He looked in that direction.
The diabolical wail Morrow had unleashed devastated the whole production hall. There were slabs of concrete falling from above. What little remained of old machinery had been turned into piles of scrap. The floor had become uneven and full of deep cracks.
The Awakened on both sides fared no better. Many were dead - on both sides. Their mouths were opened in silent screams, their faces turned into gruesome paintings of blood by the power of the wicked attack. Even those who wielded Memories meant to protect against just this kind of threat did not escape unscathed.
'What the hell is she trying to...'
Amiran did not know, but he knew that he had to stop the ruthless witch from accomplishing whatever it was she was planning.
He lunged forward, aiming to catch up to Morrow. Luckily, there was not much distance between them, and the Ascended of Song was severely wounded. That last blow he had delivered made a mess of her right shoulder and clavicle...
It was then that Amiran saw it. In the direction where Morrow was running, behind the decimated line of Song's defensive formation...
A massive alloy container that held an enthralled Nightmare Creature inside.
His pupils narrowed.
'I see...'
Amiran understood what Morrow wanted to achieve. She must have abandoned all hope of delivering the abomination to the inner city and wanted to unleash it right here and now. Sadly for her... he would not give her that chance.
He raised his sword, ready to send a wave of force at the back of the escaping woman. But then, a vague silhouette suddenly lunged at him from the side.
Reacting on instinct, Amiran lashed out with his hammer. The attacker dove beneath it and delivered a strike with a sharp, narrow stiletto.
'Pathetic.'
One of Song's worms must have already recovered enough to attack. The Knight of Valor simply moved his arm, shielding those seams of his armor that protected vital organs. All the attacker could do was drive his stiletto between the rerebrace and the couter, and even then just by a centimeter or two - delivering an insignificant wound to his elbow.
The next moment, Amiran counterattacked, forcing the unclear figure to stagger away. The attacker seemed to dissolve into darkness, as if he... she?... had never existed at all.
"Coward!"
Amiran growled and continued his pursuit. What had that cowardly attack achieved? Nothing. Morrow would still not escape.
He prepared to deliver another strike, but then suddenly swayed.
He felt... weak.
Confused and suddenly unsettled, Amiran glanced at his elbow, where a few drops of blood seeped from beneath the impregnable plates of his armor.
The blood... why did it seem almost black?
The Knight's eyes widened slightly.
'...Poison?'
***
A few moments later, jumping over the corpses of her people, Morrow reached the containment cage. She groaned, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and used the only hand she could move to strike at the seal.
There was no complicated procedure to opening the cage. The key to its magical lock was simple - it was blood. Blood of Song.
Morrow's fist left a bloody imprint on the plate of the seal, and it seemed to ignite, burning away in an instant.
The clasps holding the cage closed fell away, and it burst open.
Inside was a creature so ghastly and revolting that anyone would have been terrified to see it.
But Morrow only smiled. She grinned, revealing bloodied teeth.
"Go! Slaughter everyone who is not Song! To the surface!"
The creature unfolded from within the cage and moved, following her command.
But... what was that?
Why was the abomination bleeding?
There were several thin, shallow cuts on its grey hide, seemingly delivered by a blade so sharp as to be perfect.
And its many eyes, why were they not full of hollow obedience?
Instead, they were brimming with something else...
Madness.
Boundless, murderous madness.
And hunger.