Chapter 252 [DNO]
On the opposite side of the planet, far far away from where Michael and the others were fighting, something else was creeping on this planet.
It had four legs, and a hammer shaped head. He was moving sideways, in a strange manner, while his head looked the opposite side. With the body that looked like that of a dog, and legs thin as bones, that being just kept moving in his strange fashion towards a city not far from there.
If one can see clearly, then the plants and the animals or even the metals and the rocks, around 10 meters of that being, have eroded at an extreme rate. To the point where it looked like a relic of a 1000 years.
This… is what we call a Specter. It may look like a random monster, but this being has more intelligence than most of the lower Gods. He can easily beat an entire planet's worth of army if he wants to, but currently that wasn't his goal here.
Here, he came only for one purpose. To absorb the energy of the planet that was flowing on the surface and gather any extra intelligence it can get from this planet if possible.
As that being moved near the empty city, filled with nothing but brainless zombies, he just kept walking with his strange gait. The zombies moved towards the being, only to fall on the ground before they could reach him. As for him, he just randomly looked around, moved within the city for a few more minutes, as he searched left and right.
His eyes then suddenly got fixated on a group of people coming to the town from the other side. Looking carefully, there were a total of 17 people coming on 5 heavily armed vehicles, and each of them were at least peak B-Grade, if not A-Grade. The one who was leading them was perhaps even S-Grade with the aura he was releasing.
Between the post-apocalyptic buildings near the entrance of the city, those guys stopped the car as they noticed the eeriness around the area. They could sense that something was very wrong with the whole thing. And after considering some situations, a greedy smile formed on the face of the leader.
"Let's go in. Perhaps there is a strong zombie being born somewhere within the city," he spoke, and everyone else became super enthusiastic as they shouted loudly about the 'victory' and the 'loot' they were about to get. And hence they moved forward as fast as they could towards the center of the town.
The Spectre looked at them from the top of the building carefully as they moved towards the center and after a bit of consideration; he decided that he would leave them as it is. He doesn't care about killing a bunch of nobodies, but isn't evil enough to go out of his way and kill another intelligent being.
But before he could even move from the building.
eαglesnᴏνel "Look what we got here. A strange monster with no energy whatsoever," spoke the same guy who was leading the other people towards the center. Perhaps he had the power of teleportation?
(I don't have time to play with ants.)
A telepathic voice rang in the ears of that leader as his eyes widened, wondering where the voice came from, though since there was no one he could sense around him even within the 10s of kilometers in vicinity, he concluded that it must be the Spectre.
The Spectre sensed the guy properly. About 25 years old, black hair and a heavily muscular body. He looked like someone who was a professional bodybuilder, but something about his way of standing told that he was also very agile.
"You really are special. Not only can you talk but that too telepathically? That's something, you know? I can't let this opportunity pass," spoke the leader guy as he took out a sword from his back and imbued his energy into it.
The sword started glowing and became a bit more sharper.
(What are you even trying to do?)
The Spectre asked, a bit unamused with the behavior of the leader guy, but the leader guy didn't even bother to listen to him as he jumped at the Spectre.
-Clank!
A heavy metal sound resounded from the point of impact where the sword came in contact with the body of the Spectre.
"What?!" surprised, the leader looked at the area where his sword, though managed to come in contact with that body of the Spectre, but failed to deal even a scratch on it.
(Why do all the races behave the same?)
A tired voice rang out in the mind of the leader as he took a step back, but
-Slash!
A part of the body, more specifically, both the hands of the leader along with the sword, stayed there, where they were before, with the body jumping back.
There was no blood. No pain. The leader could even feel his arms still placed on the Spectre exactly how he attacked him.
His eyes widened as he tried to move his hands, but his hand failed to respond. As if something was tightly holding the hand of the leader, rendering it unable to move even the tiniest bit.
And then…
The Spectre stood up.. on its two legs. His tilted face turned upright and his eyes, which seemed white before, now had a black disk-like structure rotating inside it. Mouth, which was nothing but a small opening before, now had teeths sharper than those of piranhas.
Looking at that face, and the way he was standing, the leader just took a step back. His eyes filled with horror. He even forgot about the hand which he didn't hold any power to.
-Step!
-Step!
-Step!
The leader took a step back, and the voice echoed in his ears. Even though they were on a rooftop, in an open area, where the wind was passing silently, they could hear the sounds of the steps loud and clear.
The Spectre looked at the hands which he now held in his own two arms, and slowly bringing it closer to his mouth
-Crunch!
He took a bite.
"AAAAAAAAA!!!" the leader shouted, unable to do anything, as he felt the pain of his arms being chewed within the mouth of that Spectre. Even the parts of his hands which were inside the mouth of that Spectre, he could feel it. The acids poured on his hands, burning its flesh, eroding his skin, and breaking his tiny finger bones. The leader could feel each and every bit of it.
He wriggled in pain, cried out as loud as possible, his tears running rapidly as he tried to make a stand, but the pain was too much. Even after the Spectre had consumed the entire bite he just took in, the leader could feel the pieces of his hands being flushed down to the Spectre's stomach.
And then…
-Crunch!
The Spectre took another bite… and the process repeated. What was even more surprising was that no one was there to help out the leader. Nobody came. Despite there being a team coming with the leader, no one came to the rooftop. It was surprising because, with the intensity with which the leader was shouting, even someone from the other side of the city could hear him. Yet, no one appeared.
And soon, the Spectre gulped down the entirety of that leader's hand before speaking,
(This should be enough of a warning to you.)
And then…
Time reversed.
"Leader?.... Alan!" shouted the partner of the leader as he looked at him with a slight worry on his face.
The leader, Alan, snapped out of the stupor as he found himself back at the entrance of the city, where they were about to decide their next move. Alan was horrified to the core, as he looked from the side of the window at the top of the building, finding the same Spectre looking at him.
"What's that?" the partner asked, and Alan, fully knowing about what would happen if they continued, spoke in a decisive tone,"Turn the cars around. We are going back."
"But-" Alan's partner almost questioned him before he saw the fear in Alan's eyes. He understood that it was serious and, knowing his partner, he looked at the others and spoke without any change in his tone,
"We are going back."
Though confused, no one questioned the decision of the two strongest men in their camp and slowly turned the car around as they moved back to wherever they came from.
"You okay?" Alan's partner asked as he looked at Alan, wondering what exactly happened.
'Did he sense something? I couldn't sense anything from that monster… ' he thought as he observed Alan.
Alan, on the other hand, was still questioning the things he went through, his eyes wondering if what he experienced were the truth or just an illusion. He looked at his perfectly working hand and felt a chill as the memories of the pain returned.
"Parth, do you trust me?" Alan asked as he kept looking at his hands and Parth answered,"I trust you with my life, partner."
The others in the car also raised their ears as Alan nodded with a serious look and began telling them the 'tale' that he had just gone through. Explaining everything in detail as shivers ran down the spine of everyone who heard it. Making everyone turn their heads towards the city where they just escaped from.
As for the Spectre, it just moved on from that city to another direction. Where he felt another scent coming, which was similar to the energy of this planet. For his work was to absorb everything. And gather any extra intelligence it can get from this planet if possible.