The First Major Enemy: Corrupted Hollowborn — "Mirelurker"
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Visual:
Massive, almost 4 meters tall (about 13 feet).
Body: Twisted bone, metal shards, and black organic matter fused into a sickly armor.
Face: No eyes. Just a massive gaping jaw lined with grinding, circular teeth — like a flesh drill.
Arms: One is a giant claw fused with steel; the other is an elongated whip-like tentacle that drips with burning acid.
Torso: Core energy veins glowing faint blue under cracked skin.
Legs: Semi-digitigrade (beast-like) with heavy clawed feet.
Aura: The air ripples and smells like burnt oil and death when it moves.
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Abilities:
Whip Arm Strike: Quick, devastating long-range whip attacks that can cut through stone.
Core Pulse: Emits a shockwave that knocks enemies off their feet.
Absorption: Can grab and "absorb" pieces of the environment or fallen enemies to heal slowly.
Evolution Seed: Even when "killed," its core mutates and grows silently inside the remains.
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The cavern shuddered.
A terrible, wet crack echoed through the tunnels.
They barely had time to react.
The ground exploded beneath them — chunks of concrete and ancient steel raining down.
From the smoking crater, the Mirelurker emerged — dragging its bloated body out of the earth like a nightmare.
Kaela stumbled back, her breath catching.
Riven aimed.
Arin swore under his breath.
Even Veyne tensed.
It smelled wrong.
Like the world had already decayed.
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The First Clash
Riven opened fire first — plasma bolts slamming into the beast's armor.
Nothing.
It absorbed the shots like rain.
The creature's whip arm lashed out —
— Riven barely dodged —
— the tip gouged a six-foot trench through solid wall.
Kaela moved in, dancing between strikes, aiming for its underbelly.
Her blade bit in —
— blue ichor sprayed out —
— but the wound sealed almost instantly, the creature shuddering but not slowing.
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Battle Intensifies
Arin climbed onto a broken girder for high ground, unleashing a rain of plasma shots into the cracks Kaela opened.
Veyne charged forward, his plasma glaive whirling like a whirlwind, slicing one of the creature's tentacles clean off —
— acid splashed everywhere, burning holes into armor, walls — and Veyne's own shoulder.
He didn't even scream. He just fought harder.
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But They Were Losing
The Mirelurker slammed its claw into the ground —
— a shockwave blasted outward.
Kaela hit the wall hard, her vision blurring.
Blood dripped from a cut above her eye.
Riven was slammed down, coughing, his rifle spinning out of reach.
Arin tumbled from his perch, groaning.
Veyne stood alone for a moment, staggering, blood dripping from half a dozen cuts.
The monster roared — a soundless, choking wave of hatred — and charged.
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Desperate Counterattack
Kaela forced herself up, muscles screaming.
"We can't let it live!" she shouted hoarsely.
She charged, channeling the Core's unstable energy into her blade — risking it burning her from the inside out.
Arin, coughing up blood, nodded grimly and overloaded his plasma rifle.
Riven grabbed a broken steel bar and ran, screaming, toward the monster.
Even Veyne, battered and burnt, gripped his glaive tighter.
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Final Assault
Kaela pierced deep into the beast's exposed lower chest, where cracks spiderwebbed through its armor.
Arin's plasma rounds hammered the weak points.
Riven plunged the steel bar into one of its shrieking mouths.
Veyne, last, swung his glaive with all his strength —
— cleaving deep through its neck, almost severing its head.
The creature shrieked — thrashing wildly —
— and finally collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Silence.
Just the sound of their own ragged breathing and the Core pulsing weakly.
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But Not Truly Dead
As they staggered away, half-conscious,
none of them noticed the tiny tendrils of black flesh still twitching inside the Mirelurker's broken body.
Deep inside,
something pulsed faster.
Changing.
Growing.
It was not finished.
Not yet.