MTLNOVEL Chapter 10: 10
** Chapter 10: The SHADOW BANQUET **
*(POV AYMAN AL-SARAAVWI)*
The between breathed like a living organism. The walls of the corridor were contracted, expelling a black mucus that drained like tears of a corpse. Ayman dragged Molly through his wrists, his lumine arm dragging grooves on the floor of pulsating meat. Blackola's ax, now stuck to his hand as a damn extension, whispered promises of revenge on overlapping voices.
*** "He comes…" *** Ayman's clone voice echoed in his mind. *** "The devouring it… stronger… more*hungry*." ***
A roar cut the air, followed by the sound of tailing metal hooks. Blackola emerged from a distorted door, his body a collage of horrors: rabbit head cast to a human skull, four arms ending in mountains and claws, and the torso covered by human languages that were - unison. His ax, now part of his right arm, shone with runes that pulsed in a blood red.
*** "Plot! You forgot the dessert! "*** Your words were accompanied by a jet of green gas, eroding the floor where Ayman had been seconds before.
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** The hunt in the maze **
Ayman and Molly ran through corridors that reconfigured, doors leading to fragments of memories: the bone cabin, the sanatorium of the little ones, to the fourth 303 where Dr. Vorn Traíra Molly. On the walls, photos of Ayman and the clone flashed, whispering: *** "You're just meat… he's the real…" ***
Molly, between outbreaks of lucidity, guided Ayman: *"On the left… there is a *purge room *… where the devourer weakens!" *His unfeuted eye shone urgently, while the other, black as the vacuum, leaked liquid from the nucleus.
Blackola chased them, invoking spirits with ax blows on the floor. Children-ghost with rat teeth grabbed Ayman's ankles, and pregnant women with transparent bells launched bright larvae.
* "Leave me,"* Molly cried, your blade shaking. *"Use the ax… in me. *Cut the bond*! "*
Ayman hesitated, but a meat hook hit his shoulder, pulling a piece of skin. Blackola laughed, licking the blood of the blade: *"Coarse salt… Perfect for meat!" *
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** The sacrifice of the blade **
In the purge room - a glass -wall cubicle full of floating eyes - ayman touched Molly in the corner. * "We need to weaken the devourer* before* to kill him,"* she whispered, pointing to a panel with symbols of the iron circle. *"The ax… it feeds on souls. Use those inside it… against Blackola. "*
Ayman raised the ax, and the voices of Blackola's victims shouted in liberation. Spirits burst out of the blade, forming a barrier against the creature.
* "Betrayal!"* Blackola hit the four arms on the floor, cracking the between. *"I will cook your organs steam from hell!"*
Molly, in a moment of clarity, grabbed the ax and cut her own arm infected. The limb falls to the floor, turning into a mass of tentacles that attacked Blackola. *"Now, Ayman!"*
Ayman plunged the ax into the heart of the purge room. The glass shattered, and the floating eyes shouted, releasing a wave of energy that ripped the meat from Blackla's body.
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** The last bite **
Blackola was disintegrated in bright worms, but his right hand-the ax, "he remedies intact. The creature crawled to Ayman, whispering: *"A… last… bite…" *
Before he could hit him, Molly jumped on the way. The hook crossed his chest, and she smiled, dark blood running from her lips. *"He… never… will touch you…"*
The now freed ax exploded in purple light shrapnel. Blackola Upou, being sucked into a shadow vortex, while Entre began to collapse.
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** Epilogue: The taste of bitter victory **
Ayman carried Molly out of the portal, which closed behind them in a final moan. In the real world, the sky was gray, and the smell of burnt persisted. Molly, pale but alive, whispered: *"He is still in me… but weaker. The iron circle… they can help. "*
On the floor, the emblem of the Blackola ax - a hunger rune - weakly. Ayman caught him, listening to a final whisper of the clone:
*** "The Phoenix Project… Next Hospital…*Wyrming*… He waits for you." ***
While disappearing in the mist, a laugh echoed in the distance. In a broken mirror, Blackola's silhouette was rebuilt, his words hovering like a omen:
*** "The banquet… never ends…" ***
** End of Chapter 10. **
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** Note: ** Blackola's defeat costs Molly part of his humanity, deepening his role as the Avatar of the Devator. Entre and Rune do Machado's escape plant the seed to the next arch: Wyrming State Hospital, where the project Phoenix hides an even more dangerous core. Blackola's resilience, even in defeat, maintains its threat as a persistent echo, while the iron circle emerges as the last hope against the cosmic hunger of the devourer.