Biohuman

Lee Seng moved through the forest as the group of undead flower zombies rushed at him. Their bodies would convulse before the green toxic liquid shot out of their heads. The toxic liquid quickly permeated the entire forest with the smell of burning acid. Lee Seng's eyes watered as the sizzling of the liquid burnt the decaying forest even more. Lee Seng dodged out of the way, feeling tiny bits of toxic liquid land on his aura.

It burnt the aura as Lee Seng whipped another beam attack out. Lee Seng's energy was faltering, again. He shook his hand and felt hands manage to wrap themselves around his ankle and throw him onto the ground. Air rushed out of Lee Seng's lungs as everything went blurry for a moment. The undead flower zombies piled over him, opening their jaws and taking a bite. Lee Seng howled in pain before unintentionally releasing a large eruption of energy outwards.

"What's that?!?" Keng's voice came upon the communication enchantment on the fox mask. A cosmic landscape exploded outwards, suspending everything in the air. The group came to a stop at the bottom of the hill. The night sky blanketed the entire forest and even continued past them.

"What's happening?" Ritsuka asked. The stars pulsed with gold energy. Another ripple flew out and the sounds of cries grew loud. It was Lee Seng's screams.

"L-Lee Seng!" Keng rushed forward, only to be knocked backwards by an invisible wall. Calis ran over to Keng and lifted him up.

"Are you okay?" Calis asked.

"Why's there an invisible wall there?" Keng asked. Evan ran up to the invisible barrier and touched it. The stars gathered and pushed his fingers away from it. There was a strong force behind this.

"Olivia, can you dismantle someone's power?" Evan asked.

"Only if I can see them. A wall like that would be hard to dismantle without understanding its properties." Olivia shook her head. Another ripple flew out and the sound of trees breaking alerted the entire group. Wind rushed out from the forest, bringing dirt clouds and the pungent smell of acid. Everyone pinched their noses while the anxiety in Keng's chest bounced around faster.

Lee Seng scooted away. There were large chunks of his own flesh gone. The toxic liquid that the monsters produced slowed his own self-healing. Lee Seng gritted his teeth. He forced the aura to wrap around him tighter, producing the dark gray skintight suit. Lee Seng's tails pushed him up and onto his feet. He stumbled as he turned and listened to the clicks of croaks. Four undead flower zombies rushed at him. The top of their heads pointed at Lee Seng as green energy built up.

"Gravitum…" Lee Seng lifted his hand into the sky. "Black hole." Lee Seng's hand yanked straight towards him, pulling the entire starscape with him. Trees ripped apart. Leaves, branches snapped and pulled into the black hole center around Lee Seng. The burst of energy pulled the undead flower zombies towards him in an instant, absorbing everything around him. Zombies howled as they disappeared into the black hole.

The black hole dissipated, and Lee Seng sighed in relief. His stomach felt full as he stood in a fifty-foot diameter clearing. The red sun beat down on his skin as a bead of sweat trickled down Lee Seng's neck. He sucked in a few breaths and listened to the remaining croaks.

'I didn't get all of them.' Lee Seng thought. 'Great.'

'SRKA!" A croaking zombie screeched behind him. Lee Seng turned and lifted his hand up and summoned Cthulu's Moon. He watched the zombie fly straight into the sword, piercing its head. It croaked as it twitched. Tendrils flew out of the zombie's head, exploding it to bits. Its body dropped to the ground and Lee Seng lowered his katana.

[Sixteen Undead Corpse Flower Zombies have been slain! You have gained 4,400 souls! 72,873/100,000 total souls in the Soul Bead!]

Lee Seng turned and continued onwards. He could see a bit of the wall hidden in what was left of the forest. Lee Seng dragged his feet over to it and released his katana. He took another breath and set his hand on the stone wall. A blip flew out and Lee Seng bit his lip.

'It isn't deep at all. I could blow it up and we'd be able to walk through it just fine.' Lee Seng thought.

"Lee!" Keng shouted. Lee Seng turned and noticed Keng and the others were already making their way over to him. "Are you okay? What was that all about?" Lee Seng lowered his hand from the wall and turned.

"Filling my stomach with too much nature." Lee Seng covered his mouth. He let out a loud burp. "Tastes like a salad…"

"Are there any more monsters around?" Calis asked.

"No." Lee Seng shook his head. "I ate them all." The group's eyes grew wide, and Lee Seng took the opportunity to switch subjects. "This wall isn't too thick. We could just bust through it." Manny moved over to Lee Seng and looked at his half-closed wounds.

"You didn't heal right away?" Manny asked lifting his hands to heal Lee Seng.

"The toxic liquid stopped me from fully healing... Ah! Ow...!" Lee seng winced.

"I think it's safer if I handle this." Olivia pushed through the group and over to the wall. Lee Seng and Manny scooted off to the side and watched as Olivia raised her hand and touched the wall. In an instant, the wall crumbled. Olivia could feel Lee Seng's gaze on her as she turned with her back to him. "C'mon, before those runners get us."

They entered from behind one of the buildings' alleyways. Lee Seng and Keng naturally took their spot at the front. Keng took the opportunity to look around ahead of Lee Seng, leading the way through the narrow alleyway. Some parts of the alleyway were blocked with rubble from a fallen building. Windows were broken and the building was scavenged of anything useful.

Lee Seng stood on his tippy toes as he grasped the window's ledge and took a quick scan at the building. People walked past him until Manny got to him and patted his back.

"What're you doing?" Manny asked.

"Why is this window even here?" Lee Seng asked, letting go. "It's pointed at an alleyway."

"To see people like you creepily looking in." Manny smiled before leaving. Lee Seng rolled his eyes and followed. They spilled out of the alleyway, taking a good look around. The ruined city was in more shape than any of the other cities Lee Seng and the others had seen before. There was little debris out on the main road like it had been kept up with.

"What the hell…?" Liz whispered. "It's so… clean."

"Someone's definitely living here." Olivia commented. Lee Seng's eyes went to the sky. He scanned their surroundings, keeping an eye out for any large birds.

"How do we find a Deimon?" Evan asked. "The city's huge."

"We just have to find a bird." Lee Seng answered. "If my theory is correct, the bird will alert the Deimon."

"What if it's just a bird you haven't seen before?" Olivia asked.

"There's ways to get people to come to you, y'know." Lee Seng adjusted his mask. He looked over at Olivia and smiled behind the mask. "You got two people who can put on a light show, for one, and I'm not welcome here. I'm pretty sure if I take this mask off and just let out my energy for a bit, they'll come find me."

"You would risk yourself?" Olivia scoffed. She folded her arms. "And why would you do that?" Lee Seng tilted his head. He was confused by Olivia's behavior. She sounded like she didn't want him to die. After all that happened yesterday, he'd assumed she still wanted him dead, still. Olivia moved straight up to Lee Seng and at him. "You'd be a fool to die just to draw one Deimon out. There are other ways we can do it without subjecting you to being bait."

"And what would that be, Miss Ok?" Lee Seng leaned in and gazed into Olivia's dark brown eyes. Olivia pushed Lee Seng away and turned her head slightly away.

"The point I'm trying to make is that you don't need to risk your life every single time. You're a wanted person in this Realm. You'd attract a lot more things than a Deimon… No need to put yourself out there."

"Look!" Keng pointed. Lee Seng and Olivia turned to see where Keng was pointing. His finger pointed straight down the street. There was nothing there as he turned to look at the group. "Did you see it?"

"See what?" Calis asked, stepping forward. Keng's face soured.

"T-there was something that whipped across the street! You guys didn't see it?"

"We were listening to their conversation." Liz motioned to Lee Seng and Olivia.

"I was trying to figure out a way we could bait out a Deimon without using either of those plans." Manny told them. Keng sighed and turned back to look at the street.

"I saw something! I'm sure of it! It was quick and darted across the street like nothing!" Keng grumbled. "We should pay more attention than worrying about how we're gonna bait out a Deimon. It's not like it's going to be that ha—" Keng's eyes widened, and his mouth dropped.

"What?" Ritsuka asked. He noticed Keng was staring straight ahead. Ritsuka turned his attention and his eyes opened. A tall being stood down the street. It billowed with black wisps as it craned its neck up.