Peering around the corner, Derick spotted Oskara's team locked in a brutal fight with the massive black crab.
Where are the others…? he wondered, watching from the shadows.
His question was answered when Drek and the remaining members burst out of a side tunnel, three more crabs rampaging behind them. Drek hurled a satchel filled with milky-white eggs toward Oskara, shouting for them to run.
A sharp spark lit up in Derick's mind.
Perfect. Payback.
He had deactivated his Beast Soul earlier when the class cooldown ended.
Now, with a single thought, he reactivated his abilities.
{Active Skill — Superior Body: Activated}
{Active Skill — Superior Sense: Activated}
Jade-green veins beneath his feathered armor flared to life, glowing like lightning trapped in glass. A surge of green-crimson power roared through his limbs, and Derick felt his strength explode upward.
He curled his fist, testing the coiled force inside, and grinned.
Now's my chance.
As Oskara sprinted past him, Derick stepped out, drove a punch into the man's face, and dropped him instantly. In one smooth motion, he snatched the satchel from Oskara's limp hands.
Then he bolted.
For a heartbeat, he thought he had escaped cleanly—
until the white crab's eyes locked onto the satchel.
Its body tensed.
Then—
SKREEEEEE—!
A razor-sharp screech ripped through the cavern.
The two brown crabs immediately froze… then snapped toward Derick with burning obsession in their eyes.
They didn't care about Oskara. Or Drek. Or anyone else.
They only cared about the eggs.
And Derick had all of them.
Stone shattered behind him as the crabs launched forward, the cavern trembling under their charge. Derick glanced back—expecting Oskara's team.
Instead, he saw two enormous crabs thundering toward him.
His stomach dropped.
They want the eggs.
They want me.
"I messed up…" Derick muttered.
Then—
A cold chill shot down his spine.
A soundless white shockwave erupted from the corridor, racing past him like silent lightning. Derick's pupils shrank.
What… what was that?
A deep tremor answered him—vibrations pulsing through the cavern floor.
Not from the crabs chasing him… but from many more, stirred awake by the signal.
His stomach clenched.
I get it now… That shockwave wasn't meant to kill me. It was a call—a signal to every crab in the cavern.
And they were coming.
---
Meanwhile, back at the corridor, Oskara regained consciousness in Tasha's arms.
He jolted up violently, gasping.
"Who was that bastard…? Who hit me?!"
He did not recognize Derick beneath the full armor.
The giant white crab clacked its massive mandibles and advanced toward Oskara's group. Oskara didn't hesitate—he ordered his team to retreat immediately while cursing under his breath.
---
Derick skidded across the slick cavern floor, the satchel clutched tightly to his chest. The two brown crabs thundered behind him, claws shattering stone and sending bursts of water into the air.
Ahead, the tunnel split. Derick veered into the narrower branch.
Perfect—the crabs were too large to follow easily.
He crouched low, breathing steadily as Superior Sense sharpened his awareness. Cracks, weak points, overhangs—every hazard in the cavern lit up in his perception.
A grin flickered across his face.
He didn't have to outrun them.
He just had to survive long enough to let the cavern fight for him.
He leapt over a drop in the riverbed and twisted in midair. The first crab slammed into the ledge behind him, slowed just enough for him to widen the gap.
The tunnel narrowed further.
Good. Perfect.
Derick slammed into a sprint, channeling the full force of Superior Body as veins glowed beneath his armor. He vaulted over a sharp outcrop and tossed an egg forward. It rolled across the ground, instantly catching the attention of the first crab. It stopped—hesitating—blocking the second crab as well.
Derick didn't waste the opening.
He sped ahead, boots splashing across the shallow water. His senses flared.
Up ahead—movement.
Lots of it.
CRRSH! CRRSH! CRRSH!
Dozens of smaller side tunnels burst open as a swarm of lethal-backed crabs poured out. A tide of chitin and snapping mandibles flooded into the corridor.
Derick's breath caught.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
It wasn't just two crabs anymore.
It was an entire brood—summoned by the white crab's shockwave.
The swarm rushed him from the front
while the two giant hunters sealed the tunnel behind him.
The cavern trembled with their charge.
The eggs in his satchel pulsed with warmth.
Derick grit his teeth.
No more running.
He tore open the satchel, grabbed one of the eggs, and smashed it against the floor.
DING!
A crisp chime echoed in his ears.
[Absolute Beast Slain]
[Beast Soul Acquired–Crab Warrior]
[Consume Beast to Gain Aberrant Points]
Derick quirkily pulled up the new Beast Soul's information.
His eyes widened.
A sharp, confident grin spread across his face.
This… this is exactly what I needed.
By now, the swarm had closed in, the two giant crabs flanking him like living walls. Derick was boxed in completely, the cavern trembling beneath the thunderous pounding of claws and armored limbs. Yet, despite being surrounded, his expression remained calm—almost amused. A faint, dangerous smirk tugged at his lips.
With a single thought, the beast soul was activated
[Beast Soul Activated — Crab Warrior]
[Grade: Absolute]
[Type: Summon]
[Description: Summons a massive dark-red crab to fight alongside its master.]
Passive Skill — Warrior Aura: Emits a fearsome aura that unnerves nearby foes. The more of the same species it slays, the deeper the terror it instills.
· Active Skill — Fear General: When the number of slain creatures reaches a certain threshold, the beast gains the ability to control beasts of the same species.
[warning:this beast soul is a consumable. it can only be summoned only once.]
Even with the limitation it was still a very good assert
A low, guttural rumble filled the air as sparks of light flared before Derick. Out of the radiance emerged a towering dark-red crab, its shell gleaming like molten iron and its claws crackling with primal energy. The moment it appeared, the swarm froze.
Their instincts screamed in unison—this was a predator among their kind.
The cavern shook the moment the Crab Warrior fully materialized.
A deep, chest-rattling KRUMMM thundered through the stone as its massive claws snapped open, each one as large as Derick's entire torso.
It wasn't just big.
It was colossal—matching the two giant brown crabs in size, height, and terrifying presence. Its dark-red shell gleamed like blood-soaked obsidian, every plate reinforced with monstrous density. Crimson veins pulsed under its armor, glowing faintly with power.
The two giant crabs paused.
For the first time…
They hesitated.
The Crab Warrior stepped forward with a slow, deliberate weight—
THOOM.
THOOM.
THOOM.
Each step made the smaller crabs recoil instinctively.
Then its Warrior Aura burst outward.
A crushing pressure washed over the swarm like an invisible tidal wave. The smaller crabs froze mid-charge, their pincers trembling. Even the two giants flanking Derick stiffened, their bodies shuddering with instinctive fear.
Derick pointed toward them
"Go."
The Crab Warrior didn't need another command.
With a roar-like screech, it lunged straight at the nearest giant crab—
and the cavern detonated with the impact.
BOOOOM!
Claws collided like battering rams.
Shards of stone exploded from the floor.
The tunnel walls shook so violently dust rained from above.
The Crab Warrior pushed the giant crab back a full meter, its claws grinding against its opponent's like clashing blades. The second giant crab screeched and charged to assist its partner—
—but the summoned crab's left claw whipped out like lightning.
CRACK!
The blow struck the charging crab across its face, slamming it sideways into the cavern wall hard enough to leave a crater.
The second giant crab lunged at the crab warrior and swung its pincer at the crab warrior delivering a devastating strike that sent the crab warrior tumbling back. The crab warrior sprung up and charged towards the two giant crabs but was met with a green liquid that the two giant crabs shot from their mouthparts.
but the crab warrior tanked them with it's thick armour plating and approached the two crabs but was met with the with the figure of the two giant crabs charging towards it. they knocked the crab warrior backwards towards Dericks location. Twisting his feet Derick shot to the side while activating the Consume system function to consume the scooped up egg liquids.
The swarm of smaller crabs skittered backward, trembling under the mounting warrior aura. Some even turned, attempting to flee. but some of them were crushed under the weight of the fallen crab warrior
The Crab Warrior tore forward again and locked both giants crabs in a brutal three-way clash—claws snapping with sickening force, shells grinding, shockwaves rippling out with every collision.
Derick's eyes gleamed.
This wasn't a summon.
This was a one-crab army.
Derick grinned sharply.
"Perfect. Now the battlefield's even."
The Crab Warrior roared, and lifted one of the giant crabs and hurled it across the cavern towards the crab swamp as if flinging aside a boulder
and charged after the second, pincers raised for another devastating strike.
The giant crab felt intimidated and started shrieking towards the crab swamp. the crab swamp somehow unwilling started shooting green acidic liquids towards the crab warrior.
Admist the chaos Derick activated the active skill of the crab possession. " Crab Scent!"
A pungent aura radiated from him, causing the nearby crabs to mistake him as an ally and slipped into a tunnel that was nearby