Chapter 4：We're in Big Trouble

"This... What is this?!" Sang Nian's voice rang out amidst the chaos.

With lightning speed, she drew her dagger, the blade gleaming in the dim light of the cavern as she slashed through the tendrils that reached out towards her with frenzied intensity. The blade sliced through the sinewy flesh with a satisfying hiss, severing the appendages with surgical precision.

The action was completed in an instant, Sang Nian's posture was steady, her movements ruthless.

Broken Blade glanced at her, no time to think, the surging tendrils compelled Broken Blade to act decisively and swiftly.

"It's a mass of dead bodies formed into a fleshball." During the fight, Broken Blade remained expressionless, "it seems like some team got the message in advance."

Amidst the swirling chaos and the eerie glow of Broken Blade's flashlight, Sang Nian and Broken Blade stood locked in a struggle against the frenzied tendrils that surged forth with savage intensity. The air crackled with tension, thick with the acrid scent of blood and sweat as they fought to hold back the relentless tide.

"Absolutely disgusting," Her peripheral vision caught glimpses of the massive flesh ball, its surface periodically rippled with movement, small mouths opening and closing in grotesque spasms, oozing foul-smelling liquid that tainted the air with its putrid stench.

The sense of foreboding grows increasingly intense.

With a quick glance around the chaotic cavern, Sang Nian's eyes fell upon the scattered remnants of equipment left behind by their team. Without hesitation, she moved with purpose, her movements swift and decisive as she gathered what she could, her hands deftly scooping up ammunition, medical supplies, and any other useful tools that lay within reach.

Sang Nian defended against the tentacle attacks, slowly stepping backward.

At that moment, screams echoed once more, and the tentacles became more frenzied. A chilling harbinger of the horrors that lurked within, Sang Nian's senses were thrust into overdrive. The tendrils, once frenzied, now seemed to pulse with a renewed vigor, their movements more erratic and unpredictable than before.

Before Sang Nian could react, a thick, muscular tentacle lashed out with terrifying speed, ensnaring her in its grasp and lifting her off the ground with an irresistible force. Her heart pounded in her chest.

"Broken Blade!"

"Kid can be quite a hassle." 

Without hesitation, the Broken Blade leaped into action. As the tentacles surged forth with renewed ferocity, he moved with the agility of a seasoned warrior, deftly evading their onslaught with swift and precise movements. With a fluid grace that belied his rugged appearance, he deftly sidestepped their frenzied strikes, his movements executed with precision and calculation as he sought to regain the upper hand.

As Sang Nian dangled precariously in the grasp of the writhing tentacles, she swung back and forth in a relentless dance of chaos and torment. The sinewy appendages coiled around her with a vice-like grip, enveloping her body,swinging back and forth in the air, continuously colliding against the mass of flesh.

Amidst the chaos, Sang Nian reached into her pocket and found a bomb. It was something she had just picked up from the ground, and some of the supplies had already scattered in the thrashing of the tentacles.

As the intensity of pain surged through her body, Sang Nian's consciousness sharpened, her senses heightened. With fierce determination burning in her eyes, she clutched the small knife tightly, her fingers curling around its familiar grip.

In a moment of clarity amidst the chaos, Sang Nian seized the opportunity presented by the swinging motion of the tentacles. With swift and decisive movement, she channeled the force of her momentum, her muscles tensing with strain as she directed the blade of the knife towards the gaping maw of the pulsating mass of flesh before her.

Using the force, she fiercely plunged it into the mass, tearing the small opening into a larger one.

With a swift and decisive motion, Sang Nian's other hand moved with purpose, her fingers wrapping tightly around the soon-to-explode bomb as she seized the opportunity presented to her.

With the opening she had created in the grotesque mass of flesh gaping before her.

With a fierce determination burning in her eyes, Sang Nian wasted no time in taking action. With all the strength she could muster, she thrust the bomb into the gaping maw of the mass of flesh.

Broken Blade propelled himself from the side of the mass of flesh, leveraging its own momentum to launch himself upwards. With deft precision, he climbed the sinewy tendrils that ensnared Sang Nian, his muscles straining against the relentless pull of the abomination's fury.

His broadsword flashed in the dim light as he severed them with swift and decisive strokes. With each stroke of his weapon, the air crackled with tension, thick with the acrid scent of blood and sweat as he fought to free her from the grasp of the abomination.

As the severed tentacles writhed and recoiled, Broken Blade wasted no time. With a single, fluid motion, he pulled Sang Nian's small body towards him, embracing her tightly as they both collapsed to the cold stone floor.

The next moment, the bomb exploded.

"We're in big trouble."