Heir Of The Supreme
Chapter 49: Moonlit Devil (4)

Chapter 49: Moonlit Devil (4)

The Kelonian woman stared at the grey-skinned abomination, mouth agape.

"No..."

The creature took a step forward and began to slowly approach her.

Fearfully, the woman took a step back.

’Why... Why didn’t you just seal the entrance earlier? You f*cking idiot!’

Cursing herself inwardly, she couldn’t help but lament her earlier actions.

Sadly, there was no medicine for regret.

It was then that the woman noticed something.

The monster’s claws were marred with a viscous red liquid... And she knew exactly what it was.

Blood.

Her dead companion’s blood.

Pieces of pink flesh and fragments of white bone stuck to the grey razor-like claws.

It was as if her companion was put through a meatgrinder.

However, that might not be too far from the truth.

...And that same fate soon awaited her.

Between the alarms sounding in her head and the fear gripping her heart, the black-haired woman only knew one thing.

It was too late to run away.

No matter how fast she ran, she felt it would be pointless.

Her flashlight fell to the ground with a soft clang, illuminating the menacing, grey-skinned monster.

Along with the sheer malice in its eight slit-like pupils.

As her teeth chattered in terror, the woman reached inside her uniform and grabbed every grenade that she could find.

Hastily pulling one, she plucked the pin with her teeth and pelt it at the slowly approaching abomination.

Not stopping there, she quickly reached for another.

The black-haired woman knew that the creature was more than capable of reaching her anytime it wished.

However, it didn’t.

The creature wanted to prolong their ’fight’ as long as possible.

Because it enjoyed the terror in her eyes.

As a grenade flew in its direction, the creature swiftly moved its long-clawed hand and caught the bomb in midair.

Then, as if knowing the item’s purpose, it lightly tossed the grenade back at her.

Almost like it was playing a game of catch.

The woman was about to throw her second grenade but suddenly froze.

Luckily, she hadn’t removed the pin yet.

As the grenade sailed through the air, beads of sweat rolled down the woman’s face.

The hand grenades typically exploded after roughly ten seconds, and she had removed the pin about six seconds earlier.

Meaning... It was going to go off in four seconds.

It would take another second for the bomb to reach her, so she effectively had three seconds to deal with it before it killed her.

If she sent it back to the monster, it wouldn’t reach all the way.

Between catching it and throwing it back, it would take another second, at least.

On top of that, it would probably kill the hostage in the blow.

While the black-haired woman didn’t want to protect the enemy princess, there was no need to kill her needlessly.

Especially if it wouldn’t change the outcome of her current predicament.

Instead, all that explosion would do was break the black-haired woman’s line of sight with the abomination.

Something she wanted to avoid if possible.

If she lost track of the creature, who knew what it would do next?

As the circular handheld bomb flew at her, she dropped the grenade in her hands before reaching to catch the approaching projectile.

Feeling the object hit her hand, she quickly closed her fingers around it before turning her body and chucking the bomb as hard as she could.

However, instead of throwing at the monster, she threw it behind her into the deep expanse of the cave.

Leaving her hand, the bomb flew through the air before exploding into a flash of fire and light.

(BOOM)

The cave shook as several cracks appeared on the sides and floor.

However, something was strange about this.

The cracks began to grow in size... As if the ground itself was splitting apart below them.

Like the maw of a hungry beast.

’What... Why?’

The woman couldn’t help but question as the sight unfolded before her.

The explosion was large but not enough to cause that much damage.

It was then that she realized it.

The floor that they were standing on... It was actually the ceiling of a large subterranean chasm.

Her first grenade didn’t trigger the ground’s collapse because it had accurately hit the cave ceiling.

Instead, it knocked down a few boulders and sealed the cave’s entrance.

However, that wasn’t the case with the grenade that just exploded.

In her panic, she didn’t bother aiming the bomb at any specific target.

Not that she knew she even needed to.

How was she supposed to know they were standing atop a pit, especially one deep enough that she couldn’t see the bottom?

Of course, the cave’s natural lack of light did little to help.

As the chasm opened below her, the approaching cracks swiftly expanded in her direction.

A nightmarish abomination on one side and a large chasm on the other.

This was the textbook definition of being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

After exchanging glances between the approaching creature and the quickly widening chasm, the black-haired woman was forced to make a decision.

Reaching down, she grabbed the sleeping princess... And jumped straight into the chasm.

She was going to fall anyway, so she might as well jump in on her own terms.

With her only way out being blocked by a wall of rocks that she had collapsed, the woman had no other option. Even if she somehow managed to slip past the creature, she couldn’t escape.

Instead, it’d be better to try and pray that she could survive the fall.

While conflicted once again, the Kelonian woman decided to at least try protecting the sleeping girl.

No matter how much she wanted to just leave her there.

Although the ground collapsing was a horrible turn of events, the black-haired woman was doomed in one way or another.

Meaning... The chasm might be the only way for her to leave this mess alive.

Her hopes were hanging on a thread, but the woman wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

If the woman somehow managed to survive, having the princess with her would mean that her mission would still be a success.

Maybe even making all her suffering and sacrifices amount to something.

Her brother and her blonde-haired comrade wouldn’t have died for nothing.

Despite being burned for this over-optimism only moments before, the black-haired woman was too desperate to care. After being backed into a corner, she needed something to hold onto.

Even if it meant deluding herself.

As vain hopes of survival passed through the woman’s heart, she plummeted into the dark abyss, willingly allowing the earth’s dark maw to consume her.

Watching her, the grey monster’s fanged grin grew.

Then, it, too, was swallowed up by the opening chasm.