Chapter 67: Terminal Hunger
The Tyrant’s roar traveled through the destroyed streets.
Its steps became the advent of an earthquake. Causing the fragile remaining cobblestones to vibrate deeply.
There was no other way to resolve it.
The creature slowly flexed its legs. The muscles in its body tensed to a monstrous point, as if every fiber hid another beast.
Faced with its proud demonstration, Gabriel remained inflexible and alert.
He needed to use his intelligence to win; to open the way.
His body performed the same feint as before, shifting to the left to force the Tyrant to react.
But faced with the repetition, the monster did not fall for it again.
Its eyes followed every movement with a brutal calm that contradicted its fury.
It remained observing, motionless before his elegant movements.
It had managed to learn in their brief previous exchange. With patience, it waited for the next move.
Faced with that display of intelligence, he almost lost his balance.
"It learns too fast..."
The Tyrant not only learned. It valued and responded.
Opening its mouth in mockery, with a savage hunger hanging from the folds of its fleshy lips.
At that instant Bella burst in from the side.
"Don’t worry!" she shouted.
Her sword shot out in a perfect thrust. The blade sought the monster’s blind spot.
But the Tyrant barely turned its torso.
The sword pierced only the air.
Bella knew she should not insist or it would be her own death. She agilely retreated, as if guided by a supernatural force.
Even so, the monster did not remain totally inactive. It tried to connect a claw, but Gabriel intervened.
With moderation, he moved with the speed of a gazelle. The two daggers descended in a predictable arc, cleanly piercing the back of both knees.
With his daggers piercing the skin, the flesh opened. The Tyrant lost its balance for an instant, with its huge body falling onto one knee.
It roared with dissatisfaction.
But its displeasure did not last, rising immediately. Apparently it felt no kind of pain, as if the wound was only an act of the imagination.
Its gray eyes immediately sought Gabriel. At that instant it disappeared, its jump became a flight.
A resounding explosion of force carried its gigantic body the impressive distance of six meters.
Gabriel had to react in the span of microseconds, forcing an unnatural twist of his waist.
The gigantic monstrous hand grazed his face, with the consequent wind slightly cutting his cheek.
"Protect your eyes!" shouted Bella.
Gabriel immediately closed his eyelids.
He heard a small metallic click behind the monster.
Only for a blinding white light to cover his closed eyelids.
The light flooded the entire street.
Even so, he felt the flash. It was too powerful.
When his eyes finally opened again with momentary blindness, the Tyrant roared inconsolably.
Its huge hands rubbed its eyes violently. Retreating completely disoriented.
It was the first time it seemed to suffer genuine pain that clouded its judgment.
He could not afford to waste that opportunity. He ran and jumped, with his daggers participating in a seductive dance.
Ten wounds appeared on the monster’s neck. The navy blue blood flew, causing a bloody disaster.
He sank a blade under its ribs. The second pierced deeply into the shoulder and when the Tyrant finally began to react, he had already disappeared.
Bella appeared immediately. She ran with elegance.
Like a swan freed after years of captivity.
She gripped her sword with both hands and stabbed it with all her strength into the monster’s back.
The blade disappeared completely into the flesh. Causing the tyrant to remain motionless for a few instants.
Silence returned to the destroyed city.
Bella let out a long sigh. Looking at Gabriel with tiredness.
"You know it’s going to get up again... right?"
"I have no doubt." He replied without humor.
He immediately took out two flasks from his inventory. They were for resistance and strength.
He drank them in silence, preparing for the next challenge.
A pleasant heat immediately ran through his muscles. He felt how the fatigue disappeared a little.
Finally, the Tyrant began to move. It slowly flexed its knees, with its huge hands touching the ground.
It groped until it finally identified the blade of the sword that pierced it. With a deep grunt, it ripped it from its back.
It threw it several meters away from itself.
The wound remained open for barely a few seconds. Then it began to close, with the flesh slowly rejoining.
They observed the miracle in silence.
"Regeneration..."
The monster finished standing up. It slowly turned toward them.
Then it brought a hand to its neck, cracking its bones. And finally, it smiled mockingly.
It was a smile full of impatient cruelty.
Like a predator that had finally found an entertaining prey. An instinctive terror ran through Bella’s body.
But Gabriel did exactly the opposite. He crashed directly into the monster’s chest, the impact surprised even the Tyrant.
It retreated a few steps until it managed to stabilize itself.
"I haven’t died yet."
The creature threw a punch, but his body disappeared as if it were part of the ash.
His body became a shadow that circled the monster. While running he barely lifted two fingers.
Bella immediately understood. She took out another small metal cylinder and threw it.
Another explosion of light. The Tyrant roared again in confusion and pain.
Gabriel appeared on its side. The daggers pierced again and again.
Every movement avoided by centimeters the huge claws that swept the air.
But it was impossible to dodge forever. A palm appeared from a dead angle, hitting directly the evasive back of Gabriel.
His body was sent flying again, crossing a half-collapsed wall.
The bricks fell on him.
For a few instants he remained without strength. His entire body hurt, spitting blood.
He stood up again. Removing his torn overcoat.
He let it fall onto the ashes. He only armed himself with his strength and his daggers.
The battle continued with an uncommon brutality, without any elegance.
Each exchange seemed like a fight between animals. Gabriel took advantage of every burst of light to deeply wound the Tyrant.
The monster responded with a force even more impossible to match. Most of the exchanges ended favoring Gabriel, but a single blow was enough to return him to the edge of collapse.
And although he kept getting up, the Tyrant began to understand something in its mind.
Gabriel was an extremely resilient prey. It immediately changed its behavior.
While Gabriel approached again, the creature stopped paying attention to him. It began to run on all fours.
Its direction was not him.
It was Bella.
Its butcher smile widened at the opportunity.
Gabriel felt his blood run cold.
"Shit!"
He took out several potions at the same time. He drank them while running, his heart pounding violently.
But he was still too far away.
Bella with cunning tried to dodge, waiting until the last instant. She threw herself to one side, but it was not enough.
The Tyrant was too fast. With its shoulder hitting her directly.
Bella’s body was sent flying like a doll. She finally crossed a wall without answers.
She disappeared into a cloud of stones and dust. Gabriel could not stop.
The Tyrant was already turning toward him. He had no opportunity to check her state of health.
The daggers constantly clashed against that hardened skin.
He breathed worse and worse and his vision began to darken.
Then a small blue potion appeared in his mind.
Only use it if you are really going to die.
At that moment everything was valid. He pulled out its cork, drinking a long gulp.
Absolutely nothing happened.
But at one moment, his heart stopped beating. The entire world fell silent.
He felt an unnatural void in his chest.
And in that gap, something had awakened. It was hunger, different from instincts and emotions.
It was a metaphysical need. An absolute possession.
As if an infinitely ancient creature had slowly opened its eyes inside his body.
Gabriel let out a gasp.
The black veins began to run through his entire neck. His pupils trembled and he felt how his organs worked desperately to keep him alive.
His chest burned. His blood boiled with ecstasy.
The Tyrant roared again. Gabriel responded with another primal roar.
It was impossible to distinguish which one was more monstrous.
He ran without dodging, pushing the Tyrant directly. The generated force was so great that even the creature retreated.
For the first time, Gabriel activated Bloody Blur.
The world dyed red again. But at that brief moment it was not enough.
He activated it again.
An unbearable pain pierced his eyes. Blood began to slide under his eyelids.
His vision became glassy. But he did not care.
He grabbed the Tyrant, pushing it down the street. The flames grew around them, with the monster trying to free itself upon perceiving the threat.
But he never yielded. Acting like the monster.
Both crossed a completely burning dwelling. The beams began to collapse on them and the fire immediately enveloped their bodies.
The Tyrant’s skin began to burn. It roared with genuine desperation for the first time.
Gabriel remained lost in his frenzy, totally invaded by an intoxicating ecstasy.
Until both were completely surrounded by the flames. The heat was unbearable, with his clothes beginning to burn.
The skin blackened. But he continued hitting, delivering numerous punches to the damned beast.
Each impact slowly broke the monster’s face. The Tyrant responded with desperate swipes.
His ribs cracked. His jaw shifted and blood filled his mouth.
But the creature that inhabited him no longer distinguished pain. Only the unmistakable hunger.
He reset his jaw and opened his mouth, with his teeth seeking the Tyrant’s neck. He bit with untamed force.
The blue blood filled his mouth. It was thick and savage.
Leviathan’s Gluttony fully awakened. The Tyrant roared while both continued burning among the flames.
And although Gabriel’s life descended vertiginously...
His body had already stopped obeying only his will.