"Pow Pow!"
The sound rumbled through the dark forest like a guttural roar from the depths of something far beyond natural.
The ground trembled slightly beneath their feet as the cute, furry creature's small body began to contort.
Its soft, round form twisted grotesquely, bones cracking and fur shedding in thick clumps. What had once been a harmless little thing ballooned into something monstrous. Its beady black eyes turned crimson, glinting like molten orbs under the pale moonlight. Sharp fangs jutted from its once tiny mouth, saliva dripping like acid onto the dirt, hissing as it burned through leaves.
Aria stumbled backward in horror, her pupils dilating as the once-adorable beast let out a deafening screech that sent a shiver down her spine.
"Aria!" Akhil shouted, lunging forward.
He didn't hesitate. The moment the beast's claws lashed toward her, Akhil drove in like a blur, pushing her out of the way. The claw missed her by mere inches but tore a deep mark across the tree trunk behind her, splitting it clean in half.
The ground quaked under the impact, and dust and splinters filled the air.
Aria hit the ground hard, her breath catching in her throat. She looked up just in time to see Akhil square off against the beast.
"Stay back!" he barked, not taking his eyes off the creature.
Nibo and Gon froze, their expressions blank with shock. The transformation had been too sudden — none of them had ever seen something like it.
The beast let out another ear-piercing screech, its body twitching violently before it lunged toward Akhil with inhuman speed. Its claws slashed the air, and the pressure alone sent leaves scattering like blades.
Akhil narrowly sidestepped the first strike, his reflexes honed to perfection. The beast's follow-up came instantly — a tail-like appendage whipped from its back, aiming straight for his head.
He ducked under it and kicked off the ground, spinning to the side before landing cleanly. His boots dug into the soft earth, and he steadied his breath.
'Fast... and strong. It's not a regular beast.'
{Puff Puff Beast!}
{Mutant Level: 3}
He could feel the difference — the pressure it emitted wasn't something a forest creature could produce. Its presence alone carried a heavy distortion, almost like the system had modified it for the second scenario.
"Pow Pow!" the creature bellowed again, though its voice now sounded guttural, hateful, as if mocking its own name.
Akhil clenched his fists, his expression calm yet sharp. "I should've known this place wasn't safe. This is a sign that the scenario is already starting…"
The beast lunged again — this time straight at him. Akhil rolled to the side, grabbing a thick branch off the ground mid-motion. He spun it around his hand and swung upward, smashing it against the beast's jaw. The impact sent it stumbling back, but the stick shattered instantly, useless.
"That won't hold…" he muttered, his eyes darting to the faint blue glimmer that appeared at the edge of his vision — a system prompt.
{Warning! A special event beast has appeared — [Mutated Puff Beast – Lv. 16]}
Akhil frowned. 'Mutated? So that's why it felt different.'
Before he could react further, the beast let out a spine-chilling roar. A shockwave burst from its mouth, rippling through the clearing. Trees bent and cracked, and the others were thrown off balance. Aria barely managed to raise her arm to shield her face from the debris.
Akhil gritted his teeth, sliding backward from the force before digging his heel into the dirt. He stood firm again, his heartbeat pounding in his ears.
Then, he dashed forward.
In that instant, his body blurred. His hand reached for the dagger strapped to the side of Aria's bag — the same one she'd been using since they met.
He felt a sudden rush through his veins.
{Star Dagger} +10 strength.
Its edge gleamed faintly under the moonlight.
The beast reared its head back and lunged, claws flashing.
Akhil ducked low, twisted to the right, and slashed upward. The dagger sliced across its chest, leaving behind a streak of dark, sticky blood. The beast howled, stumbling backward before smashing its claw into the ground in fury.
The impact threw dirt and rock into the air.
"Akhil!" Aria called, her voice trembling.
"I said stay back!" he barked again, his tone fierce.
She froze, her hands clenched tightly. She wanted to help but knew she'd only slow him down.
The beast's tail whipped toward Akhil again, but he leapt backward this time, avoiding the strike by a hair's breadth. The ground where he once stood shattered under the blow.
'Its strength keeps increasing… damn it, it's adapting.'
The system beeped again in his vision — {Warning: Beast enraged – strength increased by 20%.}
"Of course it does," he muttered through gritted teeth.
The creature's claws glowed faintly red, steam rising from them as its muscles bulged grotesquely.
It lunged once more.
Akhil braced himself, tilting his body slightly. He watched, calm amid the chaos, and just as the claws came down, he pivoted to the side and drove his dagger into the beast's forearm. The dagger sank deep.
The beast screeched in pain, thrashing violently. Akhil was thrown back, tumbling through the dirt before regaining his balance mid-roll.
Blood streaked his arm, but his grip didn't falter.
'If it's a system-generated creature, it must have a weak point. Eyes? Core? No... wait.'
His gaze sharpened as he remembered the first scenario — when the Titan had appeared. The beasts tied to the system had a faint red pulse where their core energy gathered.
And then he saw it.
A faint crimson glow throbbed at the center of the beast's throat, just below its jaw.
"There you are."
The creature pounced again, and Akhil met it head-on this time. He sprinted forward, diving beneath its claws, sliding through the dirt as the wind from its strike grazed his face.
He flipped the dagger in his hand and, with a swift motion, drove it straight into the glowing mark.
A bright flare burst from the wound.
The beast froze mid-motion. Its eyes widened, its screech cut off abruptly. The glow around its body flickered, dimmed, and then—
Boom!
The explosion wasn't large, but it was enough to knock everyone off their feet. A blast of heat and light tore through the clearing before vanishing into the night.
When the dust settled, the creature lay motionless on the ground, its body reverting slowly back to its smaller, furry form — the same harmless creature it had been moments before.
Silence filled the air.
Akhil stood in the middle of the clearing, his chest heaving lightly as he stared down at the corpse.
Aria approached cautiously. "What… was that thing?"
"An evolved puff beast," Akhil replied, his voice low. "It's the beast that we'll be facing through the second scenario."
He turned his gaze toward the forest ahead, where the darkness grew thicker, swallowing the moonlight.
He could tell....
'So, it's begun. The second scenario has already started —'