Chased

When the bloated creature began charging, Theodore felt that his knees nearly gave way. It was only by sheer force of will was he able to pluck himself off the spot and began running in the opposite direction.

The creature was humanoid and hairless, yet immensely huge. It was roughly three meters in height and was incredibly bloated, not unlike a corpse that had been pumped full of water.

Theodore ran without looking, forcing his fumbling legs to move even while enduring the pain brought on by the rapid pumping of his heart. Desperately, he tried to focus his mind, to weave his threads of Aether along the muscles of his legs so that he might run faster.

From behind, Theodore could feel the heavy breathing of the creature. As it chased after Theodore, its heavy steps sent tremors across the tunnels and could be felt by Theodore down to his bones.

Theodore dared not turn around to look, but it felt as if the bloated creature was gaining on him. Somehow, with its fat body, it kept up with him. As the breathing got louder and the tremors got stronger, Theodore felt an oppressive terror from the depths of his soul.

He screamed. He screamed as if waking from a terrible nightmare. Yet, Theodore did not wake. This was no nightmare. It was all real. The screaming did not take him away from this place, but he screamed out loud regardless. He screamed as loudly as he could.

In that instant, as Theodore screamed out and released the tension in his heart, something in his mind clicked. For just a moment, the relief of tension brought him respite, allowing him to complete his magic technique.

With his legs enchanted, Theodore sprinted off, breaking away from the creature. He went so fast that when he needed to turn a corner, he could not. Of course, he did not simply slam into the wall. Instead, he leaped into the wall and kicked off of it, propelling himself around the corner with little loss of momentum.

Yet, despite going so fast, the creature was somehow able to keep up. As Theodore picked up speed, the creature began to run on all fours, unwilling to let Theodore go. Even as Theodore desperately tried to break away, the creature chased after him with the ferocity of a landslide.

(How is the fat bastard moving so fast!!!)

Theodore was beginning to panic. In his desperation to get away, he had long lost track of the paths he had taken. By this point, he was running around blindly, doing everything he could to break away to no avail. If he were to run into a dead end, it would surely be the end of him.

And run into a dead end he did, winding up in a corner with waterways too small for him to fit into. And when he tried to hastily turn back, the bloated creature was already there, the volume of its pale, hairless body leaving few gaps for him to slip through.

With surprising speed, the creature reached out towards Theodore with its large hand, grasping at him.

In response, Theodore ducked to the side, just barely escaping the grab. At the same time, he pulled out a broken piece of brick from his pouch.

The piece came from one of the enchanted bricks that the Dandelion Mandragora had broken through. While digging up the roots, Theodore found this piece to still possess some of its enchanted properties and decided to keep it.

Attaching threads of Aether to the broken brick, Theodore flailed it at the creature, slamming it into the creature's head.

The creature recoiled upon being struck, the brick caving in its bloated head. Yet, Theodore, through feedback from his threads, felt a strange sensation. The impact of the strike had been completely absorbed. The creature's head was soft, so very soft.

Quickly, the creature recovered and swung one of its arms down at Theodore, forcing him to tumble to the side. The arm came down with such strength that the entire tunnel shook. The bricks, however, were intact, their enchanted properties kept them sturdy.

Theodore was sure that his attack had hurt the creature. Unfortunately, it was barely enough to make it back away briefly. He could see that the creature's head was flattened, but it did not seem to affect any of its faculties.

As Theodore scrambled to his feet, fearful that he might not get back up in time for the creature's next attack, he felt a chill at the back of his neck.

(Wait, a chill?)

Theodore hadn't noticed it before. Due to him being in a rush, he did not thoroughly examine this supposed dead end. However, upon feeling the chill brought on by a breeze, Theodore finally discovered a small crevice, tucked away at the side of a corner.

Realizing that the creature was already swinging down at him, this time with both of its large arms, Theodore dove to the side, right into the crevice that he was just barely able to fit through.

Theodore squeezed and shoved himself into the crevice, hastily pushing himself deeper and deeper in as the creature tried to go after him, plugging its bloated flesh into the crevice.

In the end, not only was the creature unable to reach Theodore, it had gotten itself stuck. At the same time, Theodore was also trapped, with the creature at his back and darkness to his front.

In this narrow space where he could only fit through sideways, Theodore could only inch himself bit by bit forward. And as he had dived in with his right side first, the lamp hanging at his left could not light the way forward. Even if he wanted to, there was no room to shift the lamp's position nor was there any for him to turn his head. Theodore could only stare forward, into the pitch-blackness.

As the creature continued to reach for Theodore to no avail at the entrance, Theodore was left with but one opinion.

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End of Chapter 93

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