CHAPTER 66: CHAPTER 65- HORRORS BEYOND THE MIND (PART 3)

Chapter 65- Horrors Beyond The Mind (Part 3)

Quickly, Jack’s hand shot to the device as he muted it and shoved it back into his pocket. Luna had sent him a message out of nowhere to check on him since he hadn’t reported to her in a while. Then, he looked up again and started walking away.

’Did they hear? The sound wasn’t too loud.’ As he walked, his eyes lingered on the closed door. He wished he could hear what was happening inside, but it was still as quiet as ever. In fact, he didn’t even know if these creatures could hear or not.

But he wasn’t going to wait and find out. He had to leave quickly. However, before he could even take a few steps, he suddenly heard a noise behind him. Looking over his shoulder, Jack slowly saw the door begin to part open from the inside.

For a moment, everything froze — as if time itself stopped. Then, instantly, the door was kicked open as humans ran out as fast as they could. Dozens upon dozens of people rushed toward him. Their rigid steps were no more.

’Shit!’ Jack cursed as he quickly channeled his Aether and dashed away. His speed was like a flash as he darted out of the way.

The flood of people behind him grew as they ran like mad monsters. However, their speed was nothing compared to Jack’s. The distance between them widened rapidly as he took continuous twists and turns, trying to find the exit again. Since this place was a laboratory, the only windows in the establishment were in the offices and the main area; the rest of the facility was completely sealed to prevent the spread of any virus or harmful chemicals.

’Where is the exit again? I can’t remember. I’ve been following that thing for a long while.’ Jack cursed as he stopped at the end of a hallway and looked left and right. All the corridors looked exactly the same, with almost no distinguishing features.

With no time to confirm, he followed his gut and chose a random path. Sprinting to the end of the hall, he stopped again to choose another route.

At that moment, Jack heard noises coming from ahead. A second later, a wave of controlled people suddenly emerged out of nowhere, rushing toward him.

’What the hell?! There’s more?!’ Jack cursed as he looked behind him. He was being surrounded rapidly. With no other option, he took the third route. The two waves quickly merged as they chased after him.

’This is no joke. There are way too many victims here!’ He clenched his teeth. ’To think this is what happened to them of all things.’

Taking another turn, Jack immediately halted. What he wished wouldn’t happen, happened — at the end of the hallway, another wave of humans appeared, closing off the path.

"You lot are sick... really sick."

He was completely trapped. Every possible path was blocked. He couldn’t retreat or advance.

’Can I even kill that many of these things?’ he asked himself, placing a hand on his sword. However, at that moment, Jack remembered something important Liliana had told him a while ago.

’No... I must not take on every single fight I find myself in. This is definitely far beyond anything I can fight.’ He thought. Not only was it risky, but it was also not viable with him being surrounded like this.

Calming his heart and mind, he decided to try something different.

’This is a very bad idea. But...’

With no time to think further, he launched himself forward, channeling all his Aether as he pushed his speed to the limit. He ran straight toward the horde — then, at the last second, shifted his body and pressed a foot against the wall, leaping high into the air, soaring over the mob.

The move was quick and sudden, and before the horde could react, his feet stomped on one of the insects, propelling him higher with another leap. Normally, such a feat would be impossible for any human — it required an insane level of balance and reflexes.

However, Jack was far from ordinary. His control over his body had reached a level far beyond human limits. What had once been impossible was now something he could do with ease.

After two jumps, however, the monsters realized what was happening and instinctively stretched their arms upward to grab him. Anticipating this, Jack charged his hand with red lightning, channeling it to the extreme before swinging it down, sending a devastating wave of lightning across the entire army.

Many bodies were struck instantly, frying on the spot, while others spasmed violently. The large insects screeched in agony as their flesh cooked from the inside out.

[You have killed a Level 8 Namok Hopper.]

[You have killed a Level 6...]

[You have killed a Level 9...]

Jack received several notifications at once but ignored them and leaped again. In seconds, he cut through the entire horde, landing at the end of the hallway, rolling across the floor before dashing forward once more.

’I actually did it! What the hell?’

Completely overtaken by adrenaline and the rush of survival, Jack ran faster than ever before. At the same time, the monsters snapped out of their stunned state and began chasing him again.

’Where is the exit?! Where is the goddamn exit?!’

For the next minute or so, Jack searched desperately for a way out. He went left, right, through rooms and laboratories, but didn’t find a single usable window. There were some ventilation chambers, but they were far too small to escape through.

It was a maze — a confusing labyrinth, even for someone as sharp as Jack with his memory. He felt like the place was deliberately designed to keep him from escaping. Meanwhile, the monsters were in hot pursuit, closing the gap with every passing second.

Each moment he failed to find an exit was another second lost — another chance slipping away.

"I didn’t check this area, did I?"

At some point, he reached a section of the building he didn’t recognize. The echo of countless footsteps filled the halls behind him, but with immense composure, he pressed on, scanning the area for any sign of escape.

Before long, he found himself standing before a set of double doors — leading to another experimental laboratory within the facility. One eerily similar to the first one, where he had found the nest.

"..." Jack pursed his lips. ’Should I even check there?’

A part of him didn’t want to relive that traumatizing sight of humans being plucked like ants and dragged into darkness to be devoured. But what if this was his way out?

Forcing his fear down, he slowly approached the doors and peeked inside. It was dark, just as he expected — but, luckily or not, there were no humans and no insects.

It was a completely empty room with nothing inside."..."

However, something still felt wrong. As he stood there, an unease began to rise within him — as if he was in imminent danger.

As if he was staring at something that could kill him. But... there was nothing there to stare at.