Something was clinging to the outside of the glass.
Phod saw it before anyone else.
Its arms and legs were unnaturally long, all five fingers spread wide and gripping the building wall like gecko feet. Black leathery wings were folded flat against its back. Its head was so small it didn't fit its body.
It had no eyes.
But it was turning its face toward him.
[Otherworldly creature]
Type: Unknown
Threat level: ?
Insufficient foundational data
Phod froze.
Huh.
Until now, whether it was a person or an undead, the system had always had an answer.
This was the first time it had said—
It didn't know.
“Everyone, get away from the windows!”
Phod's voice made everyone nearby turn toward him.
Thanwa scanned the room.
“What?”
“Outside.”
Bow turned.
The thing's face was less than a yard from the glass.
“Holy shit!”
It slammed itself into the window.
Crash!
The entire pane shook.
People screamed.
Dad hurriedly pulled Mom away from the window.
“Get down!”
Crash!
The second impact spread a spiderweb of cracks across the glass.
Phod stared at it.
The data still showed nothing but question marks.
Think.
It could fly.
It could cling to walls.
It had chosen to attack the glass instead of the wall, which meant it knew where the weaker point was.
Smarter than the undead.
“Close the curtains!”
Bow turned to him. “Why?”
“Just try it!”
Dad yanked the curtains shut.
The impacts stopped.
Everyone fell silent.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
Nothing happened.
Thanwa murmured, “It can't see us?”
Phod shook his head.
“Still don't know.”
Then a scraping sound came from the glass.
Scrape...
Scrape...
It was still there.
Phod watched its shadow move across the curtains.
If it really was blind, how was it finding them?
Sound?
Smell?
Heat?
Or something else?
There was a patient inside the room who was struggling to breathe. A ventilator hissed at regular intervals.
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
The shadow outside stopped directly in front of that spot.
Phod narrowed his eyes.
“Everyone, be quiet.”
“What?” the security guard asked.
“Quiet. First.”
Everyone in the room gradually stopped talking.
Even the crying child was held tightly in his mother's arms.
Only the ventilator remained.
Whoosh—
The claws outside shifted in time with the sound.
Phod pointed immediately.
“It can hear us.”
Thanwa asked, “You sure?”
“Not one hundred percent.”
“Then what percent?”
“Enough that you shouldn't talk so loud.”
Thanwa shut his mouth.
Phod looked around for something.
A water bottle.
A plastic cup.
A metal bucket.
He picked up a stainless-steel spoon from the bedside table.
Bow looked at it.
“You hungry?”
“Experiment.”
Phod tossed the spoon toward the far end of the room.
Clang!
The shadow outside lunged toward the sound immediately.
Crash!
The window at the far end of the room shattered.
“Down!”
Shards of glass flew inside.
The black creature shot through the broken window.
Its wings spread to their full span, almost hitting the ceiling.
It let out a shrill cry.
Kreeee—!
The crowd scattered in panic.
Phod glanced at the data.
[New behavior detected]
[Analyzing...]
Come on, hurry up!
The security guard raised a chair to block it.
The claws struck.
Clang!
The metal chair flew from his hands.
“That's fucking strong!”
The man with Strength Enhancement charged and slammed into it shoulder-first.
The creature only staggered back half a step before smacking him away with its wing and sending him crashing into the wall.
Phod saw the status appear immediately.
[Injury: Cracked ribs]
“Don't get close!”
Thanwa raised his hand.
“Should I use fire?”
“Wait!”
Phod stared at the monster.
It wasn't rushing the nearest person.
It turned its head toward—
A scream.
A woman was shrieking behind a bed.
The creature lunged immediately.
“Bow! Hit something on the other side!”
Bow didn't ask questions.
She grabbed a metal tray and slammed it against the bathroom door.
Bang!
The creature changed direction in midair.
Phod's eyes lit up.
“It really is following the sound!”
A new message appeared.
[Foundational data increased]
Sensory method: Sound waves
[No physical weakness detected]
“Thanwa!”
“Ready!”
“Don't shoot the body. Shoot the wings!”
“Why?”
“It can maneuver because it can fly!”
Flames erupted across its left wing.
Whoosh!
The creature screamed.
Its wing spasmed.
It dropped and slammed into the floor.
The security guard and the man with Strength Enhancement charged together.
“Should I go for the head?” the security guard shouted.
Phod checked the data.
There was still no answer.
“Don't risk it! Hold it down!”
Its claws flailed so violently that no one could get close.
Phod gritted his teeth.
No eyes.
It used sound.
Then what if there was too much sound?
“Thanwa!”
“What now!”
“The fire alarm!”
Thanwa looked at the alarm box above the door.
“You serious?”
“Now!”
A small flame touched the smoke detector.
A few seconds later—
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The alarm blared throughout the entire floor.
The creature on the floor froze.
Its head jerked violently from side to side.
Kreee!
It began swinging its arms wildly.
Phod saw the data pop up.
[Auditory nerves disrupted]
[Perception reduced by 72%]
“Now!”
The man with Strength Enhancement grabbed a metal pole and drove it through the creature's chest.
The thing thrashed.
It still wasn't dead.
The security guard struck its head again.
Once.
Twice.
It wasn't enough.
Phod looked it over quickly.
The system still didn't know.
But he had noticed something himself.
Every time it was stabbed, the area beneath its throat tensed before the rest of its body.
“The neck!”
“What!”
“Under the neck! Stab there!”
The metal pole changed angle.
Stab!
Black fluid sprayed out.
The creature went rigid.
Then collapsed.
The alarm continued blaring.
But no one moved.
Phod looked at the system window.
[Otherworldly creature eliminated]
[Data recording successful]
Temporary name: Sound-Hunting Demon
Primary sensory method: Sound waves
Weakness: Neural sac in the throat
Threat level: 9
[Foundational data received: 8]
Phod stared at the words temporary name.
“System...”
Bow walked over to his bedside. “What?”
Phod let out a quiet laugh.
“It doesn't know everything.”
“So?”
He looked at the creature's corpse on the floor.
“Then some of the things it tells us...”
Phod paused for a moment.
“Might be things it just learned from us, too.”
No one answered.
But a new question had already formed in Phod's mind.
If the Foundation System needed him to collect data—
then how little did the people who created it know about the world that was coming?