My hands trembled so hard I could barely keep the scalpel steady. My thoughts scattered, yet one command hammered through my skull: kill, kill, and kill again until nothing was left. A cold shiver ran down my spine, each inhale frosting the world around me, the air itself biting at my lungs.
The crimson glow of the system screen seared into reality, its light burning across my vision and forcing my chest to heave faster.
[Congratulations! You have leveled up {LVL 17}!]
[You have gained a new title – {Beast Hunter I}; Reward: {Agility +1}]
"T-thank you." Elira let out a shaky breath, her shoulders easing as her hand pressed over her chest. "Without you, I would have— Hey! Wait up!"
Her voice trailed behind me. I'd already swept the battlefield with my eyes, and that's when I saw something small crouched among the rubble. At first glance, a monkey. Its fur shimmered red in the firelight, and its golden eyes glowed unnaturally bright.
But then it twitched. Too sharp, too fast, its head jerking in broken angles like a puppet tugged by strings. The stench of iron clung to it, and when it bared its teeth, I froze. Those weren't fangs made for fruit or bark. They were flat, too human, too wrong... yet streaked with fresh blood. A smear clung to its lips, wet and shining.
I knew I had to eliminate it.
My mind was locked on the quest. I'll admit, in that moment I was blind to anything else. Even if someone out there needed a doctor, I couldn't see them. All I saw was the next target.
I tightened my grip around the scalpel's hilt and drove it into the monkey beast. The blade slid between the ribs, severing the artery beneath. Its shriek cut short as crimson poured out, soaking the ground in a spreading stain. Another one down.
The next shadow loomed over me: a hulking bear with the head of an elephant grotesquely mounted on its shoulders. A twisted creature, but I didn't hesitate. My finger flicked, and a needle shot forward. It buried itself at the base of the neck, right where I knew the spinal nerves clustered. I hadn't aimed with knowledge in that moment; I let instincts carry me, but I struck true. The beast convulsed, legs buckling, before crashing face-first, tusks gouging the dirt as if bowing in forced submission.
"End that one for me!" I barked over my shoulder. I didn't wait for Elira's answer; She would follow through, I believed in that much. I couldn't waste another breath here; something worse was already unfolding ahead.
The ground trembled with each roar, a low vibration that crawled up my legs and into my chest. The beasts' snarls tore through the smoke like jagged blades, drowning out the crackle of burning homes. Amidst it all came the ragged sound of shallow breaths: wet, uneven, desperate. That weak rhythm pulled my focus more than the monsters ever could. The old man's life was spilling away, and every gasp drew my eyes to him.
A pack of beasts. At least ten of them, their snarls echoing through the smoke as they closed in on an old man. His left hand pressed hard against a wound in his side, blood seeping fast, yet his right still gripped a sword with the steadiness of someone who had swung steel for decades. He lunged at a tiger-shaped monster, its fur black as midnight, and the blade bit deep.
But even that seasoned strike cost him. His guard dropped for an instant, and the circle of beasts surged in, claws raised, fangs bared, eager to finish what his wound had started.
Not on my watch! I snarled, my fingers already guiding the needles through the air, each one set on a vital point. I drove them straight for the exposed arteries, slipping past fur and hide like silent assassins. Blood sprayed in quick bursts, just where I knew the vessels ran. My control didn't falter—at a flick of my finger the needles tore free, then plunged back in, striking the same points again and again despite the beasts thrashing.
A sudden gust of scorching wind whipped across my neck. Instinct jerked me sideways in the span of a heartbeat. Something massive tore past, close enough to rake my skin, leaving a burning trail of pain that flared like fire along my side.
Two sharp ears twitched as one of my needles sliced through the smoke, aimed at the beast that looked like a golden fox. Three tails whipped behind it, gleaming like banners, making it seem almost regal.
But the fox gave me no chance. In a streak of light it vanished, tearing through the burning houses in a trail of gold, every step snapping with lightning.
I almost gaped; its speed made it impossible to track. The beasts I'd already struck were climbing back to their feet, stubborn even as the old man tried to cut them down. His sword cleaved through one, but the effort cost him; he left his flank open. A rabbit-shaped beast, fur tinted sickly green, lunged in and with one brutal swing of its metallic paw, cleaved his head clean.
The air tightened, pressure mounting in my chest. I snapped. {Shadow Step} dragged me into the cold embrace of shadows, my body dissolving like dust before manifesting in front of the fox. My scalpel slashed forward. Warm blood splattered across my skin, painting me red. I didn't even flinch when another beast exhaled down my spine; with a flick of my wrist, ten needles buried themselves into its neck.
The world blurred, color bleeding out until I realized only silence remained. Every beast lay broken around me. Only the golden streak circled, relentless, probing me from all sides.
The golden fox didn't charge, didn't retreat. It circled, faster with every pass, sparks hissing in the air like a storm about to break. My needles hovered, fingers twitching, but I couldn't read its next move. Those three tails lashed once, and then the world lit up in blinding gold, a storm of lightning and thunder.