Nero pushed through the heavy wooden doors of the bell tower with a stumbling shoulder, and the first thing he noticed was the smell.

The cloying stench of decay and blood.

The interior was a single circular chamber stretching upward into darkness where the bell hung silent and motionless. The stone walls, unmarked by time or weather, rose in a perfect cylinder. There were no windows or alcoves. There were no ornaments or decorations except for a single spiral of script carved into the floor, winding from the walls inward toward the center.

Nero couldn't read the runic script. They were completely unfamiliar to him.

At the center of the spiral, where all the lines converged into a single point, sat... something.

It was enormous. From what he could see, it looked like a pile of bodies that had merged together into a single mass, flesh flowing into flesh, bones fused and all sorts of organs brought to the surface.

Truly, an abominable thing.

'The Guardian...' Nero thought to himself.

It looked rather fitting for the guardian of a dead evil god. The thing stood upright on legs arranged in a circle.

Arms sprouted from the central mass at random intervals and angles, some bent backward, some twisted at the elbow or wrist or shoulder, all of them ending in hands that opened and closed in no particular rhythm, grasping at air.

It reminded him greatly of the Soul Amalgam. And not just physically.

However, this thing was much stronger than that Abomination had been.

The thing had numerous heads that circled the top of the mass like a crown, each face pressed outward, mouths open in silent screams. The eyes were gone, nothing but smooth skin where they should have been, and yet the heads tracked his movement as he entered, following him in perfect unison.

The moment he stepped forward, Nero held Gungnir at a ready.

Despite nti feeling anything yet, he could already tell...

This will be a battle.

The thing before him was a malicious deviance of the natural order. Even if it didn't want to kill him, he had to kill it. The humanity in him ordered it.

He huffed slowly, a beat of sweat rolling off his face.

And then...

BANG!

All the legs of the thing bent simultaneously, compressing like springs, and then the entire mass launched itself across the chamber with impossible speed. Arms extended mid-flight, hands grasping, and Nero barely managed to throw himself sideways before twenty fingers closed around where his head had been.

The Guardian's momentum carried it past him, and it hit the wall with enough force to crack stone. But it didn't stop. The legs touching the wall simply pushed off, redirecting its trajectory back toward Nero without losing speed.

Nero brought Gungnir up and thrust forward, catching the mass in what might have been a torso. The spear sank deep, and black fluid sprayed out, thick and viscous, a revolting stench leaking out. But the Guardian didn't slow. It pulled itself further onto the spear, closing the distance, arms reaching and grasping.

Hands grabbed Nero's shoulders and his arms. He felt fingers digging into his flesh and latching onto his bones, trying to crush them.

He groaned in pain as he dug his feet into the ground and pushed forward as well. Veins cracked out on his body as his eyes turned golden.

He could not resist such a for with the Yin form.

He needed power and aggression.

His body swelled, accompanied by cracking sounds, until he had grown about eight feet tall. His skin turned black and scaly, covered in terrifying growths and lumps. His fingers turned into elongated claws.

Nero let out a terrifying roar as he ripped his spear out and smashed his foot into the enormous body of the monster.

The thing shot back and collapsed into the wall. Nero shot forward , smashing his enlarged fist into one of its many faces with a snarl.

The thing screeched and bit down on his hand, drawing blood.

Nero watched in horror as the piece of flesh it bit began to bubble.

With a roar, he whipped Gungnir into its face, sending it flying. Then he tore off that piece of flesh.

Watching it turn from squirming to a puddle of black goo, Nero couldn't help but reevaluate the threat this thing posed.

The creature rose to its feet.

Black fluid poured from the wound Gungnir had made, pooling on the floor, and from that pool began to rise deformities of blackened blood...

Beings with half-formed limbs, fingers without hands, mouths without faces, all of them crawling and grasping and pulling themselves toward Nero.

Nero gritted his teeth then charged forward, driving Gungnir into the mass again, this time aiming for another head. The spear punched through, drawing up a fountain of blood that wetted Nero and sizzled on his skin.

All the arms lashed out at once, a whirlwind of grasping hands that came from every direction. Nero twisted and dodged, but there were too many, and one caught his ankle, yanking his leg out from under him.

He hit the ground hard, and immediately the crawling things from the black pool were on him, mouths latching onto his legs and arms, biting down with sharp teeth laced with the dissolving properties of the thing's blood. He kicked and thrashed, crushing some beneath his feet, but more kept coming.

The Guardian loomed above him, its circle of legs stepping over him to pin him in place, and all the arms reached down.

Nero activated Brybernos.

Power exploded through his body, Ein Sof flooding his muscles, and the world slowed to a crawl.

He rolled, fast enough that the crawling things lost their grip, and came up with Gungnir spinning in his hands. The spear became a blur as he struck at the Guardian's legs, targeting its joints and tendons, trying to destabilize it.

One leg buckled. Then another. The Guardian tilted, its perfect balance disrupted.

There, Nero saw his chance.

He drove Gungnir upward into the underside of the monster, and with a roar, channeled Brybernos's power into the thrust.

The spear punched through and erupted out the top of the mass, between two of the faceless heads.

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