Although he hadn’t learned much about Maldreads from Old Louie, Jonas would’ve wanted to learn about the deadly creatures' unnaturally quick instincts.

Unfortunately, Jonas watched firsthand as the creature instinctively turned its head, which saved most of its face from the flame. The ball of fire exploded against the back of its head, and the creature tumbled to the ground. Its flap-like jaws opened, and saliva sprayed the floor as it screamed like a toddler in tremendous anguish while it rolled around and writhed like a snake.

“Now!” Jonas screamed. Howard darted towards the Maldread—dagger at the ready. The gang leader mustered all the strength he possessed as he leaped into the sky, and with a tremendous swing, he stabbed the dagger toward the creature's head.

The blade looked like it met its mark, but the Maldread sensed danger and used its disgusting hands to cover its head. Howard stabbed with all his might, and he watched as the blade sliced through both hands but couldn't pierce any further.

“Not good!” Howard let go of the blade and threw himself off the creature, and as he did, the creature's barbed tongue shot out of its mouth like a hidden weapon. It gripped the dagger's hilt, pulled the blade, and flung it away. The Maldread leaped to its feet, screamed, and glared evilly toward Howard, who was backing away while trying to summon more of his Sin Sorcery. “Hold it off!” Howard looked terrified and not as handsome and confident as he usually was. “I need a minute!” Just as the Maldread was about to pounce, a person attacked it from behind.

“Ralph!” Jonas was in disbelief as the big giant wrapped his trunk-like biceps around the throat of the screaming creature. The Maldread twisted madly, and its muscular legs began to bulge as they worked furiously to hold up under Ralph's weight. Then, Thomas Vale locked one flailing arm in a vice-like grip, and Bannji Balewa locked the other. The rest of the fighters made their move and unleashed their signature attacks.

Yuki was the first to try, and she flipped gracefully into the air and brought her foot striking across its jaw, but it barely made the monster flinch, let alone cause any damage. Michael Davis tried stabbing its eye with a metal rod, but the creature nudged its head in time for the attack to miss. They would have attempted a few more strikes but ran out of time because Bannji had been lifted off the ground and tossed across the room, and the monster began to break free from their hold.

Ralph screamed in pain as the Maldread dug its razor-sharp claws into his side and felt his fingers grow numb. Blood gushed from the wound, which surprised Jonas because Ralph's skin was incredibly durable.

“Let go!” Jonas shouted, and Ralph heeded his call, narrowly avoiding the creature's next swipe, which it had aimed at his head. Thomas Vale was the only person who hadn’t been quick enough to back away. One moment too late, he tried to let go of the creature's arm, but the Maldread had focused its attention on him.

“Thomas!” Howard shouted, but it was too late, the monster stabbed its free hand forward, and it easily slid through Thomas’ chest cavity, and the gangster choked, his eyes bulged, and he felt a clawed hand grasp his own beating heart.

The Maldread screamed into his face and brought its head close enough to take a bite. Razor-sharp teeth began to surround Thomas’ screaming head. “No!” Howard finished charging his flaming attack, and his scream had woken the creature from its carnivorous daze.

Howard was madly charging toward the monster, who still had its hand stuck in Thomas’ chest like a child sticking its hand in a cookie jar, and its green eyes widened as it recognized the source of the burning pain it had previously experienced.

The creature pulled its arm from Thomas’ chest cavity, and gushing blood came from within the gaping hole. First, he clumsily tried to stem the bleeding, and as he fell onto his back, his fingers slipped into the hole. The blood vessels in his eyes had burst, and two final words came from his quivering mouth.

“Fucking cunt…”

Howard wanted to save his friend. He knew that as long as he kept the creature from finishing the job, Thomas was strong enough to heal from the wound. The Maldread threw something at Howard, which struck him across the face.

Looking down at the ground, Howard grimaced as he saw a bloody, beating heart covered in dirt and filth. No matter how great of a Sinner Thomas Vale had been, he was not enough to survive without his heart: he was dead.

Howard screamed, and the Maldread shrieked back at him. The two were crazed as they charged at each other and released their attacks. The Maldread’s claws sank through Howard’s arm, but he swung his other hand and brought the ball of flames crashing against the face of the Maldread.

An explosion occurred, and it blasted Howard and the Maldread backward. The creature rolled on the ground while grabbing its face: it seemed to be in excruciating pain. Howard lay on the stone floor while laughing and staring at his fist—the explosion had reduced it to nothing but a bleeding, smoldering stump. Perhaps his natural protection hadn't been enough to protect him from the explosion, or maybe he had lost control of his Sin at the wrong moment. Either way, Howard's right hand was gone.

Jonas moved because his legs worked much better than before, but it took a lot of concentration to avoid being smashed by the flailing creature. He made his way toward the dagger on the floor, gripped it tightly, and turned to face the Maldread, but he grimaced because he knew it was nearly impossible to get within its personal space, or at least to do so without being impaled by flailing razor-sharp limbs.

“Stab it!” Howard shouted manically. “Fucking stab it!”

Jonas didn’t hesitate any longer and ran head-first toward the creature. Just as he swung the blade down toward the creature's head: Jonas saw its muscular leg move unnaturally. It kicked forward and hit him square in the chest, sending him toppling backward. The claws of the monster's feet had left bloody gashes like bullet holes in Jonas' torso, but he didn’t have time to admire them.

“Moron!” Howard screamed. “Someone, do something! The Maldread won’t stay down for long!”

It didn’t matter how much Howard screamed because the fighters stared heavily at the prone creature, knowing they hadn't much better chance than Jonas of doing it damage. The Maldread was clutching its face while it made dreadful baby-like whimpers.

“Give me the dagger!” Michael Davis was confident in his speed. Jonas clambered to his feet and chucked the dagger toward the middle-aged gladiator, and Michael skillfully caught it mid-air.

He dashed towards the unsuspecting Maldread, maneuvered toward the side of its face that had burned, and swung the dagger.

Just when the fighters thought Michael might have done the deed, the Maldread instantly twisted its body and moved out of the way just in time. Its claw moved so fast that even Mike couldn’t react, and they watched horribly as his head flew right off his shoulders. Blood sprayed like a fountain from his neck, and as his body hit the ground, a pool of crimson liquid began to form around the creature.

“Fuck,” Jonas sighed. Seeing his former opponent beheaded was unnerving. “How the hell are we supposed to kill it?”

“Kill it?” Rodney White was the first to admit it was a lost cause. “I say we get out of here while we can," he nodded toward the exit door.

"You think Howard is telling us the password? I can guarantee you that Thomas can't either," Johnson shook his head at Rodney.

"Howard," Jonas looked over at the gang leader, who was propped up against the wall and miserably staring at the stump where his hand used to be. "Give Rodney the password. He'll try opening the door, and we can all leave. Let's lock it in here, fuck it."

"Go fuck yourself, Jonas," Howard smirked. "You've killed my best friend, ruined my fucking gang, and now I'm missing a hand because of you. Go fuck yourself."

"Jesus Christ, Howard," Jonas rolled his eyes. "You can rebuild the gang, promote a new Vice President, and I know a healer that can grow you a new hand. Stop your whining and give us the password, and you can make things right."

"Oh, you're going to find a healer to regrow my hand?" Howard didn't trust him for a second, but he did get to his feet. "I don't believe that for a second. You're right: this whining is unbecoming of me. Fine, the password is six, six, six, four, nine, three. Press the green button after you've typed it in."

Jonas was surprised that Howard had given them the password. It probably wasn't the first time the gang leader had to deal with setbacks, but it had been a long time since he had to deal with such a dire situation.

The Maldread was unmoving, and Rodney slowly walked toward the exit door, careful to hug the side walls and to make as little noise as possible. Their hearts beat as they watched him near the door, and there were multiple times that Jonas could be sure the creature was preparing to get up and kill them. However, the Maldread continued to whimper, and Rodney reached the door.

He licked his lips and pressed the numbers that Howard had told them: six, six, six, four, nine, and three. Then he pressed the green button. A loud beeping sound shocked Rodney, and the pin pad glowed red with error. Howard had given them the wrong password.

The annoying beeping sound made the Maldread shriek as it looked toward the source. Rodney turned his head and made eye contact with the beast, and he forgot to breathe as it started evilly at him.

"Howard!" Rodney shrieked as the Maldread pounced and began running toward his next victim. "You fucking piece of shit!" Howard smirked.

"Did I say four, nine, three? I meant four, nine, nine. Opse."

Jonas grimaced as he watched Rodney die. The Maldread chewed half of his head off in seconds, and although Jonas would never call his death a blessing in disguise—he couldn’t help but feel momentarily relieved that the Maldread was so far away from him. It was on its knees, crying and slurping Rodney White’s body.

“You didn't have to do that," but Jonas knew that Howard felt no pity for the dead slave.

"It's hard recalling passwords when I'm so close to death. Do you want to try now that I remembered the right code?" Howard wore an innocent smile. Jonas didn't care to try.

Got any more of those flames?” Jonas shook his head.

“You idiots wasted the last chance we had: no, I don’t have any more of those fucking flames,” Jonas felt depressed as he shook his head. None of his True Sin abilities would be much help. He had made fighters slip in blood and made his blood burn like acid, but Jonas had nothing for such a ruthless, immortal creature.

To make matters worse, Jonas felt his Sin Scars dimming as his confidence wavered. He wasn’t alone because as the remaining fighters braced themselves against the wall, they found their powers dwindling as the realization of certain death began to plague them. They couldn’t fight it, and they couldn’t run, so the most they could do was idly watch the Maldread feed from across the room while hoping it napped after eating.

“It’s healing,” Johnson whispered as he squinted across the room. “Its left eye just finally opened.”

“Well, isn’t that just grand,” Howard laughed.

“Why the fuck is the gang keeping a Maldread?” Simon demanded. “What the hell were you thinking?”

“Keeping it?” Howard looked stupidly at him. “You think I could tame that thing?” He scoffed as blood trickled down from his split lip. “I don’t know how or where it came to be.”

“Then where the fuck did it come from?” Jonas looked confused.

“You!” Howard shouted. “You morons must have caused it during your escape!”

“Lower your voice!” Jonas shot back angrily as he eyed the creature from across the room. The screaming had made the Maldread stir, but thankfully it was still too preoccupied with tearing Rodney’s corpse apart.

“Howard, I can guarantee you that there was no damn Maldread when we were fighting off your guards,” Johnson said. “It’s sort of hard to miss, isn’t it?”

Jonas thought back to the daring escape that had occurred earlier and racked his brain while trying to remember what had happened. In all his time at the Hurts gang, he could not remember ever coming across a room that might contain such a violent creature, but then a horrible idea suddenly dawned on him.

“Terry Coleman,” Jonas recalled the Maldreads' green eyes, and now that he was putting the pieces of the puzzle together, he couldn’t help but think those eyes had seemed oddly familiar.

“Come again?” Johnson asked.

“The Maldread,” said Jonas heavily. “It’s Terry Coleman. The Maldread has his eyes.”

“Who the fuck is Terry Coleman?” Howard spat. “What the fuck did you do to him?”

“He was a slave of yours,” said Jonas. “He tried to escape with us, but we locked him out. The last time I saw him, he was in the training room with about twenty of your angry guards.”

“You think that thing is Terry?” Simon looked skeptical. “Terry was the weakest fighter. How could he possibly have enough Sin to transform into a Maldread?”

“You idiots don’t understand anything, do you?” Howard’s smile was cold as ice. “A Maldread isn’t born from tremendous Sin: it’s born from a lack of control. It's when Sin consumes the Sinner. It's a rare phenomenon, but it does happen."

“Who gives a shit,” said Ralph. “Does it matter where it came from?” He had been the one to toss Terry out. If the young slave had transformed into a Maldread, Ralph felt the blame was on him.

“I’d like to know the reason behind my death. So yes, it does matter,” Howard looked unimpressed.

Jonas was feeling an array of emotions: fear, dread, anxiety, bitterness, and especially guilt. If the Maldread had been born from Terry Coleman, wouldn’t this entire situation have been his fault, and wouldn’t every death be a direct consequence of his actions? Jonas was starting to regret not letting Terry escape with them.

“Is there any other way to kill it?” Jonas whispered. “You seem to know a lot.”

“The same way you kill anything,” Howard glared at him. "Head, or the heart,” he pointed to the heartless corpse of Thomas, then to the headless corpse of Michael Davis.

“Its instincts are the sharpest I’ve ever witnessed,” Ahmed said. “It can sense and move away from danger at a moment's notice. It also has a strange desire to chase its prey, very predatory behavior,” the group considered his words as they thought back to how running away had only made things worse.

“How long till you have more fire?” Jonas tried once more. “You’ve had enough time to rest up.”

“Your ignorance towards Sin is the exact reason we’re in this situation,” Howard rolled his tired eyes. “I can’t just infinitely use my Sin Sorcery.”

“So, about ten minutes?” Jonas ignored him.

“Maybe five minutes,” Howard looked at the stump of a hand that had stopped bleeding. “I’ve never used more than three in a single day.”

“Just great,” Jonas sighed as he watched the Maldread lay on the ground while licking Rodney's blood off its fingers.

“What do we do now?” Yuki slowly made her way to Jonas' side, and he noticed an exhausted expression on her face.

“I don’t know,” he wished more than anything he could say the opposite, but he couldn’t bring himself to lie to her. “Same plan, I guess. We try to jump him and get a lucky stab.”

“Not good!” Howard's voice was stern, and they all turned to look at the creature. Their hearts fell because its evil green eyes were staring curiously at them. It opened its mouth and let out a wailing cry, and Jonas couldn’t help but compare it to a warning sound. Its eyes scanned each person until it settled on one of them, and all their blood froze as they watched the Maldread sprint on all fours toward their pity party.

“No!” Garth knew it was he that the Maldread had decided to chase, and even the strongest cage fighter in all of Little Wrath City felt nothing but dread as he tried to make a run for it. Nobody helped him, and they made themselves scarce as they pushed their bodies against the stone wall.

Garth dodged the first blow, and the Maldread skidded to a stop as it turned around and began to chase him back toward the metal door.

“Password! What the fuck is the password!” Garth screamed and charged toward the metal door, and Jonas was curious to see if Howard would try to help him survive. Howard clicked his tongue and yelled.

"Six, six, six, three, two, one," Howard gave in and decided to give his best fighter a chance to survive. Garth only had twenty or so feet between him and the creature, and when he reached the metal door, he mashed the buttons as fast as he could but ran out of time as the Maldread jumped and tried to capture its prey once more. Garth dodged around the attack and began running in a circle, he only needed to press three more buttons, and he could escape.

Garth began to run out of options as he cursed, cried, and ran for his life. Every time he got close enough to the door to type the numbers in, the Maldread sped up and interrupted him from escaping. Finally, Garth took a deep breath and had a crazy idea. He met gazes with Jonas, and then he ran towards the group.

“Not good!” If looks could kill, Jonas would have murdered Garth ten times over, but just as the slaves began to move out of the way, the creature grew impatient with the chase because it was growing hungrier by the second.

Garth twisted on the spot, but the creature didn’t chase after the other slaves as he had wanted. It swiped its claws with tremendous speed, but Garth had been too slow to dodge, and as he clumsily fell on his back, he noticed that half of his leg was gone.

“No!” Garth screamed. “Help me!” He desperately crawled backward and used his remaining foot to kick the creature away. “Fucking help me, Howard!”

“Sorry,” Howard grimaced. “I'll always remember you as my best slave,” and the undefeated cage fighter nearly cried as he held the creature back with his foot. Garth gave them all a pleading look, and he didn’t look as menacing as he had once done, but no one would even make eye contact with him.

“FUCK YOU!” Garth hated begging, and his Sin Scars glowed as he skillfully kicked the Maldread in the face, which knocked it backward. He turned his body on the spot and tried to stand up, but the Maldread had dived and bit down as hard as it could. “MY COCK!” Garth screamed so horribly that even Jonas had to turn his head. “IT'S GOT MY COCK, OH GOD, NO!” The slaves watched as the Maldread had Garth's entire pubic area in its mouth. It gave one tug of its neck and ripped Garth's reproductive system away from his body, leaving nothing but a large gaping hole.

Garth whimpered as his bald head hit the stone floor and prayed it would all end. Without his leg and cock, Garth had no reason to live anymore. He couldn't fight, and he couldn't rape: he was done and knew that death wouldn’t be so bad. Garth's body had gone numb while his soul prepared to leave. He smiled. ‘In my next life,’ Garth thought fondly of the chaos he had caused and the lives he had ruined. ‘I’m going to do it all over again.’

The Maldread tried to bite his head off, but something happened, and it was so shocking that even the ugly creature had to pause. A large slit opened like a third eye, right where the creature's junk should have been. From the three-inch slit, something long and slimy fell out.

“Is that—” Simon was interrupted.

“That’s its Johnson,” said Johnson, and both of them gagged as they watched the slimy, scabby, foot-long cock dangle generously between its legs. The Maldread grew curious, and it sniffed playfully at the bleeding hole between Garth’s legs, and its cock began to enlarge until it was completely stiff and standing straight.

The Maldread huffed as it sniffed the hole, while Garth was unsure if he had already died because it seemed like the creature was taking its time. His eyes were closed tightly, and he was still bracing himself for the cold kiss of death.

The worst sound Jonas had ever heard occurred as he witnessed the Maldread penetrate Garth’s wound with its cock, and Garth opened his eyes in horror as the creature began to hump him. Its dick almost slipped out as Garth made to buck him off, but the Maldread was desperate for the sense of pleasure once more, and it pushed him down and held his bald head with a massive clawed hand.

“KILL ME!” Garth gagged and screamed as the Maldread forced his head into the cold stone ground. “KILL—ME—PLEASE—JONAS!”

Jonas turned his head, and he wasn’t the only one that couldn’t stomach the sight. Yuki had buried her face into his aching shoulder. The creature went back and forth as it continuously raped Garth into painful oblivion, and its long barbed tongue fell out of its mouth while panting for breath, and the tip of the tongue gently licking the back of Garth’s neck.

Tears and blood fell down Garth’s cheek as the creature's claws dug into his skull, and his voice had gone raw and quiet from the screaming until he could no longer scream. His rape continued, and a disgusting puddle of blood began to build up just between his massive legs, and each time the foul cock plunged itself inside: more gore shot out like a clogged pipe.

The Maldread picked up its pace as it fucked harder and was in such a euphoric pleasure that it had forgotten not to kill its new plaything, so its weight crushed Garth’s skull until it became deformed like someone sitting on a beach ball.

As the monster reached its orgasm, Garth felt his body filled with hot slimy seed, and then the Maldread crushed his head into a paste. Garth was dead, but his sacrifice had not been in vain. Howard Hurts had managed to charge up one last ball of flame, and Jonas knew they would all die if they didn’t put it to good use.

The Maldread grunted and licked the brain matter off its fingers, and its slimy cock slithered from Garth's corpse, back into the slit between its legs, and out of sight. It purred in ecstasy, bent over, and began eating the remains.

“Last chance,” Howard held out his one good hand, and a dancing red flame was building up in his palm.

“The last one didn’t do enough damage,” Jonas saw its face had completely healed.

“Then we must make this one count,” said Ahmed. “None of our attacks will do any real damage, so we must end the monster with either blade or flame,” Jonas watched as Jaden tip-toed toward the dagger lying next to Michael Davis' headless corpse. He bent over, picked it up, and gripped it tightly into his trembling hands.

“I won’t miss,” he said, “Let me do it.”

“Young Blood,” Pete shook his head. “We need someone stronger to do it.”

“My Sin is Greed,” Jaden's Sin Scars began to glow. “Right now, I value my life more than anything else, and I've never wanted anything more than to kill this monster and live. I can do it, believe me."

“Are you sure?” Ahmed shook his head. “Let me do it.”

“Ahmed, you’re all beat up,” Jaden tried to smile. “Jonas and Howard are all beat up too. It can’t be Johnson or Simon because I’m faster. It can’t be Ralph, Bannji, or Yuki because we need them to hold the Maldread down—they're much stronger than me,” Jonas was impressed that out of everyone there, Jaden was the one who had given so much thought to the final attempt.

“What’s the plan?” Jonas asked. “We’re not risking your life on a half-baked attempt.”

“Risk my life?” Jaden shook his head. “My life is already at risk for every moment that monster breathes.”

“Still,” Jonas argued. “We need to make this count,” his gaze shifted to the Maldread that was tearing the flesh off Garth’s corpse with its back turned towards them.

“We call it over,” Jaden licked his lips. “Howard hits the creature from one side while I attack the other. Ralph jumps on its back, and the rest of you make sure it doesn’t move when I stab it in the head.”

“We already tried that,” Howard argued. “It didn’t work.”

“It will work this time,” said Jaden while eyeing the Maldread from across the room. “There ain’t a man alive that wants to fight right after he just nutted.”

“So that’s it then?” Howard scoffed. “We hope the monster is sluggish after his romp with Garth?”

“You got a better idea?” Jaden glared at him. “We’ve tried everything, and stabbing it in the fucking head is still the only plan that will work,” Howard’s face fell because there was no better option.

“I’ll distract it,” Jonas whispered. “You guys get ready to attack when it charges me.”

“No,” Yuki shook her and held his arm. “You’re hurt. I’ll do it.”

“Yuki,” Jonas gave her a small smile. “You’re our best hope at beating this thing. We need you to finish the job in case things go wrong. I don’t have any plans on dying to this thing, so don’t you worry about me for a second. I'm going anywhere.”

“We’re running out of time,” Johnson hissed. “The beast is getting bored with Garth,” and they all looked to see the monster punching and slicing the corpse, and it looked like it was losing interest.

“Alright,” Jonas took a deep breath. “Everyone knows the plan. I’ll distract it and dance around to its flank, making it reveal its backside to you guys. Ralph, you jump on its back while the rest of you grab onto its arms so that it can’t fight,” he turned his head to look at Howard. “You hit him with the fire on one side,” he turned to look at Jaden. “You impale him on the other side.”

“Got it,” Jaden nodded. They formed two groups, and Jonas stepped forward.

“Terry Coleman!” Jonas shouted, and the Maldread froze as it heard the taunting. It slowly turned its head, and its sickly pair of green eyes locked with Jonas.

The creature opened its mouth, and a high-pitch growl came out. It was a clear warning sound from an apex predator who didn't want to fight. “Don’t give me that shit!” Jonas yelled, and he began stomping his foot in a provoking manner. “Get over here, back-stabbing piece of shit!” The Maldread could sense the ill intent, and it rose from Garth's corpse while never once taking its eyes off Jonas. Still, it didn’t charge. “I said get over here, now!” Jonas shouted.

The Maldread could no longer take insult to its position as the apex predator, and with a loud cry of anger, it charged toward him and pounced across the stone floor like some grotesque animal. Jonas knew that this was his last and best chance at survival. ‘I can do this,’ he began envisioning it in his mind. ‘I’ll dodge his attack, turn him around, and then we’ll kill him,’ his confidence began to rise. He filled his body with Pride, and just as the creature reached him, he readied himself.