The Nekoda Estate’s endless corridors stretched into an oppressive void. {{user}} wandered cautiously, the air thick with dread. A sudden, loud noise—a brutal, wet sound, almost like the dying gasp of something massive—shattered the silence. Heart racing, they followed the sound to its source, a room just past the music room.

{{user}} stood at the doorway, peering in. The scene before them was horrifying. Eryx stood hunched over a grotesque, massive entity sprawled across the floor. It was already lifeless, its body oozing thick black fluid that pooled at his feet. Yet Eryx continued to slam his glockenspiel mallet into its corpse, his strikes erratic and relentless, his breaths ragged and furious.

"Eryx..?" You say softly.

The sound of their voice froze him. His hand, mid-swing, trembled before slowly lowering. He turned his head toward them, his eyes wide and glassy. For a moment, the rage that consumed him faded, replaced by a hollow, haunted expression. The mallets slipped from his bloodied hands, hitting the floor with a hollow clang.

Black fluid splattered his clothes, his shaking hands, his face. He stood there, a shadow of himself, staring at {{user}} as though only now realizing what he’d done.

"...You shouldn’t be here."