Monster Among Monster's

“Alright everyone, we're here. I know everyone is excited about this Ancient Ruin but I want all of you to focus and pay attention. It wasn't easy coming here so let's make sure that we all leave this place alive and wealth filling up our pockets, got it?”

“Got it!”

“Now, Lloyd, the stage is yours. Quickly find the entrance and let's get rich! After this job, I'm gonna take a long vacation with my wife and kids.”

A group of cloaked figures chatted cautiously with one another as they hid in the darkness of the night. They stood on the thick branches of a tall tree white facing an enormous mountain. Apart from looking majestic, there wasn't anything special about this mountain.

The cloaked figure called Lloyd jumped off the tree and landed on the hard ground. He then studied the mountain with great attention and after about an hour, he found something. He was already very far from his comrades since the mountain was so big.

“Guys, I seem to have found the entrance. It's approximately ten kilometers east. Come quickly, over!”

“Roger! Just give us a few minutes, we'll be with you shortly, over!”

The group of cloaked figures then disappeared from the tall tree and travelled at amazing speed towards Lloyd's direction.

…

In just ten minutes, they reached their destination where Lloyd was waiting for them.

“Lloyd, did you really find the entrance in such a short amount of time. It's way faster than usual.”

“Don't worry, it was unexpectedly easy. Come check it out.”

Lloyd then proceeded to lead them to the entrance that they were talking about. At the said entrance was a huge boulder that seemed to be blocking something behind it. A few plants and weeds had been removed from the vicinity, probably by Lloyd and the entrance was neatly cleaned up.

On the boulder, there were words written but due to nature or the passage of time, these words were on the verge of fading away, some even incomplete.

“Lily, your turn. Quickly translate these words and see if we can enter the cave without triggering any traps or causing a commotion. And remember to take your time, the owners of this backyard are not people we can afford to offend so be as overt as you possibly can.”

“Don't worry, I got this.”

The cloaked figure called Lily stood in front of the boulder and took out something that looked like a magnifying glass. A green light was then released by this object and scanned the words on the boulder. A few minutes later, the object spoke.

[Ding! This is the Ancient Language of Earth used hundreds of years ago called English. After a careful translation, completion of missing words and grammar, these words have been perfectly translated!]

‘English!’

“Captain, we've really struck gold this time! This might be a tomb of those important figures of Earth. I heard that Earthlings aren't afraid to pay good money for such information!”

“Don't get too excited, let's first here what these words mean before we proceed. You know what the Earthlings say, don't count your chickens before they hatch.”

“Quickly show me the translation of these words!”

[Ding! To the descendants of the Zodiacs, the world and everyone living in it. DO NOT, WE REPEAT, DO NOT… by any means, TRY TO ENTER THIS PLACE! AN EXISTENTIAL DANGER LIES WITHIN! A MONSTER UNLIKE NO OTHER IS SEALED INSIDE! ONCE RELEASED, WHEREVER THIS MONSTER GOES, DEATH FOLLOWS SO DO NOT OPEN AND DEFINITELY DO NOT ENTER! WE HOPE THAT BY THE TIME THIS PLACE IS DISCOVERED, THE MONSTER WOULD BE LONG DEAD OR WE'VE BECOME STRONG ENOUGH TO ERADICATE IT! AGAIN, DO NOT RELEASE THIS MONSTER INTO THE WORLD!!!]

“What the FUCK?! Does this mean that we came here for nothing?!”

“Captain, what do we do now? This was obviously written by the ancestors of the Zodiac Clans. Entities more terrifying than the Zodiac Patriarchs!”

“Yeah, but I'm unwilling to leave this place with empty pockets. We've already used up all of our wealth in order to sneak into this place, we can't just leave right?!”

Everyone became restless after seeing the clear warning from the one's who created this ruin. There weren't treasures inside but instead a terrifying creature that even the Zodiacs Ancestors couldn't kill it but only managed to seal it here. They began to argue whether to enter the ruin or not and these people were divided into two sides.

Five agreed to simply leave the place and not provoke whatever was inside while the other half chose to enter the ruins. Only their leader hadn't made a choice.

“Alright everyone calm down. Those who don't want to enter the ruins can just wait here and check the coast while the rest of us will explore the ruin. But those who choose not to enter will only get ten percent of whatever we make. How does that sound?”

“We agree Captain!”

“We also agree Captain!”

And just like that, their leader had quickly solved the problem without either side resorting to violence or betrayal. The boulder was then moved away but halfway through, it disinterested and turned into dust that was blown away by the wind. It seemed the boulder couldn't resist the test of time and just needed a catalyst for its demise.

The group then carefully entered the pitch black cave. Surprisingly, those that initially didn't want to enter the ruins actually changed their minds at the last moment and the group entered together.

…

The path was narrow at first but the deeper they walked into the cave, the more spacious it started to become. And unlike walking foward like they were seeing, it felt like they were going down, walking deeper and deeper into the underground.

The group travelled for about three hours, and in these three hours, they'd recorded many Array Formations/ Magic Circles, Inscriptions and even a few Runes. All of these were valuable information to those who were interested in them. What shocked the group was that no matter how they tried, anything that released even the faintest bit of light had stopped working. It was as though this place didn't allow light to exist here.

…

Thirty days had passed since they'd entered the cave and not once had they encountered danger to traps. The group didn't feel like they were exploring a Ruin but felt like they were taking a stroll in the garden. This was the first ever Ruin to not have any obstructions either by using booby traps or answering riddles, the journey was very smooth.

After a month of travelling, they finally reached their destination, the heart of this cave. They would have arrived here sooner if they hadn't spent their time recording ancient information.

At the core of the cave, they were actually standing high above, very close to the sealing where a massive Magic Circle had been drawn. Below them, about a hundred meters below them, a pool with black liquid was created. There was a person inside the pool but only his head could be seen as the rest of his body was submerged into the pool.

A thick chain was wrapped around the man's neck and many Runes were drawn on it. The man didn't look old, about twenty five years of age, light skinned with dreadlocks that were very long.

“Is that… the ‘monster’ we were warned about? He seems harmless to me… and very handsome.”

“Be careful, the more ordinary something is, the more dangerous it might be. We've seen everything we had to see, let's quickly leave this place before we provoke something we shouldn't.”

“Alright, guys, let's rest for a little bit before we leave. I haven't slept in days and I'm a bit tired.”

The group set up camp right then and there, everyone took out their tents and went to sleep. They wanted to make a bonfire but couldn't so they could only give up.

The only person who didn't go to sleep was the female cloaked figure who thought that the man in the pool was very handsome. She sat alone while gazing at the man. She wondered why he could be seen so clearly in this darkness while everything else was so difficult to see. While deep in her thoughts, something crawled behind her, slowly approaching without making a sound and when it was about to strike, it was blocked.

“So you finally decided to show yourself. I've been waiting patiently for a while now and you finally took the bait.”

Holding in her hand was a sixty centimeter black centipede with a width of about five centimetres. The centipede had been stalking this group ever since they entered the cave and had been waiting for an opportunity to hunt them down but the opportunity never represented itself until today. Today when it found a victim that it could target without worrying about the others.

“Guys, I finally caught it!”

Everyone walked out of their tents to study the unknown enemy that had been stalking them this whole time. But seeing that it was just a mutated centipede with the ability to blend into the darkness, everyone quickly lost interest. The cloaked lady played with it for a while but also got bored.

“Alright guys, we've had enough rest. Time to leave this place.”

“I never thought I'd say this but I miss the sunlight. Being in the dark for too long is not healthy.”

Everyone then packed their things and prepared to leave, the cloaked lady with the centipede also packed her stuff with the others. When everyone was ready, she killed the centipede and threw it into the black pool of water and they left. She didn't see that when the centipede fell into the pool, some of its blood splashed onto the man's face.

…

Fifteen minutes later, the group was happily leaving the cave and they had truly gained a lot from this trip. Some were chatting about taking a vacation, some chatting about buying an island while others were just thinking about how much money they were going to make. Suddenly…

Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!

The sound of chains clashing reverberated in their ears. The sound was very feint but they heard it clearly. Instead of stopping, everyone increased their pace, walking faster and taking larger strides.

Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!

The sound of chains clashing reverberated in ears again, this time a bit louder than before. The group started jogging in an orderly manner without pushing each other.

Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!

When the chains reverberated for the third time, the group simply ran for their lives but even then, they did it in an orderly and calm manner. Not pushing someone back in order to survive, it seemed like they were experienced in this kind of thing.

One of the cloaked figures looked back to see if anything was chasing behind them but there was nothing except for the two glowing red rubies.

‘Wait a minute…’

The person remembered that no light was allowed in this place but he was actually seeing two rubies that glowed while in the air. He then turned around and ran faster than everyone. The others were shocked by this, looked back only for their eyes to widen in shock and run even faster. Their backs were drenched in cold sweat and they wished they could run even faster.

They ran at full speed for an hour before slowly decreasing their speed. Unfortunately even after running for such a long time, they hadn't exited the cave yet which showed just how massive the place actually was.

“Alright everyone, we'll take a ten minutes before running at full speed again. Hopefully we'll make it out before that thing catches up to us.”

“Yes, Capta…”

Whoosh!

Puchi!

Ba dum! Ba dum! Ba dum! Ba dum!

They were about to reply to their leaders when they were interrupted by something passing by them at incredible speed. In a blink of an eye, a skinny naked man stood in front of them while holding a beating heart. There was a gaping wound on Captain's chest where his heart was supposed to be.

The man holding the beating heart was skinny, very skinny like a walking skeleton with a little bit of flesh to cover the bones. Only his face was unaffected for some reason. The man wasn't very tall, about 5’8 with his penis dangling in the wind. Pubic hair had overgrown. He was handsome, very handsome, especially now when he was smiling.

The man then proceeded to eat the Captain's heart right in front of them. The sound of chewing and swallowing scared them shitless. Seeing his heart being devoured right in front of him, Captain collapsed on the ground and died. Apart from the man with dreadlocks eating, the wasn't any other sound.

Some had tried to run away but their bodies just wouldn't follow their commands.

“Delicious! Simply delicious! How long has it been since I've tasted human flesh! It seems that over the years, the taste has improved by leaps and bounds, how unexpected.” said the man.

Hearing what he said, everyone involuntarily shivered, some wet themselves while others shat themselves. This was how terrified they were. Some tried to plead for mercy but the words wouldn't come out of their mouths.

The man ignored the group and picked up the dead Captain's body. He then carefully removed his clothes until the Captain was fully naked. He had a muscular body which had obviously underwent vigorous training. It was also full of energy and vitality that it surprised the man. Even though he was surprised, this didn't stop him from continuing with his actions.

He ripped off the legs and arms off the torso, leaving only the penis and the head. He then ate the man's limbs like they were the most delicious thing in the world and in no time had finished eating. Then removed the penis and the balls and threw them away, used his nails to cut open the man's stomach where he ate the intestines like he was eating noodles, chewed on the liver but threw away the gizzard and finally cracked his skull open, ate his brain like he was eating a delicacy. Once all the meat was eaten, he targeted the ribs and bones that were left. Ten minutes later, Captain's corpse had disappeared, even his blood wasn't spared and was drunk by the man.

The group had watched the entire process, and with each bite, the more horrified they became. It was only now that they understood the warning that was written on the boulder that blocked the entrance of this cave.

‘Zodiac Ancestors! Fuck you! Fuck you and your entire families! Why the fuck didn't you tell us that this guy eats people! Fuck you!’ they all cursed inwardly.

“Ah! What a sumptuous meal… and I'm glad there's more from where that came from. Don't worry, it will all be over soon.” said the man while smiling. His mouth,neck and chest were dyed red with blood with pieces of flesh stuck between his teeth, making him look very scary. And just like that, the slaughter began.

“AHHHH!!!”

“DON'T KILL ME! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!”

“STAY BACK! I SAID STAY BACK!!!”

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! PLEASE JUST KILL ME! PLEASE KILL… AHH… AHH… AHH…”

The women were raped before being killed and eaten while the men were killed instantly and eaten. The ancients truly weren't lying when they said that a monster was sealed inside the mountain. And now that it had finally regained its freedom, only god knows what it was gonna do but Death, Death would definitely follow this guy.