Chapter 57: Chapter 57: Stone Phasing Monsters The vibration hadn’t stopped. Rhian’s grip tightened around Nia, still cradled in his arms.
He picked up speed, eyes flicking along the walls as he moved deeper.
Every step forward came with that same pressure rising from the ground.
His wrist buzzed faintly.
He raised it, slowing just long enough to read the screen. The green glow pulsed softly.
[F Grade Threat Detected.]
He frowned. That should’ve meant nothing. He was stronger now. But this still didn’t sit right.
That pressure wasn’t coming from something charging blindly.
He caught movement ahead. One form, then two. They weren’t walking in, they were sliding directly out of the walls.
One phased from the ceiling above, another from the right, one more behind.
Pale, tall, and formless in detail, their limbs were long and thin, their skin like faded fog, twitching unnaturally.
Then the first attack came.
𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
One lunged from his left, arm slashing forward as it snapped into solidity.
Rhian turned fast, using his shoulder to deflect and throwing a quick kick that passed through the misted edge of the creature’s side.
It phased and vanished.
He dropped back against the wall, holding Nia close. The tight space gave him no room to maneuver.
They were coming in slow, but they weren’t hesitating.
Another snapped out from below, reaching through the floor. Rhian jumped back, nearly losing his grip, and dropped to a crouch.
Carefully, he placed Nia behind him on the ground, angling his body protectively.
The second her body touched down, two lunged.
Rhian snarled. He slammed his fist into the chest of one, claws dragging through half-formed muscle.
It flickered and retreated, but the other came from his right. Its swipe caught his thigh, shallow but painful.
He turned, slammed an elbow where its head should’ve been, and forced it back.
But more kept coming.
He didn’t have time to count. Three. Maybe four. Always phasing in and out.
They would attack, then vanish. Not staying long enough for him to get a real strike.
Rhian ducked low as another arm came down from above, raking the stone where he’d been a second earlier.
He twisted and lashed out, his claws slicing across the phantom limb.
One of them moved too slow.
He caught it.
Rhian grabbed the thing’s shoulder before it could slip away and slammed it down hard into the floor.
His claws punched through its chest. Mist erupted from the wound, thick and black. The creature twitched. Then stilled.
The others paused for a moment.
Rhian stood over the body, breathing heavy. Blood slid down his arms. Shallow wounds were closing, but slowly. He was burning energy fast.
Another reached for Nia.
"No," he growled.
He sprinted, shoulder-tackling the thing mid-lunge and slamming it back into the tunnel wall.
It phased, trying to escape, but his claws caught it in the side as it faded.
Another slash cut across his back.
He shouted, spun, grabbed the wrist, and drove his knee into its core, forcing the creature down. He kept pushing, again and again, until it vanished.
His regeneration was working. Cuts were sealing. But he was tiring. And they weren’t slowing.
He bared his teeth, eyes snapping to the remaining three.
"You’re not getting near her," he said flatly.
Rhian darted forward before the last three had even adjusted to what they’d seen.
They twitched in place, briefly caught between instinct and caution. That moment was all he needed.
The one nearest him shifted to phase but didn’t vanish completely in time. Rhian lunged low and slammed its leg with all his force, sweeping it off the ground.
As it dropped, he pivoted and drove his heel down onto its head. A crack followed.
The thing convulsed once, then its body sagged and lost form, melting into mist.
He turned.
The next one was already sprinting toward him. It zigzagged unnaturally, legs disjointed and twitching, arms swinging too wide.
Rhian stepped forward to meet it, feinted a punch, then caught it mid-dodge with his knee straight to the stomach. The creature wheezed and doubled over.
Before it could retreat or fade, Rhian caught its arm and swung it headfirst into the nearest wall.
Once, then twice. He heard something crunch. Then he threw the limp body aside like trash.
’One more.’
It appeared right where he least wanted, directly above Nia.
It didn’t lunge for her, just stood there, staring at her still form. That was enough.
Rhian was on it in seconds. He moved fast, faster than before. It noticed him too late.
He wrapped both hands around its thin neck and yanked it back off the ground. He pinned it to the stone and slammed its body over his knee. It flailing wildly.
Rhian didn’t let go. He turned and shoved it to the floor, then brought his foot down on its chest.
Once.
Twice.
The bones underneath cracked, then gave way. It stopped moving altogether.
He took a slow step back.
Everything was quiet again.
Rhian walked to Nia without a word and crouched beside her.
His arms were sore, and his legs ached all the way to the knees. The fight hadn’t left him broken, but it had pushed his endurance.
His breath came a little heavier now, not from injury, but from pure fatigue.
His muscles felt heavy not failing, but slow.
Every limb burned slightly from how hard he’d forced them to move, from how many hits he had to land cleanly and fast.
He sat down against the wall, pulled Nia just a bit closer, and let his head fall back with a breath that dragged out longer than it should have.
He had no wounds left.
But he was tired.
And that was starting to matter.
He looked down at Nia, who was still leaned gently against his side.
Rhian let his eyes fall shut for a moment. His head rested against hers without meaning to.
He hadn’t rested since he woke up.
From the moment his body started healing, it had been one fight after another.
First the humanoid creature, now these phasing things. His energy wasn’t gone, but it was running low enough to make him feel it in every motion.
The last things weren’t strong. Not really. Their claws left shallow cuts that closed almost instantly.
But that wasn’t the problem. It was the movement. They never stayed still. Always phasing in and out. Always surrounding him.
They weren’t hard to kill. They just made him work too much to land the hits.
Rhian’s eyes snapped open.
He couldn’t rest.
His body wanted to, but the moment he let it, he wouldn’t be able to keep going. He pushed himself up, placing one hand on the wall to steady his weight.
Then he turned and bent down, carefully picking Nia up again. His arms adjusted under her without hesitation.
He looked back once at the room they’d left behind, at the faded mist and bloodstains smeared across the stone.
He wasn’t staying here.