Chaos consumed the area. Lethal crabs and other beasts surged around Derick, claws slicing and jaws snapping. Screams rang out as the ground was littered with blood and dust. Every fiber of his body demanded faster reflexes than instinct could allow.
Derick activated his class.
A flash of crimson light enveloped him, but the familiar rigid form of the Phoenix Carapace had changed. Jade veins ran through the feathered plates like living lightning. His vision sharpened instantly, granting him—long-distance clarity, faint night vision, and a heightened awareness of every movement in the chaos around him. Power surged through him. The rigid wings softened, feathers stretching and flexing. They became fully mobile—capable of true flight—yet remained sleek enough to fold neatly when not in use. His skin glimmered faintly green, fortified by the Jade Skin infusion, and every muscle pulsed with renewed strength and vitality.
A massive crab lunged, its pincer slicing through the air like a guillotine.
Derick slipped past the strike with sharp, fluid movement—his jade-feathered wings flared once, lifting him cleanly off the ground. The claw snapped shut beneath him, missing by inches.
His hand brushed the cool necklace embedded at the base of his armor. A pulse of energy answered.
Twin daggers materialized in his grip.
He spun midair, slashing across the creature's armored thorax. Sparks scattered. The blow barely scratched its shell, and the crab retaliated instantly, hammering him with a pincer. The impact sent him flying—but the Jade-Phoenix Carapace absorbed the force with ease.
Derick didn't panic. He let the momentum carry him higher, wings opening wide to stabilize his fall.
Another crab struck from the side, a shockwave of force blasting him sideways. Derick snapped his wings tight, cutting the air, then unfurled them again at the last second to brake his descent.
He landed roughly, boots skidding over dust and stone.
His wings folded neatly behind him, settling like living jade feathers as he exhaled once—calm and focused, ready for more.
Another beast lunged from the side.
Derick twisted instantly, slipping past its strike by a hair's breadth. Focusing, he triggered the latent power within his armor. The jade-like veins running beneath the feathered plates lit up—shimmering like living lightning—as a pulse of green-crimson energy surged through him.
Strength flooded his limbs, his movements sharpened, and his senses expanded.
Derick blinked—and suddenly he could see it: thin crimson lines glowing across the bodies of the surrounding beasts, as if marking their weaknesses.
He didn't hesitate.
In a burst of speed, he dashed toward the nearest crab. His right-hand dagger carved through a glowing line on the creature's arm, slicing it cleanly off. At the same moment, he spun and drove the left-hand blade into another bright point on the opposite pincer, severing it in two.
Then, fluidly, he pulled both daggers together—merging them into a single, short blade just shy of a sword. A brighter, pulsing mark glowed on the crab's forehead.
Derick struck.
The weapon pierced straight through its skull, killing the beast instantly.
The entire exchange lasted less than three seconds.
A familiar chime echoed in his ears.
Ding!
Aberrant Lethal-Backed Crab slain.
Ding!
Aberrant Beast Soul obtained—Crab Summon.
Crab Summon: Allows the user to summon a battle-crab as a mount or combat companion.
Ding!
Consume beast to gain Aberrant Points.
Derick blinked, stunned.
"A… beast soul? Now that's a damn good surprise."
Derick barely had time to process the notification before a shadow loomed behind him.
BOOM!
Another lethal-backed crab smashed its massive pincer down, shattering the stone where he had stood a split second ago. Derick blurred sideways, wings snapping open as he sprang into the air.
The beast roared, charging after him with surprising speed for its bulk.
Derick's eyes narrowed. The crimson lines—the weak points—flared across the creature's shell like threads of burning fate.
There.
He dove.
The crab fired a jet of corrosive liquid from its mandibles—an aberrant ability. Derick twisted mid-air, the blast skimming past his ribs. His wings flicked once, killing his momentum, and he dropped straight down onto the crab's back.
The creature bucked violently.
Derick stomped down, jade light pulsing up his legs, anchoring him in place.
He raised the merged blade.
The crimson line at the base of its neck glowed like a long, thin heartbeat.
Derick didn't hesitate.
SHHNK!
The blade sank deep. The crab shrieked, thrashing wildly, but Derick dragged the blade sideways, splitting the weak point open in one brutal motion. A geyser of steam and green ichor erupted, and the beast collapsed beneath him.
Another Ding echoed.
But there was no time to look.
Three more crabs scuttled toward him from different angles, mandibles clacking, shells gleaming with aberrant sheen.
Derick clicked his tongue.
"Persistent bastards…"
He spun the blade, splitting it back into twin daggers. The jade glow around his armor surged brighter, veins of emerald energy crawling up his arms.
The first crab lunged.
Derick shot forward like a streak of green light.
SLASH! One pincer fell.
SLASH! The second followed.
He vaulted over the creature's head and drove a heel into its shell. The jade force cracked down, staggering it just long enough for him to plunge a dagger into the final weak point.
Another one down.
The remaining two circled him cautiously, antennae twitching, as if sensing the threat he had become.
Derick rolled his shoulders, wings unfurling behind him with a sharp metallic rustle.
"Come on then," he murmured. "Let's finish this."
One crab spat a jet of corrosive fluid.
Derick snapped his wings forward like shields.
The liquid hissed against the jade-laced feathers—but the armor held.
He burst through the cloud, daggers flashing.
Two steps. One breath. One kill.
His right dagger pierced the glowing line beneath its eye.
The crab convulsed and dropped.
The last one shrieked in panic and tried to flee.
Derick's wings folded once, then blasted open.
He shot forward like a launched spear.
The dagger carved cleanly through the bright crimson line along its spine.
THUD.
Silence fell.
Derick exhaled, straightening up as a cascade of notifications filled his vision.
Ding
Aberrant Lethal-Backed Crab slain.
Ding
New Beast Soul detected…
Derick grinned slightly, wiping crab ichor off his blade.
"Tch. Not bad… not bad at all."
Derick's sharpened senses—heightened by the Jade-Phoenix Carapace—caught something the others missed. Far ahead, beyond the chaos and clashing steel, he sensed Oskara and his elites slipping down the massive crack in the earth. Quiet. Swift. Almost desperate.
Derick's eyes narrowed. And suddenly, everything clicked.
The missing puzzle piece.
So that's it. They hadn't dragged everyone here to carry corpses. They hadn't brought them to "gain points." They weren't even here to lure beasts for an easy hunt.
No—this was darker. Far darker.
They needed bait.
A truth every hunter knew echoed through Derick's mind:
Aberrant beasts rarely attacked large groups—they avoided them. Numbers meant danger.
That was why castles and shelters remained mostly untouched.
But if a group was outnumbered inside a beast's territory?
The rules flipped instantly.
Beasts no longer saw humans as threats…
Only food.
And Oskara's group had exploited that truth perfectly.
Throw the "trash" to the wolves.
Draw the Aberrant beasts in.
Slip into the pit unnoticed.
Derick clenched his jaw.
Why the pit…?
The answer struck him like a bolt of lightning.
Seek danger—for fortune hides within it.
The words from the flash-drive message echoed vividly in his head.
"I see…" he whispered.
He had no choice. He was still too weak. Staying here meant dying.
Even with all the points he had gathered along the journey, he was far from safe.
Feral point: 88
Primeval point: 45
Aberrant point: 16
Absolute point: 3
A shadow blurred at his flank.
Another beast pounced.
Derick pivoted smoothly, driving his short blade upward. The glowing edge slid into the creature's soft underbelly. Blood erupted in a dark arc as the beast collapsed at his feet.
He exhaled sharply.
He pulled the weapon free, breath sharp, eyes narrowing.
He needed to reach that pit.
Now.
Ding
Aberrant Lethal-Backed Crab slain
No Beast Soul gained
Consume beast to gain Aberrant Points
Derick's eyes swept across the battlefield. Nearly half of the "trashes" had already been torn apart—bodies crushed, limbs scattered, screams drowned beneath the clattering of armored legs.
If I stay here any longer… I'll be next.
A massive crab lunged toward him. Derick sidestepped, sliced through its eye, and without wasting a breath, he grabbed the corpse and activated the system.
Consume.
The carcass shriveled instantly, collapsing into nothing as its essence poured into his body.
Derick inhaled sharply, then bellowed, voice echoing across the chaos:
"LISTEN UP! If we stay here, we're all dead! We can't retreat—the beasts will tear us apart! Our only chance is the PIT!"
Some of the survivors turned toward him, desperate and trembling.
"Yes—the PIT!" Derick pointed with his blade. "Oskara and his entire group already went down there. That's where they planned to escape! If you want to live, MOVE with me!"
Even while shouting, Derick parried a claw strike, ducked beneath another crab, and drove his blade straight into its weak point. Two more kills. Two more quick Consumptions.
His Aberrant Points surged to thirty-eight.
A spark of hope lit the eyes of the remaining captives.
"Go! Move! Move!"
Some sprinted. Some stumbled. Some leapt over fallen bodies—everyone pushing toward the pit while fending off attacks from every direction.
Derick blocked a descending pincer with his short blade. The impact sent a shockwave up his arm, but he twisted, using the momentum to launch himself upward.
Wings unfurled behind him.
Fwooom.
With a powerful beat, he shot into the air, wind screaming past him as he angled himself toward the abyss.
Below, the others followed—running, jumping, scrambling for life.
Derick folded his wings and dove straight down the pit's darkness, the roar of beasts fading behind him as he plunged into the unknown.