My Tribrid System: More than a Monster

Chapter 79

”Is—Is he dea—?” Chloe’s voice trailed off, her eyes wide with a mixture of terror and disbelief.

”... You know. That—That doesn’t hurt at all,”

Bruce could be heard groaning, his voice a raspy, defiant rumble that seemed to vibrate from the very earth.

Slowly, agonizingly, he began pushing his mangled frame upward.

Within a few agonizing seconds, he was somehow standing upright.

But his condition was beyond critical at this point.

One hand and one leg were completely gone, obliterated by the force of that singular, devastating punch.

From his right shoulder downwards, there was nothing but a gaping, hollow void, leaving him with only the left half of his torso and limbs.

Crimson blood was gushing out like a rhythmic fountain, painting the dirt beneath him.

But even through this absolute carnage, the werewolf remained standing, balancing precariously on his remaining foot.

His once brown and silver fur was now almost entirely black, matted down by the thick layer of blood covering his body.

”How is he still standing?” Van couldn’t help but whisper, unable to hold back the shock at the sight.

It reminded him vividly of a manga he had accidentally caught Ray reading once.

It was like a main character coming back, bloodied and broken, from the very jaws of death.

∆∆∆

Inwardly, the scene was just as chaotic.

Ray was pacing the dark floor of his mind space, his face pale with worry.

”Hey, Bruce! How much longer do you have before the transformation ends?”

The werewolf didn’t reply at first.

He sat in the gamer chair, his hands clutched tightly to the armrests as he glared at the screen displaying the Aberrant in front of him.

Though the trio weren’t physically hurt within this mental space, the external body was barely holding together.

”Answer me, damn it!” Ray shouted, his voice cracking with urgency.

”Don’t fucking question me, you damned human!” Bruce clapped back, his irritation flaring.

”I’m concentrating with everything I have just to keep this body from falling apart. Don’t distract me.” Beads of cold sweat clung to his face as he strained to maintain the connection.

After a few heavy seconds of silence, he added with a snarl; ”And it’s your fault we are in this situation.”

”How the hell is it my fault?!”

”If your body wasn’t so pathetically weak, it wouldn’t have been blasted open like that by a single hit. Tch! I swear, I’m not coming out again after this until you fix your damned weak body,” Bruce growled in anger.

He went silent after that, leaving Ray fuming and helpless.

Elyon just stared at the two of them for a few seconds before Ray turned to face him, desperate for an alternative.

”And you! Can’t you just take over and help him?!”

Elyon shook his head calmly, his expression sympathetic but firm. ”Unfortunately, I cannot. I am not built for combat.”

”Tch,” Ray scoffed, turning back to the screen.

He realized now that the screen was actually a direct feed from his body’s eyes.

What the werewolf was seeing in the physical world was what was being displayed to the three of them in this void.

∆∆∆

Back outside, the Aberrant stared in genuine astonishment at the fact that the werewolf was still standing.

Even though the beast was swaying on a single foot, the sheer willpower required to remain upright was baffling.

A few seconds later, a thick, pulsing vein appeared on the side of the monster’s head.

”AAAAAARGH! Why don’t you just fucking die!” the Aberrant hollered into the air, the sound a raw, frustrated explosion of rage.

”Die? How can I?” Bruce flashed a jagged, bloody grin at the creature, his single eye glinting with menace.

”Especially when I haven’t f*cked your mum up yet.”

’Come on, Ray. I know you can do this. Don’t give up on us now,’ Van hyped inwardly as he watched the standoff.

That was when a sharp voice rang in his ear from the ear-piece.

”The boss-class beast is dead. We are returning to the gate now. We only have nine minutes left before the gate closes and we are trapped inside forever. How is it looking over there?” Trisha’s voice was clipped and urgent.

”Bad,” Van replied shortly, his hands squeezed so tightly his knuckles were white.

”...”

A few more seconds passed in a heavy, suffocating silence.

The Aberrant was visibly fuming, its teeth gnashing back and forth as it glared at the broken werewolf, preparing for one final, decisive charge.

”HOW DARE YOU!” The Aberrant screamed, its voice cracking with the sheer volume of its fury.

Without another word of hesitation, it bolted forward at a blazing, predatory speed.

”Bring it on,” Bruce whispered, a jagged smile cutting across his blood-matted face as he shifted his weight on the ground, leaning forward into a one-legged stance.

The Aberrant wasted no time, closing the gap and reaching his position within a flash.

In the space of a single breath, the creature swung its massive claws downward in a vertical arc, aiming to split the werewolf in two like a piece of timber.

Bruce vaulted off the ground, though he did so with visible difficulty, his balance compromised by his missing limbs.

Seeing the opening, Chloe quickly dashed a few metres away from her safe position, stunning Van for a moment with her sudden bravery.

She gritted her teeth, her brow furrowing as she held her hands out toward the sky.

’My ability can only reach a distance of three metres. I have to be close!’ she thought desperately.

With a sharp grunt of effort, she pushed her extended hands upward.

An invisible, telekinetic force slammed into Bruce’s back, arresting his fall and keeping him steady in the air for a crucial second.

The Aberrant paused, its head snapping up to stare at the werewolf hovering above it.

Realizing the aerial advantage, the creature wasted no time in smashing its claws into the ground, tearing up a massive slab of earth and hurling it at the werewolf with the force of a catapult.

With Chloe’s continued help, Bruce nosedived back down, his crimson blood trailing through the air behind him like a macabre ribbon.

He headed straight toward the incoming slab of earth.

Instead of dodging, he drove his singular hand through the center of the debris, bursting through the stone as if it were nothing but thin paper.

In the blink of an eye, he was hovering directly in front of the Aberrant’s face.

In one fluid motion, Bruce hurled his claws down toward the creature’s remaining eye.

Instinctively, the monster snapped its eyelid shut, terrified of losing its last source of vision.

But a dark cackle from Bruce reached its ears, causing its heart to skip a beat.

The aim at the eye was a feint.

The werewolf used the creature’s momentary blindness to vault over its head and get behind its back.

Before the Aberrant could even open its eyes, Bruce instantly smashed his claws into the base of its nape.

Sparks flew as his talons ground against the rocky scales of the creature’s neck.

The plating was incredibly dense, holding back the assault even as Bruce poured the remnants of his energy into the slash.

Losing an entire arm had put him at a severe disadvantage, but he still managed to peel off a significant layer of the protective scales.

”Weak attempt,” the Aberrant mocked, sensing the werewolf’s fading power.

It began to coil its muscles to counter-attack when its neck suddenly felt a searing, white-hot heat.

”Rending!”

Two razor-sharp lines of concentrated energy burst from Bruce’s claws, tearing into the exposed flesh of the neck.

They bit deep, going half a metre into the muscle and causing the Aberrant to scream in a high-pitched wail of agony as blue blood splattered into the air.

Still, it wasn’t deep enough to reach the heart.

’Crap. Just half a minute left before I lose my energy entirely. Come on! A miracle should happen, damn it!’ Bruce thought, his vision starting to swim as the transformation flickered.

At that exact moment, a piercing scream tore through the air from the edge of the clearing.

”Van! Your VMS gear! Now!” a feminine voice shouted.