reach further, gripped by the hybrid's claw and hand, its palms sizzling from the scalding heat on the gold.

Oscar gritted his teeth and unleashed a Shattering Wave, flames erupting forth. The creature lost its grip and was blown away, but shockingly, it glared back with a drooling smile, its disgusting body still holding its shape as cuts and tears formed along its flesh, bleeding black globs of slimy blood, a foul stench of putrid rot filling up the corridor.

"I didn't expect their experiments to have reached this much progress. They're far tougher and stronger than the human and beast they came from." Sirsi, likewise, fought her own and kicked it back with a torrential Shattering Wave, the waters similarly cutting all over the hybrid's flesh, but no significant damage to its life. To his right, Erden engulfed his foe in a ball of pulsing white fire, so condensed, nothing should remain in its path. But the wolf-human hybrid merely retreated, ignoring the charred state of its body, the red eyes fixated on them.

"Your New Dawn deserves to die. How many people have you sacrificed to reach this so-called progress? What are they?" Oscar asked as the hybrids spread out, the corridor more than wide enough for them to attack from many angles. He solidified his stance and walked forward slowly with the shield in front.Thê source of this conte/nt n/o/v/(el)bi((n))

"These are failed experiments for creating lycans, proto-lycans. They attempted to fuse wolf-type Exalt Beasts with humans of wolf-type animas since they had inherent compatibility. These things are the result of that. I'm shocked that they're so resilient. Their blows are quite heavy as well." Sirsi expressed her shock and matched paces with Oscar, standing side-by-side, keeping a slight distance. "It's not a use of Reis, so your strange technique won't work. They're simply fast, strong, and tough. Letting these loose in a fort might bring it down."

The proto-lycans howled and wailed, dropping to the floor in a quadrupedal stance, dark Ein gathering into their claws, hands, and feet as cracks formed in the ground under the weight of their grip, spreading wildly around them. The flames burst away and flickered out of existence, and the winds rushed behind Oscar. A wall of proto-lycans descended on them, a mass of ravenous fangs and grotesque, black-bloodied flesh about a foot away.

As the water contracted, the proto-lycans slipped to the sides, rolling through the water's surface until they ejected to the other end of the corridor behind Oscar, crashing into the walls, banging their bodies around, yet not a scratch on the sturdy walls. Sirsi exhaled deeply, a bead of sweat dripping on her forehead, clearly tired from the exertion. However, her powers merely redirected the proto-lycans away, and they slumped up, shaking their heads until their feet settled down. These hybrids possessed a toughness beyond any Oscar encountered.

"We've wasted a lot of time. There was no need to clear out every room, but I guess that's how you are." Sirsi watched him burn away the last of the corpses before he scavenged around the tables and cabinets. "There's nothing here. They took all the research notes and documents with them before abandoning this place."

Oscar tossed aside a box, frustrated that nothing remained. The laboratory was designed in a circular form, the entrance from the cellar being the starting point until it circled back while descending to a point directly below the entrance. Light flickered, blinking in and out from the open door. Something was here. Oscar felt his skin crawl, and the air became heavy. Stepping out onto the railing, he found himself in a square room, a set of stairs leading down to the floor below.

Sirsi observed the room and said, "The control for Velfen should be somewhere in–"

A loud roar shook the railings until they fell apart. Oscar, Sirsi, and Erden floated above and landed. The room shook, and a loud stomping thud pounded in his ears. From the large prison at the side, the stomping continued until the metal bars broke apart, and a terrifying hybrid stepped through the hole it created. For the first time, Oscar saw Sirsi pale, a hint of fear shaking her eyes. It was understandable. The creature was a Greater Knight Exalt but emanated a horrifying power, but not as terrifying as its appearance.

Three heads rested on its long snake-like neck. The left head was human and crying endless tears, the right head screeched and cawed, licking its red beak with its long tongue, and the center head croaked and blinked its bulging green eyes, puffing up its slimy cheeks. The hybrid's body had the legs of a frog with the talons of an eagle, wings extended from its slime-ridden back, and two human hands extended from the feathery chest.

"What is that monstrosity?" Oscar asked.

"It doesn't matter. Fight it and kill it." Sirsi urged, her trembling voice betraying her anxiety. It seemed even she was caught off-guard by this creature.

It cried, cawed, and croaked. The three sets of eyes locked onto them, crazed, soulless, and blank, creepy smiles extending from their mouths.