Suddenly, the apes began to move, surrounding the small body of the mutagen.
At that moment, everything he believed about the golden forest seemed to have collapsed.
Were the creatures waking up from petrification before nightfall?
How is that possible?
Their long and powerful arms, protected by an impenetrable shell of pale rock that stood out over their brown fur, moved slowly, resting their fists on the grass.
Their golden eyes sparkled with curiosity and a silent threat that would send shivers down anyone's spine. However, they were far from the murderous hunger that characterized the creatures inhabiting the golden forest.
Taking a closer look, the Mutagen managed to glimpse, beneath the lower part of their rocky jaw, a familiar purple liquid leaking out.
The image of the berries formed in the mutagen's mind.
It was at that moment when curiosity seemed to become unbearable for the beasts, and they dangerously approached.
Seeing the danger getting closer while being surrounded, the mutagen tried to escape, but his path was quickly blocked.
The threat seemed imminent, but his tenacity would not waver. It was then that he launched himself onto the face of one of them.
A frightened roar escaped from the beast.
Its tentacles stretched out, and powerful suction cups formed on them, ready to latch on at any moment.
However, the ape's hand got in the way, and its tentacles stuck around his forearm.
For a moment, everything went silent. The ape's eyes watched it with curiosity until suddenly, the fur covering his forearm crumbled into dust.
The beast roared in pain while shaking its arm desperately. Due to the chaos and agitation, the other beasts also panicked and flooded the forest in a terrible cacophony of beastly screams.
The mutagen held on with all its strength despite the movement, its suction cups held firmly as the skin and flesh were turned to dust beneath them until reaching the bone.
It was at that moment that the ape's other hand grabbed it and smashed it against the ground with ruthless force.
Eyes filled with rage turned to him, when a gigantic fist struck him mercilessly.
His body seemed to explode in various directions, joined by a thin thread of darkness; others simply separated and remained inert.
His mass trembled and tried to reunite again, but a wave of tearing attacks immobilized him.
His degradation ability was constantly active; however, the apes did not hesitate and used both their hands and rocky fangs to crush and tear him apart, ignoring the pain of their skin being degraded with each contact.
In their eyes, there seemed to be no compassion or forgiveness; they simply let their savage fury flow.
Everything seemed to be over for the little mutagen when he barely had the strength to remain conscious.
Terror and despair were the only things entering his mind while his body was being destroyed at every moment.
Then, the image of Matt appeared in his mind.
It was at that moment, when the ground trembled and the wind blew strongly. Suddenly, the blows stopped, and the crashing sound of rock being struck forcefully seemed to silence the world.
Shortly after, a heartbreaking roar made the world tremble, the apes stepped back in fear, and a new beast revealed itself before the Mutagen.
It was just like the others, but much larger, more imposing and powerful, with dark fur and a stern gaze, but with a hypnotizing glow.
Over his right hand, he dragged a gigantic snake statue, and with the other, he struck his rock-covered pectorals strongly in a gesture of dominance.
His imposing figure approached without doubt, without fear.
His golden eyes fixed on the figure of the Mutagen, then on the wounded ape and the visible bone in his arm.
A gesture of disgust appeared on his face before he stopped again on the wounded Mutagen.
It remained on the ground, trembling, trying to gather its destroyed mass again; some parts had vanished into nothingness, lost forever.
His footsteps left gigantic marks as he dragged the statue, a path opened in the grass, until he stopped in front of the small, dark liquid.
Suddenly, a powerful pressure crushed him, and gathering his pieces had become a titanic task.
Weakened and wounded, he was completely exposed before the great ape.
He trembled at the feeling of disgust in his furrowed brow.
Suddenly, the muscles of the alpha ape swelled as if he gathered all his strength, lifting the gigantic statue over his shoulders with one hand.
In the next instant, the statue dropped at great speed, cutting the air and leaving a whistle behind before striking the ground with a deafening crash.
The earth exploded, the smoke rose, and under its force, pieces of grass flew along with parts of the Mutagen, which vanished into the air.
When the dust settled, the image of the statue buried several meters underground was revealed. Next to it lay the small, motionless, and terrified Mutagen.
But still alive.
Weak, trembling, and afraid to make any movement, he froze in place.
Maybe that was the reason he remained alive, since the gigantic statue fell a few millimeters from him, destroying the portions of his body he still hadn't absorbed.
The alpha ape exhaled forcefully, drawing his attention. For a moment, his eyes looked at him from above. Then he fixed his gaze on the statue, and a gesture of irritation appeared on his face before lifting his gigantic mace-like hand and slamming it down with force, striking the statue.
A new crash echoed like thunder, the force behind the blow unleashed a gale that made the Mutagen step back.
As he recovered, he watched in confusion.
Under the powerful hand of the ape, the surface of the entire statue was revealed without cracks or the slightest sign of damage.
The blow that would have pulverized steel had not left a single mark on the pale surface of the statue. And that seemed to enrage the ape even more.
In a fit of rage, his hand fell again like a powerful mace striking, then again, again, and again. Each of the blows fell with enough force to destroy a rock, yet none of them seemed to affect the statue, which remained intact before the ape's fury.
After several attempts, the ape grew tired and, with heavy breathing, looked at the Mutagen, who had remained motionless all this time.
Even though it had no face, one could tell by its trembling surface and lack of movement that it was as frightened as it was confused by the situation.
Not only that, but each of the apes seemed not to understand the actions of their leader. With eyes wide open and heads down, the terror on their faces was visible.
Had he gone mad?
It was then that he focused again on the statue before pulling it from the ground and laying it beside the Mutagen.
Again, his gaze focused on him, only this time, there was no hostile intent behind it, but a silent request.
Of course, the Mutagen was too scared to pay attention to it. Therefore, when the gigantic hand loomed over him, the first thing he did was try to escape.
The immense hand extended over his head, descending slowly but inevitably, as if a mountain were about to crush a small and weak ant.
Realizing there was no escape, he stopped, hesitated for a moment, and then launched himself onto the hand. His tentacles stuck to the palm, barely wrapping around its hand, and he activated his ability, seeking to destroy it.
Unfortunately, it was useless.
The skin was too hard and powerful; by the time his fingers closed, he had barely torn a small portion of its skin.
That meant only one thing: the beast was beyond the first level of energy awakening, therefore, too powerful for the mutagen.
However, to his surprise, the fingers closed gently, barely holding him to lift him and place him on the statue of the snake.
Astonished by what had happened, the mutagen watched as the beast took a step back and looked at him with its bright and calm eyes, as if waiting for something.