The fox snarled, its crimson fur bristling like flames in the dusk. Three tails fanned out behind it, each one shimmering with barely restrained power. The force of its aura alone made the rocks underfoot tremble.
Ren, now in the small, fur-covered body of a rabbit, bared his bloodied teeth. It felt wrong, so damn wrong, to be in this body. His long ears twitched involuntarily, his whiskers brushed against his own cheeks, and his limbs felt too light, too small, like twigs compared to the steel he was used to imagining himself wielding.
But his soul blazed. His aura, forcibly elevated to Tier 2 by the system, roared outward like a predator's scream.
"Come on then, you flaming mutt!" Ren spat, his voice shrill and strange in this tiny body.
The fox lunged, claws swiping down like crimson scythes. Ren darted sideways, his rabbit body exploding with speed that shocked even him. He twisted midair, using his powerful hind legs to kick off the cliff wall, narrowly evading the fox's claws. Dust and shattered stone filled the air.
Too fast… this body is fast as hell!
Ren landed, ears flicking as he locked eyes with the beast again. He remembered his human training — feints, timing, using the environment. He dashed forward, weaving under the fox's chest, and launched upward with a brutal kick to its jaw.
CRACK!
The fox's head snapped back, teeth clicking together with a sharp crack. Blood sprayed, but only a droplet. The fox staggered back a step, then its eyes glowed purple-red with fury.
GROOARRR!
One tail whipped out like a burning whip. Ren barely ducked in time, the force of it slicing clean through a boulder behind him, turning it to rubble. His whiskers quivered at the close call.
"Hah… oh, that would've killed me…"
The fox didn't relent. It pounced again, its claws flashing down like blades. Ren met the attack head-on this time. He leapt high, twisting, and brought both hind legs slamming into the fox's snout.
PAHH!
The fox reeled back, stunned for a second, and Ren didn't waste the chance. He darted to its flank, biting deep into its leg, his small fangs sinking into fur and flesh. Hot blood filled his mouth, metallic and thick.
But that was as far as he got.
The fox roared, its tails flaring outward like blooming fire. A shockwave blasted Ren back, smashing his tiny body into a tree trunk. He coughed blood, his small frame trembling violently. His Tier 2 aura flickered.
Damn it… I'm too small… I can't trade blows with this thing for long.
The fox advanced slowly now, confidence oozing from its blood-colored eyes. Its wounds were minor; scratches compared to its overwhelming bulk and power. Ren dragged himself upright, his ears drooping but his gaze defiant.
"Haah… haah… don't think a little rabbit's gonna bow to you, furball…"
The fox snarled and rushed again. Ren spun, his body low, his kick launching up to meet the fox's paw — the impact rattled his tiny bones, sending jolts of pain up his spine. His human instincts were keeping him alive — roll, pivot, strike where it hurts — but it was barely enough. Each clash left him reeling.
The battle raged across the clearing — rabbit speed against fox ferocity. Ren's kicks and feints drew blood, but shallow. The fox's swipes and lashes crushed the earth itself, forcing Ren into a desperate dance of survival.
And slowly, inevitably, the fox began to overwhelm him.
One tail lashed out, catching Ren mid-leap. SNAP! His small body was flung through the air, smashing into the rocks by the waterfall. He coughed violently, blood staining his white fur, his vision swimming.
The fox stalked closer, growling low, savoring the kill.
Ren forced himself upright on trembling legs, one ear torn and hanging loose, blood dripping down his fur. His crimson aura flickered faintly, barely holding on.
Damn it… I can't win like this. I'm not strong enough… but if I can just buy him time…
Ren's small eyes burned with human fury. He staggered forward again, ready to throw himself into another desperate strike.
The battlefield was a storm of chaos—dust, blood, and rupturing earth beneath clashing titans. His enemy pressed harder, sensing his faltering breaths and the blind haze clouding his movements. Every strike against his body rang like a drum announcing his impending fall. His knees trembled, his lungs burned, and the world narrowed to darkness.
But then—
Boom.
A tremor shook the ground, not from an enemy's strike, but from within his very being. His aura, once muted and unstable, flared out like a volcanic eruption. The air thickened, vibrating with a suffocating tension that made even his foes hesitate.
Ren, the blue wisp on his shoulder, crackled with alarm.
"Wait—this resonance… it's not me. It's you. Bahamut—you're awakening."
His body shifted. Hair bled from black to white, streaked with living shadows. His skin darkened into a rich, earthen bronze, glowing faintly with runic chains of red and silver beneath. His eyes snapped open—first a monstrous crimson, slitted like a beast's, radiating raw brutality. And then, as though mocking his enemies, the crimson faded back into blind grey, empty yet all-seeing.
But the most terrifying change was his aura. It wasn't just power—it was hunger, fury, the very Brutality of a Beast unleashed. Each pulse of his presence carried an instinctive warning: predator. The fox staggered as its body screamed at them to run, to escape the hunter that now stood before them.
"The first step…" Ren whispered, awe creeping into his voice. "B.E.A.S.T… Brutal. You've embodied it. You've become the very definition of Brutality incarnate."
Bahamut grinned, sharp teeth flashing in the chaos. His voice rolled out, deeper and more primal, as though it carried the growl of something ancient within it:
"Then let's show them what it means… to face a beast."
With that, he surged forward—not fighting like a warrior anymore, but like something primal, savage, unchained. Every strike cracked bone, shattered earth, and left trails of red. Each movement was an expression of violence so raw it became art.