Oculis

"A what?" (Mattias)

"A boss room! You know, like in games!" (Tsuyoshi)

"You are out of your mind Tsuyoshi."

"It matches all the characteristics! A dark and gloomy sky; check. Big open area; check. No monsters or enemies other that the characters, which is us; check. I won't be surprised if we see a lightning strike and the silhouette of the boss appears on that car."

*CRACK!*

*Roooaaaaar!*

It was just like how Tsuyoshi described it as. When he pointed towards a truck and spoke, with the illumination of the lightning in the background, a slim figure landed and roared. Their eyes were wide open after this and Tsuyoshi was at a loss of words.

"Shit man. You had to say one thing." (Mattias)

"Hey it's not my fault this happened okay! It just matches the bill so perfectly!"

"For all I know, you pointed this out. I'm going to use this."

"Aw maaan! You are going to tease me endlessly right?"

"I didn't say anything."

*ROAR!*

The slim figure roared once more, seemingly angry that its ominous entry was overlooked. To gain its adversary's attention it roared loudly.

"FINE! Since I don't want to hurt him I'll hurt you!" (Tsuyoshi)

"Wait Tsuyoshi."

"What?!"

Mattias held Tsuyoshi back and looked carefully. This figure seemed familiar but at the same time it was the first time he saw it. The familiar parts were its thin limbs and hunched figure but this thing's body had green lines glowing ever so slightly. Its eyes were also misty and its teeth sharper than a chef knife. It had long claws and its growl while looking at them was bone chilling.

It never took its eyes off the duo and while growling it slowly climbed down from the car it was nestled on. Mattias was finally knew why it was looking familiar, like a crack of thunder.

"Umm. Matt, bro. It is approaching y'know."

"Shit!"

*Vroom!*

Mattias hurriedly started driving in reverse. Seeing its prey was getting away, the creature started running after the car. Mattias drove around the corner, zig-zagging through the abandoned cars.

"What the hell?! Dude it's the first time I've seen you so panicked!" (Tsuyoshi)

"It's a fast one! It's like the one we got rid of before, that creature!"

"Then why don't we attack it as well? I'm sure-

*screech*

"-Ow my head! I'm sure we can take care of it!"

*screech*

*ROAR!*

"Tsuyoshi what was the one we killed doing when we saw? It was eating other zombies! That think got stronger by eating other zombies."

"So?"

"Think about it!"

*Screech!*

"Shit! A dead end!"

"Think about what?"

"We are in downtown, a populated area! There are no zombies or other things around. What do you think happened to them?!"

"They were… eaten by this thing?!"

*Boom!*

*Krrrrrr*

After heavily landing on a car and denting its roof, the creature looked towards the duo. Its saliva overflowing from its mouth as it bared them. While looking at Mattias and Tsuyoshi, it drew closer and closer.

"Obviously. And I'm sure it got stronger than the one we saw. It should be faster and stronger. This one also has eyes so we can't rely on sound like the last time." (Mattias)

"What are we doing then?!"

"Well we can't run now!"

"So? We fight?!"

"Do we have any other choice?!"

"Wooo! I wanted to hear that! Let's go you motherfucker! I'm gonna have some fun!"

"Be careful of its speed!"

They undid their seat belts and got out of the car one by one. Tsuyoshi was the vanguard as he had the most experience in fighting in general and a stronger body. Mattias was the observer, he would look for opportunities and strike the opponent's blind spot. This was how they fought since and considering their fighting style, this was the most suitable tactic for them.

"Hehehe. Those small ones were starting to get boring. Let's see what you have in you! Matt, you stay back." (Tsuyoshi)

"Are you an idiot? No, considering it's you that is the case."

"Oi!"

"But it's still too reckless. We'll go with the usual plan."

"Right… Got too excited there for a bit. All right! Let's go you ugly bastard! Haaaa!"

*Kroooaaaar!*

With a loud shout, Tsuyoshi charged at the beast. Seeing its prey was resisting the monster let out an excited, if you could call it excited, roar and took position, letting Tsuyoshi get closer. Realizing what it was doing Tsuyoshi smirked and swung his katana when it was in range. He was sure it would hit as the katana was aimed at its head, aiming to finish it with one good hit. But it was the monster's time to smirk now as katana went through its head.

Feeling that he didn't hit flesh like he was expecting, Tsuyoshi looked again and realized that the monster was not directly in front of him but a couple of feet to his left. Tsuyoshi's eyes opened wide as he looked, even Mattias couldn't see how it managed to dodge it from that close.

"Oi oi. You gotta be kidding me! That was centimeters away y'know."

"Tsuyoshi careful!"

Now it was the monster's turn to strike. It just plainly clawed at him. It was just a simple claw attack but the speed was something to marvel at. Tsuyoshi wanted to dodge but he saw way too slow for that so he chose the second-best option; parrying. But as soon as his katana made contact with the claw it left his hand and flew to the side.

"Shit! Dude this thing is too-"

After the first strike got deflected, the monster swung for a second time and this time it hit true. Tsuyoshi was launched towards a car because of the force of the hit.

"Tsuyoshi!"

*Krrr!*

"Shit!"

After getting rid of one of the targets, the monster shifted its gaze towards its other prey, namely Mattias. With a step it was already within striking distance but instead of striking with a claw it chose to slam Mattias to the ground.

Its teeth were horrible to look at and its breath escaping its mouth was impossible to endure. Mattias felt sick after a second.

'I can't go check on him right now!'

"Aaaa dammit! Eat this!"

He tried to cut the monster with a quick draw of his kodachi but it reacted faster. With a whoosh the monster was already hanging on a wall at a nearby building.

"What kind of speed is that? Are you really fast or is it something like teleportation?"

*Roar!*

"Like hell you'll answer me. Looks like I have to go all out as well."

'Concentrate. Focus that energy to your eyes and let it flow.'

*Swish swish*

The mysterious energy started moving after being agitated by Mattias. It moved towards his eyes and his vision became clearer. He could see things more clearly and could focus on things more accurately. When he looked at the monster, he could see the tiny hair strands it had on its body if he chose to do so.

"Come at me you bastard!"

*Kroar!*

The monster's muscles tightened for just a moment and it jumped towards its prey in an instant. The wall was all cracked and the windows nearby were broken because of the force of this step. It quickly descended on Mattias and started swinging its claws madly, sensing the power flowing inside Mattias body. It sensed the danger Mattias was radiating, a more refined danger from the previous prey.

Mattias was feeling the same kind of danger from this monster as well. Even though he activated the energy within him he could hardly see the attacks coming, let alone dodging them. He swung his kodachis madly and thankfully managed to parry the most of them. He was sweating madly and his breathing was getting rougher. The evolution this monster underwent was more than he suspected.

Not only its speed got a boost it also packed a lot of force inside its thin body. Whilst dodging it claws even left a huge cut on a car. Its muscle strength was comparable, or maybe better than those world-renowned boxers and its claws were as strong as steel.

'Shit! I can't get a breathing space! Think think! What can I do now? Am I really fast enough to counter its attacks? Will I die here?!"

*Whoosh!*

"HAAAAAAAAA!"

With a shout he swung his kodachi and jumped to the side, avoiding the monster's attack. He was getting nervous as he kept fighting. Seeing no way of hurting it like this he needed a new plan. He wanted to check if Tsuyoshi was alright but he couldn't and frankly he didn't think he was really okay after a hit like that.

He looked at the monster again, strengthening his will and looking for a chance to run away. Even though he was sad Tsuyoshi dying he would mourn for him later. He first needed to find a gap and run. As he concentrated more his vision began changing. From the outside his eyes, specifically his irises began changing colors and gained additional lines. They turned a bit ash color and they began sparkling. The lines that appeared in his irises were radiating energy, making the air around it warmer.

While these were happening, the monster felt the change that occurred in Mattias. It felt that his strength got increased, thus making him more dangerous for its survival. Instinctually, he was close to him, threatening its position. So it had to kill him. This was akin to the territorial behavior of animals.

Growling while baring its teeth, the monster readied to charge at its adversary. It was beginning to see him as an opponent now. But before it could launch itself forwards, a rock approached its head. It could dodge it but at the last second. Both the monster and Mattias looked towards the source of this stone and met by a cliché line from stories.

"I was your opponent though? I attacked you first though? You looking down on me huh?!"

"Tsuyoshi! You-"

"I'm fine. Let's take this bastard down first. And you'll tell me what the hell is wrong with your eyes."

"My eyes? What?!"

"They look cool as hell!"

Tsuyoshi walked while holding his katana in his hand. He was wiping a little bit of blood from the corner of his mouth. He took position in front of Mattias and readied his sword.

"The usual you said? I doubt that'll work on this fellow bro." (Tsuyoshi)

"We'll find a way! For the time being let's go with that. We'll change as necessary."

"Whatever you say bro. Here I go!"

Tsuyoshi once again charged at it but this time he was more prepared. He knew its speed so he was prepared for any kind of counter attack. Even though he couldn't ten out of nine times, he could still create an opening for Mattias.

While he was charging head on, Mattias wasn't standing idly. He looked at their opponent and began observing while moving around, seeing the scene from every angle possible. The phenomenon earlier was caused by him urging the energy inside him to his limits. He had about 5 minutes like this at most so he had to make the most of the situation.

He looked and looked. Tsuyoshi was truly helping with this as they fought Mattias could see the monster's every point in its body. His vision once again changed after breaking through his limit. The colors became more vibrant and time was as if it was slowed down. He was feeling the like he fought with the dog in the first day of this craziness; he had the same feeling.

'Is everything same as that time though? I can't see any glowing points on this guy's body!'

He kept on searching but he was running out of time as well. He was aware that Tsuyoshi was trying to keep it busy but he was running out of gas. Just at that time he saw a glimmer on the body. That glimmer was on its right inner elbow. When he looked closer, he saw a little purple spot in there.

"Tsuyoshi! Aim at its right elbow!"

"What?!"

"Its right elbow! Inner side! There's a small spot there!"

"I don't know what you're talking about but here goes nothing!"

Deciding to trust his friend, Tsuyoshi swung his katana towards the right elbow of the creature. It was unsuccessful at first and seeing that Tsuyoshi couldn't keep up with its speed, Mattias decided to jump in. Even though he knew it was idiotic of him to do this with almost no combat experience he still did it. Tsuyoshi saw this but he couldn't say anything as if he broke his concentration a little bit more, he would pay for it dearly.

Fortunately, the creature had a little bit of sadistic nature and enjoyed playing with its food before eating them. Its swings were not with its full power as it could go faster and stronger easily. It instinctively knew that even though Mattias was a little bit of a threat to it he would not be a match for it no matter what. And it paid this mistake as the kodachi cut through its right elbow, separating the arm.

*KROOOOAAAAAAR!*

"Yes! We have a chance!" (Mattias)

"Well fuck me! That's what you meant. But apart from doing that it also made it angrier!"

"Prepare! It'll get harder from now!"