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Chapter 268: Death pierce

As the soldiers caught their breath, a tense silence settled over the cavern.

The creature lay battered, disarmed, and still, and for a heartbeat, a flicker of hope appeared in their exhausted eyes. But that hope was quickly snuffed out as Lyerin's voice, calm and cutting, broke through the quiet.

"Don't lower your guard," he warned, his eyes narrowed as he watched the beast intently. "It's far from over."

The soldiers turned, surprise flashing across their faces, but the moment they did, the creature's hulking form twitched.

A low, rumbling growl began to emanate from deep within it, growing louder and deeper, like thunder building in the belly of a storm. Its many eyes glowed with renewed fury, and, impossibly, its form began to expand, its shell creaking and cracking as it grew.

Segments of its carapace shifted and reformed, and its once-broken body seemed to reassemble itself, a new wave of power coursing through it as it grew larger and more menacing than before.

"What the… it's getting bigger!" a soldier cried, voice choked with disbelief as he took a shaky step back.

The creature let out a deafening roar, the sound so intense that it reverberated through the bones of every person in the cavern, sending chills racing down their spines.

The soldiers scrambled back, their eyes wide with horror as the beast rose, standing taller, more massive than before.

Its newly-regrown limbs bristled with serrated edges and spiked points, each one sharper and deadlier than before, as though it had adapted and grown stronger from the wounds they had inflicted on it.

Lucas swallowed hard, gripping his weapon tighter, his face set with grim determination. "We have to bring it down before it gets even worse! Hold the line!"

The soldiers regrouped, bracing themselves for the renewed assault, but the beast was already charging, its huge, spiked legs crashing down with a relentless speed that defied its bulk.

The cavern shook with each massive step, the ground cracking beneath its weight as it barreled forward.

The soldiers raised their weapons, firing in unison, but the bullets barely scratched its toughened shell.

With a vicious swing, the creature lashed out with one of its needle-like claws, a sharp, bladed appendage aimed directly at the front line.

The soldiers threw themselves aside, narrowly dodging the deadly limb as it slashed through the air, cutting a deep groove in the stone floor.

Shards of rock and coral exploded around them, and they shielded their faces as debris rained down.

"Flank it! Surround it!" Lucas shouted, his voice barely audible over the roaring creature and the chaos of gunfire.

A few brave soldiers moved into position, circling around the creature, their footsteps quiet yet purposeful on the damp stone floor.

They aimed at its vulnerable underbelly, waiting for the right moment, and fired a synchronized volley.

Bullets struck the softer, exposed flesh, eliciting an ear-splitting shriek from the beast.

Dark ichor spattered the ground, sizzling as it hit the rocks, but the creature only seemed more enraged, its rage fueling its strength as it whipped its limbs around like deadly, serrated scythes.

One soldier, desperation in his eyes, shouted, "I'm out of bullets!"

A fellow soldier tossed him a clip, but his own hands were shaking. "This thing doesn't even feel it! How are we supposed to kill it?"

Another clawed limb came swinging down, nearly catching them both.

They dove aside, panting, eyes wide with terror as they scrambled to their feet.

The creature continued its relentless attack, its eyes scanning the soldiers with an almost malicious intelligence, tracking their every movement with a predatory gleam.

"Grenades! All of them!" Lucas ordered, his voice filled with resolve. "Throw everything you've got!"

The soldiers pulled out their remaining grenades, the last of their explosives, and lobbed them at the creature in unison.

The grenades arced through the air, landing beneath the creature's body and around its legs, and detonated with a series of deafening blasts.

Fire and smoke filled the cavern, obscuring the beast from view as shockwaves shook the ground.

But as the smoke cleared, the soldiers' hope turned to dread.

The creature stood there, shaken but still standing, its carapace scorched and cracked but somehow stronger.

It let out a guttural, mocking roar, as if taunting them, and swung one of its limbs down with brutal force.

A soldier near the front line screamed as the needle-like claw grazed his side, leaving a deep, bloody gash.

He stumbled, clutching his wound as he fell to his knees, his face twisted in pain.

The creature lunged toward him, and he rolled to the side just in time to avoid being skewered. He staggered to his feet, blood dripping from his wound, and raised his weapon with shaking hands.

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"Fall back!" someone shouted, his voice cracking with fear. "It's too strong!"

But there was no escape, no chance to retreat.

The creature blocked the only exit, its monstrous form filling the cavern entrance as it advanced, its legs churning up the stone beneath it.

The soldiers were trapped, and they knew it.

"Lucas! Orders?" a soldier screamed, his voice barely masking the panic that was rapidly setting in.

Lucas gritted his teeth, his gaze steely as he took stock of the situation. "No choice. Aim for the eyes! Blind it!"

The soldiers raised their weapons again, focusing their fire on the creature's eyes. Bullets tore through the air, striking the beady, glistening eyes with sharp, wet pops.

The creature shrieked, a hideous, blood-chilling sound that seemed to shake the very walls of the cavern.

It staggered back, momentarily disoriented as it thrashed its head, its remaining eyes darting wildly.

One soldier, emboldened by the sight, moved forward, aiming carefully at one of the creature's few remaining eyes.

He fired, hitting it dead on, and a fresh burst of dark ichor splattered from the wound.

The creature roared again, furious and pained, its body trembling with rage as it reared back.

"Keep at it! Don't let up!" Lucas yelled, his voice carrying over the chaos.

The soldiers pressed on, firing shot after shot at the creature's eyes, the last remnants of their ammunition dwindling as they fought with everything they had. But even as its vision faded, the creature seemed to adapt, relying on its other senses to track their movements.

Its limbs lashed out blindly, and one soldier wasn't fast enough.

A needle-like claw punched forward, catching the soldier square in the chest. He gasped, his eyes wide with shock as the deadly limb pierced through his armor and lifted him off his feet.

The soldiers around him watched in horror, frozen as the beast pulled its limb back, the soldier's limp body sliding off the claw and crumpling to the ground in a heap.

The beast bellowed in triumph, shaking the cavern with the force of its voice, and the soldiers felt their resolve falter, their confidence wavering as they watched one of their own fall.

It has a bloody fuckin intelligence.

Looking mockingly at them.

"Don't give up!" Lucas shouted, his voice hoarse but unwavering. "For every one of us that falls, we strike it down harder. We're soldiers! We'll see this through!"