The creature thaty sprawled before Lyerin was a nightmarish vision, one that would haunt even the most hardened souls.


    She was grotesque in every sense of the word—her bloated body was at least three times the size of a truck, a swollen, pulsating mass of decaying flesh riddled with thick, ck veins that coursed under her translucent skin like awork of diseased roots.


    The veins throbbed and writhed as if something alive was crawling just beneath the surface. Her limbs were pitifully small and malformed, little more than vestigial stubs that twitched feebly, useless under the weight of her enormous body.


    But it was her head, perched grotesquely atop this mound of flesh, that made Lyerin''s stomach turn.


    Gulp!


    The head was human, or at least it had been once. It belonged to a young girl, her blonde hair now matted and greasy, clinging in limp strands to her pallid, almost waxen face. Her eyes, once possibly blue and full of life, were now wide and vacant, staring blindly into the void.


    Her mouth hung open, ck-jawed, and from time to time, a pitiful, almost wheezing moan escaped her lips, a sound that was more chilling than any scream.


    Her back twitched sporadically, and with each convulsion, Lyerin could see worms—writhing, slimy things—oozing out from between the folds of her bloated flesh.


    The worms squirmed and dropped to the ground, wriggling away into the dark crevices of the mall floor.


    Squishy! Squishy!


    They were apanied by a swarm of flies, grotesquelyrge, their bodies bloated and glistening with an unnatural sheen.


    These flies buzzed around her, their wings beating with an ominous, droning hum that seemed to resonate within the very walls of the building.


    Zennnggg! Zeeeemng!


    Some were asrge as small birds, their bulbous eyes reflecting the dim light in a sickly green hue.


    Lyerin felt a wave of nausea wash over him, but he forced it down, focusing on the situation at hand. "Vinated Eldritch Beings…" he muttered under his breath, his voice tinged with a mix of disgust and sorrow.


    The vinated.


    Once, they were the hopeful—those who believed the government''s promises that the vine would protect them from the horrors of the apocalypse. It had been a lie, one that had cost them their humanity.


    The vine, they were told, would prevent them from bing like the others—from turning into Eldritch Fleshers. And at first, it seemed to work.


    Those who were vinated did not turn immediately, even as the world around them descended into madness. But the truth was far worse than they could have imagined.


    The vine had been a mutation, a twisted concoction that altered the very fabric of their beings.


    While it initially staved off the infection, it carried within it the seeds of something far more insidious.


    The civilians who had taken it would eventually sumb to its effects, but instead of bing mere fleshers, they would mutate into something far worse.


    There were two paths their mutation could take—one was the path of the Exploding Flesh, where their bodies would be vtile, a ticking time bomb that would explode upon death, releasing a cloud of infectious spores that could evolve the surrounding Eldritch Fleshers into even more powerful forms.


    But the other path, the one that Lyerin now faced, was the mutation that no one had anticipated—a Mother Queen.


    The vine, in its twisted mutation, had transformed this poor girl into a grotesque queen, a being that attracted and controlled insects with a terrifying hive-mind precision.


    These insects, once normal creatures, were drawn to the Mother Queen like moths to a me, their own bodies mutating under her influence, turning them into deadly, eldritch abominations.


    Lyerin''s brow furrowed in frustration as he took in the full horror of the situation. "A Mother Queen," he murmured, shaking his head. "Out of all the mutations… this one had to be the worst. And she''s fully fledged… Damn it!"


    The reason Lyerin recognized the Mother Queen so easily was because he had encountered others like her before, back when the world was still reeling from the first wave of the apocalypse.


    Those who had taken the vine and began to show signs of this mutation had to be put down before they could fully transform.


    It was a mercy killing, necessary to prevent the creation of more of these queens and their insect hordes. But even in his cold, calcted mindset, it never got easier.


    The sight of what was once a human, now turned into a monstrous breeder of nightmares, was enough to harden anyone''s heart.


    Now, here she was, a fully formed Mother Queen, her grotesque body pulsing with a sickly rhythm, her blind eyes staring vacantly ahead.


    Lyerin knew what this meant.


    His tribe had five enemies to face in theing days—normal Eldritch Fleshers, Eldritch Animals, the Vinated Exploding Flesh, the hidden families that had lurked in the shadows since ancient times that wille three or four days from now, and now… this.


    Lyerin''s gaze hardened as he weighed his options. He couldn''t use this mall as he had originally nned.


    The presence of this massive bitch, as he so eloquently put it in his mind, made it too dangerous.


    The risk of drawing her and her insect horde down upon himself and his tribe was too great. He needed to find another location, something he could use without the threat of a Mother Queen and her swarm.


    Just as he was about to take a step back, he noticed something that made his blood run cold.


    The blonde girl''s head, which had been hanging limp, was now slowly turning to face him. Her wide, vacant eyes locked onto his, and for a moment, Lyerin felt a chill run down his spine. Then, in a voice that was pitiful, broken, and full of despair, she spoke.


    "Please… help me…"


    The words, though simple, were like a dagger to Lyerin''s heart.


    They cut through the cold, calcting exterior he had built around himself.


    The voice was still human, still clinging to some vestige of the girl she had once been. But Lyerin knew better. He knew what she had be, and he knew that there was no helping her now.


    "Fuck!"


    Lyerin cursed under his breath, every muscle in his body tensing as he realized what was about to happen.


    The moment the girl spoke, the entire atmosphere around him shifted.


    The droning hum of the flies grew louder, more intense, and Lyerin realized with a sinking feeling that he was surrounded.


    The swarm of insects, which had beenrgely indifferent to his presence until now, suddenly turned their attention toward him, and even their movements were synchronized as if responding to an unspokenmand.


    Lyerin''s mind raced, his past experiencesing to the forefront as he quickly assessed the situation. He scanned the swarm, identifying each type of insect with a precision born from years of survival. "Great… just what I needed," he muttered to himself, his voice low but steady.


    "Exploding acid bugs," he noted, spotting the insects with bright, pulsating sacs on their backs. These were the ones that would explode in a shower of corrosive acid, capable of melting through metal, flesh, and bone alike.


    "Virus turners," he continued, identifying another group of insects with long, needle-like proboscises. A single bite from one of these and a human would be injected with a viral agent that would turn them into an Eldritch Flesher within minutes.


    "Explosive bugs," Lyerin murmured, his eyes narrowing at the small, beetle-like insects that moved in erratic patterns. These didn''t release acid—they exploded with the force of a grenade, capable of turning anything within a ten-foot radius into a bloody mess.


    "And who knows what the rest of these things do…" he added grimly, noting the variety of other insect monstrosities that filled the air and crawled across the walls.


    There were giant spiders with venom dripping from their fangs, beetles the size of small dogs with armored shells, and swarms of small flies that seemed to move as a single entity.


    The situation was bad. Lyerin knew he couldn''t take them all on directly—there were too many, and even with his abilities, the risk of getting overwhelmed was too high. He needed a n, something that would allow him to escape and regroup.


    Then, an idea struck him.


    It was risky, but it was the best option he had.


    Lyerin reached down and picked up a small stone from the ground, weighing it in his hand for a moment. His eyes scanned the swarm, looking for the right target. He spotted one of the explosive bugs, its erratic movements making it a difficult target, but Lyerin''s aim was true.


    With a flick of his thumb, the stone shot through the air with incredible speed, striking the insect dead-on.


    The impact triggered the bug''s vtile nature, and within a split second—


    KABOOM!


    The explosion was massive, far more powerful than Lyerin had anticipated.


    The force of the st sent shockwaves through the mall, shattering what remained of the windows and sending debris flying in every direction.


    The swarm of insects was thrown into chaos, and the explosion took out arge portion of them in an instant.


    Lyerin didn''t waste any time.


    As the remaining insects scrambled in disarray, he turned on his heel and sprinted toward the nearest exit. His muscles burned with the effort from the explosion, but he pushed through the pain, knowing that if he didn''t make it out of there, the Mother Queen''s insects would overwhelm him, even in his Stonehooves Leader goat form.