"What a bright moon," Katherine said, tilting her head back. Yes—the platform was partially open. More precisely, there was a canopy roof only over the entrance, leaving about eighty percent of it exposed to the open sky.
"Full moon. Just the right time for all kinds of foul creatures," Yamata snorted, unimpressed by the beauty of the night.
"Uh-huh. And look—there's the foul creature," I said with a grin, waving my hand toward the platform descending below, with a cabin at its center. Though cabin? By its size, it was a full fledged room.
"Where?" both girls asked in unison.
"Right there." I gestured again—at Birkin in his third form (what the hell did Leon do to him on the train, pelt him with benches?), standing atop the cabin at the center of the descending platform. Opposite the monster, Claire stood frozen with a handheld grenade launcher. Yet vague doubts gnawed at me…
The lunge of the two monsters coincided, and before the girl could pull the trigger, two hulking bodies rushed past her—one of them being mine. Phew, the opponent suddenly felt lighter!
"Keep an eye on her. And yes—hello, Claire. Explanations later. For now, watch your ward, and leave the monster to a monster." I tossed over my shoulder as I turned away.
After waiting for the girls disappeared into the cabin—surprisingly, without even arguing—I took a careful look at my opponent. He had completely lost all human features. Two additional limbs had "sprouted" from the sides of his torso, and his height now far exceeded anything human. And yet, paradoxically, he seemed more proportionate? No longer a shapeless mass of flesh—his silhouette now vaguely echoed human contours. Even the second pair of arms matched the rest of his body, with only the first pair—massive, growing higher than the others—breaking the symmetry. Besides the eye on that same arm, I noticed another, slightly smaller eye on the outer side of his left thigh. The claws were intimidating as well; even on the second pair of hands, they were larger than mine. Which made one wonder just how dangerous the primary pair was. The creature's coloration hovered somewhere between muddy brown and pale tan.
"So this is where you finally lost the last of your humanity. And I have to admit—I helped cause this accelerated mutation. You know, looking at you, I almost feel sorry for someone like you. Because, at our core, we're not all that different. It's a shame you can't understand me anymore, having lost your mind—but I couldn't not say it. I guess I just wanted to get it off my chest."
Yes. Looking at this monster, I felt a strange sense of kinship. Maybe because I hadn't gone all that far from him myself—not outwardly, perhaps, but inwardly?
The only response was a low hiss. Just as I'd thought. It was doubtful he'd retained human speech even in his previous form; in this one, it was out of the question. But losing this time wasn't an option. I didn't want to put the girls inside the cabin at risk. I might be a monster—but I'm still a man. And how would I feel if I failed to protect them? Not great, I think. And I'm glad I still have principles like that.
A sharp move forward toward the ready to strike Birkin, and with a slight shift to the side I evade the blow from his upper limbs. I redirect the second pair of arms with soft blocks—hard ones are better avoided, otherwise I risk breaking arms, and my own at that. A kick under the knee throws him slightly off balance. A double punch to the torso, a pivot with a subtle shift to the left, letting a massive overhead strike from his primary arm sail past me. Using the momentum of the spin, I drive my right elbow straight into his head—helped by the fact that the monster, still off-balance, had dipped even lower with his last motion. I draw the pistol from the small of my back and fire three point-blank shots into the eye on the forearm of his right arm. A roar follows, and a titanic blow—caught on my crossed arms—hurls me aside. Still, I got what I wanted: I made the monster bleed.
Too bad the wound sealed itself within moments—but the first step has been taken. I'd learned from past mistakes, because after a fight, evolution isn't mandatory. What matters is to understand your weaknesses and develop a strategy.
My feet scrape against the steel floor as I land, braking against the lingering inertia that's still carrying me backward. Leaning forward, I launch myself again, drawing my knife with my left hand and extending the claws on my right. The pistol returns to its place, waiting for the next good opportunity.
I let another attack pass overhead, noting that this form is significantly slower than the previous one—apparently, other parameters had increased at the expense of speed. Fine by me. I evade the second massive limb by dropping onto my back and sliding beneath the monster, cleanly exiting the attack range of the shorter arms as well. As I slip under Birkin, I rise slightly, switch the knife to my other hand, and drive it straight into the eye on his left thigh—triggering another furious roar.
(End of Chapter)
P@treon: /SadRaven
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