Aaron and his father made the first steps to the stairs with heavy hearts; they tried to be as silent as possible, but it wasn't easy, especially considering the thaids sensitivity to noise and vibrations. Aaron's father held his hand tightly as they descended the stairs, trying not to think about what they might find at the bottom. As they descended the stairs, Aaron couldn't help feeling a sense of unease. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and his mind was racing with all the possible scenarios that could be waiting for them at the bottom of the stairs. Despite his fear, he knew he had to be brave for his father's sake.
He wondered if they were really doing the right thing by going downstairs, but he couldn't let his father face whatever danger may be lurking alone. Aaron took a deep breath and tightened his grip on his weapon, ready to face whatever awaited them.
They planned to make a defensive position on top of the stairs so that no creature could climb up and get an advantage in height. However, fighting in that narrow passage wasn't easy, and if things went wrong, they would be forced to fight in the hallway, significantly decreasing their advantage.
The monsters rushed to the top floors while the young man descended; Aaron and his father met the creatures after three floors. There were several giant bugs, at least thrice the size of a big dog. The creatures looked like beetles and had a big, bulky black carapace under which a pair of transparent wings could be seen. Aaron didn't know what they were, but his father, Eddie, did. It was a thaid species called Mires.
The creatures had a double-pointed horns on their heads, mainly used to ram other beasts and kill them by impaling them. The mouth was the most grotesque part of it; not only did the creature have jagged monstrous teeth inside of it, but it also had two pincer-like appendages that were moving strangely elastic way; they looked like giant barbed tentacles but with a strange tint of solidity to them.
The bugs didn't waste time and rammed at the two men; Aaron and his father immediately used their slimes. Both had this particular BCP, but Eddie was more skilled than his son. The move successfully stopped the thaids from attacking, and immediately, the slime started corroding the creatures. However, their carapace was hard and difficult to destroy. Aaron watched in awe as his father's expertise with the slime became evident, but he knew they needed to find a way to penetrate the bugs' tough exterior before it was too late.
The two men started to give off more mana, and soon the bugs walking on the floor started to fall one by one. However, the sheer number of creatures made it so that for each fallen bug, another one took his place, and they used the dead thaids as stepping stones to reach the two humans.
Soon, the floor was full of bodies and slime, but this didn't prevent the creatures from attacking. A Mires managed to reach the stairs, but Aaron and his father couldn't use their slimes since it was too slow to kill the creature, and they were forced to fight in melee.
The creatures charged at Aaron, but he was ready to block their attack. He unsheathed the sword and blocked the horn while his father barely plunged the blade he took from a dead police officer's body into the creature's head. Aaron's heart was pounding as he fought for his life, but he knew he had to stay focused. With each strike of his sword, he gained more confidence and felt like they might actually make it out alive.
In the meantime, he stood back on his feet and took a deep breath, feeling the adrenaline slowly dissipate. He glanced around to assess the situation and figure out his next move.
More and more thaids came; it looked like they wouldn't stop soon. The hallway was becoming more crowded, and it was getting harder to move around.
The thaids used the bodies of their fallen brethren to avoid the slime, and soon, the father-and-son duo was forced to use their power again. In the meantime, the bodies below started disintegrating due to the corrosive force of Eddie's and Aaron's powers.
The duo realized that they needed to find a way out of the hallway before they got overwhelmed by the increasing number of thaids. They quickly scanned their surroundings, searching for any possible escape routes.
There were only two possibilities that could potentially lead to an escape. A window, but that was dangerous since they were several floors up, and the stairs, from which the thaids were coming. Both options weren't feasible. Their hearts raced as they realized they were trapped with no way out.
The slime also started affecting the floor, and nasty gases spread in the hallway, giving the two men problems breathing.
"Fuck!" Aaron said.
"We need to go to the upper floor and fight near the window," Eddie said.
The two released more slime and quickly ran up the stairs. In the meantime, a massive hole in the ground resulted from the slime, and most of the creatures fell down a floor on top of other bugs that now had another access point to the hallway where Aaron and Eddie were fighting.
Two beasts suddenly started chasing the two while they ran upstairs. Eddie immediately noticed and unsheathed his sword, but as he turned, he noticed that Aaron hadn't seen the beast and was going to be killed.
Eddie ran to Aaron and plunged his blade inside the beast's thorax, killing it on the spot.
However, the other opened its wings and flew toward Eddie. Aaron's face paled as his father gasped in pain.
Aaron looked behind him, and it was with horror that he saw his father's figure with a horn impaled in his heart. He was gasping for air and losing blood from his mouth.
His father just saved his life at his own expense. Eddie's heroic act of saving his son's life showed Aaron the depth of love and devotion the man had toward his child.
"DAD!" Aaron shouted out loudly. The creature was stuck inside his father's chest; it was trying in every way to escape its predicament, but it couldn't. Every movement made Aaron's father cry in agony, but Eddie wasn't done; multiple thaids were still rushing upstairs, so Eddie did the last thing he would have done for his son.
He channeled all his remaining mana with the strength he had and created a sea of corrosive slime that ended up in the hole, directly going on top of the thaids downstairs and corroding them. The beasts wriggled in pain, and since the slime was much more potent than before, its effect was significantly faster. The remaining thaids ran away since the slime was too dangerous.
"RUN!" Eddie said this and then lost consciousness when he made no more sounds or movements. He was dead.
ραпdα nᴏνɐ| сom "DAD!" he shouted.
Aaron then dashed and plunged his blade inside the beast's head, finally taking care of the annoying bug.
However, the slime started affecting the hallway again, at first on the lower floor, then the one below, and so on, until it reached the ground but compromised the structural integrity of the building.
The young man rushed to his father again; he was lying on the stairs with a puddle of blood cascading toward the ground.
"DAD!" Aaron shouted.
The young man noticed a gaping wound in the center of his chest that was oozing blood as he observed him.
He knew that his father was dead, but he found himself unable to leave the body alone. However, the building started trembling. Due to the slime, it was starting to collapse. That was precisely why Eddie didn't initially use that much mana; he didn't want to endanger his son.
However, the situation forced him to do so, and since he was already dying, there was no reason to save mana.
"Dad…" he said amidst sobs as memories resurfaced; he recalled the time spent with him or when his father brought him to the park when he was little.
At the same time, regret and frustration took the best of him; he was enraged, and all that happened was due to Mr. Grimes, Allan's father.
"Grimes… Grimes! It's all your fault!" Aaron shouted.
A profound sentiment started spreading inside his mind—it was hatred, pure and utter hatred toward Allan's father, who suddenly decided to close the shelter's door.
"I will make you pay," he said. Then he gave another look at his father's body. However, there was no more time to waste; he had to leave the building before it collapsed.
He took a deep breath, wiped the tears from his eyes, and ran towards the exit. As he stepped out of the building, he vowed to himself to avenge his father's death, no matter what it took.
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