Seth planted his feet on the destroyed asphalt, feeling the heat of Vaali's blade vibrate in his hand as if it were alive. The monster's eyes burned with an abyssal glow, pulsing in sync with the dark energy that surrounded it. It wasn't just a predator - it was something wrong, a parasite of badly stitched reality.
"Kaguya." Seth's voice cut through the air, cold and direct. "Stay behind me. Call the Association now."
She was still leaning on the crumpled hood, blood dripping down the side of her face. Her eyes widened. "Are you going to hold this alone?"
"I don't have a choice. You can't let it run wild. Go."
Kaguya, still dazed, retreated behind the wrecked vehicle while reaching for her cell phone. "This is Agent Kaguya. Attack in progress - possible Dungeon Breach. To repeat, we have an anomalous creature in the East Restricted Zone. It's Rank-A or higher. We need reinforcements immediately!!!"
Meanwhile, Seth's system flashed inside his mind with flaming red letters, as if even he was wary:
[Target Rank Confirmed: Void Shapeshifter - Rank A]
[Unstable entity detected. High capacity for adaptation and imitation of hostile forms].
[Estimated reward: "Essence of Rupture"]
"Shapeshifter..." Seth growled to himself. "So that wolf was just a disguise."
The monster's macabre grin widened. The creature no longer looked exactly like a wolf - its shape was changing again. Muscles were reorganizing themselves like liquids, limbs lengthening, claws becoming thinner. A pair of extra arms sprouted from its back, sharp as spears. One of the creature's extra eyes moved, rising to the top of its skull like a periscope.
"You're more interesting than I thought," the voice sounded directly in Seth's mind, as if it were inside him. "Your power... is not of this world. I can feel... the spark. I can see who you really are."
Seth didn't answer. His eyes shone pure gold.
He took the first step - and disappeared.
In an instant, the air crackled, and Seth appeared at the Shapeshifter's side with absurd speed, Vaali slashing in an arc with lethal precision. The creature narrowly dodged, but even so, part of its arm was torn off. A thick black liquid splashed onto the ground, boiling like acid.
The monster let out a loud roar, retreating - but before it could react, Seth struck it again, this time in the hind leg. The impact cracked the floor and threw the monster backwards, rolling like a dead weight.
"You talk too much," Seth muttered.
The creature stood up, already regenerating, laughing a distorted laugh. Now its form was more humanoid, partially imitating Seth's silhouette - the facial features distorted, like a broken reflection.
"Then show me. Show me who you are before I become you." He growled.
Seth narrowed his eyes. The air around him oscillated with heat and tension, as if reality itself was holding its breath. The Void Shapeshifter turned his neck slowly, his bones snapping like green wood, and assumed a combat stance. That grotesque imitation of his body was an insult - a distorted mirror made of darkness and arrogance.
Seth gritted his teeth.
"Bastet," he muttered, without taking his eyes off the creature. "Time to wake up."
From the ground beneath his feet, shadows flickered as if they were liquid. The darkness around him pulsed with a life of its own - and out of it emerged Bastet, a black panther the size of a lion, golden eyes and vertical pupils that shone like moonlight.
She emerged soundlessly, gliding out of Seth's shadow like living smoke, her fur fluttering gently despite the still air. Its body was slender and lethal, wrapped in a cloak of almost solid darkness.
"At last..." said Bastet's feminine voice in his mind, velvety and anxious. "An opponent worth my time."
"Outflank him. Keep it moving. I'll break this thing until it learns to bleed properly." The creature was already moving before Seth had even finished his sentence.
It advanced at almost the same speed as Seth, its four spear-like claws spinning like living propellers. He narrowly dodged, Vaali scratching the air with a horizontal slash. The monster parried with one of its claws and, with the other, delivered a sideways blow - only to be interrupted by a ferocious growl.
RAWRRHH!
Bastet drove her fangs into the Shapeshifter's flank, tearing off a chunk of slimy flesh before disappearing back into the shadows. The monster roared in fury, trying to follow the panther, but Seth gave it no time. He advanced with a brutal sequence of thrusts and slashes, Vaali illuminating each movement with his flaming golden glow.
But...
The monster was already changing again. The muscles thickened in its hind legs, its body reconfiguring itself for raw speed. In the blink of an eye, it was behind Seth, its jaw opening in four parts, revealing a pit of teeth like broken glass.
CHOMP!
Vaali went into automatic defense - but it was too late.
The creature bit the blade.
A sharp, dry noise cut through the air. KRRAACKK!
Seth's sword, forged by Valentina Wykes, broke in half in the Shapeshifter's jaws.
Seth was thrown backwards by the impact. The world spun. He slammed into the cracked asphalt, the hilt of the sword still in his hand - but the rest of the blade, shattered, was now being spat out onto the ground by the monster as if it were some bone.
Bastet roared loudly, leaping over the creature to protect him. Her claws slashed the Shapeshifter's face diagonally, leaving trails of shadow that burned like acid, but he only laughed, eyes spinning in an erratic rotation.
"You bleed," he said to Seth, stepping closer, "but I learn. And now... you're disarmed."
Seth coughed up blood, kneeling, his eyes still steady, burning golden. Bastet stood between him and the monster, snarling, her fur shaking like a living wave.
"Shit..." Seth muttered, his eyes fixed on Vaali's remaining golden shards. The blade, once vibrant with power and personality, now lay broken in his hand like a broken toy.
He should have known better. Jackpot was a volatile skill, a high-risk trick - too unstable to be used lightly. But he had pressed on, pushed the sword beyond its limits, trying to end the fight quickly. And the price was exacted.
A tense silence fell.
Seth stared at the fragment of the handle, his fingers trembling slightly. Vaali wasn't just a weapon. She was his first companion, the blade that accompanied him in the days when he was still tripping over his own feet, that vibrated with excitement every time he grew up, that cut him off with a laugh when the battles heated up.
Now... all that was left was a cracked fist and memories.
"...I'm sorry," he whispered to the dead sword.
And then he looked up. And when he did, there was no more hesitation there.
His eyes burned deep gold, alive like divine furnaces. The fury wasn't loud - it was thick, like the storm before the thunder.
"I'm going to kill you."
The voice came out low, heavy, firm as a sentence.
And then he was gone.
The air was scratched by dry thunder. Seth reappeared in front of the Shapeshifter like a human thunderbolt, his clenched fist coated in pure energy. He turned his body, and the punch went through the creature's chest like butter, tearing through flesh, bone and shadow.
BOOOOM!
A hole the size of a door appeared in the center of the Shapeshifter's torso, an explosion of golden energy radiating out like a collapsing star. Black fragments flew everywhere, the impact sinking the ground in a radius of ten meters.
Seth stopped behind the creature, panting. Steam rose from his fist, still shaking. Bastet appeared on his left, in attack position.
But then... nothing.
The hole in the shapeshifter's chest closed with a sickening sound of flesh coming back together. Bones reconnected, muscles stretched like ropes, and within seconds, the creature was on its feet again. Intact. Smiling.
"Are you nervous?"
His voice had sounded debauched, but now there was a hungry glint in his multiple eyes.
The Shapeshifter took a step forward. "That's good. Show me more of that. More of you."
Seth gritted his teeth. Frustration and anger began to consume his being... Again... a helpless situation...
"Seth," Bastet growled, her silhouette tense beside him. Her silver eyes were fixed on him, anguished, as if they already knew what was coming. "If you keep fighting in anger, he'll use it against you."
But her words... didn't reach him.
Because at that instant, something inside Seth snapped.
It wasn't a scream. Not an explosion.
It was silence.
A suffocating silence that swallowed up everything: the devastated city, the sound of the monster's breathing, the wind blowing through the ruins.
And inside that silence, a silent anger burned. Nailed. Raw.
An anger that went back years. Of defeats, of humiliations for being an E-Rank... And it all came together in a single thought. Of never being enough
'Can't I fight it?
'Can't I do anything about it?
'Have I become arrogant since I got the system?...'
His body trembled, energy pulsed through his muscles, but not in a way he could control. It was impotence. An emptiness that swallowed up reason and focus. He stood there, looking at the Shapeshifter who was regenerating effortlessly, like an unbeatable threat, an indomitable force.
"You're very weak," the Shapeshifter's voice hissed, each word sharp, as if he were touching an open wound. "Is that all you are? I thought it would be difficult to deal with someone like you, but it seems I was mistaken."
[Alert: Life energy overload detected. Physical attributes collapsing. Mental strength compromised].
[Warning: Critical conditions reached. Additional skill unlock in progress].
[Unlocked Skill: Devourer's Wrath (Rank-A)]
[Description: When the user exceeds the limits of their physical and mental strength, the destructive energy within manifests, amplifying all abilities into a chaotic and indomitable state. During this state, the damage caused is increased, but control is diminished. The greater the frustration and internal emptiness, the greater the power released].
The sound of the system was a distant buzz, but none of that mattered now. The emptiness inside Seth had already widened. He felt the anger, the frustration, the pain of years of struggle without recognition, as if all those emotions were on fire, consuming his reason.
Then... the world around him changed.
Seth opened his eyes, now completely golden. There was no longer any hesitation in his gaze. It was cold, pure rage, a destructive energy that burned like eternal fire. His body blazed with power, every muscle pulsing with uncontrollable force. His aura expanded, a wave of heat and destruction that distorted the air around him.
And he moved forward.
Speed was the first to change. His every step seemed to shift the space around him, the earth cracking where his feet touched. Seth appeared before the Shapeshifter as a specter of pure destruction, his hand, now enveloped in iridescent golden energy, rising in a decimating blow.
The Shapeshifter, who was already preparing to laugh, stopped abruptly.
Seth asked no more questions. His fist came down with the force of a meteor, slicing through the creature's chest as if it were made of paper. Golden energy exploded around it, incinerating the monster's flesh as the impact brutally broke its bones.
BOOOOM!
The Shapeshifter was thrown backwards, its body torn as if it were made of glass. But this time, something different happened. The hole didn't close. The creature's regeneration was fighting something bigger than itself.
Seth didn't stop. He didn't give the monster a chance to breathe.
"I will destroy you." His voice came out low, but loaded with the weight of a sentence. Each word seemed to resonate in the air, and the very environment around him seemed to distort.