The Psychopathic Beast Emperor-Chapter 58: Eliminations (2)

Gabi knew something was wrong the moment the cave went quiet. It wasn’t normal, like the gentle hush of night settling in or the soft drip of water echoing from stone. This was the kind of silence that pressed against the ears, heavily and expectantly, like the world itself was holding its breath.

The small fire in front of him crackled weakly as he roasted fish on a spit of sharpened wood. The smell was somehow comforting, familiar. It grounded him and gave him a strange sense of comfort. He had eaten little, but enough to keep him moving. It was enough to survive... for now.

His yellow reptilian eyes narrowed as his tail twitched behind him, scales scraping softly against stone. His senses spread outward instinctively, honed from weeks of constant battles and fear. The current Gabi, although still meek, was better than the previous one. At least, he could hunt beasts now... or escape from one.

The cave mouth lay just ahead, a curtain of darkness framed by jagged rocks. The stream outside no longer flowed with its usual sound, which he had become accustomed to.

That was the first sign that something was wrong.

Gabi stood slowly, his muscles tightening while his joints ached. His body felt wrong... heavy, suppressed. Every movement dragged like he was caught in some time stasis... like his bones were packed with wet sand.

The berserk state had burned through him too many times already. Each time it saved him, it took something in return... nothing too big, but it would take some time to get it back.

He swallowed and reached for a crude spear he had fashioned earlier, gripping it with shaking hands.

"Just... leave me alone," he muttered, more to himself than anything else.

The ground trembled. Once. Then twice.

Gabi spun toward the cave entrance just as the darkness outside seemed to peel back. Something moved...

A shape slid into view, massive and low to the ground. Its body was segmented and glistened faintly as moonlight reflected off its chitin. Multiple legs scraped against stone with a dry, rasping sound that made Gabi’s scales prickle. Two curved pincers unfolded lazily, each one easily the size of his torso.

Behind them, a thick tail rose, ending in a stinger longer than his entire arm.

His breath caught at the sight. Then he felt its aura... it was dense, elemental, and nothing like Tier 1. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Tier 2!

His instincts screamed at him to run, but there was nowhere to go. The cave that had kept him safe now felt like a grave dug just for him... by himself.

The beast’s many eyes fixed on him, causing him to shudder.

Gabi suddenly snarled.

Something inside him snapped.

The fear didn’t disappear. It never did. But it was drowned beneath something hotter, louder, more violent. His heart slammed against his ribs. Blood roared in his ears. His vision narrowed until the beast was all that existed.

His body changed.

Scales spread thicker across his arms and shoulders, overlapping like armor. His fingers lengthened, nails sharpening into crude claws. His tail thickened, muscles knotting as it lashed behind him. His pupils shrank to slits, glowing faintly as a low, animal growl tore out of his throat.

He charged.

The distance vanished in an instant. Gabi moved faster than he ever had, feet barely touching the ground as he lunged forward, spear thrusting toward one of the beast’s eyes. The impact cracked against hard chitin, the weapon splintering uselessly.

The beast retaliated immediately.

A pincer slammed into his side, sending him flying into the cave wall. Stone cracked. Gabi hit hard, coughing as the air was knocked from his lungs. Pain exploded through his ribs; something was wrong.

He barely rolled aside before the stinger struck where his head had been, embedding itself deep into the stone floor.

Gabi screamed and attacked again.

He tore at the beast with his claws, ripping at joints, stabbing at softer flesh between segments. Blood sprayed, dark and thick, hissing where it hit the fire. The beast shrieked, a horrible grinding sound that vibrated through the cave.

For a moment, just a moment, it looked like he might actually do it.

Then his body betrayed him.

His legs buckled.

The berserk fire sputtered.

Fatigue slammed into him like a wall.

His vision blurred. His movements slowed. His breath came in ragged, painful gasps. The beast did not slow.

A pincer caught his left arm and crushed.

Gabi screamed as bones shattered. The pain was white-hot, blinding. He tried to pull free, tried to bite, to claw, to do anything, but his strength was gone. Completely gone.

The tail struck.

It pierced through his abdomen and pinned him to the cave floor.

Blood flooded his mouth.

His berserk state collapsed instantly, leaving him trembling and helpless. His scales dulled. His claws retracted. His body reverted, smaller, weaker, broken.

The beast loomed over him, its many eyes reflecting his fading form.

"I... tried..." Gabi whispered, blood bubbling from his lips.

He thought of Bahamut. Of how that blind boy had stood against monsters like this without hesitation. Of how strength wasn’t just power, but endurance. Will. Something he hadn’t had enough of.

The stinger twisted.

Darkness swallowed him.

When the beast finally withdrew and retreated into the shadows, the cave was silent once more. The fire had gone out. The fish lay forgotten, half-cooked and untouched.

Gabi did not move again.

His trial ended there.

He had been eliminated, but at least he tried to survive.

...

Aerith sat upon a dead tree, his stormy eyes staring intently at the horizon. His skin prickled, a trait he had developed to sense danger, and this time he could tell that the level of danger was... beyond him at his current state.

But he smiled.

"Even if I go down... I would do so after making my opponent bleed."

He looked at the barbed feather in his hand, something he had grown accustomed to after his stay in this region. Unlike the others who were moving, Aerith had decided to stay. He had become a hunter there. After advancing to the Circle of Mind, he had become the territorial boss of the place. Beasts avoided his area, except the stubborn ones.

"I wonder how Bahamut is faring... and the elf too... Sel,"

The Tier 2 Eliminator sent by Elder Iset was coming, and Aerith was prepared to welcome it.