"What the hell is that!" Lorne's pupils contracted sharply as he stared at the terrifying giant hand.
The arm was a full ten meters long, its surface coated in a pitch-black, sticky substance. Countless deformed bulges writhed across it: pale skulls, bloodshot eyeballs, scarlet tongues lined with sharp teeth... The entire arm gave off a nauseating stench of decay.
"The Rose School!" The familiar, evil presence instantly made Lorne's hair stand on end.
Unlike before, when temptation had preceded the sinister influence, this time there was nothing but outright hostility.
It felt as though certain beings were trying to seize an opportunity, staking everything on one desperate gamble.
"Run!" He yanked Tracy by the wrist.
The two stumbled toward the burial chamber's exit. Behind them came a teeth-grating creaking, as though countless unimaginable monstrosities were twisting and growing.
Damn it, why are they coming after me again!
Right, those pirates on that little pirate ship seemed to belong to the Rose School.
Lorne dared not look back. His heart raced wildly, and all he could hear was its deafening pounding and Tracy's hurried breathing.
As they rushed into the narrow passage, a grayish-white figure suddenly appeared around the corner ahead.
It was a gargoyle a full four meters tall, with a head resembling both a goat and a hound, sharp fangs, fiery red eyes, and six pairs of grayish-white membranous wings. Corrosive slime dripped between its fangs.
"Damn it!" Lorne instinctively raised the Ripper, but just as he was about to pull the trigger, the monster before him suddenly began convulsing violently.
Its stone skin cracked and peeled away at a visible pace, foul-smelling black fluid seeping out from within, as though it were rapidly rotting.
In just a few seconds, the once-ferocious gargoyle dissolved into a puddle of sludge.