The seven of us had a quick check over all our equipment, our statuses. Through excellent teamwork, not one of us were majorly injured in any way; Jonathon had many scratches as well as the rest of us but nothing that would impede us.

Luna and I both had our bows, full of arrows, not that we believed we’d be able to do much with them. Owen had a lot of ammunition on him, thanks to not firing his gun at all until we had climbed to the second floor where we really needed it. Jonathon was still full of energy somehow and was ready to brawl.

We were ready and I realised that this would be the first time I fought a Heart’s Manifestation prepared to kill it.

It was nerve-racking.

Our preliminary investigation began; S2 was asked what she good see about it.

“Well, it’s definitely in this room. I think this room is larger than it should be, maybe because a wall collapsed? Beware of debris.”

“And the Manifestation?”

“It’s large. And fast. I sense a lot of energy from it.”

For the first time in a while, I was also consulted. I activated my Specialisation and looked at the room from the outside.

[t%+ 97 seconds]

The walls were cracked and a lot of the paint had flaked off of the room that housed the Manifestation. From the outside, holes were visible and the whole room looked like it was ready to collapse at a moment’s notice.

[t%+ 213 seconds]

The room was pulverised. It was heavily destroyed and split in twain.

I didn’t see anything further on from then.

“I think we have a time limit. It’s very destructive.”

“How long do we have?” Jonathon asked. He believe me whole-heartedly, it seemed.

“I doubt longer than four minutes before it brings the room down.”

That was, apparently, the signal to head on in there.

Jonathon kicked the door down and ran in, his metal shifting from his feet to his hands in a smooth, fascinating transformation; it was like a liquid flowing upwards the way it traversed across his body.

The rest of us immediately ran in, following him.

Inside, we saw the Manifestation. It was large--a good seven feet tall--and a bundle of flesh like I suspected. Whereas the monsters had spindly limbs, this one had fatty, muscular pounds of meat that extruded from its main mass.

At first, it had eight legs, lying on the floor, but as soon as it heard us rush in, its back arched and four of those limbs, two sets on either side, looked more like arms. A vertical slit ran down its front, lined with dozens upon dozens of razor-sharp teeth that stopped about halfway.

It was a gross, disgusting mess and I was glad that it would die.

Almost immediately, as soon as it reared up, it charged at Jonathon. Perhaps it sense him to be the biggest threat, perhaps it was because he made the most noise; I didn’t know.

What I did know is that the room actually consisted of two large laboratories where the wall between the two was torn down. The monster was situated thirty to forty metres away from us and when it had crossed a mere ten metres, the four limbs on top all pulled back, as if readying a punch.

Can it attack us from so far away?

I was alert and immediately activated my Specialisation as soon as it took this strange action.

[t%+ 3 seconds]

[t%+ 17 seconds]

FUCK!!

A piercing pain flared up in my head as it was overloaded with stimuli. I closed one eye and fell to one knee as I gripped my head. I let out a coarse scream as I struggled to get control over my senses.

I had no idea if it would help but I strained to shift my Specialisation to just the arms, the things that I thought were messing with me.

[t%+ 17 seconds]

The pain was magically gone--only the aftermath remained--and I could see with clarity again.

I ignored the tears blurring my sight and focused as hard as I could on what I saw; Jonathon was limp, lying in rubble beneath a collapsed wall. His chest was dented in with a large hole.

I saw it analytically and turned off my System Specialisation as I instantly took in the sight.

“Don’t get hit!” I shouted, my throat hoarse and painful. Immediately, Jonathon threw himself aside with practised ease.

However, the creature just ignored Jonathon unlike what I expected. Instead, within just a second or two, I saw it looming before me. It was gigantic, its mouth glistening with blood and the flesh reverberating beneath the skin.

I had no time to think, not time to comprehend the situation.

I’m dead.

Suddenly, I was thrown back with ungodly force. I tumbled and rolled and only then did I notice arms clutched around me. I felt a larger form on top of me and as soon as I was cognizant of that, a piercing thunder rang through the air as well as a quieter, but still magnificently loud, crack followed by the distinct sound of bricks falling to the ground.

I laid there for only a second or two before I was pulled up, not to my feet, but to the arms of the person carrying me--S1.

Now that I had a view of what just happened, I took it in; a small hole formed in the wall behind where I was once standing, Luna and Candace were nowhere to be found, Owen had a gun in his hand, and Jonathon was rushing up to the creature.

The thing could tear down a wall with one punch; I would’ve been dead if S1 hadn’t pulled me out of its way in time.

For a second, the creature didn’t move. It shook but just stayed there. Its body looked like it was trying to tear itself apart; its vibrating, reverberating flesh was moving around with much more intensity than before. However, before I could think more on it, it lunged for Owen.

Was it stunned because of its arms? Or something else?

As my mind raced to interpret all the data just these past few seconds alone had presented to me, Owen jumped ungracefully out of the way as the creature ran towards him.

Owen was not particularly fast--he had a lanky build with rather skinny arms--but he dodged the creature entirely. For a split second, as soon as the Manifestation had reached him, it pulled back its arms and they stayed there for a second. It needed that second for some reason before plowing its arms forwards, Owen narrowly dodging it, and punching another small hole in the wall two metres away from it.

It follows sound and takes a second to charge up.

Thoughts tumbled and flew through my mind, connections being made intuitively and as fast as my mind seemed able to. My head was hot and my eyes were strained to the maximum; any moment, it felt like I’d start to bleed.

But I didn’t. As I watched the creature charge towards Owen again, it was startled momentarily by a strong punch thrown by Jonathon against its backside. It swiftly turned around and Jonathon instantly jumped backwards as soon as he saw that.

For a second again, the creature didn’t move before it instantly punched forwards, hitting nothing.

Human auditory reaction time is faster than a second. These creatures have a better sense of sound than humans, so its reaction time is probably faster. Why does it miss?

“Don’t move,” I whispered to S1, who was holding me in a tight grip. Thankfully, the Manifestation didn’t hear me.

Even though I was aware of the danger merely being in the vicinity of the Manifestation presented, I felt urged to stay here--to watch it. I felt like I could be useful as my mind raced onwards.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Owen fired his pistol again, hitting the creature squarely in the back, the bullet piercing and passing straight through its mouth.

The thunderous roar echoed again but this time, Owen was ready for the creature to react. A second passed and then the creature rushed up to him, pulled its arms back, but Owen had jumped away preemptively. Another miss.

Maybe Owen thought he was faster than the creature but that wasn’t the case; the Manifestation was incredibly quick and incredibly agile, turning around much faster than a being of its size should be able to.

Copying mere seconds ago, Jonathon smashed as hard as he could the hind leg of the Manifestation. It swung around and Jonathon, seeing that, tried to jump away.

He failed.

Instead, a concussive, forceful shockwave ran straight through me as Jonathon was thrown at the wall, the windows already shattered long before then. He was dangerously close to falling out.

Immediately, I could tell that he was hit but his body looked intact--unlike the projection I had seen at the start. Fascinatingly, his left, steel-clad hand slowly reverted back to regular flesh as the metal flowed upwards, towards his chest before vanishing under clothes. Next, the remaining human skin of his right arm, before my eyes, transitioned to the familiar metallic gleam.

He coated one entire arm in steel. Why?

Jonathon was momentarily immobilised as his body creaked and groaned from under the rubble. He sounded mechanical as he stretched his limbs. However, for as much noise as he was making, Owen shot the Manifestation once again through the mouth.

I was growing numb to the sound of a gun but even so, its impact, the frightening sound it unleashed was also distinct and immense.

As soon as the monster began to move I instantly activated and deactivated my Specialisation, acting entirely on instinct.

“Jump left!” I shouted, unable to get anything else out.

As soon as the words left my mouth, Owen obeyed and immediately threw himself to the floor to his left, barely missing another attack I doubted he was even aware had been initiated.

The situation was looking worse and worse by the second.

Due to my outburst, the creature looked straight at me before rushing again. S1 had already started moving as soon as she recognised that we were locked within its sights. Or ears, rather.

However, she didn’t have to dodge for Owen quickly fired off another shot, drawing its attention away from us. The creature hunched over before running off towards Owen.

It follows whatever the loudest and most recent sound is. It’s predictable. But how will that help?

I knew there was no winning this through brute strength alone. The creature seemed to be large enough that something as small as a low caliber bullet from a pistol was hardly hurting the damn thing and nobody here had super strength. Jonathon was arguably the most effective one here but even he was only human.

I strained my mind the best that I could to try to think of a way to win. Running away wasn’t an option; it was faster than any of us.

Think. Think! What do I know?

It takes a second to charge up an attack.

It follows the most recent and loudest sound.

There’s something special about its arms that confuses my System Specialisation.

Whenever Owen fires his gun, the creature is stunned for a second.

So how do we kill it?

Within the space of a single second, I intuitively understood these thoughts running through my mind. Without missing a moment, I activated my Specialisation again and shouted for Owen to dodge.

He did.

The monster missed.

But it didn’t charge at me this time. No; he stayed on Owen. As Owen was climbing back to his feet the monster began to attack again.

As soon as the monster reared back, Jonathon was there again, recovered from his throwing, and grabbed at the thing. This sudden, loose grapple threw the Manifestation barely but that was enough for Owen to scramble out of the way as the monster missed yet again.

Potholes dotted about the rooms. As the fight carried on, the walls were collapsing and the floor was breaking apart under the relentless attacks of this thing.

“Attack the arm!” I shouted at the pair of them as soon as the Manifestation turned away to strike Jonathon.

Neither took any time to parse my statement. Instead, Owen fired a shot straight at the same limb Jonathon grabbed at.

He dug his metallic fingers in deep where the arm met the torso.

“Let go!” I shouted almost immediately, my contradicting statements confusing the duo. Even so, Jonathon obediently released his grip on the creature and fell backwards, the arm, infused with energy, punching the air.

With each punch that missed, the disturbed air carried such a force it cracked and tore apart the brick that was this building’s foundation. Jonathon, having been hit by that, and was still fighting was remarkable to me.

I had my plan in my mind--whether it’d work was another story. However, it was the only thing I could think of. And it was fucking dangerous.

S1 bounced lightly on her heels as she held me, ready to move at any moment. Even though I was shouting out orders, Owen’s gun and Jonathon’s attack kept us clear from the intent of the Manifestation.

I didn’t even care for the way I was being held in the moment.

All that mattered is following through with my plan.

My head grew hotter and hotter as I kept activating my Specialisation instantly before deactivating it. A rapid influx of information and stimuli flooded my brain as I attempted to parse all of it, adjusting my plan and actions on the fly.

Each time they were able to, I shouted at them to attack the limbs, to attempt to pull them off. Taking advantage of the stun that Owen’s gun seemed to provide with each shot, Jonathon utilised those precious, collective seconds to wedge his fingers in as deep as possible, to pull with all his strength.

Finally, one arm was gone.

It was an intense and harrowing thing but the first step was completed.

The Manifestation howled in pain but we didn’t let it get off lightly. Immediately, they attacked another limb. The same plan.

The only thing that could stop us was ammunition. I had no idea how many bullets Owen had but he was firing them awfully fast for what we had to do.

The plan hinged on the sound of his gun frazzling the Manifestation’s senses to stun it for Jonathon to rip its limb off. I wasn’t sure how he was even reloading that thing in the short space of time he had.

As the ringing in my ears grew louder and louder, as everything else grew quieter and quieter, another arm was off.

It’s working!

Truthfully, this wasn’t a plan to kill the Manifestation--I didn’t know how to do that yet. This was a plan to disarm it (in the most literal sense) so we could kill it.

With the third arm, it didn’t progress as smoothly as the first or the second. For one moment that they had to attack, Owen was too slow. He reloaded his gun and that tiny moment in time was all that the Manifestation needed to punch at Jonathon.

Jonathon, in his defence, raised his metal right arm as fast as possible, absorbing the impact of the blow. Against what I expected, he didn’t fly backwards nor was his arm disembodied. He looked entirely intact.

After that minor hiccup, the arm came off as before.

And then fourth was torn off as well.

Finally, we had done it. Jonathon and Owen still kept having to dance around the thing, the frighteningly large maw or hideous, sharp teeth still presented a threat, but it was so much safer than before.

Now, all we had to do was murder that thing.

Jonathon jumped on its back, unable to be thrown off with his literal iron grip, and pounded into the thing. Rage seemed to infuse his fists with incredible energy, I watched his one hand push into the fleshy bag of skin and pound away at it.

It was like watching a hydraulic press; the immense amount of pressure he could exert with his limbs was incredibe!

The creature, under his relentless attacks, finally succumbed, collapsing to the ground.

It was dead.

All of us breathed a sigh of relief--apart from S1--as we had succeeded. Both Jonathon and Owen collapsed to the ground knackered and exhausted from a tiring fight. It was only a few minutes but they were the most intense minutes of my life.

However, my duty wasn’t over yet. My mind was inflamed and my thoughts feverish; all I could get out to S1 was:

“The heart.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, the world went dark as I fell unconscious.