Chapter 20: First Encounter with a Possessed Hybrid (I)
In front of Apolo, approximately twenty meters away, were four huge men—each over two meters tall.
They were currently dismantling something large—from this distance, it looked like an ape-type beast, their movements was rough and mechanical.
Twisting his nose at the strong scent, Apolo's gaze wandered to the yellow crackling fire that lit up the entire area.
Above it hung the bones of more ape-like beasts, charred and dripping. Further away were even more bones, all piled up into a small mountain that gleamed pale in the firelight.
"Is this some kind of kitchen to them?"
Apolo thought as he took slow but deliberate steps toward them to get a better look.
Unfortunately, he hadn't even completed the first step when one of the men abruptly raised his head and looked directly at him.
"Oh no!"
Apolo nearly facepalmed himself.
Shockingly, instead of speaking up and questioning Apolo, the man—
"ROARRRRR..."
The roar became particularly loud in the cool, silent night. The sound echoed through the trees. The others also raised their heads, revealing silver glowing eyes and mouths filled with sharp, jagged teeth.
The first one to spot Apolo immediately stood and leaped forward, crossing half the twenty-meter distance in a single bound.
When he landed, he gazed at Apolo right in the eyes and started beating his chest with both fists—thump thump thump—baring his fangs like an angry gorilla.
Soon, the others joined him, forming a semicircle.
Looking at these men in front of him, something felt off. The baleful aura they gave off was particularly dense—far denser than what normal hybrids usually emitted. The air around them felt thick, oppressive and wrong.
Running his eyes over their bodies, it also dawned on Apolo that they were completely naked. Their skin was filthy, streaked with dirt and dried blood.
Frowning and feeling the situation was a bit tricky, Apolo slowly took steady steps backward, raising his hands to show he meant no trouble.
But as he retreated, it seemed to infuriate the men. One of them immediately lunged at him, arms stretched out, aiming to grab Apolo's neck.
Quickly, Apolo slid to the side, avoiding the hand completely. He wanted to counterattack, but considering where he was, he stopped at the last second.
"These men feel weird. Especially the one that just attacked—he moved just like a beast."
Apolo thought after regaining his footing.
This move seemed to have triggered something in the men. They all let out angry roars that reverberated throughout the forest, startling all the beasts and insects nearby. Birds scattered from the treetops.
Together, they all pounced at Apolo like wild animals.
With his keen eyesight, Apolo could vaguely see silver saliva dripping from their mouths as they abandoned their previous feast entirely and focused on him.
If anything, one of the major things Apolo had learned since awakening was that during a battle, one must calm all their nerves and focus. They must never allow negative emotions to cloud their judgment.
As he watched the four men rushing toward him, it felt as if they were moving in slow motion. He felt like if he wanted, he could just walk up to them and crush their necks without them being able to react.
"Am I growing stronger every day?"
Apolo wondered as he took casual steps toward the men.
This step directly took him to their backs. To Apolo, he had simply walked behind them. To the men, Apolo had completely disappeared from their front.
Behind them, Apolo narrowed his eyes into slits as he noticed a familiar tattoo on their backs—a crude symbol burned into their skin.
"The same tattoo that was on that village vice-chief back then. Are they connected?"
Seeing people connected to his enemy, Apolo decided to be serious.
He raised his hand and—
"Slap... slap... slap... slap..."
Delivered four crisp slaps to them in rapid succession. The sharp sound cracked through the air. The force of each slap lifted them off their feet and sent them flying over ten meters away, tumbling through the underbrush.
For some unknown reason, after those slaps, Apolo started having a strange feeling raising up in his chest. This feeling was strange—something he hadn't felt for a very long time, something he never imagined he'd feel again in this life.
Pride.
"Is this what it means to be above someone? To have someone's life in your hands?"
Clenching his fist, Apolo's attention was focused entirely on himself, completely forgetting about the men who had now disappeared into the forest.
All of a sudden, he spotted something from the corner of his eye. Shocked, he approached the ape-like beast the men had been feasting on earlier and started observing it closely.
As time passed, Apolo's expression experienced different changes—from disgust to anger, then terror, and finally doubt.
His stomach turned.
"Those demonic men were actually feeding on a human being!"
He nearly shouted in disgust and anger.
Half of the body had been consumed raw. He could even see bite marks on the exposed bones—human teeth marks mixed with something even more savage.
Standing up, he went to the pile of bones beside the fire and was shocked again.
"Aren't these the skulls of human beings?"
He looked down and saw an elbow bone beside it. A knee bone. A ribcage.
His eyes went back to the fire. Inside it were more bones, some still with flesh clinging to them, sizzling and popping in the flames.
"So these are what were giving off that roasted meat smell."
He thought as understanding dawned on him. His stomach churned violently.
Apolo became even more enraged. He walked behind the mountain of bones and saw something that caused him to immediately throw up all the fruits he'd eaten earlier that day. Bile burned his throat.
Behind the pile of bones were several bodies—all in various sizes, some small, some large—covered in bite marks. Limbs were missing. Faces were unrecognizable.
"These were consumed today."
Apolo immediately guessed because of the blood still dripping from them.
Recovering slightly, he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, trembling.
Sudden strange thoughts started brewing at the back of his head.
"One of the striking differences between a hybrid and a normal human is their size. Hybrids are naturally taller and more muscular than normal humans. Those men were definitely hybrids."
Apolo concentrated his gaze on the fire and thought carefully.
"For a hybrid to consume another hybrid or human like this... then their beast side has consumed their human side completely. They are possessed."
"So those men are possessed hybrids."
The moment Apolo figured this out, a chill ran down his spine.
He disappeared from where he was standing, vanishing into the shadows of the forest like a ghost.