Idea

The Rat King didn't understand.

Since the fight started, it had been evolving constantly.

It had only appeared recently, so it didn't know much, but it knew that it was strong, and it was only growing stronger.

As time passed, its form constantly changed.

It wasn't just the lava. It assimilated the ambient energy in its surroundings, and it rapidly learned how to control its new abilities the more time passed.

What a foe it was, one that seemed to constantly evolve and adapt to the situation as time passed.

It should have been harrowing. It should have been an impossible fight.

And yet...

It couldn't understand how these two creatures before it kept matching it.

No matter how it adapted, no matter how it raised its strength.

It only took them a moment to get on the same level as it and begin to suppress it.

But that made no sense. Were they like it, too? Creatures that could constantly evolve?

But that made no sense. They didn't look like it, and the energy it felt from them didn't feel like it either. So why?

It couldn't understand.

It tried to pounce, but those hateful chains appeared again and impeded its movements. It tried to counter and evade, but they slowed it down enough for the other one to come in.

They hit it, and it was like a bomb had detonated within its body as it felt numerous organs get crushed in an instant.

The pain was terrible. It wasn't as simple as getting burned or cut. No...

It was like the energy ate at everything in its way. Be it the physical traits or its energy pathways. Nothing was spared, and that made regeneration so much more difficult, too.

More chains came from above and stabbed into its back before going taut, holding it in place.

It watched as the other one prepared to land another blow, his fist aimed at where its core should be, and it let out an unholy screech.

It couldn't.

It WOULDN'T!

A strange pulse went through it, one that seemed to reverberate through their surroundings.

Mike, who was just about to land his punch, suddenly paused and shouted.

"Kris! Dispel your chains!" At that, Kris didn't hesitate and immediately canceled all the chains that were within the Rat King.

Not even a moment later, the Rat King... exploded.

Well, not explode literally, but its body seemed to rupture and erupt. Bloating out grotesquely into a large bubbling mass of wriggling flesh.

Strange sounds came from the mass as eyes, limbs, teeth, and other organs shifted and stretched horrifically. However, it didn't stop there. Instead...

It grew.

It devoured everything around it. The ground, the air, the lava, the energy, everything it could reach was devoured and added to its mass that continued to grow.

"What the hell?" Mike couldn't help but exclaim as his senses locked onto the thing.

At this point, the thing didn't even seem to care about making its form make any biological sense.

There was no rhyme or reason to the mass. The bones or flesh didn't converge into anything special. All they did was eat, and eat, and eat.

And perhaps that was even more terrifying than anything else.

Mike soon reached Kris's side, a grim expression on the latter's face.

"Now what?" Kris asked, and Mike didn't immediately respond.

Instead, he jabbed his fingertips forward in a stabbing motion and released a Primal Rend.

With his new aura, the skill was significantly more powerful than before and could cut far deeper than ever. However, as soon as it reached the wriggling mass, Mike immediately noticed something off.

His attack buried into the creature, yes. However, before it could go very deep, the energy that made it up was absorbed from all sides, and in just moments, it was no more.

"... Damn." Mike's frown deepened.

If this is how things were, he wasn't very sure of how to kill the thing. Getting close just seemed like a death wish at this point.

However.

'If we let it live, it'll just become a ticking time bomb.' Mike's eyes narrowed.

Kriss seemed to realize this as well as he spoke.

"Can you spot the core?" Hearing this, Mike nodded slowly.

"Then... how about we try to create a powerful piercing attack? With the two of us together–"

"Won't work." Mike cut Kris off with a shake of his head.

"The deeper something goes, the faster it gets devoured by the expanding flesh. Moreover, in the time it will take us to create an attack that could pierce through it, it would have already gotten bigger, offsetting whatever calculations we made. And all of that doesn't even include the core itself, which should be even harder to break through now." Kris's expression changed at this.

"So we can't kill it?" The idea seemed incredibly unappealing to him, but hearing Mike lay it out like that... it seemed like that was the only conclusion.

"I... I think I might have an idea." Mike said with a hesitant expression.

At this point, the wriggling mass was getting truly massive. Moreover, it seemed like the more it grew, the faster it consumed its surroundings.

It was doubtful that it could expand infinitely, but it could surely go on for a while, and who knew when it would stop? When the entirety of the designated area was consumed? Maybe more?

There was no way to tell.

"... If it's something bad then don't bother." Kris said when he saw Mike's hesitant expression.

"No, not that. It's just... I've never really tried it before." Mike replied with a thoughtful expression.

Indeed, the idea he had was probably not harmful, but it was just an idea and something he'd never tried before, so its effects were up in the air.

'2 minutes.' Mike noted. That's how much longer he had before Overclocking became too much.

'No time to hesitate.' He took a breath and looked at the thing.

'Don't hesitate. Don't doubt. Don't question. Be sure. Be confident. This will work!' He told himself. And they weren't just superficial words, either.

If what he wanted to do was going to work, he had to be absolutely certain of himself with no room for second-guessing.

His expression went from grim to calm, and he stretched forth his hand.

'Primal Dread.'

SHRILL

A presence immediately washed over the surroundings.

Kris had felt it before, but even he couldn't help but pale slightly as the intensity spiked beyond anything Mike had displayed before.

Staring at Mike, Kris could see him standing there, but at the same time, it was as though the figure of a large creature... a wolf, perhaps? Stood over him. But when he blinked, it was gone.

'Okay... Let's do this.' Mike thought as he directed his Primal Dread.

Immediately, the imposing presence went forward and seemed to wrap around the mass of flesh.

[Primal Dread – A skill born from the instinctive will of the Heart of the Lupine. Allows the Host to project his aura as an oppressive field, suppressing surrounding energy and enforcing instinctive submission on nearby beings. Those caught in its range feel as though they are prey before a true apex predator.

The potency of Primal Dread scales with the Host's Ferocity, aura output, and killing intent.]

Primal Dread was one of the weirder skills Mike possessed.

He didn't really know what the 'Heart of the Lupine' was, and the system refused to give him a straight answer whenever he asked. Moreover, despitebeing an active skill, it didn't have any levels to speak of. However, he couldn't deny its effects. The ability to suppress his opponents and his environment was simply too handy, and in terms of pure usefulness in battle, it had to be one of his top skills, even if he didn't spam it.

However, after seeing the way the Rat King expanded and absorbed everything around it, he had a thought.

His Primal Dread was already active, but its effects on the thing were quite minimal. Howrver...

Mike couldn't really recall giving it direction.

To be clear, Mike could control the potency of Primal Dread, like right now, he made its intensity spike. At the same time, he could make sure it didn't harm allies, like Kris or Theresa.

But Mike had never truly... controlled it.

Typically, he just turned it on and let it work in the background while he pummeled his opponent, but he never truly tried to use it in the dame way he might use his aura.

As such, Mike decided that now was the tike to try it.

When he sent forth his Lrimal Dread, the Rat King shuddered visibly before expanding even faster, seemingly enraged by Mike's interference. Moreover, several tendrils flew out at him, but it didn't take long before they paused.

Mike poured his willpower into the skill.

Staring at the mass, he commanded Primal Dread to do what he wanted to like it was an extension of his will.

And it obeyed.

Like a large, invisible hand, it wrapped around the body of Rat King, and then, Mike began to squeeze, and ag the same time, he spoke.

"Shrink."

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