Chapter 231

Tak. Tak. Tak.

Bruce walked forward with a rhythmic, heavy stride, the dying student held firmly in his grasp.

Every eye in the cavern was fixed on him.

Even the Minotaur paused its rampage, tilting its massive head to observe the bold human who had returned after fleeing like a coward only moments before.

"Ra—Ray? You came back?!" Chloe uttered, her eyes wide as she watched him approach.

Bruce offered no reply.

He simply strode over to where Felix lay in a heap and, without a hint of hesitation, lowered the body before the dazed werewolf.

"Here. Eat up. I will need your assistance in the coming fight," Bruce stated coldly.

Caster and Trish looked at Ray as if he had finally lost his mind.

Eat up?

What was he implying? 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The way he spoke made it seem as though the Aspirant wasn’t a living person, but merely a resource to be consumed.

Felix looked up into Ray’s eyes, his own expression one of sheer disbelief.

"Eat up? No, no, no. I can’t do that. I have built up my resistance to human flesh; I don’t need it to fight. So, nope. I’m not eating."

Caster’s brows furrowed as he listened to the grim exchange.

’Eat up? Wait! Why are they speaking like they aren’t even human?’ He paused his internal monologue, a chilling thought crossing his mind.

’... Come to think of it, the strength they displayed earlier didn’t seem human at all. What are they?’

Bruce stared down at Felix for several long seconds before let out a low snarl.

"Your choice. If you perish, I won’t lose any sleep over it. We both know you need flesh to regenerate properly.

Whether you take it now or not, you will eventually require it if we want to leave this place alive. It would be wise to consume it now while there’s still breath in his body."

Van shuddered at his best friend’s callous words.

"Wh—what are you saying? That’s our fellow Aspirant, Ray! We could still save him!"

Bruce slowly turned his head toward the boy, his gaze sharp and alien.

"Like I said previously, Ray is not home at the moment. Shut your trap before I snap your head off!"

Van shrank back instinctively.

He realized then that he was right—this was not the Ray he knew.

Something fundamental had shifted.

This wasn’t the same person who had entered the cavern with them.

Turning back to Felix, who was still warring with his own nature, Bruce lifted a brow.

"What’s it going to be? We don’t have much time."

Inwardly, the real Ray cocked a brow in the mind space. ’Why are you suddenly being so helpful? This is suspicious.’

Bruce gave no reply to the internal voice, his focus remaining on the physical world.

His heightened perception was fully active; he could feel the Minotaur standing five meters away, watching them.

For some reason, the werewolf could sense a shred of intelligence in the beast—a calculated malice.

The monster refused to move forward, apparently content to let the humans scramble for hope, knowing it would be futile.

It seemed the Minotaur enjoyed toying with its victims.

What better way to break an opponent than to let them reveal their last cards, only to crush them anyway?

Felix stared at the jagged injury on the Aspirant’s abdomen, a dark glint appearing in his eyes.

For some reason, he felt himself being allured by the scent.

His fangs began to sharpen unconsciously, and a small trail of saliva escaped the corner of his mouth.

Sighing at the delay, Bruce lifted his hand and hammered it onto the human’s arm, tearing the skin further to reveal the reddish, raw tissue beneath.

"How about now?"

Blood pooled rapidly beneath the human’s torn limb.

Kai exchanged nervous, horrified glances with Caster.

Clenching his jaws tightly, Caster rose with a look of pure outrage.

"Hey! Are you stupid? What the fuck do you mean by ’eat up’? That’s a human, dumbass! Also... how dare you show your face here again after running away like a coward?!"

"...."

There was a profound moment of silence, broken only by the Minotaur lifting its heavy mace and resting it casually on its shoulder.

It watched the drama unfold with the air of an amused audience member, savoring the internal collapse of its prey.

Bruce didn’t rush to offer a reply.

He stood there, radiating an aura of cold authority.

"I would appreciate the silence a little longer, weakling," he said, his voice flat and dismissive.

Caster clenched his hands tightly, his knuckles turning a stark white.

His earlier calm composure was cracking massively under the strain.

No matter the obstacle, no matter the mounting danger, he had always maintained his poise.

He had been unfazed by crisis since he was a child, but for some reason, his tranquil facade was being marred by the monster standing in front of them.

He had never felt his life to be in genuine, visceral danger before, unlike the chilling dread he felt now.

Even when the strange tree trunks had swallowed them whole, he had remained level-headed.

But the grave situation he found himself in at this moment had finally taken a heavy toll on his psyche.

And now here Ray was, debating the fate of a fellow human as if the boy were a mere piece of commodity.

Eat a human?

Caster’s stomach churned at the gruesome thought.

Beyond the moral revulsion, the main question remained: what was this supposed to even achieve?

How would they secure a victory in this battle by consuming one of their own?

The entire scenario was spiraling into madness.

To top it off, the damned beast was spectating with an entertained glint in its eyes.

It seemed genuinely delighted by the discord among the survivors.

Felix tore his gaze from the dying student for a second, looking deeper into Bruce’s yellow eyes, searching for a spark of familiarity.

"Who are you?"

The question took Bruce aback for a split second, and he furrowed his brows in annoyance.

"What do you mean by that?"

Felix paused, his predatory instincts screaming that the soul behind those eyes was foreign.

"You are not my brother; you confirmed it a moment ago. So who the hell are you?"

Bruce stared at the werewolf calmly, but inwardly, he was fuming.

’For real! I want to rip his head off right now. We are in a total dilemma—a crazy, life-or-death situation—and this is the most worrying matter on his mind?!’

«We don’t have time for your rage fest. Just tell him this...» Ray rebuked from the depths of the mind space.

Sighing deeply, Bruce rose to his full height, shaking his head in a display of mental exhaustion.

"Just eat up and regain your strength. Your brother will be back out as soon as this whole situation is taken care of." The werewolf thought for a second before adding with a visible struggle,

"... He has proven too weak to handle the situation; hence, I decided to intervene. Just tr-tr-tr- ugh... damn it! Just have faith in me!"