Even though he left all the crumbs behind by being sloppy, Inase still did it on purpose. He acted out an oblivious person to lower the monster's guard and lure it out. After all, it was not his first rodeo, even if he appeared more laid back than he should have been. As a result, he finally had a clear view of what exactly he was fighting against.
Floating through the middle of the exhibition was a spherical, black entity. It possessed an uncanny blend of ominous dread and haunting beauty, and its big body looked like a sideways floating jellyfish with insect wings growing out of it, an eerie combination no one would have ever imagined.
At certain angles, its outer layer glimmered in hues of muted, sickly colors, shifting and blending like an oil slick in water. If it weren't for three disturbing, menacing cracks on the front, its head would otherwise resemble a smooth, black sphere.
Trailing behind the center of the body was an agglomeration of thick tentacles reminiscent of octopus arms, twisting over each other in a rhythmic manner. And, thinner, ribbon-like tendrils sprouted along the larger ones, casting ghostly shadows on the museum's walls. While some elongated curiously in the air and retracted on touch, others swept at the ground in search of the chip crumbs.
These slender threads could easily cut a limb off if not careful enough; a dangerous thought slipped through his mind.
Covering up the tentacles, the four pairs of insect-like wings shimmered with the same oil-like shades. Inase could not figure out how these thin wings carried the heavy creature afloat with its slow jellyfish-like movement.
Inase hadn't seen this kind of species before. It must've been an entity that wasn't recorded yet in the Facility's archives, thus, he needed to carefully observe the monster while it was still focused on the pile of chips.
"Ha-ha, I see you like junk food."
With a whisper, he gripped the gun that rested by his hip tighter, a motion to calm his eagerness. No matter how many times he did it, he still felt a spark of excitement surging through his body when witnessing in person a foreign being like such.
"Well, I don't blame you. They are quite tasty."
Inase waited, suppressing his impatience, until the creature used its thin tendrils to slip the leftovers into its three-lobed mouth. Once it did, it was his cue.
Without hesitation, he sprang from around the corner, ready to shoot the first bullet—a surprise attack, which would prove to be the creature's first painful wound.
His cheeky grin signified that he was familiar with danger.
"Caught you!"
Closing one eyelid, he aimed at its side.
Bang!
The entity emitted a deafening screech similar to a car alarm, piercing and high-pitched.
Inase was forced to cover his ears as he leaped behind the cabinets to barely dodge the lashing tentacles at lightning speed. If he didn't move out of the way, he would be full of holes, just like the piece of furniture beside him.
One wrong move and his life would end in a split second. With another fast launch of deadly appendages that diligently followed his trail, he had to roll across the floor and slide under the row of tables for protection.
The tentacles left patterns of sunken hollows from each of their deadly blows as if paving a path for the body to follow, and the tables resembled pitted cheese due to its violent attacks.
It was best just to dodge it all. Was it easy?
No.
Obviously, not with the constant attacks Inase had to go under. It was exciting, though. The dangerous dance with the entity and the exhilaration that came with it fueled him. His heart skipped a beat with each of the lethal encounters.
"C'mon!" He shot again during his rapid movement. "Don't tell me that's all you've got?" He taunted.
The bullet pierced right into the incoming tentacle, leaving a hole through which Inase's cold-blue eyes were staring at the horror's elusive body.
The creature howled menacingly at the taunt; it was not backing down from this showdown. It lashed at the man's face, however, he stood still.
Crash—!
A smug smirk appeared on Inase's lips when something invisible inches from him stopped the entity's limbs. A loud noise of heavy porcelain falling to the ground followed.
It was left puzzled.
An invisible vase standing on one of the cupboards obstructed its blow.
"Unfortunately for you, you were caught in my domain once you stepped into this room, sweetheart." Inase mocked the creature by revealing his gimmick. "I've memorized every single thing that should be here."
When it came to environmental advantage, Inase mastered it after many encounters with countless enigmas in his life. Back in his time, these horrors roamed everywhere, so he needed to know how to deal with them rather swiftly. He had many tricks up his sleeve. Though, he might still be an amateur with time traveling.
Raising his arm, he aimed for another clear shot. The loud bang echoed inside the room. Twice.
For the next few moments, Inase had the upper hand.
He rolled from one corner to another, avoiding anything the monster threw his way and, even when he was in plain view, he made sure there was always something to stop the appendages from reaching him. If not a steel shield, then a big sculpture which was even harder to maneuver around. He even held a piece of a copper mask right in front of his face when he peeked at it—all to taunt it further.
To its irritation, the man knew what he was doing.
Ruthlessly chased down, he hopped at the big, unseen globe, forcing it to spin roughly once he pushed himself off to run across the wall. He definitely left some dirty footprints all over the map (but who really knows, it was invisible anyway), and then landed on the other side of the room. All of that was done while throwing an ancient dagger (the one he examined earlier), doubling its impact with another bullet afterward. Yet, both only grazed the surface of the monster's thick skin.
The shots hardly slowed it down.
"Right, you're not going down so easily. You bastards sure are resilient."
The globe kept spinning, or rather, was heard spinning for quite some time after the two continued their game of cat and mouse, leaving havoc behind.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three more shots followed before Inase jumped behind another cupboard.
Surprisingly, the entity didn't come after him immediately. It was surely taking its sweet time.
Odd for a fierce fella like this one, he thought.
That was when he felt a slimy sensation around his ankle.
"Shit-"
Suddenly, he was yanked into the air with no chance to react in time. The flexible tentacle must've slithered on the floor when he wasn't looking!
This was bad. Think, quickly.
Hanging upside down, he aimed again, but his aim was hindered by another slithery sensation crawling around his arm. The grip was so tight, it threatened to brutally break his arm, thus, stopping Inase from pulling the trigger.
The man gritted his teeth at the sheer force he was struggling against. It numbed his arm in mere seconds without even a mention of keeping the blood flowing to his fingertips.
"You son of a-!"
He heard his bones crack.
But, that never stopped him before, did it?
If the gun didn't work, it was time to change his strategy.
So, Inase slipped out a knife hidden in his other sleeve—his trusty army knife he carried with him everywhere.
Catching it mid-air, he didn't hesitate to stab the tentacle holding him, consequently cutting through the hard flesh with great strength while letting out heavy grunts.
Only when he heard a deafening shriek and felt the grip around his hand loosen did he spare a moment to toss the gun up in the air. As a distraction, of course.
While the entity focused on it, he bent upwards with the sheer strength of his abdomen, seizing the chance to cut himself out of its hold. The blade was neither wide enough to sever nor long enough to completely pierce through, but what it lacked in size, Inase made up through the speed of repetitive stabbing.
Cyan blood poured all over him—his hands, his hair, his face. The once enigmatic being's mysteries were forcefully revealed one by one, along with its insides.
As it growled in pain, the horror dropped him quickly, not wanting to receive more wounds. Its black, slimy body retracted cautiously once it sent Inase flying.
The time-jumper had to brace himself for a rough landing that knocked quite a bit of air out of him. Fortunately, even such a mistake couldn't stop him from smoothly catching his gun.
The knife he had on him, however, was slapped out of his hand and slid far from his landing position. He tried to reach for it, but the tentacles forced him to roll out of the way, deeming it impossible to take the knife from the ground.
It was then that he noticed a game-changing detail.
The knife, being out of his possession, started fading as it blended with the environment like it never existed in the first place.
It disappeared.
"Hah. I get it now."
It was an obvious possibility.
Inase let out a dry chuckle as every detail in his mind finally connected, forming a complete picture.
He re-aimed his gun with steady hands. Just one shot left, so he couldn't let it miss. He needed the monster to come closer, so he waited, wanting it within arm's reach.
One final bullet—his last hope.
"That's why it doesn't hurt," Inase spoke up.
At last, the beast went berserk, thrashing its tentacles and destroying everything in its path as it flew through the entire room. It was consumed by a desperate need to reach Inase and eradicate him.
Fast.
It could not afford to let anyone uncover its weakness.
Faster.
With deafening screeches, it threw all it had toward its enemy, the one who dared to wound it.
It was all or nothing.
Inase's finger pressed tighter on the trigger with his eyes sharply locked on the target…
"I've been thinking why this place looked so weird and racking my brain about which monster could do such things. I've encountered many of your kin in the past, so there's no way I wouldn't recognize what you are!"
…and then, he pointed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger—an insanely wide smile would be the last thing to remember him for.
The beast had no time to catch up to him when the bullet pierced through his skull.