What... Is That Thing…?

20 km away from the Juhu beach.

A man was sitting on his balcony leisurely enjoying the beautiful and calm weather while drinking tea.

"AAAAGGGHHHH!!" Suddenly the man heard a terrified scream and he turned his head towards the source.

"W-What is that thing?" someone shouted out loud as he pointed towards the vile creature in front of him. The man's hands were trembling in fear as he just witnessed how his friend, who was stronger than him, was eaten alive by this monster without being able to resist.

The 'thing' the man was talking about, or was it a beast? No one knows what it was, though it looked like a normal human with 2 hands and 2 legs, his clothes were tattered and his flesh… his flesh felt like it was decaying... a greyish, repulsive, grotesque skin. There were no signs of life in its dull black eyes and it walked like a mindless puppet, devouring everything in its way.

Fresh bloodstains could be seen around his mouth, showing that he just ate a living person.

"Grrrr" The mindless 'thing' continued walking towards the man whose legs gave up due to fear as he fell on his butt.

His cheeks were wet with tears and his whole life displayed in front of his eyes.

As the thing neared him, he could now smell the repulsive stench of a rotting corpse that oozed from it, the man wanted to puke but couldn't, his eyes never left the thing who neared him with an expressionless face.

As the thing finally reached the man, it raised its arm to attack him, the man closed his eyes and turned his head away, already surrendering to his fate

but,

"Attack, Now!"

*Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*

*Swish* *Swish* *Swish*

A shout was heard and at the same time, countless spells were fired towards the thing while it was distracted.

Fireballs, water cannons, wind blades, earth spikes, thunder strikes… countless spells rained on the thing without stopping.

The thing flew back due to the impact while the man who was on the floor slowly opened his eyes, confused why he wasn't dead yet.

"What are you doing!? Quick! Getaway!" He heard a sound and turned around, a huge sense of relief rained on him as he saw around 8 mages standing behind him. He finally gained some courage and his legs that already gave up finally found the strength to stand up.

He quickly stood up and ran towards the group as he thanked them with a beaming and a relieved smile on his face.

"T-Than-"

"Alright, alright, just stay away from us" Just as he was about to go near them, the man who called him out spoke with disgust completely unhidden in his eyes.

The man then looked at the remaining mages, all having similar expressions on their faces. The man noticed that 2 beautiful female magas who just stepped back trying to avoid him. As the man was confused why he was being treated like that, he finally sensed something wet around his crouched and looked below.

Yes, he had pissed himself in fear.

Ashamed, the man was about to run towards his home but soon, his movements stopped and his expression paled.

"Grrrr"

Not only him, but all the other mages around him had surprised expressions on their faces as they glanced in the direction where they attacked and the smoke finally cleared.

"Grrrr"

"I-It's alive!" the female mage shouted.

"But how!? Did it just tanked all our attacks...?"

"It… it doesn't even look like it is hurt!"

The mages shouted in panic. They couldn't believe what just happened.

"How can this be!?" A mage shouted in panic.

"Alright! Don't let your guard down and calm yourselves. It surviving was just a fluke, we will destroy it this time! Gather your Qi and attack on order!" The man, who looked like the leader shouted. His words worked like magic as the other mages gathered their courage and prepared for the next attack.

"Now, Attack!"

*Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*

*Swish* *Swish* *Swish*

Again, all the spells landed on the thing and it again flew back due to the impact. Again, the smoke rose while a satisfied smile appeared on the leader's face.

"Hah! I knew it! It was just a fluke! I knew it couldn't survive all our joints attacks!"

The flag was raised.

And what everyone feared happened, the dust cleared and the thing, again, stood up as if nothing happened.

"I-It survived…?"

"Again!?"

"N-no… it can't be…"

"What is that thing…? How is it not dead yet?"

"Moreover… where did that thing even come from? How come the guards at the doors didn't notice it?"

"I don't know…"

"STOP TALKING AND ATTACK AGAIN! ELSE WE WILL ALL DIE HERE!" a mage who was already in panic shouted.

*Whoosh* *Whoosh* *Whoosh*

*Swish* *Swish* *Swish*

Again, a number of colorful spells landed on the thing, and again… it stood up without a scratch, planting the seed of fear inside the Mages' minds.

"C-Call for help… w-we can't do anything against this… call for guards…"

"But how do we do that?"

Under panic, the coordination of the team fell as some had the thoughts of running away from the situation. The man who looked like the leader watched everything with a grave expression. He knew if things remain as they are, it will not end well for them.

"Fire mages, fire at the sky, make it so that others can see it. Keep doing that, I think someone will understand our plight for help and will respond soon. Wind mages, go and call for the guards and the Enactment Union.

Earth mages; try surrounding that thing with an earth wall. And the others, try attacking it as much as you can but don't deplete all your Qi, save some since we don't know how strong it is.

Also, don't worry! It may be strong but it is very slow, I don't think we can lose here!" Soon, the leader gave out a plan and everyone nodded.

Since it was the Hustel district, where many rich and powerful people come to enjoy, the personnel guards of the nobles and some strong adventurers also joined in, trying to get rid of the 'thing'.

Wind mages returned with the guards who then contacted the Enactment Union. The panic was dealt with splendidly and glitter of hope could be seen in the people's eyes.

But, nothing happened according to plan, the 'thing' was too strong for everyone to handle, only a few mages could actually hurt it but that didn't look like it slowed it down. It felt like the thing couldn't feel the pain. And to make it worse, the people from the Enactment Union needed some time to come here so they had to stall for time themselves.

"Aaahh AAHHHGGHHHH! STAY AWAY FROM YOU! YOU MONSTER! AGGHHHHH!!" Soon, the first man amongst the mages fighting against the thing fell under his grasp.

The thing just jumped at the man and held him tightly, many tried to attack with spells to save the man but the only one who suffered from the attacks was that man himself.

The man tried to push it away in panic but when he touched its skin, he was disgusted by the pulpy, loose, sickening skin that just got stuck on his fingers. The horrifying stench didn't make it any better either.

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!" in the end, the thing bit the man's head before tearing it away and devouring his neck.

"UUugghhh!!"

Three Magas instantly puked as they watched the horrifying scene in front of them. The nobles were frightened after witnessing the scene and ran away, their guards, who had the duty to protect them followed behind them, weakening the attack force.

Seeing some mages leaving, many other mages started running away, prioritizing their own safety above anyone else.

"Where are you all going!? We can still fight! Don't get demoralized! We can overcome this together!" the leader of the initial mages who stepped up against the thing shouted as he saw many men running away.

"I am sorry Helt, I won't fight that thing anymore! It is too strong, it might be immortal or something like an undead. I don't want to die here in vain, I am thankful for whatever you did for me for so long but… I have to go" saying that, a man who was from the mages group turned around and left with an awkward expression.

"What are you talking about!? Where are you going!? Come back here, you coward!!" Helt roared but the man ran away without turning back.

Seeing that, other mages of the group glanced at each other with uncertain looks.

"Hmph! What a coward! I can't believe that he ran away at such a vital moment" Helt snorted in displeasure.

"Don't worry, we can deal with this without h- wait, where are you all going?" Helt questioned as others too, turned around without saying a word, and ran away.

Now the only two people left in the group were the 2 magas who had complicated looks on their faces.

"Dear…" one of the girls called.

"Don't tell me you two are also planning to leave?" Helt questioned.

"Dear… just look around, more than half of people ran away… and look at that thing… it still looks the same…" Another girl pointed towards the thing that was devouring another man who was in his grasp.

"It's useless. That thing is way out of our league. Plus, we won't get anything in return even if we manage to defeat it"

"What are you trying to say?" Helt questioned with raised eyebrows. Right now, he was booming with anger.