Evil Spirit Wendigo was now nearly four times the size of an ordinary Wendigo.
The five ordinary Wendigos looked like toys next to it. If they were caught off guard and grabbed, they'd end up just like the first one.
To Li Dan, it was just like watching a Licker fight a second-stage Zombie Tyrant in Resident Evil.
Juno was a tough one, too. While Evil Spirit Wendigo was distracted by Li Dan's underlings, she charged in, slid beneath it, gripped her triangular military dagger, and drove it hard into its kidney.
The dagger's tip sank into Evil Spirit Wendigo's flesh without any trouble.
But it barely went in before Juno felt strong resistance. No matter how hard she pushed, the blade wouldn't go any farther.
Evil Spirit Wendigo's eighty-yard-long foot came stomping down.
Juno rolled over and scrambled away.
Farther off, Beth and Rebecca quietly fired their guns.
The Deformed Person boss charged at Evil Spirit Wendigo, howling and wielding a cleaver. He was fast—but soon came flying back even faster.
Juno and the others had no idea where these two hideously ugly people had come from, but if they were enemies of this monster, they were friends.
In that brief moment, Evil Spirit Wendigo reached behind itself and grabbed another ordinary Wendigo. It clenched its fist, and despite the Wendigo's desperate struggles, there was no escaping a grisly death.
Evil Spirit Wendigo slammed it hard against the ground, reducing the ordinary Wendigo to a heap of mashed flesh.
Another containment object was dead. Only four remained to keep it occupied.
Evil Spirit Wendigo could afford to make mistake after mistake, but Li Dan's side only needed to slip up once to lose their lives.
They couldn't break through its hide from the outside. They had to find a way to attack from within.
Li Dan still had one high-explosive grenade. He'd paid a fortune for the thing, and only managed to get it through a deal with Pete. But how could he get Evil Spirit Wendigo to swallow it?
After all, the creature didn't look like some mindless monster with a diminished intellect.
Well, it had a little intelligence. Not much.
"Bang."
Another Wendigo died. Evil Spirit Wendigo had bitten half its head off, leaving only its body.
If they hesitated any longer, they really would be meeting God—or Satan.
"Juno, run! We need to find somewhere else. It's too open here!"
Li Dan shouted, then turned and ran. The two Deformed People and Beth's group ran after him.
Juno didn't want to die if she could help it, so she hurried after Li Dan. As they reached a bend, she glanced back.
The monster had eaten the smaller creature like a snack. Then its blood-red eyes fixed on Juno. It climbed the wall and came after her like a spider.
Juno ran even faster, wishing she had a few extra legs. She didn't breathe easy until she caught up with Li Dan.
The group crawled through the narrowest parts of the underground tunnels.
Bringing up the rear, Juno kept glancing back, afraid the monster might suddenly emerge from the dark tunnel and grab her by the foot...
Just thinking about it was enough to make her break out in a cold sweat.
As everyone knew,
the thing people least wanted to happen was often what happened in the end.
As if to prove Juno's sixth sense right, a head suddenly shot out of the darkness.
It was Sarah!
Juno jumped, but another head appeared behind Sarah's—a monster's, its jaws clamped onto Sarah's head.
This time, Juno was truly terrified. She screamed Beth's and the others' names as she scrambled upward.
Li Dan, who had been climbing slowly at the front, picked up the pace. When he heard Juno's voice, he knew the bait had taken. It was the only clumsy plan he could come up with.
Once he climbed out, he reached down and pulled Beth and Rebecca up, then told them to move farther away.
Ten seconds later,
Juno came into view. She was panicked now, stripped of the confidence she'd had as their leader. Blood and grime ringed her eyes, but her gaze was full of the will to survive.
Li Dan gave her a hand. Once Juno was up, she saw Evil Spirit Wendigo right behind her, less than three seconds away.
With Evil Spirit Wendigo about to crawl out, one of the Deformed People jumped down and forced himself into the tunnel entrance, wedging himself in place.
That left the Deformed Person facing Evil Spirit Wendigo's fury. Its fangs sank into his shoulder, tearing away a huge chunk of flesh to eat.
The sight was revolting. Terrifying.
Even a Zombie sucking blood would look elegant next to this.
The Deformed Person wouldn't last long. When Evil Spirit Wendigo finished eating him and broke free, it could mean the others' deaths.
Li Dan aimed his rifle and fired a burst, but it barely did anything. He threw the rifle aside and pulled out the high-explosive grenade.
It wasn't that he didn't want to toss it straight into Evil Spirit Wendigo's mouth. He'd drawn all its attention, so it had been focusing on him—and he'd only have one chance...
"We need to make it open its mouth. Otherwise, we'll all die here once it gets out."
Juno picked up a stone and threw it at the monster with all her might.
But if bullets couldn't pierce its hide, what good would a stone do?
At her words, Beth hurriedly searched the only small bag they had and found a flare.
The second Deformed Person had already run out of arrows. After Li Dan fused with the Ghost Card, his strength was several times greater than before, but that clearly wasn't going to help their current predicament.
Almost all eight of Li Dan's underlings were dead, and the Deformed Person boss was nearly finished, too.
Evil Spirit Wendigo had already eaten down to his neck. His head hung off to one side. He wasn't dead yet, but he was close.
Li Dan didn't dare gamble on whether an explosion outside would kill Evil Spirit Wendigo. Breaking through its hide and killing it were two different things.
Beth sat nearby and lit the red flare, staring blankly ahead like she'd already given up on living.
Juno kept hurling stones at the monster, over and over. It was all she could do now.
She wanted to avenge Sarah. She wanted to escape this nightmare.
As Juno thought about it, she seemed to grow dazed. In a haze, she thought she heard someone calling her name.
"Juno!"
At Rebecca and Beth's cries, Juno snapped back to her senses. But Evil Spirit Wendigo had grabbed her right foot and was dragging her away. Only then did she see that half the Deformed Person's body was gone.
Li Dan was at a loss. His liability of a teammate was still spacing out at a time like this? She was practically offering herself up as an extra meal!
American Horror Story had told no lies!
Li Dan wanted to save her, but he genuinely had no idea how. He took out the high-explosive grenade and thought about helping her—but he was still leaning toward leaving her behind...
"Quick, Li Dan! Give me the grenade!" Juno suddenly shouted. She was being dragged along the ground, looking up at Li Dan and pleading with the last of her strength.
After a moment's hesitation, Li Dan tossed her the high-explosive grenade, then ran out of the blast radius without looking back.
Beth and Rebecca followed a moment later, hurrying after Li Dan.
Juno caught the grenade and pulled the pin. Dragged all the way to Evil Spirit Wendigo, she smelled its foul breath and stared at the huge, blood-smeared maw lined with fangs. Her eyes held acceptance and regret, but not fear.
"Come on, you son-of-a-bitch!"
At the last moment, Juno raised her middle finger and taunted Evil Spirit Wendigo. The instant it opened its mouth, she clenched the grenade in one hand and shoved it inside.
One bite, and half of Juno's body was gone.
A liability?
Juno proved with her death what it meant to be a lifesaver!
Before you continue