He drew his sword a moment before running quickly in an empty direction. But a beast got in his way, so he changed direction and tried to trick them.
Even so, he soon found himself surrounded by beasts that fell from the ground. He had to turn aside several times to avoid being cut in two by the weapons in the hands of these bastards.
But he didn't stop running. Although surrounded, he managed to trick one beast into moving and threw himself between it and its companion. The tongue of one of them dug hard into its companion's shoulder, which unleashed a terrifying moan that came from the beast's three mouths, as if it were a cry for its companion.
However, neither lost sight of their target.
Although he nimbly broke free from the circle surrounding him, they turned and jumped at him at the same time.
Ryan had to raise his sword to defend himself from the various attacks coming at him, taking advantage of the moment to roll backwards and thus avoid the blades of the other bastards.
Even so, this did not lead him to his goal. On the contrary, it brought him closer to Cecily, which was the opposite of his goal.
His mind raced, searching for a way out, and he soon found it. The left wing of all those attacking him had fallen badly, so it was his moment. Although they may not have felt pain, they did have bones, and if one were broken, they would have difficulty moving.
So he ran quickly in that direction and took the opportunity to attack it quickly. It was off guard, not expecting a charge at that moment.
"ROAAR!" A saliva-spattered scream roared in Ryan's face, but he didn't care.
'Aside from the fact that it smells like shit.' He wrinkled his nose, but continued to hit it and soon passed through it.
But one of its tongues clamped onto his sword, as if it wanted to rip it off. The move was sharp; Ryan didn't expect it. It was too clever.
In the end, Ryan was forced to turn around and kick the tongue before allowing himself to continue running. But just then, one of the beasts jumped on him and pushed him to the ground, while another came from the side, ready to pierce his neck with its sharp weapons in its hands.
He had to defend himself quickly, and the attack struck his sword. Because he was on the ground, the enormous force of the impact shattered the surrounding ground, leaving him in an embarrassing position and kicking up a lot of dust.
By the time the dust had settled, the sound of clashing swords reached the beasts' ears, and by the time they realized what was happening, Ryan had killed one of the beasts.
He blew its head off with a spirit projection attack from close range.
Even so, he hadn't been able to escape.
Meanwhile...
On the other side, Cecily was engaged in a brutal fight against three Kazaks.
Those guys had impressive strength levels and unpredictable abilities, but she would be fine if she kept the distance.
The problem was the Kazak, who was about to evolve.
'He must have been the one who broke through. Even though he hasn't evolved, the way he controls his power makes me jealous.' She complained inwardly.
If it were just him, she would have no problem. She could even take on a Second Class Kazak; but it wasn't just him. There were two others with him, and they weren't weak. In addition, several mutated beasts were trying to attack her from behind.
Luckily for her, she was using the mutated beast she had made her own to hold off those who were attacking her from behind. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have much time left.
Due to the demands of a dead body, the spirit she had temporarily placed in it through Spiritual Animation was about to disappear. Maybe another five minutes.
So she had to be very careful. She couldn't unleash all her strength on just one to kill him, because the others would come after her and she would die. She needed to wear them down or, at the very least, hold out until Ryan returned.
'But he has his problems too.' She thought as she watched him struggle, unable to escape.
However, Martin and Samuel shouldn't be long in returning, given the previous roars that must have reached them, so it wasn't all bad.
As she was trying to do something and lost in her thoughts, she noticed something strange happening to the almost-evolved kazak.
It roared before lunging forward. The roar created a wave of spiritual projection from his mouth, which shot toward one of her shadow puppets and pierced through it. At the same time, his claws were covered by a glove created by his spiritual projection, and he managed to break through Cecily's defense and get close to her.
She had to come to her senses and stop paying attention to other things.
"Tsk, since you're attacking me personally, let me show you why I'm considered the greatest genius in the East." She held her staff and took a step back.
She swung her staff forward, and a powerful spiritual projection flashed from its tip. It was as long as her staff, but as fast as a projectile. It collided fiercely with the Kazak's claws, which were ablaze with spirituality, and pierced through them, leaving a wound on his claws.
He was also pushed back, left in shock.
Cecily continued her onslaught. Having gained distance, she made her staff grow in size, forming a small spear. Half of the spear's body was a projection of spirituality, and the other half was the original staff.
This allowed her to attack the Kazak from a considerable distance and strike him without him expecting it.
The Kazak tried to defend himself against the attack. Still, when he thought about destroying the spiritual projection, it broke free from the staff and clung to him like a leash, only for another projection to appear a moment later.
Although this beast had not grown enough to think clearly, you could see from his face that he was stunned, wondering: How is this possible?
Meanwhile, Cecily bared her teeth in a smile. "Meet my own invention. Changing Chains of the East."
The projection that had broken free earlier was attached to the arms of the half-evolved kazak, preventing it from moving easily. Although that projection was no longer part of Cecily's power, she could control it thanks to her great abilities, which allowed her to control things through her shadow.
Cecily approached when she saw that he couldn't move much, but then she felt a tremor when the Kazak hit the ground, and a pillar of spirituality shot up from the ground right where she was standing.
She jumped aside and defended herself with her staff to get out of there, but her carelessness set the Kazak free.
"Cunning bastard." She tried to attack once more, but suddenly had to stop.
A different tremor emerged from another place.
"Ryan!" She immediately turned toward him.
Suddenly, they both witnessed something amazing.
All the mutated beasts scattered around the courtyard and in the hospital were suddenly drawn together as if by magic or gravity. They changed their composition slightly and began to merge into a single body, creating a hideous giant with an immense number of extremely long arms and tongues protruding from many parts of its body.
It had more than 15 arms and more than 30 tongues, each seemingly moving at will.
Ryan was already exhausted. Although he tried to flee, the difference in strength was so remarkable that doing so was too tricky, and when he finally thought he could do it...
What he feared most came to pass.
Mutant Symbiosis is when many similar beasts or beasts that share something in common unite in a mutated body, forming a larger and more powerful beast.
He had feared this from the beginning. What happened before was not all they had; this had only just begun.
This was a beast of at least level 4.