The Moonbeast would roar and scratch at itself; it seemed the self-inflicted pain would help it snap out of its current manic episode, if only for a bit.
With the few moments they had left, they would use the rest of their strength to send two of their tendrils flying towards William by extending them with their Shapeshifting ability, each with the strength to pierce through steel.
William was still trying to conserve Ingenuity like the hoarder he was, also because it was needed for the final step of his plan to beat this thing. So he would cast a short-range burst [Bane] to create a short-range shockwave that would hopefully at least deflect the tendrils.
Unfortunately for William, he was only able to deflect one of them, and the others stabbed straight through his chest. Causing blood to start gushing out, as well as putting his life on a timer.
'Blergh...Not again...'
The Anecdote next to him would glow once more. Deciding to use this skill more lightly to save his precious Ingenuity.
[Activating Anecdotal Skill, 'Writer!']
-Apply adjective, Dissociative Identities.
This would finally tip the Moonbeast over the edge in its internal conflict. This caused it to stop attacking William.
As the Moonbeast struggled internally, William would take the opportunity to form a powerful attack against it.
As it was now, William had only about a fifth of spirituality left, which was enough for one final nail in the coffin attack.
With the Moonbeast shrieking out in confusion, William would deactivate the rest of his skills and condense 99% of his [Bane of Existence] Ability into a single bullet-sized blob, using the other 1% to propel and shoot it at the Moonbeast's chest.
The Greyish black Bullet would spark with illusory lightning, warp reality around itself, destroy the air in its path, and create a sonic boom.
Faster than the human eye could see, the blob would hit the Moonbeast...and disappear.
But that's only what it looked like as the bullet exploded into nothingness. Before turning its surroundings into itself and therefore into nothing.
In the blink of an eye, William found himself standing on a wide plateau with the icy winter sky staring down at him.
It took him a little bit to realize that what he was standing on was the floor of the cave he was just inside. With that one attack, he had eviscerated the cave and the mountain it was under, alongside it.
'Holy.....Nice open floor plan!'
He would then see a small wriggling piece of shadow crawling away amidst the midday sun, about the size of an apple, and he would chase after it at top speed, like a lion hunting down their prey.
'You little cockroach...I'll kill you!'
It seems the little dark blob could sense the intent of the man running at them like a goddamn Machine. Since they started scooting across the ground faster and faster in a panic.
'Come hereeeeeeeee little guy~~~'
The shadowy blob started to run as fast as it could. Sadly, because of its small stature, since nearly all of it was obliterated by that last attack, it was still far slower than William.
He would catch up to it eventually and tackle the treacherous little shadow.
"Gotcha!"
The Moonbeast was secured inside Williams' hands; it was wriggling and writhing in an attempt to escape, but to no avail.
Now that he wasn't in life-threatening danger, he decided to use Author's Note again to see if there was any new information on the little guy.
[Name: None]
[Status: Corrupted(Partially)]
[Summary: This was an ordinary cat, before it was infected with HJOJlp'hHplpIHnO[;;;'//llhoiiuUG;[][;uyGUGUfUIGBkB][]JkNJKbUUKnLKm::[]P[;HgpG*&6]
'The information has been censored, it seems. What is this world trying to hide?'
He would then stare eye to eye with the Moonbeast.
'I guess I should probably kill this guy...'
He would raise his hand up for the actual final blow, without a hint of remorse on his face.
*Crshhk!*
[You have slain, 'The Moonbeast'!]
[Mission complete!]
[Rewards being distributed...]
Looking at the dead blob of shadows that had taken the form of a small cat lying motionlessly on the floor, a screen would pop up.
[Attribute: 'Avatar of the Records' asks if you would like to absorb the Record in front of you?]
'Whoa, is this my overpowered superpower? An ability that lets me get continuously stronger? This is something straight out of a generic power fantasy novel.'
'Yes.'
[Absorbing....]
The carcass would slowly start to twitch, before turning back into shadowy gloop and delving deep into the palm of his right hand.
[List of Records]
[The Odyssey: Chaos Edition]
[Moonbeast(New!!!)]
William would look around him, seeing the massive open plateau he had created.
'Well, now's as good a time as ever to test this out!'
[Record, 'Moonbeast' is being serialized!]
William could feel his body become more malleable, as if it were like slime that could be formed and shaped into anything. The shadow of the Mooncat would appear on his shoulder, and it would smile, as if thankful for its rebirth without corruption.
'Rebirth without corruption? What do you mean?'
It seemed that William didn't notice that the soul of the Mooncat had also been absorbed with his [Recorder] skill.
'It did? I guess I have a pet now!'
He would pat the Mooncat softly on the head.
He would then decide on a name for the Mooncat while reminiscing.
'I'll name you.....Little Wei! (Xiao Wei), Welcome to the family! Of uh....just me and you.'
He would use [Author's Note] to check up on the guy one more time.
[Name: Xiao Wei]
[Status: Moon Spirit]
[Attributes: Modified, Enhanced, Painkiller, Poker Face.]
[Skills: Moon Wielder, Seek, Transformation.]
[Author's Note: These abilities can now be used by you. You can decide on whether to keep the Moonbeast sealed within you, or let it out to wreak havoc independently; you can use its abilities either way.]
He would nod at the good news; he had been exceptionally lucky lately. Then he would check the skill's descriptions.
[Moon Wielder]
[Rank: A]
[Become stronger when bathed in the light of the moon. Wield the Moonlight to bring rest to those who need it.]
'That's rather cryptic of you, Library.'
[Seek]
[Rank: B]
[Your vision will become enhanced, like a peregrine falcon. (Passive) This ability also induces weakness and fear into those who dare to look you in the eye. (Active)]
'That'll synergize with my other skills rather well!'
[Transformation]
[Rank: S]
[You are formless, shapeless. A being of nothingness. Yet, because you are nothing, you can become everything.]
William would nod to himself, a truly useful skill. It seemed this skill's passive allowed him to be more flexible and dextrous as well. Pretty freaking good.
[Mission Rewards received!]
[Reward: 5000 Loreld, Title!]
He would notice that the item reward had been removed, most likely because he had absorbed the Moonbeast, not allowing for any items to drop.
[Title Name: Ferocious Feline]
[You are agile as a cat, and as ferocious as a lion. You also beckon respect and admiration from all kinds of Feline creatures.]
With the skills and titles sorted out and the Moonbeast tamed and on his shoulder, he would begin heading back home.
While walking back, he would have a thought.
"Huh, didn't this mission say it was filed by an old grandma who lost her cat?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Somewhere in the world.
A tall man with dark purple hair, wearing what seemed to be gentleman's attire from the victorian age, would speak with a hoarse voice, declaring something. With a smile.
"The preparations are complete. This'll be fun! Hmm, now what should I name it?"