Chapter 289: Snapped


    The bridge creaked loudly, trembling uncontrobly as though it was at the brink of being destroyed, feeding whomever it was on it into the starving dark depths beneath. Moulin held Hadrian tight as his eyes fell upon the looming chasm of the deep.


    Hadrian stabilized Moulin quickly but carefully. With a sword in his other hand, he held Moulin with the other. Emlen wanted to go to his little brother but those thin lengthy ws blocked his path, preventing him from moving forward. He could only leap backward, drawing his sword with a venomous re. He began to cut down everything in his way.


    "Brother!" Moulin called.


    Hadrian released him, granting him the chance to express his anger. He followed Moulin, making sure there wasn''t anythinging near his lover. He did well to aid Moulin in slicing down the bothersome things until they finally reached Emlen.


    Panting, Moulin hurriedly went to his brother, ignoring the gruesome squish underneath his boots as he walked.


    "Let''s hurry and get off this bloody bridge." His eyes sharply nced at Hadrian as if ming the lord for all the trouble. However, it wasn''t entirely his fault. Emlen cursed internally.


    Moulin nodded and let Hadrian pull him away, heading towards the exit. The others quickly followed their leader, keeping their weapons tight within their grasps.


    Moulin gnashed his teeth as he turned his head to avoid the w heading towards his face. His brows widened as a pitch-ck de sliced the arm into two thin strings like splitting a worm. The ck gunk that almost sshed his facade made him want to empty his stomach. Honestly, the stench was incredibly deadly.


    The people heading towards the exit were desperate. Their footing was a mess, and Moulin could hear one or two people shooting when they missed a step. Emlen cursed and hurriedly helped the trapped people before anything worse could arise


    "Moulin," Hadrian said in warning.


    Moulin''s eyes shed. In a split second, he spun to Hadrian''s back, and severed five iing ws while Hadrian swiftly moved to cut down numerous arms before him. As the limbs plopped lifelessly on the stained wood, Moulin rested his back on Hadrian''s. The young man kept his guards up and remained wary of his surroundings.


    "Are they still stuck?" Moulin hissed.


    "So you want to just amputate their legs?" Hadrian asked amusingly.


    Moulin kept a straight face. His eyes darkened. "No, thank you, having someone injured will only slow us down. We''re not even halfway in our journey. Disappointing."


    Hadrian absolutely found it amusing to witness Moulin''s spiteful side. The little doll appeared like a ferocious lion ready to ughter his prey.


    "Damn it!" Emlen cursed. He brought the de of his sword to cut the ropes, untangling the man''s ankle. Why did they get so many idiots on this expedition?!


    Moulin sighed. He turned around, flicking the ck ooze off his sword. "Let''s hurry." He said to Hadrian.


    "Come-"


    Hadrian abruptly stopped. His eyes trailed past Moulin''s shoulder, eyeing ''something'' with cold eyes. The aura emanating from him turned dark and cold. Moulin instantly noticed the sudden abnormality. Slowly, he turned his head.


    Moulin froze. He subconsciously took a cautious step back as he widened his eyes. Hadrian held the youth close to him protectively, tightly grasping Moulin''s shoulder.


    The creature before the is beyond terrifying. It hasn''t even fully climbed up the bridge. A round torso, bloating as if it had swallowed hundreds of malibreeds inferior to it. The bridge dipped under its weight, threatening to snap into two. Its skin is covered with a slimy ck sheen. Its eyeless head is a narrow oval, like a beak, filled with long sharp yellow teeth. And drooling a copious amount of ck liquid, steaming hotly as though it had drunk gallons of scorching tar.


    It had no legs, but underneath that bloated belly were thousands of tentacle-like limbs. The ws at each tentacle scratched the wooden nks and ropes as it slowly crawled towards Moulin and Hadrian, the two people facing it.


    Although it was hard to see within the thick fog, one could clearly see the creature''s dark and humungous form.


    "Go..." Moulin muttered. "Go! GO NOW!"


    rmed by the sudden shout, Emlen and the other turned and paled as they saw the creature. The bridge began to descend slowly as if drawing the people on the bridge towards the gaping mouth of the massive creature. Lost in a panic state, blinded by the great fog, and struggling to stay bnced, the people were even more chaotic.


    Moulin knitted his brows. His heart thundered as he held his sword tightly, shing every single w that rapidly charged towards them as fast as a rain of bullets. Determined, Moulin would cut down hundreds more if it meant giving the others time to escape.


    SLASH!!!


    Moulin paused. He was relieved when Hadrian covered for him, stepping forward to take over and allowing Moulin time to breathe.


    The High Lord is ruthless as he brought down a torrent of powerful swings. His ck sword glistened with the irksome liquid that sttered around them, yet none of it couldnd on Hadrian and his beloved behind him.


    "Mind the gaps," Hadrian reminded without ncing back at Moulin. He began to face every single attack the creatures arms would give him. Like an imprable wall and a mighty sword, powerful and omnipotent.


    However, Moulin refused to let his man expend everything for him while Moulin could only stay protected behind Hadrian. He wanted to fight alongside him and to defeat the malibreed together.


    Finally, regaining his cool, Moulin''s eyes turned sharp. He steeled his legs and swiftly ducked under Hadrian''s swing.


    Hadrian''s eyebrows rose as he watched the silver-eyed young man hastily faced the wave of ws with him. Moulin''s movements are smooth and urate with a bit of grace. His waist would bend and twist as he avoided numerous attacks, soaring sharp ws advancing rapidly. However, as if he was unperturbed about the frightful sight, the young man breathed and lunged with a swift sh of his sword. His lighter weight proved to be more helpful to him in the midst of the dire situation.


    Hadrian slightly tilted his head with wonder in his eyes. Is his little doll trying to impress him? Because it was more than effective.


    With a faint smile, he joined his loverde to de. He abruptly grasped Moulin''s waist, turned, and switched their position. Using the youth''s curved swing during the turn, his sword shed as it severed the reaching hands, leaving a trail of ck liquid in the air and the stumps of wriggling tentacles.


    The creature screeched. Its hollow stretchy throat


    Moulin yelped when Hadrian pressed their chests together. "Ugh, show off."


    "Aren''t you one?" Hadrian said, tightly holding Moulin. He stepped back and grabbed the rope at his right.


    Moulin frowned. "Can''t you tell?"


    He wrapped his arms around Hadrian''s waist as though predicting what his man would do next. The malibreed was already furiously, and it would definitely be chasing them as soon as they run. Looking back, Moulin realized there was nobody behind them. They must have dragged his brother away.


    "Hold on tight," Hadrian said before he shed the railings, snapping the ropes.


    Moulin hugged Hadrian tighter and felt gravity pull them down as soon as Hadrian cut off the other railing.


    With the ropes severed coupled by the malibreed''s massive weight, the wood and ropes snapped. The creature stretched out the remains of its limbs, screeching furiously as it fell back into the depth, plunging into the darkness.


    Moulin felt the weight of gravity yanking him downwards, but with Hadrian''s hold around him, he knew he would be safe. The pair swung to the wall and stopped with a slight m. The shock almost made Moulin let go. Fortunately, he was able to grip tighter as they hanged beside the stone wall.


    The stretching sound of the rope coiled around Hadrian''s wrists sounded frightening.


    "Agh." Moulin gritted his teeth as he holds on tight. Somehow, a force seemed to pull him downwards.


    Hadrian''s expression was calm. He looked up and whistled, aware that the others would definitely realize their situation. True to his expectations, Moulin felt the ropes shake. He released a relieved sigh and lowered his head.


    Shlick!


    Moulin senses red. rmed, he lowered his head and witnessed a ck-wed hand rapidly shooting out from the chasm, heading towards him. Moulin could not react and was toote when the w was now an inch away from his face.


    Suddenly, the sound of pierced flesh entered his ears. Gravity then dragged them back down.


    They were falling.


    ''What?''


    Hadrian cursed under his breath and caught thest meter of the rope. He held on to it tight, unwilling to let go. When they abruptly stopped, Moulin''s vision cleared.


    The creature''s limb was gone.


    Moulin looked down on the arm that held curled around his waist. His breath ceased.


    Before those silver eyes, three deep gashes gaped on Hadrian''s skin between the torn fabric of his sleeve. It was sizzling.