Seeing this, Leo and Stephanie both screamed and turned to run.

The Grotesque caught sight of them and twisted its face into a nasty grimace.

It let out a roar, its charred, rotting flesh shaking violently as it charged straight at them.

Panicked and sure she was about to be caught, Stephanie yelled out, "Leo! Didn’t you say you’d do anything for me? Didn’t you say you loved me? Stop it! Hurry!"

Hearing her cry out, Leo’s face lit up with excitement. "Stephanie, you love me, right? What you just said to Kevin was a trick, right? That wasn’t what you really meant. You like me. Don’t you?"

Stephanie kept running, nodding and crying as she yelled, "Yes, I like you! What I said to Kevin was just to trick him!"

Hearing that, Leo felt a strong urge to protect her.

He stopped running, turned around, and faced the Grotesque, yelling, "You piece of trash! I beat you in the daylight, and I’ll beat you just as fast now!"

"Arousal!"

With a shout, Leo spat in his hand, rubbed it together, and shoved his hand inside his pants right in front of the Grotesque. "Come on! Get hard! Come on, get hard!"

Just as the Grotesque’s massive jaws were about to snap shut on him, Leo’s body suddenly swelled up. His muscles pumped out like air balloons, glowing with a bronze sheen.

He jammed both hands into the Grotesque’s shark-like jaws, forcing them apart so it couldn’t close.

The Grotesque let out wild, angry roars as Leo held it back with pure strength.

Leo didn’t budge. He gripped the jaws, one hand above the other, and twisted.

CRACK!

The Grotesque’s jaw popped right out of its socket.

It roared in pain, swung its leg, and kicked Leo clean out of the way.

WHAM!

Leo hit the wall so hard he plastered himself against it.

At the same time, his swollen body started to shrink fast.

In a single blink, he was back to his normal size.

Leo felt pain all over, like every joint had fallen out of place.

The Grotesque, meanwhile, used its claws to pop its jaw back into place.

Its fast healing kicked in, and the jaw snapped back into place.

CRACK. CRACK.

It bit down hard twice right in front of Leo. Its sharp teeth ground together, making a chilling sound. The broken jaw was fully healed.

Leo pushed himself up, gasping at the sharp pain. "Damn it, why did it go soft so fast?"

No. He couldn’t let Stephanie see him as a weakling.

His stamina was so low, it must be because he was hungry.

At that, Leo pulled the last bottle of "vitamin" pills from his shirt and downed them in one go.

He chewed the pills and muttered to himself, "Yeah, I’m just hungry. As long as I eat, even vitamins will bring back a man’s strength. I can last at least five minutes."

"Get hard!" Leo spat in his palm again and shoved his hand down his pants.

But this time, his power just wouldn’t kick in.

No matter how much he rubbed, his dick stayed completely dead.

By then, the Grotesque was fully healed.

It stared at Leo, its face twisting into a nasty scowl. It slowly stepped toward him like it was playing with its food.

One step!

Leo still couldn’t get hard.

Two steps!

Leo was still frantically trying.

Three steps!

Cold sweat popped out on Leo’s forehead. Despair washed over his face.

By the time the Grotesque stood right in front of him, Leo still couldn’t trigger his power, "Arousal."

Riiip!

The Grotesque swung its claws and raked them straight into Leo’s shoulder.

His right hand, the one just stuffed in his pants, was torn clean off.

Leo stared at his empty shoulder, then looked down at his severed hand lying alone on the floor.

Blinding pain and pure fear hit him all at once. He finally realized death was right there.

Panicking, Leo scrambled backward. "No! Don’t kill me! You can’t do this! I’ve got money! Name your price! I’ll give you whatever you want!"

He cried and sniveled, every ounce of his spoiled rich kid pride gone.

But the Grotesque didn’t understand a word. It just fed on his fear like an animal enjoying an easy hunt. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Just as it prepared to finish him off and feast on his final terror, an Eldritch red light wrapped around the beast.

In a split second, the Grotesque froze in place, like someone hit pause.

Then Amelia’s voice cut through the air: "Get out of here!"

Leo snapped back to reality. He scrambled to his feet, grabbed his severed hand, and took off after Stephanie.

Seeing that, Amelia pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang!

Two quick shots. Both bullets burst the Grotesque’s eyes.

The Grotesque thrashed in agony. The red glow wrapping around it cracked and shattered like glass.

Amelia let out a sigh. "Figures. The effect is way weaker now."

"But it’s enough." She turned and ran after them.

Back in the main cabin, the eyeless Grotesque went berserk, trashing everything in sight.

Tables, chairs, wall paintings, doors, light fixtures—anything it could touch got smashed to bits.

Kevin stood inside the captain’s quarters, watching the hallway through the peephole.

Luna stood behind him, her hands clenched tight. "Are we going out there?" she asked, voice tight.

Kevin smiled and gave her shoulder a light pat. "You don’t need to fight. Just stay in here."

He pushed the door open and bolted out into the cabin.

The Grotesque heard him and immediately lunged straight for Kevin.

Kevin sneered and activated "The Fixing Gaze."

In a split second, the Grotesque that had charged at them like a freight train froze in mid-air.

Seizing the opening, Kevin threw his arms wide without hesitation.

A blinding light flooded from his palms, rapidly condensing into a twin-tipped spear. The design was an exact match for the legendary Lance of Longinus.

Kevin gripped the shaft and drove it straight into the Grotesque’s skull.

A blinding flash erupted.

The frozen creature began to shatter, its body dissolving into specks of light that scattered before Kevin.

Clink. A blood-red crystal gem dropped to the deck, pulsing with an eerie Eldritch glow.

Kevin scooped up the crystal, a sharp grin spreading across his face. "An Eldritch Artifact."

[Regeneration Source: C-Tier Eldritch Artifact. Once ingested, it takes root in the stomach lining. It drastically accelerates cellular regeneration for organic life, boosting healing and stamina by a factor of ten. Drawback: Requires consuming raw flesh or blood from an Eldritch Entity once a week.]

Without wasting a second, Kevin tossed the artifact into his mouth and swallowed it.

A sharp sting shot through his gut as he felt it bind itself to his stomach lining.

Then, a wave of pure relief washed over him.

The mental strain from channeling the lance was already fading.

"Nice. This just bumped up my endurance. Perfect for pushing my limits."

He turned his head toward where Amelia, Leo, and Stephanie had fled and bolted after them.

Back on the deck.

Leo slumped against a barrel, his face deathly pale. His whole body was puffed up, his eyes bloodshot, and a thin string of saliva hung from his lips.

His normally flat, athletic chest was now swollen and protruding, with a milky fluid leaking down his sternum. It looked deeply wrong.

Amelia kept her weapon trained on him, eyeing his wrecked state with a frown. "You’ve been poisoned. Where’s Stephanie?"

Leo broke into a heavy cough, his voice weak and shaky. "I lost her. I scoured the whole deck, but I don’t know where she went."

At that, another violent coughing fit hit him. Blood pooled at the corner of his mouth and dripped down.

The ragged wound on his shoulder had torn wide open again.

Amelia didn’t miss a beat. "Go beg the captain. He’s the only one on this ship who can save you."

The words made Leo’s vision blur. He spat a glob of blood on the deck and snarled, "I’d rather die than beg that broke bastard!"

"It’s all just dumb luck. What gives him the right to look down on everyone?"

"I’m way richer, better connected, and higher up than him. In my eyes, he’s just an ant I could squash anytime. He doesn’t even have the right to kiss my damn shoes! Why the hell should I grovel to him?"