My Tribrid System: More than a Monster

Chapter 77

”Damn it, Trisha. Stop running off alone!” Kai’s annoyed voice echoed through the ruins as he stepped into view.

The impact from his earlier strike had been sufficient to shove the beast backward, away from the female Aspirant, granting her the precious few seconds needed to rise to her full height.

She stood there, panting mildly—not from fear, but from the sheer exhaustion creeping over her limbs at an alarming rate.

Kai finally came to a halt beside her.

His bandana was pulled firmly over his brow, and his eyes never left the beast as it tried to shake off the lingering daze from the crystalline blow.

”... Do you have any idea what you’re actually doing? Even if we kill this thing, we’ll only have about ten minutes to reach the gate before it collapses. Do you think that will be enough? We don’t even know if Ray can finish the Aberrant before the—”

His words were cut short as a crackling voice rang out in their ear-pieces.

It was Van!

”Guys! I figured out where the Aberrant’s heart is located. I’ve already relayed the tactical info to Ray; he’s looking for an opening right now. He’ll defeat the Aberrant sooner or later, so hurry up and finish your end!”

The tiny red LED on their ear-pieces blinked rhythmically as Van spoke.

The moment the message ended, the beast let out a distorted bleat, sounding chillingly like a real goat.

Without wasting another second, it lowered its head and dashed toward them at full speed.

Trisha and Kai didn’t hesitate.

They shifted into a firm, battle-ready stance in unison.

The beast was upon them in an instant, its long claws slashing toward the duo from either side in a wide, pincer-like arc.

The two Aspirants caught each other’s gaze for a fleeting millisecond and nodded.

Moving as one, they ducked beneath the whistling claws, feeling the rush of air over their heads.

With their fists cocked back, their respective abilities surged, coating their hands in firm, shimmering gauntlets of ice and crystal.

With every ounce of strength they possessed, they swung their hands forward, smashing their twin strikes into the beast’s flank.

A loud, resonant bang echoed through the crumbling buildings, and the ground beneath their boots spider-webbed with deep cracks.

The beast was sent lurching backward at an incredible velocity.

But the Aspirants weren’t finished.

Kai leaned forward, his eyes narrowed like a predator’s, and with all the explosive speed his body could muster, he leaped after the creature.

He vaulted upward, hovering for a moment directly above the staggered monster.

From his extended palm, a jagged crystal spike shot out at a blazing speed.

Seeing the projectile, the beast dug its hooves into the dirt, firmly rooting itself.

With a desperate snarl, it swung its claws upward, meeting the spike in mid-air.

Its muscles strained and bulged as it parried the crystalline shard, sending it crashing into the earth several feet away, where it left a deep, smoking crater.

”Over here.” Trisha’s cold voice wafted into the beast’s ears.

She had materialized before it as if she had been standing there the entire time.

Her ice dagger slashed toward the beast’s unprotected abdomen.

Since the creature’s claws were still extended from blocking Kai’s overhead assault, it was caught completely unaware, with no shield to protect its soft tissue.

In a last-ditch effort, the Goatee beast kicked off the ground, leaping backward to evade the blade.

A small, imperceptible smile flashed across Trisha’s face.

Shifting her weight, her foot twisted into the ground, and she released the dagger, sending it flying forward at breakneck speed.

Bang—!

The frozen blade collided with the beast’s belly, tearing through the hide and sending black ichor spraying into the air like a macabre fountain.

The beast’s eyes widened in horror and shock as it stared at the female Aspirant, who was subtly grinning back.

The ice dagger remained protruding from its belly, buried half a metre deep—not enough to kill it instantly, but enough to leave a grievous, debilitating wound.

The beast landed heavily on the ground. It wasn’t given a moment to recover, however, as Kai had already repositioned himself directly in front of it.

Four crystalline shards burst from his palms, mere inches away from striking the monster’s chest.

With a desperate surge of adrenaline, the Goatee monster twisted its hooves, pivoting on a dime and sliding narrowly to Kai’s exposed side.

Then, in one fluid movement, the beast swung its second hoof in a straight, bone-shattering kick aimed directly at the Aspirant’s side.

Before the blow could connect, however, Trisha appeared beside the monster.

She barged her shoulder into its flank with all her frail might, the sudden impact causing the beast to stagger away and miss its kick entirely.

This intervention gave Kai the precious window he needed to twirl around and bolt forward, materializing beside the creature and smashing a crystal-reinforced fist into its face.

The Goatee’s head was sent swinging violently to the side, but despite the brutality of the hit, the punch did nothing to move the heavy beast from its position.

Swooosh—!

The monster’s claws tore through the air at a blazing speed, coming within mere inches of striking Kai’s chest.

With desperate, quick reflexes, the Aspirant attempted to leap away.

He succeeded in avoiding a fatal blow, but unfortunately, the tip of a long claw nicked through his uniform, grazing his skin and drawing a sharp line of crimson.

”Shit!” Kai cursed as he missed his footing, stumbling over a piece of rubble and crashing hard into the ground.

Blood trickled down from his side, which he clutched tightly in a futile attempt to stem the pain.

The beast looked to be visibly enjoying the turn of events.

If it possessed the capacity for human speech, it surely would have been gloating:

’Now you humans know how it feels for something to tear into your body.’

But, of course, the beast could only communicate through violence.

That was when the Goatee suddenly sensed movement in the air.

It wasted no time in spinning around with one claw raised high, only to collide with an ice dagger held by Trisha mid-air.

Due to the combined momentum of the beast’s spin and the sheer force of its claw, the frozen blade instantly splintered into a thousand crystalline fragments.

But right at that moment, Trisha smirked subtly through her exhaustion.

”Behind you.”

Before the beast could register the meaning of her words, Kai appeared directly behind it, his face pale and blood dripping from his mouth and nose.

A jagged shape was rapidly forming in his grasp; it was painfully evident that he was pushing his Meta-Force to the absolute breaking point.

”... Take... ack! Take that!” Kai shouted mid-cough, another spray of blood erupting from his lips.

He didn’t care about the toll on his body. From his outstretched palm, a compact crystalline pillar burst forth with a sharp, wicked-looking point.

It smashed into the beast’s back, tearing through the tough hide and bursting out through the other side in a shower of gore.

The beast let out a harrowing cry of agony as black blood sprayed the ruins.

A massive, hollow hole had been punched straight through its torso.

With one final, pained wail and a failed, sluggish attempt to swipe at Kai, the crystalline pillar dissipated.

The beast’s eyes went dull, and it slid to the ground with a loud, wet thud.

”We—We did... ack!” Kai yelped loudly as the recoil of the move hit him.

Blood erupted from his mouth in waves, looking as if he had held a mouthful of water only to spit it back out.

He then proceeded to collapse to the ground with a heavy thud.