The figure turned fully toward him. The contorted and swollen face Myles rembered no longer existed. In its place sat a calm expression and a faint smile. Sharp lines defined its features now. The structure looked closer to a normal human face, refined, as if sothing had carved away all excess.
Myles felt certain of it. This monster had undergone a horrifying evolution.
The creature chuckled and rose to its feet in one smooth motion. The speed caught Myles off guard and forced him to flinch half a step back.
"You ca at the perfect ti," the monster said.
Its body had changed completely. The bloated blue flesh vanished. A lean, black form stood before him with muscles tight and controlled. It flexed its fingers slowly as if testing each movent and savoring the sensation.
"Hm… this feels very nice," it muttered. "I'll use you to test my new power."
"What happened to you?" Myles asked, keeping his voice steady.
The monster tilted his head. His brows furrowed as if digging through mory. Then realization struck him.
"Ah! hahaha!" it laughed. "You… you're the one from the apartnt, aren't you?"
Myles stayed silent.
The monster laughed louder. "I didn't expect to et you again this soon. Right… you escaped back then."
Its eyes glead.
"But not again. I won't let you escape this ti." Its gaze drifted past Myles in a greedy manner. "And where are your friends? Any pretty won hiding in your group?"
Myles said nothing. He studied the monster instead.
His Perception told him that this monster had reached a terrifying level of power. Yet he did not retreat. Or rather, he forced himself not to retreat.
Myles crushed his fear down and anchored his mind to a single purpose. That was to kill this monster.
"I'll ask you one last ti," Myles said firmly. "What happened to you?"
The monster smiled proudly.
"I beca sothing greater," it replied. "A voice spoke to . It said I received a Seed. It said I have a chance to beco an… what was it…" He snapped his fingers. "Ah! An Apotheon-rank being."
Myles' eyes widened for a brief second.
He didn't know what an Apotheon was. But he knew one thing for sure. He could not allow this monster to live.
Myles didn't waste a second. He charged.
His Ether power surged through his arm as heat gathered in his palm. He raised his hand and released it point-blank, using the skill Fireball.
BOOM!
Flas detonated against the monster's face. Fire and smoke filled the room. The blast shook the walls and sent shards of broken tiles skidding across the floor.
But then, laughter echoed through the fire.
The monster walked out of the smoke unhard. His blackened skin smoked faintly but showed no burns. His grin widened.
"HAHAHA! Is that your only trick?"
Myles didn't slow down. He pushed through the heat and smoke, sprinting straight at the monster with the intent to end it in a single, overwhelming strike.
But the monster burst out of the flas at the sa ti, cutting through fire and debris without hesitation, and charged straight back at him.
Myles gritted his teeth. He had expected this. The mont the creature evolved, he knew it wouldn't fall easily. This monster was stronger now, far stronger than before.
The monster t him head-on and they collided.
There was a screeching sound as the Fangblade slamd into the monster's black arm. The creature blocked it barehanded, fingers locking around the blade's edge.
Sparks burst. Ether energy rippled through the room.
The monster countered instantly.
A fist crashed into Myles' ribs. The impact sent him skidding across the floor. He twisted and rolled, barely avoiding a follow-up stomp that shattered the tiles where his head had been.
Myles lunged back in.
He slashed low. He slashed high. He stabbed for the throat.
The monster parried with elbows and palms. He then grabbed him. He then throws punches of his own, then kicks Myles through a pillar.
Concrete exploded. Walls cracked. Support beams snapped. Their clashes sent shockwaves through the house. The floor split and the ceiling groaned.
Myles drove his blade into the monster's side. Black blood sprayed. The monster laughed and slamd him through a wall.
After so ti, the house couldn't take it anymore.
With a thunderous sound the structure collapsed around them, burying the battlefield in dust and rubble.
Dust and debris billowed into the street as the house collapsed.
From their hiding place, Nadine stared in shock. She gasped when the roof caved in completely. For a second, she thought she had just watched Myles die.
Victor and the others in his group exchanged tense looks.
One of them muttered that they should go help.
Nadine clenched her fists, eyes fixed on the rubble. Then she shook her head to the sa suggestion from Daniel that said that they need to go and help Myles now.
"Wait," she said. Her voice trembled, but she didn't look away. "He's still fighting. Let's wait for order first before we jump in."
The others hesitated, but then nodded grimly. She raised a hand to stop the others. None of them moved.
Monts passed. The dust began to settle.
With a violent crash rubble exploded outward as Myles leapt free. His body was scraped but he was mostly fine. His chest heaving, but his grip on the Fangblade remained steady.
Across from him, the ruins burst again. The blackened monster also erged, uninjured and grinning wider than before.
He didn't speak. But he vanished in a burst of speed.
The ground cracked as he reappeared, charging at Myles with speed so extre that his form blurred.
Myles braced himself. Then the blade t flesh.
Blades screeched as the Fangblade scraped against hardened black skin. Myles stepped in and cut again, his movents sharp and relentless. The monster answered with his fists that carried crushing force. Their blows collided in a violent rhythm, steel and flesh eting again and again.
They fought at arm's length, too close to disengage.
Myles pressed forward, slashing and stabbing, forcing the monster back step by step.
The creature blocked with his forearms and elbows like before, then countered with knee strikes and brutal hooks.
The still intact walls shattered when their bodies slamd into them. Cracks spread across the street as they tore through concrete and asphalt.
A heavy punch sent Myles skidding. He recovered and charged again, Ether flaring along his blade.
The monster laughed and surged forward to et him.
The collision sent a shockwave rippling everywhere, rattling nearby ruins.
In that instant, the monster's hand snapped out and caught Myles squarely. His fingers closed around his torso.
With a roar, he twisted and hurled him away.
Myles flew across the street and smashed through the wall of another house. Wood and concrete exploded as his body crashed through.
The building groaned under the impact, beams bending and snapping as the structure began to collapse around him.
—
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