Contact and Peering

Everyone was startled by the sudden change. The violent shaking felt like an earthquake, but the terrifying pressure that followed made it difficult for everyone to breathe.

Kara instinctively stepped in front of Zhang Ye, her expression shifting as she stared at the opening in the ceiling, torn open by some nonlethal force. She had known that following Zhang Ye would mean witnessing grand scenes, but she had not expected one to arrive so quickly.

"Oh my God!" Pietro shrank behind Zhang Ye, gripping his trench coat tightly, ready to flee with Zhang Ye at any moment. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that the seemingly ordinary housewife before them could summon something so terrifying.

At that moment, the entire basement seemed to have entered another layer of space, one suspended between reality and the Chaos Dimension. It shook violently without pause, but fortunately, none of the people present were ordinary, and the tremors did not affect them.

"Is this normal?" Zhang Ye frowned, his hand already resting on the Time Twister.

"I don’t know!" John’s mouth hung open.

"The dimensional passage has opened. Would you like to establish a dimensional anchor?" Miss Minutes showed no extra reaction to the terrifying surroundings, maintaining her cheerful smile.

"Record it," Zhang Ye replied quietly, shifting his gaze toward the other side of the enormous crack in the ceiling.

It was a world of infinite chaos. Beyond the rift, even the flowing air seemed to have color. An ever-changing, churning presence, nauseating at a single glance, filled everyone’s vision. Within that strange mist, a massive shadow slowly emerged.

Perhaps because it was simply too enormous, no one could determine its exact appearance. Or rather, that immense outline was nearly impossible for ordinary people to describe with words. All they could see were countless arm-like tentacles dancing and groping their way toward them.

"It found us! It found us!!" Pietro screamed.

"Of course it did. We’re the ones who summoned it," Zhang Ye said gravely, watching the indescribable horror draw closer and closer.

"Linda! You crazy woman, what the hell did you summon?! Are you trying to get us all killed?!" John screamed as he ran toward Linda, trying to interrupt her magic.

But after taking only two steps, he froze in place.

To his horror, Linda’s shadow behind her seated body suddenly began to writhe, spreading wildly under an unknown force. Strands of black shadow broke away from the "ground" like tentacles and entered reality.

"I…" It was John’s first time seeing something so bizarre. That was no longer a human shadow. Or rather, it could not be called a "shadow" at all. It was like a lump of black flesh, endlessly writhing and stretching as it transformed into an octopus-like monster.

John immediately retreated behind Zhang Ye even faster, staring at the scene in utter terror. It was his first time witnessing a minion of the Great Old Ones with his own eyes. The bizarre sight was truly beyond his comprehension.

Then the black shadow gathered above Linda’s head, countless tentacles stretching out in all directions. It was something utterly indistinguishable to the naked eye, and certainly not a creation that could reasonably exist in reality. Its body was filled with disorder and chaos, as though a single glance could drive someone mad.

At last, Zhang Ye saw the thing’s shape clearly. It was an enormous eyeball, an eyeball tightly shut and not yet open. Though difficult to comprehend, Zhang Ye could confirm that this was its true form.

The tentacles continued to spread. Those black shadows, like insubstantial phantoms, extended continuously from the tightly closed eyeball, creeping across every inch of the basement as they slowly made their way toward Zhang Ye and the others.

What the hell is that? Zhang Ye furrowed his brows. Seeing Kara beginning to gather Heat Vision, he hurriedly grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him.

Launching an attack against an unknown creature, especially a demon from another dimension, was definitely not a good idea. To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, Zhang Ye decided to try it himself.

With that thought, Zhang Ye’s face beneath his mask hardened. He slowly extended his hand, his black leather-gloved palm reaching toward the black tentacled shadow.

The black shadow did not evade him. Instead, it drifted willingly into Zhang Ye’s grasp.

The instant they made contact, Zhang Ye suddenly sensed an indescribable feeling of being watched, as though he had formed a connection with some terrifying existence. The sensation made every hair on his body stand on end, and he hurriedly withdrew his hand.

In that contact lasting less than a second, Zhang Ye was certain that something had been watching him. It was not merely a gaze—it came from every direction. From the corners of the walls, beneath the chairs, on the walls, even from the cracks in drawers and cabinets, countless eyes were staring fixedly at him.

As though they wanted to see straight through him!

"Are you okay?!" Kara had kept her attention on Zhang Ye. Seeing that something was wrong with him, she immediately asked.

Zhang Ye froze slightly. He did not even have time to answer Kara. He only felt that, just beyond reality, some unknown existence had cast its gaze upon him.

Then Zhang Ye abruptly seized his Black Umbrella and swiftly opened it under everyone’s puzzled and startled stares, shielding himself and the others behind it.

The next moment—

Splat!!!

Crash—!

Before their eyes, they only had time to see countless eyes suddenly open across the black shadow. Even the enormous eyeball at its center abruptly opened, and every single gaze converged on Zhang Ye.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but everyone could even sense a trace of terror within those countless gazes.

The next instant, the black umbrella blocked their view, but from its edges, they could see countless eyes bursting apart, exploding like firecrackers in the span of two seconds.

The nauseating, foul-smelling viscous flesh splattered throughout the basement, instantly coating the walls and floor. Zhang Ye felt a sudden force strike the black umbrella, as though someone had thrown a basin of water onto it.

When everyone came back to their senses, the entire basement had already been completely covered in shattered flesh. Even the ceiling was coated in a layer of disgusting liquid that dripped steadily downward under gravity. As for the dimensional rift from before, it had closed at some unknown point.

On the walls, the unbearable viscous flesh slowly slid downward, carrying fragments of eyeballs and broken teeth. At the sight, John nearly threw up. God knew how horrifying such a scene was to a vampire.

At the very center of the basement, Linda blankly opened her eyes. She looked around at the surroundings in confusion and froze in place. With nothing shielding her, her entire body had been covered in the exploded flesh.

Feeling the sticky sensation across her body, she stood there dumbfounded for several seconds before letting out an incomprehensible scream.

"Aaaaaaah—!!!!"