Just a few moments before...
Liam charged into the village's outskirts. Already seeing death everywhere, he followed the blood like a hungry wolf.
Just as he was about to turn from a corner, voices... "Lenrick... are you actually stupid? Should we drag them across the damned forest or something?"
'The adventurer from today...?' He recognized them, but just a glance was needed to make sure.
'Fuck... they were no adventurers... fucking scouts...' He instantly understood.
'They were causing trouble to see if there is someone strong...' Hesitation...
'It's not coming for adventures to retire in remote villages... but Berric... he wasn't much of a fighter even back then...' He didn't want to fight...
'Taegan... not here... did they know... or just a coincidence... Fuck...' He just wanted to rush back and take her away, why must he fight...
"P-please," Liam glanced at the scene...
'Fuck...' Hesitation is defeat...
A dull thud. "Hey!" Liam stepped out, it should have been an ambush, he wanted it to be... but the axe was already raised, about to strike, and his feet moved his voice range.
"Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up. My main course..."
'Fuck... what do I do... how do I attack... how do I fight...'
"Ah, it's the villager—Piggy, was it?"
'What can I do...' His mind was hazy... His gaze flicked to the man on the ground.
To the blood.
To the burning homes.
"Joren... don't forget you shouldn't kill..."
"Shut up!!"
"What, you think you're here to stop us? You really don't get how this works, do you?"
Joren chuckled, grinning fully, stepping closer. "You're nothing. We are more than fifty..."
'Fifty... how do I...'
"...but I alone am enough to squash you!!"
'FIGHT!' Like something in his mind snapped...
No plan, no hesitation—just instinct.
Liam charged.
Joren did the same, his axe raised high.
Liam didn't hesitate now, he stepped forward, lowering his stance.
The moment Joren swung, Liam twisted to the side—just enough for the heavy blade to miss by inches.
'...!' The rush of air against his skin was enough to remind him how easily that could have killed him.
But he didn't freeze. He moved.
Before Joren could reset his stance, Liam lunged. His knife flashed—low, sharp, aimed straight for the gut.
Joren barely managed to pivot. The blade missed its mark but still carved into his side, not deep, but enough to draw blood.
Joren stumbled back. "You little—!" His rage flared as his free hand lashed out.
Liam ducked, the fist grazing the top of his head, but before he could counter, Joren was already moving again. The axe came down—fast, too fast.
Liam raised his arm in reflex.
Pain exploded through his forearm.
The impact didn't cut—he was lucky. Joren slipped, the blunt side of the axe had hit instead, but the force still sent Liam crashing into the dirt. His breath knocked out of his lungs, his body screaming in protest.
Joren sneered. "Lucky bastard." He rolled his shoulder, testing his side where Liam had slashed him. "But you ain't gonna get another one in."
Liam forced himself up, spitting out the dirt in his mouth. His arm throbbed—probably fractured. His legs ached. But his grip on the knife tightened.
He wasn't done.
Joren exhaled through his nose, annoyed. "You're serious? Look at yourself, kid."
He tapped the handle of his axe against his palm, grinning. "Ain't got no system, no skills, and you think you can fight me? What does your size matter? You are just a fucking villager, man..."
Liam didn't answer. He just rushed in.
Joren cursed and swung again. This time, Liam was faster. He sidestepped, closing the gap before the axe could finish its arc. His knife lashed out—upward.
A direct hit.
Joren howled as the blade sank into his shoulder.
But before Liam could twist the knife, a fist crashed into his ribs.
Crack.
The world spun. Liam barely had time to register the pain before he hit the ground again.
His breath came ragged. That punch—it broke something.
"Shit, Joren, you good?" Lenrick, the lean bandit, stepped forward.
Joren was panting, clutching his shoulder. He looked down at the blood seeping through his fingers, then at Liam, his expression twisted with fury.
"You little piece of—!"
He didn't even finish. He kicked Liam, hard.
Pain ignited in Liam's side as he rolled across the dirt. His vision blurred.
"Just end this already," the woman, Rhea, said, her voice flat.
Joren gritted his teeth. "Not yet." He cracked his knuckles. "Gotta teach the kid some respect first."
Liam pushed himself up again—slowly, barely.
He couldn't win. He knew that before and even now. He had been fast, he had landed hits, but it wasn't enough. Joren was stronger. Faster. He had a system.
But Liam still stood.
Even with the pain, the fractures, the blood dripping from his mouth—he didn't stay down.
Lenrick whistled. "Damn. Kid's got guts."
Joren didn't look impressed. "Then let's see how much he can spill."
And then, they all moved at once.
Liam raised his knife—too slow.
Joren's fist slammed into his jaw. His vision flashed white.
Lenrick struck next—a knee to the gut.
Liam choked. Blood splattered from his mouth.
His grip on the knife loosened.
Rhea finally moved—swift, precise. Her boot slammed against his head.
Liam hit the ground and didn't get back up.
"Rhea!? What are you doing!?" Joren screamed at her.
"We shouldn't kill him, do you want to get in trouble with the Boss? Because I really don't!"
Joren grimaced but soon took a step back. "Fuck... what should we do? Should we bring this guy to the Boss?"
"I don't know... he is big. Can you two carry this guy, or should we just tell him and..." Rhea's voice died down. Her lips parted—confused, then tense.
She followed the other two's strange stares, turning slowly—
Something was behind her.
Rhea took a step back.
Something was wrong.
...
'Dizzy... I can't move...' He tried flexing his muscles, but somehow his body didn't even move.
'I... lost... what a surprise...' And even now, he was very much still unserious.
'I... I did my best...' It's more like an excuse... but maybe he really did all he could give...
it's just...
'Fuck...' He was the first one that was needed to be convinced.
'Do you really want to give up!?' His muscles flexed again, but still, his body didn't move...
'Fuck... why... why... I am conscious... move... move damn it!!' Was his own body giving up even when his mind didn't?
'I... they will take everything... they might hurt her... I... I might die like this...' Fear...
'Move... move... I can't even run...' The thought of escaping...
'RUN!?' Rage...
'Run from them?' Everything was shadowed from then...
'Run from prey!?'
'We are the Predator...!'
'We are the Apex...!'
...
Something was behind her.
Rhea took a step back.
Something was wrong.
Liam—broken, bloodied, barely breathing, and clearly unconscious—shouldn't have been moving. Shouldn't have been getting up.
Rhea exhaled, trying to steady her breath.
He should be unconscious... not many could stand up after one of her kicks, especially someone so battered and beaten.
But he was getting up... he was standing.
Barely.
His chest rose and fell in sharp, uneven jerks as if his lungs had forgotten how to breathe.
His fingers, arms... no, his whole body twitched.
Tightened.
Something about the way he moved—slow, unnatural, wrong—sent ice crawling up her spine.
Joren frowned. "What the hell is wrong with him?"
Liam's body jerked.
Not a step back up.
Not a conscious movement.
It was like something inside him had pulled the strings without his consent dragging his body standing.
His breath hitched—then shuddered.
A low, rasping whisper slithered past his lips:
"Mine... everything..."
Lenrick scoffed. "Oh, fuck off—"
Liam convulsed.
A full-body spasm, his back arching at an unnatural angle. His hands shot to his chest, clutching at something beneath his skin.
His breathing grew erratic. Shallow gasps. Strangled wheezes.
He let out a sound—half a groan, half a snarl.
A sound that shouldn't have come from a human throat.
His nails dug into his own arms.
Deep.
Tearing.
Ripping skin like he was trying to carve something out of himself.
"Nnngh—"
His body twitched again.
His muscles moved—by themselves.
Shifting beneath his skin, bulging in the wrong places.
A sudden, violent shudder ran through him—like something inside was breaking free.
"Mine..."
The word came again. Clearer.
Hungrier.
Joren stepped back. "Oi—"
Liam's fingers clawed at his chest.
Ripped his own shirt and skin apart.
The fabric shredded like paper. His bare and bloody skin glistened with sweat under the firelight, veins pulsing, shifting—
Moving. Something under his skin, everywhere...
"That ain't normal," Lenrick muttered. His earlier arrogance was gone, replaced by a disgusted and trembling tremor in his voice.
Rhea's heartbeat pounded in her ears.
The air felt thicker. Like the ground itself was holding its breath.
Liam shuddered again.
His head tilted—too far to the side. A sudden, twitching jerk, his neck cracking as his eyes rolled back.
Then, stillness... Calm...
For one terrible moment, he didn't breathe.
Didn't move.
Then—
A slow, ragged inhale.
Its fingers twitched.
Curled.
Tensed.
And when it exhaled—it came with a sound.
A deep, low, primal snarl.
Not human.
Not beast.
Something in between.
Rhea jumped back.
Joren grabbed his axe.
But the beast—
Vanished.
A blur of motion—too fast—
Lenrick gasped.
Then screamed.
Blood sprayed across the street.
The thing's hand was already inside his stomach.
A clean, sharp hole where flesh should have been.
Lenrick wheezed, choking on his own breath—
The beast tore his hand out.
Lenrick collapsed.
Not dead.
Not yet.
Twitching.
Struggling.
The thing's head twitched again it snaped-turned towards them...
Almost like he marveled like he was eating up the scared gazes.
A slow step forward, right onto Lenrick's chest.
*Crunch* A bone-chilling sound...
Steps taken aback...
A twisted smile... too wide... too... inhuman...
It looked at them, laughed at them and their weakness...
Joren barely had time to raise his axe.
The beast was already in front of him.
Joren swung—too slow.
The thing didn't dodge.
It moved through it.
A blur of muscle and instinct—
One hand.
One strike.
Its clawed fingers smashed into Joren's neck.
CRACK.
Joren froze.
His body shuddered, his head sludged.
His axe slipped from his fingers.
He staggered—
Then dropped.
It caught him.
One hand.
Lifted him like he weighed nothing.
Joren twitched.
Barely alive.
For a moment, Rhea thought this thing would just drop him.
But its grip tightened.
His head reached forward, twisting to the side.
Then he tore Joren's throat open.
Wet.
Messy.
Blood poured over its face, drenching his skin, soaking his hair.
The thing let it.
Let it drip.
Let it flow.
Let it claim him, the flesh he was.
Then—
A shudder.
A deep breath.
Like tasting the air.
The beast's eyes snapped down.
Rhea took a step back, just meeting the eyes was enough to freeze in...
"Fear..." Such a horrid voice...
It smiled again, too wide, too twisted, too many teeth, too sharp...
He threw Joren's body aside like garbage.
It stood still a moment its breathing slowed.
Vanished.
Rhea blinked... right in front of her, her scream drowned in her throat.
Its head tilted—slowly...
Its jaw shaping open in her face... it dragged the moment out, slowly, even slower, it closed in too slow...
Then—his ear twitched.
Its head snapped to the side, looking in a direction...
And then—
A sound.
A voice.
"LIAM!!"
'A scream...?' When Rhea realized the sound from the already loud night, the thing wasn't even in sight.
Rhea collapsed to the ground.
Her body trembling, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
She had seen death.
She had felt it.
Known it.
But this—
This was something else.
This was horror...
A monster alive...