CHAPTER 44: THE CHASE [4]

The fork loomed ahead like two sides of a coin, two black maws framed in jagged glass, each promising death.

The Echo Maw’s whispers slithered along the tunnel walls, turning left and right into lies. They didn’t know which tunnel contained the predator, its powers warped and masked its residuals, making it untraceable even for Holt.

Footsteps echoed where there were none, growls trembled just out of sight.

Reid swayed where Kara held him upright. Jonas stumbled, breath rattling, while Travis clung to Holt’s back, barely conscious. Mira’s wind trembled out of control, scattering dust in confused spirals.

Pike’s men were closing from behind, their boots a metronome of doom. And somewhere in the reflection ahead, the Echo Maw waited, unseen but everywhere.

Like the others, Ethan stared, desperate, different crazy ideas flying through his head and then, his eyes gleamed as if he just made a big decision.

"Slow down," Ethan said suddenly, his voice cutting through the panic.

Kara spun on him. "Have you lost your mind?! They’ll catch us!"

"That’s the point," Ethan said, sharp and urgent. His Wheel pulsed faintly in his vision, reflecting the crazy idea taking shape in his mind.

"Unlike us, they don’t know what’s ahead," he continued. "The Maw’s whole game is disorientation. We’ve been through the Ashroad, we survived it, we know how to fight things that mess with your head".

"Pike’s soldiers? They’ll blunder right into it. And even if they don’t, my ability can still give us the edge".

Mira’s face paled. "You’re talking about... using the Maw against them?"

"Exactly."

"You’re crazy!" Mira exclaimed.

"I know," Ethan’s grin was all teeth, reckless and unhinged. "It’s a gamble, I know, but it’s our only chance of turning this tide around".

"Or else, we’ll just keep running while they tail just behind us".

"With this plan, though crazy, we may get to pit them against an E Rank monster and while they fight each other, we slip past".

"I’ll pull a draw for our escape in the chaos," he said confidently but then hesitated. "Hopefully, I get the right draw".

"Or we all die in the middle," Holt growled.

"Desperate times," Ethan said simply.

Holt’s stare held his for a heartbeat, then he nodded once. "Fine, but this better work."

They slowed their pace, Kara supporting Reid’s staggering steps, Jonas deliberately dragging his boots to leave a trail Pike’s hunters couldn’t miss.

And then, within just a few seconds, the enemy voices grew louder behind them as they finally spotted them.

"Visual! They’re at the fork!" One of them said with renewed enthusiasm.

"Push forward, corner them!"

The tunnel glowed faintly with resonance torches as Pike’s vanguard surged into view, rifles ready.

And that was when the Echo Maw struck.

CRKSH!

The world seemed to turn on itself as everything became wrong.

The glass veins in the walls pulsed crimson.

Shadows split open, revealing teeth where there had been only stone, and the whispers crescendoed into a maddening chorus of laughter, screams, and the sound of a thousand boots running nowhere.

From the reflections, the Maw’s illusions came to life.

Pike’s men saw enemies where there were none. Their squadmates’ faces twisted in the glass, replaced with snarling beasts.

"W-what...!"

"Contact front!" someone screamed.

"No, left flank!" another shouted.

Then, gunfire erupted as panic took over.

Bam... bam... bam...

Two of Pike’s soldiers shot each other in the confusion, their bodies collapsing into glittering shards that weren’t really there.

Amid the chaos, the Maw’s true form slithered unseen between the reflections, its massive body distorting the tunnels like a living hallucination.

~----~

[Threat Detected: Echo Maw – E Rank]

Predator specializing in auditory and visual distortion. Physical body anchored between reflections.

Kill by breaking its anchors simultaneously.

~----~

The others didn’t see this notification, only Ethan.

His Wheel flashed this information across his vision and his eyes widened. "Anchors!" he shouted. "The real one hides between the glass! Smash the mirrors, break its hold!"

Kara leaped forward, her spear flashing as she shattered a cluster of glass veins. Holt’s rifle barked once, shattering another anchor point. Mira’s wind condensed into a focused blast, scattering shards like snow.

Behind them, Pike’s soldiers faltered, firing wildly at illusions that dissolved into mist. The major’s voice cut through the madness, cold and precise.

"Hold formation! It’s a Rift entity! Watch your fields of fire!"

But discipline cracked under terror. A man turned and saw Pike himself as a monster, his scream ending in a single, desperate shot. Pike ducked it easily and drove his knife into the shooter’s throat, rage twisting his scarred features.

"Kill them all!" Pike roared. "The Maw and the rabbits both!"

By now, the Wheel spun violently, feeding on the chaos. Ethan slammed his palm against his thigh. "Come on," he muttered. "Give me something!"

And it did.

DING!

~----~

[Improvised Gear: Echo Breaker – F Rank]

Emits a pulse to disrupt illusion fields within a 10 meter radius for 5 seconds.

[Cooldown: One-time use.]

~----~

"Perfect".

Ethan activated it, and a deep thrum suddenly rolled through the tunnel, vibrating their bones.

BZZZ!

For a brief moment, the illusions shattered, the Maw’s true body flickering into sight. It was a massive, eyeless serpent of living glass coiled between dimensions, its maw lined with rows of jagged mirrors.

"There!" Ethan roared.

Kara and Holt struck simultaneously.

Spear met flesh-glass, and Holt’s rifle cracked twice. The Echo Maw screamed, its body fracturing, then dissolving into a rain of shards.

The illusions collapsed entirely.

Pike’s soldiers blinked, suddenly aware of the real battlefield, and the real enemy who were only steps away. But they reacted faster than them.

"Move!" Ethan yelled.

While Pike’s men reeled, the group bolted through the gap the Maw’s death had created. Holt guided them into a narrow side tunnel Mira’s wind cleared ahead.

Kara half-carried Reid, while Jonas leaned heavily on Travis who glowed faintly as he forced Vital Surge into every staggering step.

Ethan brought up the rear, Shadowstep Dash phasing him in and out of sight as he intercepted stray bullets with lightning-fast movements, leaving a blur.

Behind them, Pike’s fury erupted.

"After them!" He bellowed, his voice echoing through the tunnels. "Leave the dead, hunt the living!"

But the Maw’s corpse was still collapsing, its shards forming deadly traps as even in death, fragments of its illusions remained. Pike’s men hesitated, their pursuit slowed by the chaos Ethan had engineered.

The group burst from the tunnel into a cavernous underground interchange. Stalactites of glass dripped from the ceiling, glittering like stars.

This time, Pike and his men couldn’t follow immediately. Ethan’s desperate gamble had worked.

"They’re still coming," Holt warned, scanning the dark.

Ethan clenched his fist, the Wheel spinning faintly at the edge of his vision. His gamble had worked, but only for now. Pike’s hatred hadn’t been diminished, only delayed.

"This city won’t stop," Ethan said, frustrated but determined. "We keep going till we escape!"

The chase roared on, the ruined city itself joining Pike’s relentless pursuit.