Deformed Beast

Boom...

The explosion thundered across the sky, shattering the silence that had gripped the city for seven days. At that moment, it felt as if a long-dormant volcano had finally erupted, spreading a suffocating sense of doom over everything.

A solitary figure stood by the window, gazing into the bleak distance. A flicker of cold resolve flashed in his eyes. "The battle for the city has finally begun..."

Seven days.

Chen Feng had been waiting for the arrival of the troops, his patience fraying with each passing moment. In these few days, he had endured more than he could have imagined. After slaughtering countless monsters and spilling the blood of a dozen human beings, something within him had shifted—his very essence darkened by the carnage.

If the old Chen Feng was but a cub, raw and untested, then now, baptized in blood, he had transformed into a predator—a beast with the cold, unyielding eyes of a born killer. Just his presence alone, his icy gaze fixed forward, was enough to send a shiver down the spine of anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path.

The troops were coming, and soon, this cursed city would be reclaimed. But... the cost would be steep. The city was infested with abominations; ordinary monsters could be swept aside, but elite creatures like Hellhounds were another matter entirely.

Blood would flow.

To restore order in this hellscape, a heavy price must be paid in lives—human lives.

Wait any longer?

Chen Feng shook his head, grimly resolute. He wasn't about to waste any more time.

It's easy to claim glory in victory, but to fight when hope is dim—that is what forges legends. Previously, he had hidden, biding his time, avoiding the endless hordes of monsters that roamed the streets. To fight blindly then would have been suicide. But now, with the troops advancing, the battlefield was a different beast entirely.

Simply put, Chen Feng was ready to step into the fray and claim his kills.

If he needed military credentials as a shield, he would seize them with his own hands.

---

A soft, wet sound—a blade sliding through flesh.

The Ghost Assassin drove his blade through the skull of a deformed beast. Blood and brain matter splattered the ground, but he didn't even flinch. His gaze was already fixed on the next monster, eyes dark with fatigue and resolve. His hands trembled, not from fear, but from the exhaustion of endless combat. His strength was nearly spent, but surrender was not an option.

Victory was within reach!

The swarms of insects and zombies had fallen, and now they faced a horde of dimensional creatures—carnivores that resembled lions, tigers, and hyenas, yet their forms were grotesquely distorted, as though someone had stitched them together from nightmares. Their faces were twisted, jaws gaping with rows of misshapen teeth, the sight of them evoking a primal dread.

Deformed beasts.

Spawned from the unholy union of beasts and nameless horrors, these creatures were cursed from birth—ugly, ravenous, driven by an insatiable hunger for flesh.

Days had passed in a blur of blood and death.

These abominations had overrun the city, feasting on the living, their numbers leaving behind a trail of mangled corpses.

Revenge!

The Ghost Assassin's fists tightened, his resolve hardening into something cold and unforgiving. Not long ago, some of his comrades had fallen to these very monsters, their dreams of reclaiming the city now nothing but dust and echoes. They had made a pact—to restore this city and reunite with their loved ones.

But...

They would never see that day. Their bodies lay in pieces, scattered among the monsters, lifeless eyes staring into the void.

Unforgivable.

There weren't many of the deformed beasts left. Soon, they would all be slaughtered. He would see to it that the city was reclaimed, and he would exact vengeance for his fallen brothers.

The Ghost Assassin steadied his trembling hands, preparing to plunge back into the fray. But suddenly, a chilling presence swept over him—a sensation like a predator's breath on the back of his neck. His skin prickled with fear, and he looked up, only to be met with a horrifying sight...

A dark, monstrous figure had materialized beside him.

It was a creature so hideous it defied description. Its eyes blazed with a malevolent hunger, a desire to destroy and consume. The Ghost Assassin's heart seemed to freeze, his limbs suddenly heavy, as if time itself had slowed in the face of such pure terror.

A shadow passed.

The creature's speed was unimaginable—so fast that even the Ghost Assassin couldn't track its movements.

"Watch out!"

The Qigong Master sensed the danger and roared a warning, his voice raw with urgency.

But it was too late.

A soft tearing sound, like fabric being shredded.

The creature's claws, sharp and gleaming, sliced through the Ghost Assassin's abdomen with ease. The pain came too quickly for him to register it. A numbing cold spread through his belly as he looked down in disbelief, his eyes wide with shock.

For a moment, everything seemed to stand still.

The Ghost Assassin stared, bloodshot eyes wide, his breath shallow and ragged. His hand instinctively moved to his abdomen, but the action only hastened his demise.

His abdomen had been ripped open, a gaping wound from which blood gushed freely. The Ghost Assassin hadn't even felt the initial cut, but now his entrails were spilling onto the ground, a grisly reminder of his mortality. Desperately, he tried to stem the flow of blood with trembling hands, but his strength was gone. He crumpled to the ground, unable to rise.

Dead.

The young man who had been so determined to avenge his comrades, who had clung to the last vestiges of hope and justice, now lay dead—his life snuffed out in the most brutal of ways.

"This..."

Feng Zhiyong's men, even those still locked in combat with the monsters, faltered, their eyes going wide with disbelief. All eyes turned toward the creature that had appeared so suddenly.

A monster.

It could only be described as a monster.

The creature's skin was a sickly mix of pale green and pink, its bloated body resembling that of a massive boar. Even the bulk of a Dretch seemed insignificant compared to this hulking abomination.

It had a pair of heavy, bat-like wings folded on its back, emitting a stench of rot and sulfur that poisoned the very air.

Those wings gave it speed that belied its massive size, allowing it to strike with terrifying swiftness.

But the most horrifying feature was its face. A maw lined with razor-sharp teeth dominated its twisted visage, its surface marred by countless tumors and rashes. The lips gleamed with a cold, bloody sheen, and its reptilian eyes reflected nothing but malice and cruelty. Yet the most terrifying aspect was its teeth—sharp, multicolored fangs, dripping with a deadly venom.

This creature was the leader of the deformed beasts. Over the past few days, it had consumed far too much flesh—zombies, insects, humans, and even its own kind.

The energy it had absorbed from the flesh and blood had brought it to the brink of evolution.

Crunch...

The monster lowered its head and bit off the Ghost Assassin's skull with ease. The hard bone offered no resistance.

Om...

The skull, containing most of the Ghost Assassin's power, was fresh, its essence ripe for absorption. 

Time seemed to freeze in that moment, the only sound the monstrous chewing of flesh. Then, suddenly, the creature shuddered, its body glowing with a cold, silver light...

It...

It was evolving!