Chapter 64: The Apocalypse Beast

"I've been telling the command to cancel this bounty for ages," said the officer next to Brighton, his face grim with frustration. "These bounty hunters—arrogant, every last one of them."

Brighton agreed. The bounty hunters, especially the high-ranking ones, had undeniable talents. Many of them possessed superhuman abilities that let them achieve the impossible. But that confidence often bloomed into reckless arrogance. Most lacked discipline and common sense, diving headfirst into danger without thought for the consequences.

And sure enough, some had even foolishly entered the volcano itself, only to become food for the swarm.

But more than anything, the officer despised how these hunters couldn't care less about Kilf's survival. They only cared about the reward.

"If that volcano blows, I don't care how much it costs. I'm hunting him down myself!" Brighton growled.

Though, deep down, he knew hunting down Kassadin would be no easy task. If things went wrong, Kassadin could easily flee into the stars, never to be seen again. It wasn't like they could drag him back if he decided to vanish.

As their tense conversation continued, the tremors beneath them worsened.

Soldiers from nearby camps, unaware of the full situation, scrambled into evacuation ships. Their faces were a mix of fear, frustration, and, in some cases, eerie acceptance. They'd fought this war for years. Some of them had already resigned to the idea that this was the end.

Everyone's eyes were glued to the monitors, tracking the source of the tremors.

Suddenly, with a deafening roar, the ground collapsed in on itself, leaving behind a massive, gaping crater.

And from the heart of that abyss, a towering crimson beast emerged.

The creature was immense—over a thousand meters long, its grotesque body covered in fiery red scales. Its head, a twisted mass of eyes, was ringed with dozens of sickening, tooth-filled mouths. Massive tentacles lashed out like whips, smashing into the ground and causing fiery eruptions as it floated ominously in mid-air.

The soldiers aboard the evacuation ships were frozen in horror.

"This thing... It's evolved this much already?" Brighton's voice trembled as he clutched a cigarette between shaking fingers.

The apocalyptic creature had been haunting their world for over a decade. When it first appeared, it was small—barely a few meters long. They had sent a squad to deal with it, thinking it a minor threat.

That squad never returned.

Since then, the creature had grown, retreating into the volcano's depths. Any attempt to destroy it risked catastrophic volcanic eruptions. Kilf's fragile ecosystem couldn't withstand such a disaster.

As the years passed, the creature only grew larger, and its lair deeper. Now, it dominated the volcanic ranges, forcing the inhabitants of Kilf to unite, advancing their technology and hiring bounty hunters from across the galaxy to fight alongside them.

Three times, the Apocalypse Beast had surfaced, each time deadlier and more immense than before. Kilf's forces had paid a bloody toll to hold back its expansion, barely surviving its wrath.

Now, after only two years since its last appearance, it was over a thousand meters long. A living mountain, armored in scales harder than steel.

Brighton could only hope it hadn't reached its full potential yet, or Kilf was doomed.

"Looks like we're out of time," Brighton muttered, his lips trembling as he drew in a shaky breath.

The mere sight of the monster left most men paralyzed with terror. Even hardened soldiers who had fought on countless battlefields felt their courage drain at the sight of the fiery creature that now loomed over their planet.

"General Brighton, look!" a soldier shouted, pointing at the monitors.

Emerging from the blazing inferno below was a lone figure—Kassadin.

Clad in his golden armor, wielding his violet blade, he strode fearlessly through the firestorm. The flames licked at him but dissipated harmlessly against the purple energy shielding his body.

"He's still alive?" Brighton's eyes widened in disbelief.

Kassadin's figure blurred for a moment, disappearing. Then, with a thunderous crack, the Apocalypse Beast recoiled as if struck by a force unseen.

It plummeted to the ground with the weight of a falling star, the impact collapsing the earth beneath it, sending shockwaves for miles.

The soldiers watched in stunned silence as the apocalyptic landscape around them was torn apart by the sheer force of the beast's fall. Buildings crumbled, trees snapped like twigs, and the earth itself was gouged deep by the impact.

Then came the sound—an ear-splitting roar of fury that shook the heavens. The Apocalypse Beast, injured but enraged, spewed molten lava from its monstrous maw. The scorching magma, like a stream of liquid fire, shot through the air, aiming directly for Kassadin.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Explosions of molten rock dyed the sky blood red. Black smoke billowed high into the atmosphere, choking the horizon and turning day into night.

It was the apocalypse incarnate, an unstoppable walking disaster that left nothing but destruction in its wake.

"Get me a line to High Command!" Brighton shouted, his face pale as he turned to his officers. "I'm authorizing the use of the orbital cannon."

His officers stared at him in shock.

Brighton met their gaze, grim determination etched on his face. "That thing's too powerful. If we don't kill it now, Kilf is finished. Even if we have to trigger a volcanic eruption, we need to try."

There was no more time for hesitation. The Apocalypse Beast had reached a point where nothing short of planetary annihilation would stop it.

If the orbital cannon failed, then Kilf would fall with it.

Note: If you are interested you can read up to chapter 100 at patreon.com/MythicForge11.