Chapter 128

  Beast Against Beast

  At first, Erin was confused over why Ryle had suddenly gone silent and frozen still. One moment the blonde had been her usual energetic self and next she was like a statue. It was only after the redhead followed her friend’s wide eyed gaze did she understand what was wrong. Ryle was staring at Arkay, who was unconscious and covered in blood, which wasn’t a good look for anyone.

  Erin obviously knew about how obsessed Ryle was with the cat boy, but she didn’t realize just how deep the sight before her cut into her heart. Seeing Arkay in such a state immediately reminded the blonde of her brother, Zeke, and how he had died. Images of her life with her brother as well as Arkay were currently playing through her head at light speed, culminating in the death of Zeke.

  Being reminded of such a painful thing caused something within Ryle to get unleashed, like an animal that had been caged for a long time. Her blood began to boil as a feeling of burning rage began to take over her. The blonde clenched her fists tightly and gritted her teeth, before turning her hateful gaze towards the Reaper Maggot, the one responsible for what had happened to Arkay.

  Realizing that her friend was most likely losing control over herself, Erin was about to call out to her in the hopes of calming her down. The redhead hoped that by assuring Ryle that Arkay was alive and okay, she wouldn’t let her anger get the best of her.

  However, the words died in her throat, as she realized that her friend had changed in such a way that mere words wouldn’t be enough to reach her. Erin saw that Ryle’s teeth looked like fangs suddenly and she could even hear a low growl come from the blonde, like a wolf baring its teeth at its prey. Overall, Ryle’s whole being had taken a change that made her seem more like a beast than a human.

  Ryle began to head towards the Reaper Maggot, opening her clenched fists and cracking her fingers in preparation for the fight. Erin and the others were able to see that the blonde’s fingers were now covered in her own blood, as sharp claws had grown at the tips of them and had dug into her palms when she clenched her fists. Taking a low stance that was ready to dash towards her target, Ryle let out a shout that was a mixture of an angry scream and the roar of a beast, before shooting towards the Reaper Maggot like a bullet.

  The gigantic worm had no time to avoid the incoming attack, as sharp claws were soon digging into its flesh. The worm’s bright green blood spilled out as it let out a pained screech. This didn’t deter Ryle’s attacks at all, as she simply continued to claw at the monster like a savage, tearing out chunks of flesh and spraying blood everywhere.

  The violent barrage of clawed strikes was finally put to a stop by the Reaper Maggot swinging its tail at its attacker. Ryle was struck by the massive tail and was sent flying backwards, before crashing to the ground. Despite taking a strike that was obviously heavy and painful, the blonde was quickly up on her feet and ready to continue the fight.

  As the brutal battle between Ryle and the Reaper Maggot was unfolding, Erin and the others could only stare at what had happened to their companion in shock.

  “What the hell is going on with Ryle!?” Erin asked. “It’s like she’s become a completely new person or something!”

  “I don’t know. It’s similar to a berserker state, but yet somehow different,” Durge said as he was trying to figure out what might have happened. “Whatever this new state of hers is, it seems to act in a similar fashion by giving her a boost to her physical capabilities, while also putting her under a state of blinding rage. Yet while it is very similar, it’s also… different.”

  “What do you mean by that?” the redhead asked.

  “I’m not sure if I can explain it properly, but the way the berserker state works is by focusing your ki into your mind in a sense. This allows you to unleash far more power and make you into a fearless beast of a fighter. The downside of this is that it makes you blind to everything that’s happening around you and may even cause you to attack your allies,” the orc explained. “However, while there are some physical changes to you, such as larger muscles, the changes are often very limited, unlike with her.”

  “But… you change a lot when you turn on your berserker state as well,” Erin said. “You become much larger and your teeth turn into fangs. Not to mention, your skin also turns red.”

  “That’s because there is an added element within my body that makes my berserker state transform me a lot more,” Durge explained. “The more drastic changes that come from my transformation are because of that additional thing. Those who use the berserker powers may choose to do this in order to become more powerful.”

  “Then Ryle is the same as you?” the redhead asked.

  “In theory, yes. However, whatever it is that changes her body is different from mine, as it doesn’t look the same at all,” the orc replied. “I have no idea what is, but I can tell just by looking that’s it isn’t the same as me.”

  Upon hearing Durge’s explanation, Erin remembered how Ryle had told her about getting the genes of a werewolf in her body. While she had received a stronger sense of smell, there hadn’t been any other changes, making the blonde believe that she had been scammed. Even Lexton had agreed with this assessment, as the abilities of a werewolf would have been far more powerful.

  But looking at Ryle now Erin couldn’t help but wonder if she had actually received what she had paid for.

  The fight between the enraged Ryle and the Reaper Maggot continued. The gigantic worm now took a different stance, where it brought the stinger at the end of its tail to the front and started to rapidly thrust it towards the blonde. As Ryle was dodging these attacks, Erin noticed a dark liquid dropping from the tip of the stinger. It didn’t take much to figure out that it was venom.

  While Ryle was able to avoid the venomous attacks, she was put completely on the defensive now, being forced to focus on dodging the numerous attacks. Even if she was able to do just fine so far, it was only a matter of time until she slipped and got struck. Considering the size of the stinger itself, it probably wouldn’t even need the venom in order to kill her.

  “This is not good! Ryle is not going to last long like this!” Erin said as she was watching the battle. “We need to do something before anything bad happens to her!”

  “...I think I have an idea,” Durge said. “It just might put an end to this fight finally.”

  “What is-”

  The redhead didn’t manage to finish her question, as the orc suddenly dashed towards Ryle, putting himself on the line of the stinger thrusts. Instead of simply attacking the Reaper Maggot’s tail, he actually grabbed the stinger by the side, avoiding the lethal tip and holding it in place.

  In response to this, Ryle stared at Durge in what could only be described as confusion. It was unsure whether she still had her sense of self and was simply surprised by the orc’s actions or if she had lost it completely and didn’t understand what was happening at all. Whatever the case was, the deadly stalemate between the blonde and the gigantic worm was put to an end.

  “What the hell are you waiting for!?” Durge asked while struggling to hold the beast’s stinger in place. “Go and kill that bastard already!”

  It was unsure whether Ryle had understood the orc or if she was still acting on pure instinct, but it seemed like she got the message well enough. Her opponent had been stopped, thus allowing her to attack it freely. This was an opportunity she needed to seize and do so quickly.

  Letting out another roar, Ryle charged towards the Reaper Maggot with claws at the ready. The monster tried to desperately attack her with its mandibles and serrated claws, but it was no use. The blonde was far too quick and easily avoided the attacks and reached one of the claws on the side of its body. She then grabbed the base of it and used all of her strength to brutally tear it out, spraying the worm’s green blood everywhere.

  The Reaper Maggot screeched in agony, as it began to wildly thrash its body around, hoping to get Ryle off. In its desperation, it even smashed its body to the ground, hoping to crush her underneath its weight. Once again, the blonde proved to be too fast for it and got out of the way in time.

  As it looked like Ryle had finally won the battle, Durge, who was still holding the stinger, had a sudden feeling of nausea spread through his body. This caused his hold on the Reaper Maggot to loosen, allowing it to finally free itself from the orc’s clutches.

  With its whole body now free, the gigantic worm was able to use one of its deadliest attacks on Ryle. By surrounding the blonde with its body, the Reaper Maggot closed around her, trapping her underneath its own mass. This was a move that the beast would use on ore difficult opponents, as it would prevent them from moving and fighting back, thus leaving them to suffer a slow and agonizing death of being crushed.

  However, the Reaper Maggot had failed to realize that this was a bad move on its part, as Ryle was currently armed. Wielding the serrated claw she had torn off the gigantic worm’s body, she was able to cut deep into the body of the monster attempting to squeeze her to death. Screeches of agony echoed through the pit, as the Reaper Maggot’s blood began to flow freely.

  Before the beast could back away from the raging blonde it had tried to crush, Ryle managed to use the torn off claw to cut her way out. Green blood practically rained down, as she burst through the Reaper Maggot’s flesh, leaving a large hole that was bleeding. Blood and gore covered the blonde, who turned around to face her opponent, still clutching the claw she had taken from the worm.

  Meanwhile, the Reaper Maggot itself was obviously on its last legs, as it was weakly trying to crawl away, but wasn’t able to get far. Not only was there the exhaustion that had come from its transformation that was weighing down on the worm, but the sheer damage and loss of blood were also draining its strength. Even if it somehow managed to escape, there was a good chance that the injuries would kill it.

  Despite her opponent being at death’s door already, Ryle was not going to allow it to simply run away. Her anger was still burning intensely and only the utter destruction of the one who had enraged her would be able to even start calming her down. The Reaper Maggot would have to die today.

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  Gripping the serrated claw in her hands so hard that it caused blood to fall from her palms, the blonde let out another savage roar, as she dashed towards the gigantic worm and jumped on top of it. As soon as she had landed on it, she began to wield the claw like a scythe, cutting into the creature’s flesh even further. Blood and bits of flesh were thrown around in an explosion of violence and gore, as the Reaper Maggot screeched.

  The worm continued to let out sounds of agony for some time, as Ryle continued her savage assault on it. It didn’t take long until the screeching stopped and the Reaper Maggot went limp, indicating its demise. The legendary monster that had ruled the pit had finally been slain.

  However, even if her enemy was already dead, Ryle still continued cutting into it, almost like she was refusing to believe it was dead. Erin and the others watched in horror at the savage monster their friend had turned into.

  “Ryle, you can stop already! It’s dead!” Erin yelled, hoping that her voice could reach her friend and put a stop to her rampage. “It’s over! The Reaper Maggot is dead! You’ve won! Please stop already!”

  The redhead’s pleas fell on deaf ears, as the blonde continued her mad rampage of cutting into the dead worm’s corpse. Erin was beginning to fear that they might have lost her for good.

  “RYLE, PLEASE! JUST STOP!” the redhead begged, as she tried to run over to her friend, only to be stopped by Zeldana’s hand on her shoulder.

  “Don’t. It’s too dangerous,” the elf said. “None of us can reach Ryle right now.”

  “B-But we have to do something!” Erin argued, desperate to save her friend. “We can’t just leave her like this! What if she doesn’t come back from that state at all!? There has got to be something we can do for her!”

  “Not really. Berserker state is something that its user needs to get out by themselves, usually by simply burning through it,” Zeldana explained. “Depending on how strong the rage that they’ve put themselves into is, the time it takes for the user to snap out of it varies. Some are able to get a hold of themselves as soon as they’ve taken out their enemy, while others have to pass out from exhaustion before any reason returns to them.”

  “..A-And in the case of Ryle that would be what?” the redhead asked.

  “Judging by the fact that she’s still going despite having killed the Reaper Maggot and the amount of power she showed, I’d say she falls to the latter category,” Zeldana replied bluntly. “Our best hope is that she simply runs out of steam as soon as possible. Before that happens, there isn’t really anything that we can do. Besides, you shouldn’t worry so much. Berserkers are not some weird anomaly. This will end sooner or later.”

  Erin was beginning to feel hopeless. While she understood that the berserker state wasn’t something that would last until the end of time, but something told her that this was different. It was very similar to what Durge would do when he transformed in his berserker state and the first time they had seen him do so, he had asked them to kill him. Something told the redhead that this was a similar case and she needed to find a way to put a stop to it as soon as possible.

  Just as she was trying desperately to find a way to save her friend, Erin realized that someone was missing. Arkay was no longer laying on the ground like he had just been moments ago. After looking for him, the redhead soon found the cat boy walking towards Ryle. Despite the pain of his injury weighing down on him, he was determined to go and help the blonde.

  “Ryle? Are you there?” Arkay called out in a weak voice, catching the blonde’s attention. “It’s okay now. You’ve won. There’s no need to fight anymore. You can come back to us. Please?”

  Ryle didn’t respond to the request. Instead, she dropped the Reaper Maggot’s claw she had been holding before climbing down from the monster’s corpse and making her way to the cat boy. As she moved, her motions were no longer how they used to be. Instead, her walking had a certain animal-like feel to it, almost like a primitive human or something similar. Upon reaching Arkay, the blonde stopped right before him and crouched down, so they were looking at each other eye to eye.

  “R-Ryle?” Arkay called out to the blonde, disturbed by her behavior. “I-Is something wrong?”

  Once again, the blonde didn’t say anything in response. Instead, what she did was something that left everybody watching completely puzzled. Ryle pushed her face very close to Arkay and began to sniff him, like a dog would. This sudden action caused the cat boy to blush from embarrassment, as the blonde’s nose went all around him, taking in his scent from every possible place.

  “R-Ryle!?” Arkay cried out in surprise as the sniffing continued. “W-W-What are you-!?”

  Before he could finish his question, the blonde suddenly jumped on the cat boy, knocking him down. He looked up to see Ryle smile widely down at him, before leaning down and licking his face, once again similarly to a dog.

  As this was going on, Erin and Zeldana stared at the spectacle completely baffled. They then looked at each other, wondering if either one of them had any sort of an explanation.

  “...Well, at least she’s calmer now,” Erin said after a moment of silence. “That’s a good thing, right?”

  “I… think so?” Zeldana said with a shrug. “I do think we confirmed that Ryle is still there, despite what just happened with her. I mean, she always did like the kid quite a lot.”

  “Yeah, but I’m not sure if this is the correct way she should be showing her affection towards anyone,” the redhead said with a sigh before thinking this through. “Ryle once told us that she had some genes spliced into her body in order to assist with her bounty hunting job. She claimed that she had bought the genes of a werewolf, but never actually experienced anything that should have come with it. Lexton guessed that she was scammed and was only given regular wolf or dog genes, which is why she has an enhanced sense of smell. Do you think that would explain this? She is acting like a dog, after all.”

  “While there is some level of truth to that idea, I don’t think it fully explains THIS,” the elf began to explain. “You see, splicing the genes of another creature into your body can give you numerous different changed, as you take into that beings characteristics. This can come as less noticeable changes, like a better sense of smell or eyes that can see in the dark. And sometimes the changes can be very visible, such as horns, gills or any other physical trait that you end up inheriting.”

  “And in the case of Ryle?” Erin asked.

  “As you already told me, she gained a better sense of smell and possibly other traits as well. However, that alone doesn’t yet explain this,” Zeldana continued explaining. “While it’s true that people who have genes spliced into their bodies can also show a change in their general behavior, such as become more aggressive, this level of change is unheard of! The only times anything like this happens is when a creature is much more powerful than the person getting their genes spliced into is. When that happens, the inherent nature of the creature starts to corrupt and take over the new body, which often ends up killing the person. Even those who survive end up becoming nothing more than shambling mutants that are barely capable of holding onto life.”

  “...Well, Ryle doesn’t seem to have mutated… much. But her behavior has certainly changed,” the redhead said. “Do you think the wolf genes or whatever have taken over her body?”

  “That certainly seems to be the case, although, I don’t think this is just a case of mere wolf genes. There has got to be something bigger at play here,” the elf said thoughtfully. “I’m sure you will agree that mere dog or wolf genes wouldn’t be strong enough to take over someone like her. Whatever the creature is whose genes she has, they have to be something much more powerful than that. The question is, what is it? I think we are going to have to look into this at some point.”

  Erin simply nodded in agreement, as she kept observing Ryle and Arkay. The blonde was still showing animal-like signs of affection, even though she had stopped licking the cat boy’s face by now. She had now moved on to rubbing her face against his and even giving light playful bites here and there that weren’t actually painful.

  “R-R-Ryle! Stop! That tickles!” Arkay pleaded as he laughed, but his words went unheard.

  Having finally grown tired of the blonde’s new antics, Erin picked up a rock off the ground and threw it at her oddly acting friend. The redhead was hoping that some form of blunt force trauma might knock Ryle back to her sense. Not only that, but she was worried as to how far the blonde was going to go with her behavior.

  “Hey, knock it off already, you dumbass!” Erin yelled angrily as she threw the rock at Ryle, hitting her right on top of her head. “What the hell are you even trying to do over there!?”

  “OW! What the hell!?” the blonde shouted in pain, as she held the spot she had been hit. “What was that for!?”

  “Ryle!? Are you back to normal!?” Arkay asked while still underneath her.

  “Huh? When did you get there?” Ryle asked, completely confused as to what was going on. “And… what just happened? I remember us fighting that giant worm and stuff, but… Then it all just goes blank.”

  Realizing that her last memories were of her battle against the Reaper Maggot, the blonde began to frantically looking around for the monster, only to find it dead right behind her.

  “Woah! What happened here!?” Ryle asked in shock. “When did this guy get killed!?”

  Meanwhile, Erin and Zeldana were watching the blonde’s antics, trying to see if there was even a hint of the brutal killer they had just seen.

  “So… What do you make of this?” Erin asked. “Do you think she’s faking this?”

  “She seems legitimately confused to me. I guess all that stuff must have happened in a blind rage that left no memories to her,” Zeldana replied. “Why do you ask? Doesn’t her behavior seem real enough to you?”

  “It does. It’s just that she wouldn’t mind ending up in her current “position,” if you know what I mean,” the redhead replied, before turning her attention back to Ryle. “Hey, would you mind and get off Arnie already!? We should get out of this place already!”

  “Another wasted opportunity… Can’t just get one, can I?” the blonde said with a sigh, before shrugging. “Oh well. I do feel very good and fulfilled for some reason, so I guess it’s not that-”

  Ryle suddenly stopped as she tried to get up and only ended up falling to the ground again. She blinked in confusion before attempting to rise up again, only to end with the same result.

  “Are you okay, Ryle?” Arkay asked, concerned over his friend’s well-being.

  “I’m okay! I think I was just a bit more exhausted than I thought!” the blonde quickly replied, before getting on her feet just fine. “See? Nothing to worry-”

  Once again, Ryle was cut off with her speech. This time it was due to her walking right into the Reaper Maggot’s corpse and hitting it so hard that it knocked her back.

  “What the-!? When did that get there!?” the blonde complained. “I was trying to go to Erin!”

  “...Is something like this normal?” Erin asked, turning towards Zeldana.

  “This? Oh yeah! Nothing to really worry about! Those who enter the berserker state often have some physical side effects that can be a bit of pain to deal with, but don’t last for too long,” the elf answered. “She just needs to rest for a bit and this should be over with.”

  The redhead let out a sigh. The day had been very exhausting in more ways than one, but at least they were all still alive. Deciding to check up on their remaining companions, she headed over to where Lexton was and found the kobold still laying on the ground.

  “You okay there, Lex?” Erin asked.

  “...Yeah. I’m just fan-freaking-tastic. I’ve basically reached the lowest point of my life, where I’ve lost a part of my body to be eaten by some horrid worm monster, I’m only alive thanks to an idiot tying her whip around the stump of my tail and I can no longer move properly,” Lexton replied sarcastically. “I could just die happy right now…”

  “Look, I get that the loss of your tail isn’t… ideal, but it sure is better than losing your life, right?” the redhead said in an effort to cheer up the kobold. “Besides, you’ve still got your arms and legs. I’m sure you can move around just fine.”

  “Really? You think that?” Lexton asked in a venomous tone. “How about we put that to the test?”

  The kobold tried to stand up, but like Ryle earlier he fell right back down.

  “What’s the matter?” Erin asked with her eye wide from surprise. “Did you hurt your legs as well?”

  “My legs are fine, idiot! It’s my missing tail that’s the goddamn issue here!” Lexton shouted angrily. “It’s been part of my body my whole life and has helped me keep myself in balance all the time! Losing it is just as bad as losing an arm or a leg! I can’t just walk it off like a minor injury!”

  “But lizards lose their tails and are just fine, right!?” the redhead asked.

  “...I’m going to assume that you and that blonde reject of evolution are just incredibly ignorant and not what you seem like with statements like that,” the kobold grumbled, trying his best to hold back his fury. “Kobolds, like myself, are NOT like some ordinary goddamn LIZARDS! We don’t just magically grow back our tails when we lose them! This a big freaking deal!”

  “Okay! Okay! I get it!” Erin said, a bit taken aback by the sudden outburst. “I’ll carry you back, so you won’t have to walk, okay? I’m sure you can fix yourself, the same way you did me.”

  “Sure… I’ll just fix myself and be fine and dandy,” Lexton muttered. “What the hell happened to my life? One moment I’m making good deals, being on top of my game and getting around to some good places. Now it’s become like a cruel joke, where I get tormented by idiots all around me. God help me…”

  Deciding to ignore the kobold’s rant, the redhead moved on to the last member of their group, Durge, who was still laying on the ground. He had been there ever since he had grabbed the Reaper Maggot’s stinger.

  “How are you doing, Durge?” Erin asked.

  “I’ve… been… better…” the orc replied in a slurred voice, like he couldn’t move his mouth properly. In fact, it looked like he was only able to move his eyes around.

  “...Durge, are you okay!?” the redhead asked, now beginning to panic. “Zel! Something’s wrong with Durge! He can’t seem to move!”

  “What!? Oh! I’m guessing that he took in some of the Reaper Maggot’s poison when he grabbed its stinger! Since he isn’t moving, I’m guessing it was a neurotoxin of some kind!” the elf yelled back. “No need to worry, since I doubt he took it all that much through touch!”

  “But what if his condition gets worse!?” Erin called back. “He could lose his ability to breathe or something!”

  “Don’t worry! If that was going to happen, he would be dead already! Since he is still breathing and able to respond, my guess is that the venom of he took must be potent but the amount isn’t enough to be lethal!” Zeldana said. “Much like Ryle, he just needs to rest a bit! If nothing else, we can get a proper antidote once we get back to the city!”

  “...Okay, but how do we get him back there!?” the redhead asked. “He can’t move!”

  “Just drag him along the ground!” the elf replied. “It’s not like he can protest against it, right!?”

  Erin looked at Durge before letting out a deep sigh. Half of her team was now unable to move or had issues walking around and she was tasked with moving two of them around.

  For some reason, it didn’t feel like they had won.